It’s not uncommon for Internet users to have multiple e-mail accounts – one for personal messages, another for online shopping and perhaps a third for registering with various Web sites. The strategy helps to protect privacy, but it also causes frustration because people have to log in to several in-boxes.
AOL is hoping to help eliminate the hassle by introducing a new e-mail service that collects messages from other e-mail services in one place. Project Phoenix, as the product is to be called during its test phase, which begins on Sunday, also features a number of other upgrades that make it more of a central hub for communicating online, not just by e-mail.
AOL is trying to reverse a slide that began nearly 10 years ago shortly after being acquired by Time Warner. Since recently becoming an independent company again, AOL has tried to make a comeback by redesigning its home page and focusing on content like local news.
After several years of stagnation across the Internet industry, e-mail is now looking lively. Yahoo recently overhauled its e-mail while Facebook is planning to introduce a new service on Monday.
Users of AOL’s new e-mail, available by invitation only here , can pull in messages from Yahoo Mail, Google’s Gmail and Microsoft’s Hotmail, among others, through a simple sign-in process. E-mails from those services then automatically appear in a unified Project Phoenix inbox, although users can also choose to view messages from just one address at a time.
E-mail users have long been able to automatically forward e-mails from several accounts to a single inbox by using the POP or IMAP protocol. But the procedure can be complicated.
In any case, Project Phoenix does not solve everyone’s e-mail frustrations. Users of the service may still have to log in to multiple accounts.
Project Phoenix cannot aggregate email from Microsoft Exchange Server – which many corporate e-mail systems rely on – nor is it compatible with messages sent via Facebook’s existing message service or Twitter. They all may be integrated later, according to AOL.
Project Phoenix has other features that set it apart from its rivals. A box at the top of the screen, called a Quick Bar, serves as a hub for multitasking.
Users can use it to send a text message, an AIM instant message, a text-only e-mail or a status update through AOL Lifestream, which allows users to broadcast messages to various services like Twitter and Facebook. The idea is to give users the ability to send off messages quickly without having to click through to another page to write.
Convenience is also the thinking behind a column on the right side of the screen, called Smart View, which automatically shows thumbnails images of any photo attachments in a message. If an e-mail contains an address, a map automatically appears in the column to pinpoint the location.
Unlike most other e-mail services, Project Phoenix also offers users flexibility in choosing an address. If users do not want an address ending in @aol.com, they can instead chose from a handful of other domains including @wow.com, @love.com and @games.com.
Brad Garlinghouse, president of consumer applications at AOL, called Project Phoenix an important step in his company’s turnaround effort under Tim Armstrong, AOL’s chief executive. AOL’s current e-mail service, which will remain in service while Project Phoenix is being tested, accounts for 45 percent of the Web portal’s page views.
“There was a period when AOL lost its way – lost its focus on the consumers,” Mr. Garlinghouse said. “Project Phoenix reflects the change now taking place.”
(source:nytimes.com)
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