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AOL Updates: Standalone Browser, Search, VoIP
Eric writes "In the face of increasing pressure from the likes of Google and MSN, America Online has opened beta testing for its standalone AOL Browser and Desktop Search to anyone with an AOL or AIM screen name. The AOL Browser beta utilizes Microsoft's Internet Explorer engine (not Firefox's, like Netscape) and integrates the company's Desktop Search client. Unlike Netscape it looks decent from the screenshots and also includes some nifty features like tear-off tabs and zooming." And prostoalex writes "In what could be the biggest VOIP push into US households, AOL will start offering VOIP services, as reported by Light Reading. 28% of online Americans subscribe to dial-up or broadband version of AOL, AOL has 4 million broadband users, and beta testers in the Light Reading article seemed to be pretty happy with the service."
Me too!
The unholy combination of IE and AOL made pretty? ...it always puzzled me why they bought Netscape and never made it their browser...
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
is just the same as the time-warner VoIP product that's been on the market for several months, under a different brand. Nothing new, really.
And Vonage works with Time-Warner as well. So there aren't as many VoIP vendors as you assume there are.
Every time I see how AOL's browser is based on Internet Explorer, I can't help but imagine the meeting in a few years where AOL will have to license the technonogy again.
The meeting ends with a line from Microsoft sounding somthing like "One Trilllion Dollars," then maniaical super villan laugh.
Will their VOIP work with anything else?
Because if it's AOL-only, it's not going to catch on with most of the world (or even 72% of the USA)...
"Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."
Notice how there's an ad for Vonage right underneath the article? Priceless.
eTrade SUCKS
I'm building a roof for my cubicle.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
From: http://beta.aol.com/aolbrowser/index.html?
Desktop Search: Now you can find files, photos, songs, pictures and other files on your computer's hard drive just as easily as you search the Web. And you don't even have to leave your Web browser to do it.
Tabbed Browsing: Keep tabs on your Internet experience! The new AOL Browser uses convenient tabs to help organize all your open browser windows, so you can quickly switch back and forth among multiple Web sites, easily finding--and getting to--the one you want.
Clear My Footprints: Whether you like it or not, your computer keeps track of everywhere you go online. But the new AOL Browser helps protect your privacy and stop snoops with just one click. Quickly and easily clear your Internet history, cookies, caches and more. You can even choose exactly which footprints you want to clear--making sure you erase what you want, when you want.
Thumbnail Previews: Now you can save time by viewing actual mini-previews of Web pages, instead of trying to decipher misleading URLs. Simply hold the mouse over any item in your history or favorites, or over any open browser tabs, and you'll be able to see where you're going--before you even get there.
I fear that the average user will think that the way AOL impliments VoIP and Desktop serching, is as good as it gets.
I fear AOL won't do a great job (suprise!) and people will think "VoIP sucks! I tried it with AOL and it never worked right!"
Then, they might shy away from other VoIP services that are great.
Pretty Pictures!
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
Does it strike anyone else as odd that AOL does almost everything they possibly can to *not* add market value to one of their best known brands?
You'd think with the amount of cash AOL has on hand, and with the entire marketplace suddenly beginning to question whether or not IE is worth the trouble... they'd slap some of the dust of Netscape and breathe some life into it. No?
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
In the middle of your call... "Goodbye"
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
It is bad enough that somebody is watching your every keystroke. Now, AOL will allow anybody to listen on your conversation as well by integrating this with MSIE.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
AOL is coming out with a standalone browser?
This doesn't have anything to do with Google register gbrowser.com, does it?
What's next, a Microsoft browser? Jeez.
www.kiwilyrics.com - a wiki for lyrics
How could it be standalone when it uses the (already installed, I guess) Internet Explorer rendering engine?
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
I wonder how many people AOL will get to subscribe to VoIP services using their 56K dial-up connection?
I haven't gotten any of those funky multicolored coasters in the mail for a while, I hope this means that AOL will start sending them out again!
As far as I know AOL owned Netscape and funded Mozilla development. Then MS paid them large amounts of money that they continue to support their IE Engine. It was a multimillion deal. A real payoff for open source investment that secures independence. As some economists told us monopolies are not that bad as long as there is the option of antoher player to enter the market and take it over. It is really funny to see MS paying for IE usage.
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
For leverage against Microsoft.
They don't want to fight the IE-only sites with either development resources or educational resources.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Someone please remind me why AOL bought Netscape again?
They bought it for the Netscape brand and the netscape.com portal to aquire more customers for their advertising business. The Netscape Browser wasn't on the top of their wishlist at all. Maybe Netscape allowed AOL to hedge their bets in the grand MSN vs AOL battle, and they probably used the browser while negotiating with Microsoft. But really, in 1998, Netscape 4.x was really starting to suck in comparison to IE.
Here was Steve Case's case for the purchase. Notice how he doesn't mention 'browser':
"Netscape's brand, portal, and people will help turn the promise of electronic commerce into reality," said AOL chief executive Steve Case in a conference call.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
I found it interesting that on the screenshot, 3 or the 4 artilces shown were pro-MS.
The first, "Gates Promises Interoperable Software" which shows how MS will start writing software that work on other OSes.
The second, talks about how MS is starting a new offensive on piracy, pushing its Genuine Advantage program. If you have a valid MS License, you can get rebates and other perks.
The third, "Spoofing flaw found in non-IE browsers" Pretty much speaks for itself.
Interesting, no? We've always known or suspected AOL and MS were bed-partners but its not likely that they did that without first consulting MS. Could the new battleground be MS/AOL vs Linux/Netscape (assuming Netscape doesnt fux0r everything again).
rooooar
I want AOL to start distributing their software/etc. in those AOL tins that they used to use, least 'round here. Very handy for keeping certain things in. :)
Here's the tin if you don't know what it looks like. But I don't use it for a survival kit, or at least that's not what I would call it's primary function. Come to think of it, nuking some of those AOL CDs could prove fun on those rainy days.
"We invented personal computing." - Bill Gates
We've lacked tear-off tabs in all kinds of applications for a decade because USPTO gave Adobe a patent on it and they've gone after companies who infringe on it.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
September in VOIPland. And no, it'll never end. (Sorry;)
put the what in the where?
And "In the face of increasing pressure from the likes of Google and MSN, America Online" has, just in the last couple of days, begun refusing email from mail servers that don't have matching reverse DNS entries, thus cutting off its subscribers from the growing number of small and medium businesses using fixed IP cable or DSL Internet service. It's nice to have matching reverse DNS and it's fastidious in an Internet purist sense, but it's in no way necessary. I host thirteen domains on fixed IP cable Internet and am instituting an SMTP block that will bounce email from the aol.com domain with a message advising senders that due to new AOL policies we cannot reply or send them email, so we recommend they drop AOL and get a real ISP. AOL is its own punishment and it's fitting that they are constricting the world in which their clueless subscribers can operate. AOL deserves to go bust and have its assets sold on eBay.
Look at the bright side: there's always seppuku.
Not to mention, AOL will no doubt use these new "features" as an excuse for yet another price increase. They'll sit in board meetings wondering why they keep losing subscribers and why people aren't willing to pay more for AOL dialup than DSL would cost. Seriously, does anyone still believe that they can do things on AOL that they can't do on the real internet?