Gizmodo: AOL

AOL Raises Dial-up Prices For Luddites

Matt Hickey — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:43:49 EDT

Going through our logs we can tell that nearly a dozen of you are still using AOL via dial-up. For lots of people in remote locales it's their only choice, and starting at the end of the month their bills are going to be going up a whopping $2 a month from $9.99 to $11.99. That's about 20%, but they don't have to pay it; AOL is offering users the chance to keep their $9.99 plans if they pinky swear to not call technical support if its not a connection-related issue. How exactly does this work?

Does AOL give them a different support number so they can tell who's who? Does the technician's caller-ID pop up and display, "This is a $9.99 customer, do not help"? Are they shunned in AOL chatrooms as being unclean? We're not sure.

We're pretty sure AOL is doing this because there are many people who would call AOL support for non-dial-up related problems. Grandma knows they can help with some problems and assumes they're there to help with all problems. While it's weird making customers choose a different plan to avoid this problem, we can completely understand. [CNet, via Consumerist]

Blackberry OS 4.5 Not Officially Arriving Until September

Jack Loftus — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:00:00 EDT

The Blackberry Internet Services 2.5 upgrade (and subsequent downtime) is still go for a June 29 launch, but there's a catch. According to the Boy Genius Report, some of the "sexiest" 2.5 features won't be available until Blackberry OS 4.5 arrives—in September. From the looks of the BIS 2.5 presentation they got their boy-sized mitts on, at least one of those features is push AOL email and Hotmail/MSN accounts. Of course, if you have a newer Blackberry handset, or plan on buying one before September, it will come with 4.5 OS already installed. [Boy Genius Report]

AOL Blesses Windows Mobile With New AIM Client

matt buchanan — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:40:00 EDT

After years of neglect, AOL has apparently remembered that Windows Mobile exists and just released a new official AIM client. Though still in beta, it's supposedly compatible with all WinMo 5 and 6 devices. It looks pretty swank, at least as far as WinMo apps go, and more than satisfying for a mobile AIM client. Hopefully this means they're cooking up one for the iPhone too. [AOL via XDA Developers via BGR]

AOL Desktop 1.0 Comes to Mac

Mark Wilson — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Things I'd do before installing AOL Desktop software onto my Mac:

1. Eat a live cockroach.
2. Get a Darth Maul facial tattoo.
3. Start running.
4. Date any of the contestants from The Bachelor.

For those who have already completed alternatives 1-4, feel free to hit the jump to scope the details.

Speed Installs in seconds and launches fast — so you can begin browsing immediately, without signing in. The new browser has been completely rebuilt to allow for maximum compatibility and quicker page loading.
Tabbed IM and Browser
Tabs on the browser and instant messages give you easy access and an uncluttered, organized view for all of your windows. AOL Desktop for Mac — Your Online Life Organized.

Custom Toolbar
Keep your favorite AOL sites right at your fingertips. You can select from more than 25 different AOL channels and features to add to your AOL toolbar. Want to add a "Write Mail" icon to your toolbar? No problem!

Easy Transition
New functionality allows for fast, easy transfer of your AOL Favorites and mail (from AOL for Mac OS X personal filing cabinets) plus icon tooltips, a new AOL Support Portal for Mac and the Mac@AOL product blog to guide you through all the cool new features.

Tiger and Leopard Compatible
AOL Desktop for Mac runs natively on your PowerPC or Intel-based Mac. The all-new AOL application runs at full speed on any Mac that supports Tiger or Leopard (Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher).

System Requirements
PowerPC G4 or Intel Macintosh (minimum)
Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher
Minimum of 256MB of physical RAM
Minimum of 60MB of available hard disk space
28.8 Kbps or faster modem/existing Internet connection

[discover AOL via TUAW]

Yahoo Flirting With AOL Something Fierce, Microsoft Still On Doorstep With Flowers

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:24:51 EDT

An unnamed source (aren't they all?) confirmed a rumor that had been floating before: that Yahoo, in order to escape being grabbed by Microsoft, would hurl itself at the second-ugliest suitor in the room, AOL. The new details say that Time Warner would pay some cash up front for a 20% stake in a joint AOL-Yahoo program. The AOL side, valued at $10 billion, would include all properties (such as our worthy competitor Engadget) but not the dial-up service that your grandma and pretty much no one else still has. Microsoft still may get its way, though: Word is that it's teaming with MySpace-owner News Corp for some kind of a three-way proposition. [Reuters]

ICQ, the Toothpaste

Jason Chen — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EDT

Everyone remembers ICQ, the first widely-used instant messaging application that's all but dead in most of the world now. The Israeli software company that developed the suite before it was purchased by AOL has just partnered with a big Israeli pharmacy company called CTS to release this ICQ toothpaste, which our tipster claims will "help P2P communication (person to person) while reducing bad breath." Weird, yet really really cool. On a related note, I've got a low six-digit ICQ number. How long is yours? [Thanks Nir!]

