AOL 'CONTROL CENTER' TO OFFER CUSTOMIZED CONTENT

AMERICA ONLINE IS EXPECTED TO ANNOUNCE TODAY THAT IT IS TRANSFORMIMG IT'S PRIMARY WEB SITE, AOL.COM, FROM A PORTAL TO A CONTROL CENTER WHERE SUBSCRIBERS CAN ACCESS AND CUSTOMIZE THEIR CONTENT.

AOL IS ALSO SLATED TO UNVEIL AOL BY PHONE, WHICH WILL LET IT'S 25 MILLION MEMBERS CHECK THEIR E-MAILS,NEWS AND OTHER FEATURES USING VOICE COMMANDS FROM ANY PHONE.

THE NUMBER 1 SERVICE PROVIDER WILL MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENTS AT INTERNET WORLD IN NEW YORK IN TANDEM WITH THE UNVEILING OF IT'S AOL 6.0 SOFTWARE.

"WE ARE PHASING OUT AOL.COM. AS A PORTAL," SAYS JONATHAN SACKS, HEAD OF THE FLAGSHIP SERVICE.

AOL.COM IS THE THIRD MOST HEAVILY TRAFFICKED BEHIND YAHOO AND MSN, MEDIA METRIX SAYS, BUT MOST OF IT'S VISITORS ARE AOL MEMBERS WHO ARE AUTOMATICALLY SENT TO AOL.COM WHEN THEY WANT TO SERF THE WEB.

AOL MEMBERS ALSO USE AOL.COM TO ACCESS SUCH THINGS AS THEIR E-MAIL AND STOCK PORTFOLIOS WHEN THEY'RE AWAY FROM THEIR PC'S.

STILL A SMALL NUMBER OF AOL.COM VISITORS ARE NON-AOL MEMBERS SEEKING NEWS, SPORTS, WEATHER AND OTHER INFORMATION.

THE CONTENT WILL GRADUALLY DISAPPEAR AS AOL PROMOTES NETCENTER.COM, THE MORE SUCCESSFUL PORTAL OF ITS NEW NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS UNIT.

AOL.COM WAS INTENDED TO BE THE COMPANY'S WEB PRESENCE FOR NON-MEMBERS.

BUT, "IT'S VERY CLEAR AOL IS NOT THE BEST BRAND TO GO AFTER THAT MARKET," SAYS BARRY SCHULER, PRESIDENT OF AOL'S INTERACTIVE SERVICES.

HE NOTED THAT THE TECHNICALLY SAVVIER NON-AOL WEB SURFERS ARE MORE INCLINED TO FREQUENT NETCENTER, AN OLDER, MORE SOPHISTICATED SITE, THAN THE MAINSTREAM AOL.COM.

"AOL HOPED AOL.COM WOULD CATCH-ON WITH NON-AOL MEMBERS, BUT THEY REALIZED THAT WOULD BE VERY CHALLENGING, " SAYS ANALYST BRUCE KASREL OF FORRESTER RESEARCH.

AOL.COM TO BE RENAMED AOL ANYWHERE.COM ( THOUGH EITHER WEB ADDRESS WILL WORK ), WILL LET MEMBERS CUSTOMISE THEIR NEWS, SPORTS, TRAFFIC REPORTS AND OTHER FEATURES FOR THEIR CELL PHONES, PAGERS, INTERACTIVE TV AND OTHER GADGETS.

ANOTHER PIECE OF THE ANYWHERE STRATEGY IS AOL BY PHONE, WHICH WILL USE TEXT-TO-SPEECH TECHNOLOGY.

IT WILL BE INITIALLY FREE BUT WILL COST $4.95 A MONTH STARTING IN FEBRUARY.

YAHOO UNVEILED A SIMILAR PRODUCT EARLIER THIS MONTH.

AOL WILL ALSO ANNOUNCE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS BOOK THAT CAN BE ACCESSED FROM ANY DEVICE, AND A NEW HIGH SPEED ACCESS OFFERING THROUGH HUGHES, ITS SATELLITE PARTNER.

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