America Online Announces Next Generation of AOL Instant Messenger - Version 4.0 - for Windows and Mac Users.Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2000 New Features Allow Users to Send Voice Communications and Images AIM Surpasses 50 Million Registered Users; Daily Usage Increases 40% America Online See AOL. , Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. ), the world's leading interactive services company, today announced the general release of its next-generation AOL Instant Messenger See AIM. (sm) service, Version 4.0, now enhanced with new features and services to make real-time communications even more personal and convenient. AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) 4.0 new features include AIM Talk, which enables online voice communication between AIM users, and Instant Images, which allows users to exchange images and sounds. The new AIM 4.0 for Windows and Macintosh is available today for consumers to download free at AOL.COM (www.aol.com/aim). AOL Instant Messenger, which recently surpassed 50 million registered users, is the free Internet extension See Internet domain name. of AOL's Buddy List A list of colleagues, workgroup members, friends, etc., that you might wish to communicate with via instant messaging. See instant messaging. (R) network. AOL's Buddy List network is the world's largest and most popular instant messaging Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or community with over 90 million AOL members and AIM users combined. At peak times, the Buddy List network hosts over 2.4 million simultaneous users. As instant messaging becomes increasingly central to the everyday Internet experience, AIM usage has increased with the average AIM user now spending close to 3 hours on the service each day, a 40% increase over six months ago and peak simultaneous usage has surpassed 900,000 users. America Online expects to make the AIM 4.0 platform available soon on the Company's other brands, including Netscape, CompuServe and AOL's international services. In addition, America Online's AIM partners -- including Apple, Arch Communications, Bell South, DigitalWork.com (1) (Computer Output Microfilm) Creating microfilm or microfiche from the computer. A COM machine receives print-image output from the computer either online or via tape or disk and creates a film image of each page. , EarthLink, FaceTime Communications, Juno, Kinko's, IBM's Lotus, Lycos, Motorola, Net2Phone, Nokia, Novell, Oxygen Media, RealNetworks, Research in Motion (RIM), Riffage, TV Guide and Voyager.net -- will be able to upgrade their co-branded versions of AIM to benefit their consumers who have joined the AIM community through these partnerships. Jonathan Sacks Not to be confused with Yonason Sacks. Rabbi Sir Jonathan Henry Sacks (born 1948, London) is the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom's main body of Orthodox synagogues. His official title is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. , Senior Vice President, AOL Interactive Services Group, said: "With exciting new features, AIM 4.0 delivers a dynamic instant messaging experience that brings online communications to life like never before with the ability to send images and place voice 'calls.' AIM 4.0 integrates the numerous ways people communicate with one another with the power and immediacy of instant messaging. Whether using AIM Talk to further a discussion without reaching for the phone, sending an Instant Image when a picture says more than words, or being able to know when new e-mail arrives or stock prices change, 4.0 provides AIM users with greater convenience, ease-of-use and personalization Custom tailoring information to the individual. On the Web, personalization means returning a page that has been customized for the user, taking into consideration that person's habits and preferences. . By conveniently packaging together consumer-friendly communications features and delivering new levels of personalization and interactivity, we expect AIM 4.0 to supercharge su·per·charge tr.v. su·per·charged, su·per·charg·ing, su·per·charg·es 1. To increase the power of (an engine, for example), as by fitting with a supercharger. 2. the instant messaging revolution and be a significant catalyst for new growth, usage and creative expression." AIM 4.0 introduces new communication features to enhance the convenience and power that instant messaging offers consumers every day, including: More Personal Ways to Communicate and Share With Others AIM Talk (sm) - Enables online voice communications between AIM users. AIM users can place and receive "calls" from any Internet-enabled PC (equipped with the AIM 4.0 software, sound card, standard computer speakers and a microphone.) Simple to use, AIM Talk is conveniently integrated into AIM so that users can quickly check to see who is online and initiate a call with a single click. Instant Images - Allows AIM users to send and receive photos, images and sounds to one another easily via instant messages. The ability to exchange more than text adds a new dimension to instant online communications and enables AIM users to "see the big picture" during a conversation. New Buddy Icons: AIM 4.0 introduces a new selection of Buddy Icons that can be used to personalize per·son·al·ize tr.v. per·son·al·ized, per·son·al·iz·ing, per·son·al·iz·es 1. To take (a general remark or characterization) in a personal manner. 2. To attribute human or personal qualities to; personify. instant messages. Buddy Icons, already an extremely popular feature on AIM, are graphical icons that users can choose to have automatically appear on instant messages they send to buddies. The new AIM 4.0 icons reflect specific hobbies, romance themes and will include special icons appropriate for holidays and other events. "Alerts" to Stay on Top of Important Information -- Instantly E-Mail Alerts - With new AIM E-mail Alerts, users with AOL Mail and POP3 e-mail accounts e-mail account n → cuenta de correo can receive automatic alerts when new e-mail arrives in their mailbox A simulated mailbox in the computer that holds e-mail messages. Mailboxes are stored on disk as a file of messages, a database of messages or as an individual file for each message. The standard mailboxes are usually In, Out, Trash and Junk (Spam). . AIM e-mail alerts can be set up for one or multiple mailboxes and also provide an easy way for users to access each mailbox to read incoming mail or compose new mail. Stock Alerts - AIM 4.0's new Stock Alerts make it easy and convenient for users to track specific stocks and stay on top of market changes. Users will be notified automatically