AOL and Research In Motion announced the availability of AOL’s leading AIM and ICQ instant messaging services as well as AOL Mail on BlackBerry smartphones. The deep integration of AOL’s popular communications services with BlackBerry smartphones will allow consumers around the world to seamlessly access AOL’s most popular services directly from their BlackBerry smartphone and communicate in real-time with business associates, family, friends and other contacts.

AIM and ICQ for BlackBerry Smartphones
AIM and ICQ users make up one of the largest and most dynamic online and mobile communities with tens of millions of users worldwide and AOL and RIM have been working together to develop native software applications for BlackBerry smartphones that deliver a desktop-like mobile experience for the popular instant messaging services. The free AIM and ICQ applications will allow users to have a rich IM experience that is deeply integrated with their BlackBerry smartphone.

From their BlackBerry smartphone, AIM and ICQ users can also:
-Access Buddy List features including the ability to see if contacts are online and available to chat,

-Set customized away messages and manage their AIM or ICQ online status directly from the BlackBerry smartphone’s home screen without launching the AIM or ICQ application,

-Set alerts to notify them when a contact’s online availability changes;
Select the Auto Sign-In option which will automatically sign them into AIM or ICQ when their BlackBerry smartphone is powered on,
Use Picture IM to send and receive imagesm,

-Log and save IM conversations for personal records or to email them to other contacts and

-Select from a collection of pre-set emoticons to further customize their instant messages.

Once AIM or ICQ has been set up, an icon is automatically installed on the BlackBerry smartphone’s home screen so that access to instant messaging is only a click away. Once launched on the handset, the instant messaging applications can run conveniently in the background, broadcasting the user’s presence to their “buddies” and allowing immediate notification of incoming messages.

AOL Mail for BlackBerry Smartphones
AOL Mail for BlackBerry smartphones leverages the “push” architecture inherent in the BlackBerry platform and AOL’s notification services to automatically deliver AOL Mail messages virtually simultaneously to the user’s online account as well as to the user’s BlackBerry smartphone. The status of messages that have been sent, read, replied to, forwarded or deleted from the smartphone are automatically reflected in the user’s online AOL Mail account. Users can create a dedicated AOL Mail inbox on their BlackBerry smartphone or choose to set up a single inbox on their smartphone to store AOL Mail as well as messages from other IMAP or POP 3 e-mail accounts.

BlackBerry smartphone users with software version 4.5 or higher will also be able to view HTML email, download attachments and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the smartphone.

Availability
AOL Mail, AIM and ICQ for BlackBerry smartphones are available now in the U.S. and are expected to become available in other countries around the world over the coming months.

Vinod /ITvoir Network