AOL refreshes picture offering

America Online has relaunched its free photo-sharing service as AOL Pictures and has added new features.

The service offers consumers unlimited online digital-photo storage in original resolution and tools for creating photo albums. The original service, called You've Got Pictures, was launched in 1998. It currently has 6 million monthly visitors and stores almost 300 million photos, AOL said.

The company also announced a holiday offer for users. Up to 100 4-by-6-inch glossy or matte prints will be given free when ordered online, for a limited period, AOL said.

The AOL Pictures service is designed to let users store photos, access them from anywhere and share them via e-mail or instant messages, AOL said. Its features include an enhanced drag-and-drop function for transferring images from a computer elsewhere; tools for organizing photo albums; and a facility to access stored images through cell phones and other mobile devices.

Photo sharing and printing offerings on the Internet are growing in popularity, with companies adding new features to their services. Recently, Friendster expanded its service for sharing music and streamed video, in addition to photos. /p>

"AOL Pictures gives consumers a complete digital photo experience, with benefits like unlimited, free photo storage and integration with the AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) service and our blogging tools," David Liu, general manager of AOL.com, said in a statement.