when stocks they are following change direction. Simple to set up, AIM users can customize their stock alerts by setting specific limits based on price and volume changes, with changes measured in either points or percentages. For example, a user can request to receive an alert when XYZ XYZ interj. Informal Used to indicate to someone that the zipper of his or her pants is open. [ex(amine) y(our) z(ipper).] stock rises 25% in volume of shares traded, or if XYZ stock falls 2 points below yesterday's closing price. Each alert contains detailed quote information and provides a graphical chart of the day's performance. Buddy Alerts - With AIM 4.0's new Buddy Alerts, users can know instantly when a specific person they need to reach signs on. Now, when users are busy online they can set up a buddy alert to automatically alert them when a friend, family member or co-worker is online, so they'll never miss an opportunity to get in touch. Added Convenience Features to Make Instant Communications Even Easier Buddy Information - To use AIM 4.0's new AIM Talk and Instant Image features, AIM users each need to have the latest AIM software installed on their PC. AIM 4.0 makes it easy and convenient to find out what features each of their "buddies" can support. AIM will automatically display each new AIM capability, so they'll know immediately whether someone can receive a call via AIM Talk or receive an Instant Image. Automatic Upgrades - New versions of AIM are released regularly. The new AIM 4.0 now has the ability to notify registered users whenever a new version is available, with an automatic way to get the latest software. As soon as a new version of AIM is available, users will be notified with a direct upgrade capability that downloads the software at the user's option through a single click. Desktop Convenience - While busy working on the computer, AIM allows users to know instantly when their friends come online and can stay in constant contact. With the new AIM 4.0, users can keep their AIM window easily accessible by simply dragging and dropping it to the left or right side of their computer screen so it will automatically fit beside other open applications. The new Version 4.0 of the free AIM software also includes the following current features: a customizable ability to see when friends and family are online; the ability to send and receive instant messages and participate in private or group chat rooms; customized news and stock quotes updated throughout the day; single-click access to Web searching; Yellow and White pages; the option to exchange files such as pictures or documents with other users; a Community Directory and People Finder tool; and customizable privacy controls. About AOL Instant Messenger AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) is available to Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f at AOL.COM (www.aol.com/aim) and on other America Online brands, including CompuServe.com, Netscape Netcenter and to users of Netscape Communicator An earlier suite of Web browsing and groupware tools from Netscape that were packaged as a bundle starting with Navigator 4.0. Communicator refers to any Netscape Navigator product with a version number less than 6.0. software. There are localized versions of the AIM software tailored for international audiences in 11 countries around the world: US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong Hong Kong (hŏng kŏng), Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2005 est. pop. 6,899,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent to Guangdong prov. . These localized versions of the AIM software can be downloaded by anyone with an Internet connection, worldwide. AIM is also available in 8 languages: English (US, British), French (French, Canadian), German, Spanish (Mexican, Argentinean, Latin American), Portuguese (Brazilian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional, Simplified), Dutch. America Online has collaborative agreements for AIM with the following companies to offer their customers co-branded AIM clients or their own instant messaging products linked to AIM: Arch Communications, Apple, Bell South, DigitalWork.com, EarthLink, FaceTime Communications, Juno, Kinko's, IBM's Lotus, Lycos, Motorola, Net2Phone, Nokia, Novell, Oxygen Media, RealNetworks, Research in Motion, Riffage, TV Guide, and Voyager.net. AOL Instant Messenger is a key part of the broad "AOL Anywhere" strategy to make AOL's industry-leading interactive brands, services and features available to consumers across a range of products and devices. Through "AOL Anywhere," AOL's members, online consumers of its other Web brands, and millions of other consumers will be able to access popular AOL features whenever and wherever they need them - from the Web, and when using their television, Internet-ready phones, handheld computers A computing device that can be easily held in one hand while the other hand is used to operate it. The Palm devices are a popular example. See Palm, smartphone and palmtop. , and other personal wireless devices. AOL recently extended "AOL Anywhere" by announcing a new "AOL Wireless" initiative and new AOL Mobile Messenger service Messenger Service is a network-based system notification service included in some versions of Microsoft Windows. This service, although it has a similar name, is not related in any way to the . , which will offer wireless access to AIM, as well as AOL's popular e-mail application over personal, mobile paging devices. About America Online Inc. Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated census-designated place located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of AOL, Orbital Sciences Corporation and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc. are located in Dulles. , is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 22 million members, and CompuServe, with more than 2.5 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. , AOL Instant Messenger and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; Netscape 6 and the Netscape Navigator An earlier Web browser for Windows, Macintosh and X Windows from Netscape that provided secure transmission over the Internet. Soon after its introduction in 1994, Navigator, or just "Netscape," as it was commonly called, quickly became the leading browser on the Web. and Communicator browsers; AOL MovieFone, the nation's #1 movie listing guide and ticketing service; and Spinner.com and NullSoft's Winamp, leaders in Internet music. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. , the company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion