Legacy mail protocol POP3, which has gained some favor because it allows access to Hotmail accounts from Gmail and/or the iPhone, has now been rolled out to Brazil and US users, according to Ars Technica and numerous other reports.  This would bring the number of countries with free Hotmail POP3 support to 11, adding to the list provided by the Windows Live blog in January.  Here’s the setup info:

POP server: pop3.live.com (Port 995)  
POP SSL required? Yes
User name: Your Windows Live ID, for example yourname@hotmail.com
Password: The password you usually use to sign in to Hotmail or Windows Live
SMTP server: smtp.live.com (Port 25)  
Authentication required? Yes (this matches your POP username and password)
TLS/SSL required? Yes

Previously POP3 support was only available on Hotmail Plus accounts.