AOL launches updated AIM 6.0

New version ties in more closely with AIM Pages.

AOL has launched AIM 6.0, an enhanced version of its instant messaging service featuring deeper integration with the ISP's social networking offering.

AIM 6.0 offers a mobile dashboard to forward instant messages to users' mobile phones, and an expanded Buddy List which can now hold up to 1,000 contacts.

Offline Messaging enables users to send instant messages to offline users which they receive when they log on. Conversation Logging allows users to log and save text-based IM conversations.

Buddy Updates allows AIM users to inform buddies via RSS feeds when they have updated their accounts with YouTube, Digg, Flickr, Xanga and others.

Deeper integration with AIM Pages, which launched in limited beta in May, offers one-click access to the AIM Page from the Buddy List.

From this week, all AIM users now have an AIM Page, which is the ISP's social networking service.

"AIM is where our users go to chat with friends, share experiences and stay in constant touch with friends and family," said Marcien Jenckes, vice president and general manager for AIM and social networking at AOL.

"We built this brand new client with the needs of our users in mind, giving them the features that help them best manage their lives and their relationships within AOL's messaging community of more than 42 million users in the US."