AOL Previews New Social Mail Gadget for Windows Vista

adget Created Using Microsoft Silverlight Technology



Dulles, VA .– AOL today launched a preview of its Windows Vista-ready gadget created using Microsoft Silverlight technology. The “AOL Social Mail Gadget,” first introduced at MIX ‘07 and now available at http://dev.aol.com/mail, offers users one-click access to email, the AIM service, photos and video directly from the Windows Vista desktop.



AOL Mail users with Windows Vista will be able to download, use and customize the Gadget to meet their personal preferences. Designed to keep people in touch with their individual A-List – the people they communicate with the most and want to respond to as soon as possible – the AOL Social Mail Gadget automatically scans through a user’s inbox to identify the five people they communicate with most frequently. Users have the option of adding or removing someone from the list or changing the list during the day, and can email or instant message anyone on the list with one click.



“The AOL Social Mail Gadget gives users a new way to keep in touch with everyone on their A-Lists – at home and at work,” said Richard Landsman, Senior Vice President, Email Product Development, AOL. “This new social interface for Mail offers full AIM, pictures and video integration, and gives users the ability to find out what is happening with their friends and family in a single click.”



In addition to offering instant access to email and IM, the AOL Social Mail Gadget also gives users immediate access to photos and videos sent to them by people on their current A-List. It offers a preview of picture and video files that have been received, and allows users to click on and view them through the Gadget with Silverlight technology.



“The AOL Social Mail Gadget is another great example of how easy it is for our customers and industry partners to use Microsoft Silverlight to rapidly develop the types of highly interactive experiences customers demand,” said Brian Goldfarb, group product manager of the Web /Client UX Platform & Tools Team at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft continues to be delighted by the myriad ways industry partners such as AOL are using Microsoft Silverlight to deliver enhanced user experiences on the Web.”



The AOL Social Mail Gadget can be easily personalized by individual users. AOL offers two standard designs featuring surfboards and guitars, but gives users the ability to re-skin the Gadget to reflect their own unique personalities and passions. AOL plans to expand its template of standard designs in the future, and will provide instructions for developers and end-users to create their own skins.



Availability

The Gadget will be available on http://dev.aol.com/mail for the next several weeks, and will eventually become available on the company’s beta site at http://beta.aol.com.