Yahoo Flees Microsoft, Runs to Time Warner's AOL?

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:54:21 EST

Microsoft hating is something of a national pastime, but Yahoo's desire to avoid a Redmond takeover has apparently driven them to seek a cozy relationship with Time Warner. Yes, some geniuses out there are actually concocting "a deal that would fold Time Warner's AOL Internet unit into Yahoo." I'm sorry, but hasn't history proven that working with Time Warner on internet stuff is the business equivalent of trying to conquer Russia in the winter? The joke is, we were actually relieved to hear that the same unnamed people familiar with this deal still think Microsoft's Yahoo buyout will happen. [Reuters]

AOL Launching 'Open Mobile Platform,' Allows Homebrewed Programs on Any Phone

Adam Frucci — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:20:07 EST

AOL, the company you haven't patronized since 1996, has announced that it's launching an "Open Mobile Platform" to help developers get mobile programs across multiple platforms. Despite the name, it's not a full mobile OS like Android, rather a protocol for building and distributing applications across multiple mobile OSes. Think of it like Android's API, but for all phone platforms rather than just for one.

The AOL Open Mobile Platform is based on proven technology acquired by AOL that has been deployed across more than 150 different handsets on carrier networks in the U.S. The platform will consist of three components: an XML-based, next-generation markup language; an ultra-lightweight mobile device client; and an application server. A dynamic presentation layer will allow for rapid deployment of new features and easy optimization for a wide variety of mobile devices, allowing developers to build and update applications once, and then distribute them across all supported devices and platforms.
In addition, it will be possible to integrate applications built using the AOL Open Mobile Platform with third-party APIs, as well as with AOL's open APIs for AIM, AOL Mail, AOL Video, MapQuest, Userplane, Truveo, Winamp, and others. The AOL Open Mobile Platform will also give developers the ability to monetize their mobile applications by utilizing advertising resources, such as clickable banner ads, provided by AOL's Platform-A.

So essentially it's like an API for all phones, rather than just for the iPhone or for Android like the current ones floating around. It's actually pretty cool, offering amateurs the opportunity to try their hand at creating, say, a custom AIM client for a pretty wide variety of phones.

The goods should be available later this summer for your tinkering pleasure. [AOL Dev Network]

Afternoon News: Goodbye Netscape, Hello Kitty For Men and More

Benny Goldman — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:00:00 EST

• A new law in New Jersey willl ban internet sex offenders from the web. But then who will read Gizmodo? [The Register]
• AOL will discontinue development of the Netscape browser early next year. RIP Netscape, you were the original IE alternative. [TechCrunch]
• Once upon a time, Google went by the name BackRub. Yuck. [Valleywag]
• A line of Hello Kitty clothing for men will go on sale in Japan next month. If you're looking for me, I'll be scraping my eyes out with rusty nails. [AP]

AIM 6.5, out today, includes the AIM Tunes ...

Wilson Rothman — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:09:03 EDT

AIM 6.5, out today, includes the AIM Tunes plug-in: you'll be able to listen to any music your online buddies put into playlists, provided of course that the tracks are not locked by DRM. Net radio, we hardly knew ye. [AIM]

Everyone and Their Mother Teams Up to Form GooTube Competitor

Jason Chen — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 12:58:58 EDT

The equivalent of the 1992 US Men's Olympic basketball team has just gotten together to develop a competitor to GooTube. That's right, NBC, Fox, AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! have united Captain Planet style and formed a web video site not made up of crappy clips people don't want to watch. Broken by CNBC—with snide commentary about Fox and Google thrown in —this site has already secured advertisers and will theoretically reach 90 percent of US Internet users.

The content? Well, it's going to have TV clips from NBC and Fox, plus films from their respective movie studios. You'll be able to watch ad-supported shows like 24 and Heroes for free, and they're working on more deals with Sony and Time Warner to supply shows and clips. Sounds like we've finally got someone to stand up with GooTube in a non-theoretical way. – Jason Chen

Squawk on the Street [CNBC]

Thanks Ray!

