AOL launched the next version of its acquired instant messenger application, ICQ 5 Beta.

The new version of ICQ includes new Push To Talk feature which allows PC to PC Call and enhanced ICQ Video, new Skins, Dual screen support and full screen games support.

ICQ 5 Beta is available at: http://www.icq.com/beta/

Microsoft Corp. today introduced a beta version of its new MSN® Toolbar Suite, with desktop search functionality that helps consumers quickly find virtually any type of document, media file or e-mail message on their Windows®-based personal computer. Now consumers don’t have to spend valuable time sifting through an enormous amount of information; instead, they can quickly find precisely what they need. The integrated suite of tools streamlines the process of finding and acting on information from PCs by combining the ease of a Web search with the richness and power of the PC environment.

The free suite of MSN search tools, available now at http://beta.toolbar.msn.com, is the latest development in a comprehensive MSN Search service that helps consumers more quickly find precisely what they are looking for and gives them more control over their search experience. The new MSN Toolbar Suite includes an updated version of the popular MSN Toolbar for Microsoft® Internet Explorer and new toolbars that are conveniently accessible through Windows and Microsoft Office Outlook®. The new toolbars include the MSN Deskbar for the Windows desktop, MSN Toolbar for Microsoft Office Outlook and MSN Toolbar for Microsoft Windows Explorer.

As part of its reincarnation, America Online Inc. is creating its own software for browsing the Web and playing movies and songs. It’s a question of staying relevant in an increasingly broadband world.

AOL got its start as a dial-up Internet service provider, connecting millions of first-time users with software that had to be installed on computers and often made some serious modifications to the operating system.

That approach no longer makes sense, said Kerry Pearce-Parkins, director of AOL Product Management. For one, corporations generally prohibit their employees from installing software. That means many subscribers can’t access AOL programming during the day.

And because broadband users get their Internet connection through a company other than AOL, they no longer need a software package that includes access tools.

That’s why AOL is building a standalone Web browser, while keeping an all-in-one package available for those who really want it.

The browser’s core will be Microsoft Corp.’s market-dominant Internet Explorer. Though AOL financed an organization behind a competing browser called Firefox, Pearce-Parkins said the company stuck with IE so users won’t have to make “a leap of faith.”
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Source: AP

The U.S. browser usage share of Firefox, the upstart Mozilla-based browser that has become a champion of the open source movement, has grown by more than a third over the past month, according to the latest independent study from WebSideStory.

In the one-month period from Nov. 5, 2004 to Dec. 3, 2004, Firefox’s online usage share grew from 3.03 percent to 4.06 percent. This compares to a gain of 13 percent during the previous month, from Oct. 8 to Nov. 5.

“Firefox’s gains are clearly accelerating,” said Rand Schulman, WebSideStory’s chief marketing officer. “Much of it has to do with the release of Firefox’s version 1.0 on November 9, after several months of offering a preview version. Firefox’s stated goal of gaining 10 percent of the market over the next year no longer seems unattainable.”

Firefox has made significant gains and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer’s usage share continues to fall in the United States. Between Nov. 5 and Dec. 3, Internet Explorer’s share dropped 1.09 percentage points to 91.80 percent, according to WebSideStory. This compares with a 0.32 percentage point drop the previous month. Since June 4, 2004, when IE’s usage share first began to drop due to security concerns, IE has lost a total of 3.68 percentage points.

* WebSideStory did not track the Firefox browser separately until Oct. 2004. The June 4, 2004, figure includes all Netscape and Mozilla-based browsers, including Firefox.