Plaxo and AOL/AIM now better integrated
Plaxo announces integration with AOL/AIM today. (via Mark Jen)
From the press release:
[...] The net result for all will be a universal and up-to-date address book that can be used at home, at work, and on the road, and which provides the accurate contact and presence information necessary for all digital communications. [...]
...
Pricing and Availability
Both AOL and Plaxo will make the integrated features available at no additional charge to their subscribers and registered users. A public beta of the joint technology will be available from America Online, Inc. later this year.
Ooh! Does this really mean that AOL members can now get Plaxo for free? Or, does this mean "if you're an AOL member AND a Plaxo subscriber, you get this new feature at no additional charge" -- which is still nice, but not nearly as cool as a cross-sell partnership between AOL and Plaxo.
Reposting a comment from Stacy Martin (Plaxo Privacy Officer) left on my Blogspot blog:
Stacy Martin said...It's both.
The basic Plaxo service is free and will remain free. Both AOL and Plaxo will make the integrated features available at no additional charge to subscribers and registered users.
Both Plaxo and AIM can be used independently of each other, but AIM and AOL users will have the option of using the AOL Universal Address Book powered by Plaxo to create a single unified address book accessible through AIM, AOL, or Plaxo.
The new software will enable AOL members, AIM users and Plaxo members to detect AIM presence information from within Outlook and Outlook Express. The familiar AOL Running Man icon will appear in contact lists and e-mail headers to let users know when AIM buddies are online and available to chat.
Hope this helps,
Stacy Martin
Plaxo Privacy Officer
privacy @t plaxo.com
