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AOL takes reality TV to the next level with Project: Freshman Season Two

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bered.pngAOL’s youth lifestyle service RED has teamed with the University of Hawaii at Manoa to bring to life season two of its popular reality series Project: Freshman. The show, which will stream a new episode every Wednesday, features new students Elliott Winter, Sarah Riordan and Brianna “Bri” Lagat-Ramos, as they embark on college life.

AOL’s RED is an online hot spot for teens offering a wealth of content including viral videos, comics and anime, news, entertainment, games and music, as well as easy-to-use tools for blogging and socializing with friends.

Each student was given a video camera to document their personal experience – the good, the bad and the ugly – of heading to a new school. For thirteen weeks, RED will showcase the lives of these three teens from different parts of the country, as they begin their first semester away from home. Each student will also post commentary on their own RED blog.

“Project: Freshman is a must-see for any college freshman,” said Jacquie Moen, Vice President, AOL Kids and Teens. “We’ve teamed with real students whose reports are honest and refreshing and show kids what college is really like.”

Originally posted on October 4, 2007 @ 1:19 pm

AIM integrates with Bebo

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aim.gifAOL and Bebo, a global social networking site, has announced a worldwide alliance to deliver the AIM service to Bebo users. Existing Bebo and AIM users anywhere in the world are now able to directly connect or exchange contact information to invite each other to join their respective services.

With the integration of AIM with Bebo, an AIM icon will now automatically appear on a Beboer’s profile, and will indicate if the user
is signed on to AIM and available to chat. Beboers, regardless of whether they have an AIM screen name, can then initiate an instant message directly from a Bebo profile.

“As one of the largest instant messaging communities in the world, we’re always looking for new ways to make it easier for users to connect and communicate with the people they care about. As one of the top global social networks, we’re excited to work with Bebo to expand our reach in the fast-growing arena of social networking and to offer Beboers another way to communicate online,” said AOL Messaging & Social Media Sr. Vice President & General Manager Marcien Jenckes.

Originally posted on October 4, 2007 @ 6:58 am

Userplane provides Webrecorder to online publishers for free

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webrecorder.jpgUserplane, the application platform for online communities and a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, announced an upgrade to its Webrecorder, providing the application to online publishers as a free, ad-supported tool for the first time.

With Userplane Webrecorder, websites can enable their users to easily record and play back audio/video messages. Working seamlessly on any website and requiring only the highly accessible Flash plug-in, Userplane Webrecorder instantly recognizes any webcam and microphone without complicated configuration. Deployments include: users recording their own audio and video profile, sending and receiving audio and video mail, posting audio and video comments on blogs and profile pages, and 1-2-3 administration of site-wide audio and video help, announcements and news.

This recent upgrade to Webrecorder lets webmasters and publishers implement the tool with zero fees, thanks to the unobtrusive ads that accompany the application. Userplane takes care of the advertising, while website operators integrate the app with their websites via an XML API.

Originally posted on September 25, 2007 @ 7:11 pm

Disney-ABC Television Group and AOL ink deal to bring ABC’s primetime line-up to AOL Video

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aolvideo.jpgDisney-ABC Television Group and AOL announced the availability of full-length episodes of popular primetime shows on AOL Video. Delivered via a co-branded version of ABC.com’s broadband player, full episodes of ABC programs are available today and beginning next week will feature ABC’s new fall lineup of programming. The agreement marks the first time ABC’s primetime programming has been made available on a major portal and is also the first time a major portal has offered a full feature version of a broadcast network’s online video player.

Additionally, the two companies will team to offer select short form programming from ABC via an embedded short-form player, which will debut on AOL later this year. The short-form programming featured on the embedded player will include both original and derivative content from ABC.

Originally posted on September 20, 2007 @ 10:46 am

AOL launches Spanish portal

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aoles.jpgAOL Europe today announced the launch of AOL.es, a new dedicated portal service for Spain. AOL.es will be free to anyone using the Web and will offer email, instant messaging, photo and video services, in addition to exciting tailored content including local sports, entertainment and celebrity news.

AOL.es offers Spanish consumers an attractive online destination, which brings together a range of content, interactive services and safety features into one place. It will offer email with an unlimited storage option and unrivalled safety and spam protection, as well as integrated instant messaging and social networking applications, such as AOL Foto and AOL Video.

“We’re very pleased to be launching AOL.es. Spain is a rapidly growing online market, with high broadband penetration and huge opportunities for online advertising. Launching a dedicated portal here will help us compete for both users and advertisers. AOL has the heritage, the infrastructure and the scale to offer Spain a strong local portal that meets the needs of online users,” Dana Dunne, Chief Executive Officer of AOL Europe said.

Originally posted on September 19, 2007 @ 11:14 am