AOL Introduces BlueString

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AOL today announced the availability of a beta version of BlueString (www.BlueString.com), the first free Website that enables users to easily upload, store, manage, create and share all of their digital media – photos, videos and music – stored on sites across the Web.

“Consumers are trying to combine and work with digital media that is scattered across their PCs, various desktop applications and several online services”

BlueString provides the ability to manually or automatically upload photos, videos and music and easily create rich multimedia shows to share with family and friends. An innovative feature called "String it" makes it easy to collaborate, allowing several people to add media assets to one show.

BlueString offers up to 5GB of free online storage and beginning this fall, will give users the ability to link directly to video clips and photos from a number of leading third party media sharing sites without having to upload or move them. Any user with an active email address from any provider can easily register to use this product for free.

"Consumers are trying to combine and work with digital media that is scattered across their PCs, various desktop applications and several online services," said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL. "BlueString offers a simple, one-stop solution for personal media storage and management. For the first time, we’re making it possible for people to access, combine and share all of their personal media from a single application for free.”

With BlueString, users can easily:

• Preserve their online media: BlueString automatically preserves photos, videos and music in an online account, and allows for quick and easy upload of all media types. Users automatically receive 5GB of free online storage for photos, videos and music, with the ability to upgrade to 50GB ($99 per year).
• Access their media from anywhere: BlueString offers a single point of access to photos, videos and music through a single application.
• Share their media privately: BlueString allows users to invite private groups of friends and family to view their personal media collection or even embed their media on a Website or blog.
• "String It”: Users can express themselves through their personal media by creating a show and inviting others to add their own photos, videos or music to it, while maintaining the level of access recipients have to edit or add to a specific show. Multiple users can string together photos or videos from one event or photos taken over time to create a lasting memory. Strings can be updated easily and changed as new photos or videos are captured.

Created by AOL and powered by Xdrive, the first Beta release of BlueString is currently available at www.BlueString.com.

About AOL

AOL® is a global Web services company that operates some of the most popular Web destinations, offers a comprehensive suite of free software and services, runs one of the country's largest Internet access businesses, and provides a full set of advertising solutions. A majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., AOL LLC is based in Dulles, Virginia. AOL and its subsidiaries also have operations in Europe, Canada and Asia. Learn more at AOL.com.