AOL kicks off email fightback with Project Phoenix

AOL is previewing a refreshed version of its Mail client as it looks to regain some of the ground lost to rivals such as Google and Yahoo in the webmail space in recent years.

The company said that Project Phoenix has been redesigned from the ground up, and will be used as a key weapon in AOL's efforts to reinvent itself and its products.

"Email remains one of the most vital communication tools despite the new sites and apps available to consumers today," said Brad Garlinghouse, president of AOL's consumer applications group.

"There is still so much innovation to be done in the space, and Project Phoenix is just the tip of the iceberg. We see a huge opportunity to disrupt email. AOL is the company that brought everyone online, and now we're making it simpler and more enjoyable to be there."

Some 45 per cent of all AOL web traffic comes from its email users, and the firm is looking to exploit this loyalty to make it more relevant.

For example, a new Quick Bar lets users update Facebook or Twitter from their inbox, while the client also acts as an aggregator for other services including Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail.

This latter feature is supported by a single search option that makes it easy to retrieve documents from any inbox or folder, AOL said.

Users can select the domain of their choice, and AOL suggested possible options including love.com, wow.com and games.com.

A premium service offers customer support, unlimited storage, POP and IMAP email, and the ability to sent attachments of up to 25MB. Interested parties can sign up for the beta now.

AOL could face competition from an unlikely source as rumours suggest that Facebook is to unveil its own email application.

Facebook has sent invitations to the media for an event today, but was unable to confirm to V3.co.uk exactly what will be announced.