AOL Launches Free Versions of AIM, AOL Radio and Truveo on Apple App Store
Posted Jul 10th 2008 6:30PM by Lee Givens
Filed under: Announcements, iPhone
Posted: July 10, 2008
Instant Messaging, Online Radio and Video Search Applications for the iPhone & iPod touch
NEW YORK – July 10, 2008 – AOL today announced three new iPhone OS applications: AIM, the leading instant messaging service; AOL Radio, the most popular online radio service and recent recipient of an Apple Design Award; and Truveo, the leading video search engine are available as free downloads from the Apple App Store beginning today.
"With AIM, AOL Radio and Truveo for the iPhone, consumers now have access to the world's largest instant messaging network, over 350 streaming radio stations and millions of online videos," said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President of AOL. "Over the past twelve months, AOL has revitalized its Mac development efforts and we're thrilled to be bringing our world-class communications and multi-media experiences to iPhone users around the world via the App Store."
The new AIM, AOL Radio and Truveo applications for the iPhone were built using Apple's iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and provide users a rich, full-featured experience, with added features unique to the iPhone.
* AIM for iPhone brings together all of the core features of AIM – such as real-time communication, the Buddy List window and the ability to see when friends and contacts are online and available to chat – and combines them with a host of new capabilities that make IM'ing from the iPhone easy and convenient, whether over a Wi-Fi, EDGE, or 3G network.
AIM has been designed from the ground up to take advantage of the iPhone's unique user interface and advanced capabilities. New features developed specifically for the iPhone include the use of Gestures, which allows users to simply tap to start a new message or to swipe a finger to switch between conversations; Favorites, which puts the buddies with whom you keep in touch at your fingertips; and the ability to easily incorporate a photo taken with the iPhone's built in camera as a Buddy Icon. AIM for iPhone will be available to users worldwide.
* AOL Radio for iPhone gives users in the U.S. immediate, free access to more than 350 best-in-breed stations including more than 150 local CBS RADIO stations and custom channels and more than 200 AOL Radio stations spanning 25 musical genres. AOL Radio for iPhone leverages the iPhone's Core Location framework to detect a user's location and automatically displays CBS RADIO stations nearest to the user. Additionally, AOL Radio for iPhone automatically adapts to the current connection speed of the device providing low-bandwidth streams when on a cellular network versus higher quality audio for Wi-Fi connections.
At Apple's World Wide Developer Conference in June, AOL Radio was highlighted during the iPhone Developer Showcase and received the Apple Design Award for "Best Entertainment Application."
* Truveo Mobile Video Search for iPhone maximizes the device's premium video experience and makes it easy for users to search and browse through millions of online videos while on the go. Truveo's leading video search engine provides direct links to video content that's been optimized for the iPhone from a wide variety of video sources including CNN, Discovery Channel, HBO, NBC, PBS, Channel, Comedy Central, MTV and YouTube. Localized versions of Truveo Mobile Video Search for iPhone will be available for the U.S., Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, with support for additional countries to follow in the coming months.
All three applications are available for free from Apple's App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at www.itunes.com/appstore/
More information on AIM, AOL Radio and Truveo Mobile Video Search for iPhone can be found at http://mobile.aol.com/iphone.
In addition to the AIM, AOL Radio and Truveo applications for the iPhone, AOL has also optimized many of its popular websites and services for the iPhone's Safari browser including; AOL.com, AOL Mail, AOL Mobile Search, AOL Money & Finance, Moviefone, AOL Food, AOL Horoscopes, AOL TV Listings and AOL Shopping.
AOL: Getting Back to the Mac
Over the past year, AOL has reinvested in the Mac platform and created new mobile and desktop experiences for the iPhone, iPod Touch and Macintosh computer. Using Apple's tools and SDKs, as well as working closely with Apple's design and development teams, AOL has launched a series of new applications including AOL Mobile Search, an optimized AOL.com portal and AOL Desktop for Mac.
About AOL
AOL is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs one of the largest Internet access businesses in the U.S., and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC and its subsidiaries have operations in the U.S., Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.
