November 2, 2001
ICQ ("I Seek You"), the world's most popular online communications community and international service from America Online, Inc., today announced the worldwide launch of its latest product, ICQ 2001b, now available for download at http://www.icq.com. ICQ 2001b offers new and more convenient ways for users to communicate in real time with friends and family around the world as well as industry-leading wireless messaging tools. Since its pioneering role in offering the first Internet instant messaging software in 1996, ICQ has evolved into a complete communications portal with an avid and loyal community of over 115 million registered users worldwide.
"ICQ continues to raise the bar with the most powerful and convenient features for a truly unique communications experience. With the new 2001b client, ICQ members can tailor the service to their own needs, communicate with more people in more places and in more ways than ever before, and rely on it wherever they go," said Jim Bankoff, President of AOL Web Properties.
The new version of the popular ICQ service offers multiple enhancements to the service including:
-- More powerful and flexible instant messaging: The improved functionality of 2001b helps make instant messaging more fun while giving users more control over their privacy and greater customization options to tailor the service to their individual needs. Users can easily switch between simple or advanced modes, choose colors and sounds, and download new `skins.' New features include:
-- A graphically enhanced, easy-to-use Contact List;
-- An improved message window with a multilingual spell checker, and new emotions and smileys;
-- New "send" controls that allow users to send messages simultaneously as an instant message, an email or an SMS text message and to receive a response from any of these;
-- Customized and centralized security and privacy permissions;
-- New tools-on-demand that enable users to instantly add extra features without having to reboot or exit the program;
-- Additionally, ICQ 2001b is able to detect and access firewall settings, giving users greater freedom to use the product in a corporate environment.
-- A menu of services and tools seamlessly connecting users
across the world: Users can find and interact with friends, family, colleagues or people with similar interests all over the world by taking advantage of the new ICQ White Pages keyword search, Find-a-Friend and a simpler Contact List authorization process. Because the ICQ Contact List in 2001b resides on the ICQ server, users can now access their contacts anywhere, using any computer or mobile device, such as cellular phones and PDAs. New Shared Files, in addition to the existing File Transfer functionality, let ICQ users easily share directories and files with their friends, and ICQ also offers a free email service and ICQ Homepages for all registered users.
-- Wireless instant messaging across multiple devices, including cellular phones, PDAs and pagers: With the added convenience of SMS messaging, ICQ users can communicate anytime and anywhere, whether they are at their home computer or at the beach. ICQ is helping to speed the convergence of the Internet and mobile communications with compelling two-way SMS capabilities available through 220 wireless networks in more than 84 countries. Currently, more than 1.5 million SMS messages are sent between ICQ and SMS-enabled cellular phones every day.
2001b allows users to send SMS text messages in three ways: from ICQ to the cellular phone and back, from the ICQ Web messaging center site to the cellular phone and back and from any e-mail client to the cellular phone. Although the cellular phones receiving these messages must be SMS-enabled, the recipients do not need to be ICQ members. ICQ also supports two-way SMS text messaging on select GSM enabled carriers and non-GSM networks around the world and allows users to send messages to wireless pagers. With the popularity of text messaging quickly on the rise in the U.S., ICQ is continuously updating its wireless services and features to meet its users needs.
"2001b will make it even easier for our 115 million users to communicate with their friends, family and colleagues. As a pioneer in the instant messaging space, we are continuing to take advantage of the newest wireless technologies to ensure that our users can connect and communicate with each other no matter where they are. Our ICQ SMS offering has really taken off, and we expect to see prolonged growth as we continue to improve the service based on our users' needs," said ICQ co-founder Yair Goldfinger.
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