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Delivers Complete Mobile Portal Services to Sprint Subscribers Nationwide
AOL LAUNCHES NEW MOBILE BROWSING SERVICE THAT AUTOMATICALLY ADAPTS WEB PAGES
TO MOBILE SCREENS
CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas, NV and Dulles, VA - April 3, 2006 - As part
of its ongoing commitment to making wireless devices easier to enjoy, AOL today
announced the debut of new mobile information and location services, including
a new addition to the industry-leading suite of mobile AOL Search services. The
new offering is a mobile browsing service that automatically adapts Web pages
for mobile screens. The easy-to-use mobile browsing service can be used by wireless
subscribers with Web-enabled phones.
According to a new survey AOL conducted with the Associated Press and Pew Research
Center, 52 percent of adults keep their cell phone turned on all day, everyday,
and 40 percent of those aged 18-29 are likely to drop their landline once and
for all. Published today, the report reveals that more than 30 percent of adults
want to search and browse the Web from their cell phone, while 47 percent say
that mobile maps and driving directions are a "must have" on the next phone they
buy.
"We are committed to providing people with easy access to the Web's full range
of information, location and communications services wherever they may go," said
Eric Engstrom, senior vice president of Products for AOL's wireless group. "We
are pleased to be working with the nation's leading carriers to provide their
subscribers with our complete suite of popular and consumer-friendly offerings.
Together, we are making it easy for people to stay connected to friends, family
members and colleagues."
AOL's new mobile browsing service has been seamlessly integrated into the existing
suite of mobile AOL® Search services -- including Web search, shopping search
and local search -- to make it easy for consumers to navigate the Web and find
anything they need from their mobile device. The enhanced mobile AOL Search services
support today's mobile lifestyle by 'right-sizing' the Internet for small mobile
screens.
The new browsing service also marks the successful continuation of AOL's cooperation
with InfoGin Ltd., a pioneer of Web to mobile content adaptation solutions. AOL
tapped InfoGin's transcoding and content analysis technologies to extend the ease
of desktop search and navigation to wireless devices, bringing the full wealth
of Web resources to mobile users' finger tips.
AOL Expands Relationship with Sprint
Building on their long-standing relationship, AOL is bringing its mobile portal
services to Sprint subscribers nationwide. AOL's mobile Web portal is a wireless
version of the new AOL.com® portal (http://www.aol.com). It is a one-stop-shop that gives mobile users easy access to the newly enhanced
mobile AOL® Search, AIM®, AOL® Mail and AOL® Pictures services as well as AOL's
news, entertainment, sports and weather content.
Sprint subscribers now have full access to America's most popular instant messaging
community via downloadable mobile AIM applications or through the wireless Web.
Features include presence awareness via the mobile Buddy List® feature, IM Forwarding
and two-way desktop-to-mobile (IM2SMS) messaging services.
MapQuest Launches New Mobile Offerings
In a related announcement, AOL today debuted MapQuest's new Web-enabled service
making it easier for consumers to access MapQuest.com and coming soon, MapQuest
Navigator will enable consumers to access Global Positioning Service (GPS), turn-by-turn,
voice-guided directions on their mobile phones.
Coming Soon
-- A new mobile pictures upload feature will allow AOL Pictures users (AOL members
and AIM users alike) to automatically post photos taken with their mobile device
to their AOL Pictures account, regardless of their wireless carrier. The feature
will be available starting this spring and can be enabled through the AOL Pictures
website (www.aol.com/pictures).
-- AOL will introduce mobile blogging capabilities that will enable consumers
to automatically post pictures from their mobile device to their AOL Journal or
AIM Blog. The mobile blogging feature will be available later this spring.
Visit AOL at CTIA Wireless 2006 in Las Vegas:
To see demonstrations of these services, visit AOL at the CTIA Wireless 2006
event, North Hall, Booth #4224
Pricing and availability:
- AOL's mobile Web portal is included with all Sprint PCS Vision T and Sprint
Power VisionSM plans, and can be found by navigating to the "portals" category
from the Vision home menu.
- To learn more about mobile AOL services available to Sprint subscribers, please
go to http://www.aolmobile.com/sprint .
- Mobile AOL Search Services, including the new advanced browsing services, are
available via mobile browser at http://www.aol.com.
- Consumers with Web-enabled mobile phones can access MapQuest.com by going to
http://wap.mapquest.com
- MapQuest expects the MapQuest Navigator service to be available through major
U.S. cell phone providers later this year. To get more information, go to http://www.mapquest.com/mobile.
About AOL LLC
AOL LLC and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of Web brands and the
largest Internet access subscription service in the United States. Web brands
include the AOL.com® website, AIM®, MapQuest® and Netscape®. AOL offers a range
of digital services in the areas of education, safety and security, communications
and music. The company also has operations in Europe and Canada. AOL, which is
based in Dulles, Virginia, is a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.
[NYSE: TWX]. |
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