Moving text across an xmpp gateway is easy. Areas they are sure to work on (or ignore):

• Avatar sharing
• Alias sharing
• Emoticon interop (and the over-the-top extensions)
• Presence sharing
• Privacy policy harmonization
• Dispute resolution policy and procedures
• SPIM (Spam over instant messaging) and SPIT (Spam over Internet telephony) prevention
• Directory lookup and user discovery interop
• Web link integration (can an AIM link launch GTalk, and vice versa)
• Encryption interop

Voice and video interop are likely out of scope in the first stage.

When the first stages of Microsoft+Yahoo! and GTalk+AIM IM interops reach completion, we'll see how important interop is to users. If it is, there will be huge pressure on Skype to open up gateways.

The other point of pressure on Skype to open: success of click-to-Skype advertising. eBay won't want to walk away from sales generated by AIM, GTalk, Yahoo! Messenger, QQ, Live Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Office Communicator users who want to talk to an eBay seller who uses Skype.

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I downloaded a copy to both my desktop and laptop, and tried the voice calling first. It's hard to tell when you're talking to yourself, but the pc2pc call quality for my setup (over wireless router connected to cable Internet) sounded fine. I don't have two webcams, so I didn't bother with that feature, but I did try the desktop sharing. It's considerably slow, but it works. In fact, it shares EVERYTHING on your computer, so you'd better be working with people you trust. For me, it's great because I work simultaneously on both computers and was only the other day wishing I could view my laptop screen from my desktop. Well now I can, and I can share apps and transfer files without sharing my hard drives or folders - which possibly opens up my private network to wireless lurkers.

While AOL's been making a play into the VoIP market for a while, I saw no ability to call-out to PSTN phones. So Skype and company have nothing to worry about. And AIM does not have an open interface AFAIK, so companies like Vozin aren't going to be able to build bridge applications like Talqer, which gives Google Talk call-out capability.) Also, desktop sharing isn't a new feature - MSN Messenger had it several years ago, and there have been other ways to manage desktops remotely since at least 1996, if not earlier. However, it's all in a nice, free package, withe recognizable brand name, which will no doubt make a lot of the people it's intended for (business professionals) comfortable using it, especially if they for some reason do not want to use MSN.

I haven't previously used AIM a great deal, I know very little about past versions. Because of contacts I communicate with, I do occasionally chat using Gaim or Trillian on my AIM account. But if I can figure out how to speed up app sharing and get it to use a larger area of my desktop's screen, I might use it simply for remote access to my laptop. If you do decide to try Aim Pro 1.1, keep in mind that you need MS Outlook 2000 and SP 4 (service pack) to utilize the Outlook integration.

Desktop-sharing speed issues aside, there is a great deal of potential for businesses to communicate with customers using AIM Pro. For example, Leader's Bank in Arlington Massachusetts is already using AIM (though not necessarily Pro 1.1) to let customers communicate with their bank manager. If a customer has a question about services, etc., text mode is fine. But if they are having some problems with a web-based service, the manager can open up application-sharing (without relinquishing control of the mouse cursor) and walk through the necessary steps. Alternately, if the customer knows the manager well, they could allow the manager to control their own desktop, if the situation warrants it.

How AIM's desktop-sharing compares to other IM clients, I don't know, but I'll work on a comparison for the future.

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Sure you can buy dial-up connections (and related services) and many will continue to do so, but for all practical matters from this point forward, its broadband or nothing.

Broadband, the platform not the service, is an omnipresent connection that has trained us to become intimate with the Google Search bar, spend hours on MySpace and get our just desserts on You Tube.

By throwing in the towel on its access business, AOL/Time Warner is telling all its $25-a-month paying customers: you can give this money to our competitors such as AT&T or Comcast, just keep using our friendly services. Either this is an incredibly astute strategy or simply the biggest corporate bungle since… well AOL & Time Warner merged.

Dick Parsons’ decision to tear down the (AOL) wall could go either way – just like the fortunes of the opposing super powers on two sides of the Berlin Wall. If online advertising continues to boom, it would be bouquets for Parsons, Jon Miller and AOL’s self proclaimed savior, Jason Calacanis. If the advertising market heads south, the trio would find themselves on the wrong side of the street.

Nevertheless, AOL’s decision is testament to broadband’s disruptive powers, and not even the biggest company with the deepest pockets is immune to it. Why? Because broadband causes behavioral change, and when a company can bottle that behavior change into a business model, it can make a lot of money. Google is a good example.

