AOL Launches New Version of Web Mail

AOL has launched an enhanced version of AOL Web Mail that offers users one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and a variety of third-party sites and destinations directly from the AOL Web Mail page,http://mail.aol.com.

Over the past year, AOL has added more than 30 new features and a variety of new functionality to Web Mail in an effort to make it more open to third-party content and to offer more monetization opportunities to advertisers. The new version is being released globally, making it available in more than 38 countries and locales around the world.
"Web Mail is an integral part of the AOL experience and at the heart of our product offerings," said Ted Cahall, President, AOL Products andTechnologies. "With this new release, we can showcase the important role AOL products continue to play in the company. Enhancing products that already attract a large, engaged audience is a key goal for our organization."
Key features of AOL's new Web Mail product include:
- Access to Third-Party E-mail Accounts: The third-party mail plug-ins allow users to preview Yahoo! Mail and Gmail within the AOL Web Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to Yahoo! Mail and Gmail.
- Faster performance: Using updated technologies, AOL has increased the speed and performance of its Web Mail experience, and enhanced the user interface to make it more intuitive.
- Themed Skins: More than 45 new "skins" or themes let users personalize their page, and offer advertisers the ability to work with AOL to create themes that will appeal to key audiences.
- Plug-in Gallery: Users can customize their Web Mail page by choosing from a variety of new plug-ins offering one-click access to favorite sites, content, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail. The Gallery also offers access to all of the AOL gadgets currently stored in the myAOL Gallery. In addition, AOL is inviting third-party developers to create new gadgets for Web Mail via http://dev.aol.com.
- AOL Sync: Users can make real-time updates to AOL Calendar and Address Book from their desktop or a variety of wireless devices, including the Blackberry and iPhone. In addition, users around the globe can enjoy a completely mobile AOL Mail experience from virtually any device.

Yahoo! Mail Gets Smarter

Yahoo! has introduced enhancements to Yahoo! Mail, with a "smarter inbox" experience that will begin rolling out to users on a limited basis over the coming months.
The Yahoo! Mail smarter inbox experience hopes to address the changing communications needs of consumers by streamlining access to the most relevant and useful information.
It features a new Yahoo! Mail Welcome Page which surfaces messages, information and activity updates from the users' closest kin as well as an updated inbox and folder view that filters messages from those personal connections.

The smarter Yahoo! Mail inbox also gives users immediate access to relevant third-party applications that can leverage the user's email content, calendar and contacts with the user's permission.
Yahoo! Mail's smarter inbox will provide a filtered view of the users' messages and bring applications from across the Web right into Yahoo! Mail.
New features include:
- Connections: Users can "connect" with others using Yahoo!'s universal profile service and designate the people whose messages and activity updates are most important to them.
- Filtered View of the Inbox and Folders: Yahoo! Mail users can now view a prioritized view of the inbox and folders based on their connections.
- New Welcome Page with Messages from Connections and Updates: Users receive a preview of messages from their connections, see connection suggestions made by Yahoo!, and have the ability to send and receive connection invitations. Users can also see activity Update feeds from their connections, including activity across Yahoo! and, in the future, across the Web.

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