With the next installment of its service, America Online plans a full
makeover for the instant messaging client bundled with its service, and also hopes to
boost the attractiveness of its dial-up service through speed enhancements.
The AOL Time Warner unit confirmed Thursday that AOL 9.0
Optimized, the next version of the AOL and AOL for Broadband services, will
be made available to current subscribers through an exclusive preview later
this summer, and will be released to the public in the fall.
The new
version is a continuation of the company’s efforts to add value to the
America Online service — which is struggling to increase its membership in
competition with Internet ISPs, and other online services like MSN.
The firm has kicked off a special online promotional campaign, dubbed
“Voices,” to publicize the new version. Created by AtmosphereBBDO, the
campaign presents brief animated messages that introduce specific features
of AOL 9.0 Optimized. Users can sign up for an alert that will let them
know when the new version is available for download.
The new version focuses on improving one of the company’s biggest draws,
the highly-popular instant messaging feature, with a host of new capabilities, including 3D
animated “SuperBuddy” icons. The icons use color and sound to translate
common chat abbreviations like “LOL” into animations. For instance, when a
member types “LOL,” (which stands for Laughing Out Loud) AOL said a
character may act out the acronym by laughing with comical gestures or
expressions. The SuperBuddy icons will only be available to AOL subscribers, not to users of AOL’s free AIM service.
AOL Thursday released the results of a survey by Opinion Research Corp. on
behalf of AOL, which found that 76 percent of the online population uses
instant messenger applications. The survey also found that 93 percent of
13- to 17-year-olds online use instant messaging. In addition, 80 percent
of 18- to 34-year-olds use an IM application and 71 percent of those 35 and
older do so. The survey results — based on 3,650 respondents, 13 years and
older, in 18 markets around the country — showed that AOL is still the
most popular IM application, with 60 percent of users saying they utilize
AOL or AIM. MSN’s application followed with 45 percent and Yahoo’s version scored
37 percent.
The new IM features in 9.0 seek to continue that popularity and give users a
reason to stick with AOL, because members need to upgrade to AOL 9.0
Optimized to see and share SuperBuddy icons. Those that don’t will simply
see static, 2D graphics when chatting with 9.0 users.
AOL said that at launch, the SuperBuddy cast will include more than 50
original icons, from animals to people to funny objects. The icons will
have different moods, personalities and traits. Celebrities will also round
out the cast, starting with actor Ben Stiller and TV personality Star
Jones, host of ABC’s The View. The company said a more complete
celebrity edition is in development for later in the year.
Other features include:
- The ability to create multiple personalities using My AOL Expressions;
allowing members to store different sets of IM expressions and switch
between them on the fly or copy friend’s expressions; AOL said members will
be able to search thousands of AOL buddy icons, sound effects, wallpaper
motifs, AOL desktops and smileys; they will also have the ability to choose
from a broader selection of One-Click Themes or use the new “Randomize”
feature for automatic choices; additionally, the company said members will
be able to create a colorful text design for their Screen Names as they
appear on other users’ Buddy List feature - File transfer, giving members the ability to share files directly with
an AOL or AIM service buddy without having to upload or download the file - AOL Talk, giving members the ability to hold real-time voice
conversations with other AOL and AIM users through a PC microphone or an
Internet (USB) phone - AOL Video Messenger, allowing members with webcams to capture a video
clip and send it to other AOL members; users can also select prerecorded
video clips from AOL’s new Fun Clips library - Instant Images, offering built-in integration with the company’s new
You’ve Got Pictures to make it easy to send digital photos through instant
messages - AOL IM Bots, allowing users to send IMs to specially automated Screen
Names in order to get information like Yellow Pages information, stock
quotes, news, movie listings, sports scores and weather information.
But IM isn’t the sole focus of 9.0. The company is also offering a number
of other new features, including the addition of Web accelerator
technology. Like a number of its competitors, which already offer similar
technology, AOL’s core subscriber base remains dial-up users. The Web
accelerator technology enhances the speed of the dial-up connection, which
AOL hopes will secure subscribers who would like a faster connection but
don’t want to pay the additional cost of broadband.
The new version also features built-in spam filters and enhanced parental
controls, including a parentally-controlled prepaid card that will allow
parents to give their children an online allowance. In addition, the
company said 9.0 will be a significant upgrade for AOL Mail, which offers
new capabilities for more “active and advanced email users” while still
retaining AOL’s ease-of-use. The new mail features include a “Manage Mail”
tab that gives a view of all mail from one place, the ability to store up
to 20MB of mail on AOL’s servers, an expanded library of stationary
designs, smileys, art and sound effects, and a new “Mail QuickView” feature
which allows members to see recently received mail at-a-glance.
“AOL 9.0 Optimized is the company’s third upgrade in the last 10 months,
and underscores our focus on relentless innovation to deliver what’s most
important to our members — providing increased safety and security
protections, making their lives easier, and bringing the fun back to being
online,” Gang said.