Thanks to broadband, Google is just a click away. We search, find and consume information; a marked shift from the old days when we went to destination sites and looked for what was available. Is it hard to imagine that in five years from now, most broadband users will expect real listings sans a map, and a video tour of the property. Or that online personals would come with an ability to chat, either via phone, IM or video.

AOL is simply seeing the writing on the wall. And changing … though the jury is still out on whether they can survive the change. Who’s next? Lets just say every Internet company from the pre-broadband era will need to reinvent, and rethink or lose everything. AOL, and a reluctant Time Warner are just the harbinger of the future.

Charts source: eMarketer

1. CNN, (that belongs to Time Warner), is working with Blip.TV, which has licensed its software to CNN for getting video news submissions from amateurs.
2. AOL has a deal and an investment in Brightcove.
3. AOL has its own internal video efforts. Remember they also bought Truveo, which I guess is part of the new video search service, which allows them to sell videos including content from competitors. AOL also has UnCut video which is like CNN Exchange.
4. Turner, a division of Time Warner, has invested in Revver.
5. Time Warner has also invested in Veoh.
6. Sports Illustrated, a magazine owned by Time Inc., the one that puts Time in the TW is working with Yahoo to do a video thing.

Now if that isn’t a bumbling strategy then what is! Why isn’t CNN using Brightcove? Or for that matter some version of UnCut Video. Why isn’t SI working with AOL. What the hell is the strategy here? When will they start selling The Sopranos and Entourage and all other HBO goodness? Okay, time to stop, and let you join in!

PS: Anyone willing to make a graphic of the frankenstein that is Time Warner’ online video strategy. Disclosure: I am a former Time Warner employee, and currently write a column for Business 2.0, a magazine that is part of Time Inc., a division of Time Warner.

We had asked this question nearly a month ago in the pages of Business 2.0 magazine. The frenzy clearly has gone to the next level. Amazon has jumped into the fray. More money is being pumped into the sector. Revvr for instance is getting more cash from Turner and Comcast. You Tube founders dream of an IPO.

All this on a Monday morning, makes one want to scream: Stop the madness!

Forget the video sharing sites for a minute, and instead lets focus on the pro-video content market. That’s essentially television shows and music videos for now, but movies are around the corner.

If you include AOL’s decision to sell videos for $1.99, you can buy this “pro” video content from Google, Amazon, AOL, Guba, FOX, and Apple along with scores of other sites. This content is mostly for PC viewing, though it will work on portable devices, such as iPod and Sony PSP.

This is reminiscent of the digital music market, which is chockfull of players with marginal market share. Apple’s iPod/iTunes dominates the market because it provides a stress free (some call it integrated) experience for the end user.

One stop shopping is a powerful concept, and as we see more and more “online video sales outlets” pop up, there is more than likely chance that consumers are simply going to gravitate to a stress free experience. This is precisely what Apple wants, sort of: now that you have tried the rest, how about just sticking to the best.

And as for the amateur video sharing sites… you don’t really need it spelled out.

Hitwise says the Netscape site has seen a 17% increase from the week ending June 24 to the week ending July 15th. Given, that might largely come from the site’s recent media attention, but, hey, at least they’re getting attention, which is more than the Netscape brand had before.

We’ll check back on the data in a few weeks and see if the site is still growing. What do you think of Netscape’s new site?

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It is expected to compete with Skype which is offering similar services through its desktop client but Skype users are required to pay an additional fee for receiving a phone number for their account. AOL is also planning to give a fight to MSN Spaces and MySpace with the launch of AIM pages which is a social networking service that alerts the user’s buddies through the AIM client when profiles are updated

via betanews

via  [TeleClick]

Wouldn't Vonage would be better off doing local mailings to target a broader audience? There is a huge demographic of broadband users that only use the Internet for email -- for staying in touch with friends/family and only some occasional surfing. Many parents, or those >45 years old fall into this category. A banner ad won't work on these people, since they don't surf enough, nor are they tech-savvy enough to realize the savings VoIP could bring them. So wouldn't it make sense to send a paper flyer to these folks that explains in layman terms how Vonage works and how much money could be saved? For these types of folks, I think you can do this with much more effectiveness using a paper promo flyer than a banner ad, especially considering web surfers are 1-click away from leaving a site.

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