As America Online (AOL) prepares to release its latest
feature-packed software, more details of AOL 8.0 are starting to
emerge, including information about a premium call-waiting service
and six themed welcome screens.
AOL executives discussed details of the software at Internet World
2002 in New York last week. The offerings are part of an overall
effort by AOL to shore up its business amid dwindling advertising
revenues and falling subscriber rates.
The company hopes that AOL 8.0 will breathe new life into the
service as it faces mounting competition from rivals such as
Microsoft, which is also unleashing the 8.0 version of its MSN
Internet service later this month.
The new call-waiting service, which will allow users to monitor
incoming calls while they are online, is also a premium offering,
allowing the company to tack on an extra $3.95 a month for the
feature.
The themed welcome screens are part of a larger effort to make the
service more personalised, according to AOL.
AOL head Jon Miller, recruited in August to revamp AOL Time
Warner's (AOLTW) sagging Internet service, touted another
personalised feature of 8.0 - the ability to find and engage other
users for an instant chat on a specific interest.
By tailoring AOL 8.0 to users' individual needs, AOL hopes to slow
its subscriber churn and mark a positive start under new
leadership.
Besides a weak advertising market and crawling subscriber growth,
the unit has not only been blamed for the precipitous drop in
AOLTW's stock price but has come under dual government
investigations for its accounting practices.
The latest blow appeared in a report published in the
Wall
Street Journal yesterday (7 October), which said that US
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigators were looking
into AOLTW's investment and advertising agreement with cable
channel Oxygen Media.
According to the report, AOLTW Cable agreed to put Oxygen on its
cable systems without a launch fee in return for buying $100m
(£63.9m) worth of advertising on AOL. However, the media company
allegedly managed to book the ad revenue for both AOL and its cable
division.
While the Oxygen deal is just the latest AOL transaction to catch
regulators' eyes, it also signals that the government is examining
other units of AOLTW.
While the pressure is on, members of the Internet unit are keeping
their hopes pinned on the new software.