There seems to be an announcement every few days now from AOL about some new service or convenience. I am pleased and wish them well (my sister works there), but I can't help but wonder at the timing: why couldn't they improve the sevice and value to customers BEFORE the business started going down the toilet? I guess that's just reality - pride comes before a fall.

Anyway, cool-sounding new email service:

A company spokesman for the online division of AOL Time Warner Inc. said it started previewing the new product, "AOL Communicator," last week and will market it this summer. AOL subscribers can download it from the service for free.

AOL Communicator integrates features from two of AOL's most popular services — instant messenger and e-mail — and is targeted at heavy users of e-mail, including college students, small business owners and techies.

....With AOL Communicator, users can read all their e-mail — including those to their AOL account, as well as mail to their work or college account, for example --- in one place.

It also lets users send and receive e-mail from their "buddy lists" for instant messaging rather than opening up e-mail to do so, and AOL Communicator tries to control junk mail better by separating unwanted bulk mail that slips through AOL's other spam filters. [Reuters]