AOL Instant Messenger for Cingular Users

The USA's Cingular Wireless has announced the launch of Mobile Instant Messaging for Cingular customers using AOL Instant MessengerT (AIM) and ICQ services. The expanded partnership with America Online lets Cingular customers see when their friends, family and colleagues are online and are able to send and receive real-time text messages on their wireless phones.

Access to the AIM and ICQ services will allow Cingular customers to easily use their wireless phones to manage their AOL Buddy Lists, check presence and availability of friends and family, and instant message with anyone in the AOL instant messaging community, for a true mobile IM experience.

"The popularity of instant messaging has grown significantly and we're excited to give our customers the additional convenience of easy mobile instant messaging wherever they go," said Marc Lefar, Chief Marketing Officer, Cingular Wireless. "Offering our customers with a full set of AIM and ICQ capabilities directly on their wireless phone gives them another way to customize their mobile communications."

In September 2003, Cingular and America Online launched PC-To-Mobile (through SMS) and IM Forwarding services to ensure that Cingular subscribers were able to communicate with the millions of people using text messaging services and that their important instant messages would be forwarded to their mobile phones. This announcement builds on these features while offering full instant messaging capabilities that are built into their wireless phones, including the ability to view presence and enjoy a seamless, real-time text conversation.

Beginning November, the AIM and ICQ services will be available on select Cingular instant messaging enabled phones, including the Nokia 3595, 3300, 3100, and 3200 phones. PC-To-Mobile messaging will continue to be available on all Cingular two-way text messaging capable phones. Cingular will rollout additional Mobile IM-capable wireless phones throughout the year and beyond.

Additionally, the two companies have launched the first mobile instant messaging compatible client based on the Wireless Village open standard, a universal specification for mobile instant messaging and presence services used for exchanging messages and presence information between mobile devices and Internet-based instant messaging services. This standard makes it easier for wireless providers such as Cingular to develop and implement Internet-based applications like instant messaging.

The AIM and ICQ services are priced as part of the customers' Cingular text messaging package."

Posted to the site on 12th November 2003