AOL revamps AIM in hopes of stanching user exodus (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? AOL is giving its AIM instant-messaging software a new look and new features in hopes of stanching an ongoing exodus of users who have turned to texting and other online messaging services.

The new AIM software marks the service's biggest revamp in several years and comes as AOL tries to revitalize its business. A Web pioneer back in the `90s, AOL has been struggling as its dial-up Internet service declines and its online content and advertising business isn't generating enough revenue yet to make up for it.

AOL made a preview version available Wednesday.

Among AIM's new features is the ability to view Web-based photos and videos within a chat window. Previously users would just see a link they would have to click to open a new browser window containing the image or video.

AIM will also now sync all the messages you send and receive across various devices you use to access the service, helping to prevent missed messages.

And its iconic "Buddy List" has given way to a list of AIM friends ordered by how recently you've chatted with them.

In an interview, Jason Shellen, AOL's head of AIM products, said many people think of AIM as "instant pestering."

Shellen, who joined AOL in 2010 when it bought the company behind online social software Brizzly, said the new software is "less instant, more message."

The effort to revitalize AIM ? which was originally released in 1997 ? comes as instant-messaging traffic is falling precipitously. Consumers are flock to social-networking sites including Facebook and Twitter, use the built-in chat features on sites such as Facebook and Google Inc.'s Gmail and send an ever-growing number of text messages.

In a move to keep people chatting over its service, AIM has allowed users to chat with friends on a number of other instant-messaging services, including Facebook's and Google's. This doesn't appear to be helping much, though.

According to comScore Inc., usage of instant-messaging services in the U.S. fell 31 percent to 36.8 million visitors in October, compared with a year ago.

The numbers are particularly bad for AIM, the third-largest instant-messaging service behind Yahoo Inc.'s Yahoo Messenger and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Live Messenger. ComScore estimates that AIM had 4.9 million visitors last month, down 65 percent from a year ago. (The numbers do not include access from mobile devices and tablet computers).

"If we left AIM alone, it would keep tapering off as is," Shellen said. "I think the reason to do this as a company is because AOL wants to show the world it's not the same old AOL."

___

Online:

http://preview.aim.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111116/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_aol_aim_software

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Google's 'These Go To Eleven' Android event starts at 5PM ET, get your liveblog here!

It's just about that time, kids. And by "that time," we mean "time for Google to pull some kind of LA-themed rabbit out of an LA-based hat." The Mountain View monster has rolled down I-5 today in order to throw a "These Go To Eleven" event, presumably in conjunction with T-Mobile. What's on the docket? A Google Music that actually sells stuff? A Galaxy Nexus for T-Mobile? A Google Music store that only runs on T-Mobile's Galaxy Nexus while positioned in the greater Los Angeles area? Feel free to let your imagination run (a little) wild in comments below, and check back right here at the time listed below (2PM local time, for the Californicators) for our blow-by-blow liveblog coverage.

Wed Nov 16 05:00:00 PM EST 2011

Google's 'These Go To Eleven' Android event starts at 5PM ET, get your liveblog here! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/16/googles-these-go-to-eleven-android-event-starts-at-5pm-et-ge/

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iPad 2, iPhone 4S top holiday wish lists

Sodahead

By Athima Chansanchai

In a recent poll, Apple comes out on top with the most desired gifts of the holiday season: the iPad 2 and the Siri-hyped iPhone 4S, though the recent response to Amazon's Kindle Fire could prove to make more than a dent on many a wish list.

SodaHead.com, a discussion community with more than 10 million unique visitors a month, polled its users during the week of Nov. 7?to ask about?holiday gift giving. Over 3,000 votes were recorded.?Over 70,000 votes per day are cast across all of the site's polls.?

Of the 638 who responded to the question about which tablet they'd want to unwrap the most, 65 percent said they'd love the iPad 2. Twenty-four percent of respondents lust after the Kindle Fire and 11 percent said they'd want Barnes & Nobles' Nook Tablet.

But, the recent release of the Kindle Fire has fueled speculation that it might be the go-to tablet gift this season, with one analyst predicting Amazon could sell 5 million by the end of the year. And, another recent survey by Retrevo found that 44 percent of those who responded positively to buying a tablet this holiday season would choose the Kindle Fire instead of the iPad 2. But again, the iPad is a behemoth to beat, selling 11 million of both the first and second-gen models in the third quarter.

Live Poll

What do you want for Xmas?

But overall in terms of tech gift giving, the iPad 2 is topped by its smaller cousin, the iPhone 4S, when 507 people answered the question, "What will the hottest tech gadget of the season be?" Thirty-nine percent of respondents are hoping to get the iPhone 4S, while 31 percent hope an iPad 2 appears under their trees. The Kindle Fire received 17 percent of the votes and the Xbox Kinect, 13 percent.

The 290 consumers who responded to what they thought kids want most for the holidays put videogames at the top of wish lists with 51 percent, followed by computers at 32 percent, toys and games at 10 percent and movies and music at 8 percent.

Apps also seem to be cropping up as a gift idea, with 41 percent of 773 respondents answering in the affirmative to the question of if apps would make good Christmas presents. But they were the minority, with 59 percent saying they wouldn't make good gifts.

And in general, tech gifts fall below money/gift cards and vacations as expected gifts, according to the 1,152 who responded to Sodahead. See the entire infographic based on the survey:

Sodahead

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/16/8838472-ipad-2-iphone-4s-top-holiday-wish-lists

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