AOL Revamps Photo Service with AJAX
In the face of competition from Yahoo's Flickr, AOL on Thursday rebranded its You've Got Pictures service into AOL Pictures, adding an interactive AJAX-enabled interface and opening the doors to both AOL members and non-members alike.
The service will offer users unlimited digital photo storage that will host photos in their original resolution. Also included will be a photo album tool, as well as tools to create calendars and other personalized gifts from a user's photo collection.
"AOL Pictures is a completely new version of our leading online photo service that first launched in 1998 and continues to handle millions of photos shared via e-mail and instant messages every month," AOL.com general manager and vice president David Liu said in a statement.
The You've Got Pictures service has proved to be a popular feature for AOL subscribers, with over six million monthly visitors and 300 million stored images. The new version of the site will build upon that success and attract users on the open Web, AOL said.
Other features of AOL Pictures include mobile photo access and an enhanced Web-based user interface that allows for drag and drop functionality, as well as organization and integration with the company's Mail, Blogs, Journals, AOL Member Directory, and AIM services.
In order to entice new users to sign up, AOL said it would offer up to 100 4x6 glossy prints free when ordered from the new service. The offer will expire on January 15, 2006, and the user would be responsible for shipping and handling charges.