Contact:
Derick Mains
AOL
(650) 937-2603
Derick.Mains@corp.aol.com
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Welcome to the Mac@AOL Blog. My name is Lee Givens and I'm the Product Lead for the Mac and iPhone products at AOL. You can find the latest information on AOL's software development on the Mac and any cool happenings at AOL. The purpose of the blog is to create a feedback loop so we can hear from our loyal AOL Mac users. Managing a blog is a lot of work, so I enlisted support from the whole team...the Mac team is made up of dedicated Macintosh developers, QA engineers and Product folks.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1. Why does AIM on the iphone disconnect a few minutes after closing the AIM app? AIM on the iPhone is only useful if you stay connected 24/7, like a computer does.
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Hello Justin,
We are working to add new functionality in a future release. Currently, 3rd-party applications on iPhone can only communicate to servers on the 'net while they are running (in the foreground). Stay tuned on the Mac@AOL blog for more info.
Thanks...Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead
Posted at 11:29AM on Jul 11th 2008 by justin
2. I am having some issues with the AOL Radio app. I have a 3G iphone and am using a 3G connection, but most of the stations are grayed out. I should be able to stream high-bandwidth stations with 3G, correct? I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the app, but the same problem exists.
Posted at 4:55PM on Jul 11th 2008 by caalex83
3. I just installed AOL Radio on my iPod Touch. I'm on a wireless network with a cable modem. The AOL Radio stations have a lot of static and it's very difficult to listen to them. Any suggestions as to why I'm getting so much static? The wireless network is working fine.
Thanks for your help.
Posted at 6:41PM on Jul 12th 2008 by magdalyn58
4. I am having the same problem with the AOL radio app, all stations work when connected to WiFi, only the real CBS stations work on 3g (none of the internet streams). My understanding is that all should work via 3g. What am i doing wrong?
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Hey Josh,
You're not doing anything wrong :) We're working to get radio streams that are compatible with the relatively slower cellular streams. Once the lower-bitrate streams are encoded, we'll publish here on the Mac@AOL Blog.
thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Team
Posted at 11:41PM on Jul 14th 2008 by Josh
5. why do I get a blank web page when I log onto AKO going through AOL using my Mac? Don't have that problem with Safari.
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Hey Jo,
I'm not sure what AKO is?
thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Team
Posted at 8:14PM on Jul 15th 2008 by jo
6. Every time I run it I am getting an "You must have a network connection to access the AIM network." error from the iPhone AIM app. The message is bogus of course because I do have a working network connection -- whether connected to WiFI or Edge I get the same error.
I googled it and saw and identical complaint by someone else at messageboards.aol.com
Some of my colleagues at work were having different problems which were rendering AIM equally useless. Sorry, but you guys have released a VERY, VERY buggy product. Please fix it ASAP!------------------------------Hey Ted,We're collecting all feedback and working to get an update out as soon as possible. We appreciate the support and for trying AIM for iPhone.thanks...Lee Givens
AOL Mac/iPhone Team
Posted at 12:11AM on Jul 17th 2008 by Ted T.
7. Ditto to the static/low volume problems.
I tried the AOL Radio app at my gym and at home - both over Wifi.
I have the volume maxed out and either can barely hear the stream or a lot of static. Yikes!
Here's hoping it gets fixed.
Posted at 2:50PM on Jul 19th 2008 by Gregg
8. I too am unable to connect to the AIM app. Each time I access the app I get the following message:
"You must have a network connection to access the AIM network."
I do have an active network connection, so there's something else going on here.
Posted at 7:09PM on Jul 23rd 2008 by ksonnad
9. So how about a new version of AIM for the Mac? I don't like the AOL Desktop and I'd like a version of AIM newer than four years old with the features I have on AIM for my PC at work.
Posted at 2:45PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Brian
10. I second Brian. I just don't get out of iChat on my iMac what I get out of AIM on my PC, especially those WeeMees. I'd really just like the same AIM everyone else has, at least!
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Hey zbax,
You can now run AIM on your iPhone (http://mobile.aol.com/iphone) and stay tuned to Mac@AOL blog for info on NEW products we're bringing to the Mac in the next few months. We currently have 2 new updates at AOL Beta Central (http://beta.aol.com).
thanks...
Lee Givens
AOL Mac Product Lead
Posted at 5:09PM on Aug 5th 2008 by zbax1290