You’ve got mail
AOL has shown off a preview of its new-look AOL Mail codenamed Project Phoenix, which one may presume aims to re-ignite consumers' love of the ailing email service.
Phoenix has been designed and built from scratch as "an innovative and intuitive email solution that fits the way consumers communicate today," according to the firm. In fact, it said that AOL mail currently represents 45 percent of the company's total page views on the AOL network, so it is important it gets this right.
AOL has described Phoenix as ‘fresh and fast' with a streamlined, intuitive design. It also boasts a number of new features such as a ‘quick bar' so users can send emails, SMS and instant messages as well as update their Facebook and Twitter from their inbox, plus ‘smart view,' which displays maps, attached photos and files and conversation threads on the right-hand side of the inbox so users can see useful details while they read their mail.
Phoenix also includes email aggregation to bring different email accounts from different providers together, a single click search function and importantly, unlimited storage and support for email attachments of up to 25MB. AOL has also increased the options for email address domains, such as love.com, wow.com and games.com.
The complete product is set to be released early next year but eager beavers can request a beta invitation.
"Email remains one of the most vital communication tools despite all of the new sites and apps available to consumers today," said Brad Garlinghouse, president of AOL's consumer applications group.
"There is still so much innovation to be done in the space and Project Phoenix is just the beginning. We see a huge opportunity to disrupt email in a big way. AOL is the company that brought everyone online, and now we're making it simpler and more enjoyable to be there," he added.