AOL Sniffing Around Movie Downloads

Charlie White — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:42:05 EST

You know the movie download market is heating up when AOL decides to get into the act. A tipster showed us this site where the ancient AOL walled garden for noobs is beta testing the downloads, offering such gems as Eight Crazy Nights, Can't Hardly Wait, Easy Rider, Flat Liners, and Muppets Take Manhattan. Could they have found any older or shittier movies than this? Not unless they rummaged around my uncle Harry's bottom drawer.

Of course, there's DRM involved in the form of AOL's comically-named "Hi-Q Delivery Manager," and it only works with Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0. Hey, you better hurry, because the whole beta experiment ends on Groundhog Day. You wouldn't want to miss out on all those great free movies, now would you? – Charlie White

Video Beta [AOL]

AOL, Haier Partner for Wi-Fi Media Player

Travis Hudson — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 11:25:01 EST

Continuing with the trend seen at CES this year, AOL and Haier have teamed to release another Wi-Fi player. This player, currently named the Smartscreens Media Device, will include Wi-Fi (obviously), Bluetooth, 30GB hard drive and support MPEG4 and WMV for video on its Linux-based operating system.

The Wi-Fi will allow you to download music suggested to you and even allow for streaming Internet radio. And best of all—it appears that this player has a stainless steel look to it, which is sexy. This player is just in the initial phases, so don't expect to see it on the shelves until the second or third quarter of 2007. –Travis Hudson

AOL's Upcoming Wi-Fi Player [dapreview]

Sonos Now Supports Zune, Napster, Yahoo!, AOL, and MTV

Jason Chen — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:00:11 EST

Sonos is spending like Web 2.0 Bubble money is going out of style, and announcing they've bought support for almost all the major internet music stores. Along with Zune, there's Napster, Yahoo, AOL and MTV support, which makes streaming pretty simple.

Current owners can download Sonos 2.1 software which adds support for these new music stores as well as Apple iTunes 7 volume normalization and Windows Vista and WMP11 support. – Jason Chen

Product Update Page [Sonos]

Apple Store Robbed, AOL Rubs It In Contextually

Jason Chen — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:00:06 EDT

A case of poor timing for contextual ads, or is AOL rubbing it in? – Jason Chen

Thieves raid Apple employee store for third time [AppleInsider]

Thanks Edward!

AOL Goes Mobile

Travis Hudson — Sat, 27 May 2006 19:30:51 EDT

No longer will your mobile love for AOL be limited to constant IM on your sidekick. AOL Germany CEO, Charles Frankle, announced that AOL will be launching a mobile phone service in Germany later this year. This is becoming the latest trends among mobile giants. Apparently combining social web interaction and mobile telephony becoming this year's hot trend—re: Helio. No word if AOL will be launching the service in the States. – Travis Hudson

Berliner Zeitung (Translated) [Via I4U]

World's Worst Tech Products. Ever.

Charlie White — Fri, 26 May 2006 13:51:18 EDT

Since Memorial Day is right around the corner, let's let PCWorld help us remember the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. A lot of the products on the list are software-related—in fact, we have to wait until number 13 before we see the first item that might have felt at home on shiny-techno-obsessed Gizmodo: the IBM PC Jr. from 1984 with its roundly-hated "Chiclet" keyboard. Another notable hardware flop was number 15, the Iomega Zip drive from 1998, which victimized countless users with the click, click, click of its dying drives. And before you Mac snobs start getting all uppity, holding down spot number 17 is the worthless, anvil-like 16-pound Macintosh "Portable" from 1989.

What's the worst product, sitting at the top of the shitlist? Wait for it—it's the loathsome, noob-infested AOL, bringing home the bacon for Worst Tech Product of All Time. The runner-up was one of our most-despised annoyances: the nagging, presumptuous and obnoxious RealNetworks RealPlayer.

May this entire rogue's gallery rest in peace atop the ash heap of history, never to be seen or heard from again. – Charlie White

The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time [PC World]

AOL, Dodo Soon To Be Roommates (??)

johnb — Mon, 08 May 2006 09:58:07 EDT

An irate tipster notified us that the AOL call center in Jacksonville, Florida is shutting down and the company is cutting 1,200 employees this week. Why? Because the company has lost 3 million subscribers in the past year—a mere 800,000 in the past three months—and isn't quite making the numbers, you know, to pay people.

They still have an India and Albuquerque call centers, but things are looking rough across the board. In another striking cost-saving move, AOL is also refraining from giving out free trial subscriptions—they're still sending out some CDs, said the tipster, but not nearly as many as they used to—and going to charge folks immediately. Perhaps the AOLCD and/or AOL itself will also hit the dustbin of history?

AOL to Launch VOIP Service

johnb — Fri, 05 May 2006 11:00:07 EDT

There's not a lot of detail on this, but AOL will be launching some sort of VOIP service linked with AIM. The service will offer a unique, free phone number where your friends and relations can leave messages. We doubt very much that this is a unique phone number and that instead they've created a call center to accept voice messages via an 800-number and PIN combo.

The incoming calls are transferred through the AIM service and for $14.95 you can make unlimited calls to anywhere in the US.

AOL to launch free AIM phone service [News.com.com.com]

AOL/Yahoo Email Tax to Stop Spam: Why It Won't Work

johnb — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 02:00:00 EST

There's been quite a bit of media play about AOL and Yahoo's plans to adopt a quarter-cent "email tax" or "stamp" or whatever you want to call it, and we're here to tell you it's horseshit. While this utopian vision of data exchange for pennies a day—the price of a cup of coffee—makes for nice Business Section copy, this will fail in practice. And by "fail in practice" we mean "never, ever get off the ground."

Their theory is this: if you have to pay to send email, you won't send spam. This theory has a gaping hole—spammers will pay to send you spam. It all depends on your definition of "spam"—and how lax AOL or Yahoo's definition will be.

Our thoughts after the jump.

The only true anti-spam method is challenge-response, AKA the spammer Turing test. ("Hi, this is Joe's mailbox. Just hit reply to prove you exist and you'll never see this message again.") This test already costs plenty in terms of CPU cycles and bandwidth and the pay-for-play vision is a distant cousin to this same process. ("Hi, this is Joe's mailbox. Pay me to send this message.")

The way AOL's system works is frustratingly similar to the Marijuana Tax—you pay for "stamps" in order to access AOL's bulk email system. If they pay, organizations like the Red Cross and Red Envelope can spam you willy-nilly while the rest of the po' folks with the penis pills will have to contend with spam filters—the same filters which they have been bypassing quite handily already. This sounds like a way for these big guys to get a little cash and for the other big guys to feel like their doing their part in not pissing you off.

Trust us, guys, you are pissing us off.

It's the mail handling protocols that are broken. The creators designed them to ensure ease of use, which led to the rise of spam. What we need here aren't ways for AOL and Yahoo to bankroll their next corporate retreat in Bali, but an entirely new system of email "subscriptions" which ensures that email to and from the folks from whom you want to receive email makes it to your mailbox, and everyone else's is buffeted back. This will take a concerted effort by open source/academic folks to adopt and maintain this new system which will then trickle down to the corporate level. Of course, new systems for spam-resistant email have been in the cards for years, but no one—even people not trying to make money on the side—have been able to come to any sort of agreement.

Let's talk about next-gen mail handling protocols in the comments, because there has to be a better way.

E-mail charging plan to beat spam [BBC]

AOL Embraces its Gay Side

tgrumet — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 06:27:10 EST

The gay community has so much of its own culture at this point, so why not a music channel on AOL? No reason at all, it seems. Looks like AOL has launched a site called "G-Sides, Music for the GLBT Community," which features all the "gay and lesbian artists we love." Obviously, lots of Boy George and Melissa Etheridge, and today's launch also includes an interview and DJ session from Cyndi Lauper and videos of the Strokes. So there's that.

"This site will talk about all different facets: gay artists, music that has a strong LGB fan base, and even videos that you might not think have relevance to the gay and lesbian community — but do."

...says M. Tye Comer, senior programming manager for AOL Music. Oh, and expect a bunch of Madonna links as well. To check it out, click here. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

AOL Music launches gay music site [Reuters]

Mobile Internet Search With AOL

tgrumet — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 09:11:56 EST

If you've been dying to perform Web searches on your cell or PDA, AOL believes it has the magic bullet. The recently announced AOL Mobile Search Service actually adapts your search to the smaller LCD screens using content-analysis and transcoding tech from a company called InfoGin. The differences between this and other mobile services, if you're wondering, is that before, you could only download full web pages that were WAP-enabled. This works like any search would on a desktop computer.

AOL develops new mobile search feature [Cnet]