AOL Time Warner on Tuesday released a Web-based version of its popular ICQ instant messenger, allowing access to the service from any computer with an Internet connection and a browser.
ICQ Lite lets people log on and access contact lists from a Web site, while AOL also released a version of ICQ for Mac OS X, coinciding with the release of an OS X-compatible version of its America Online service.
"The new versions of ICQ make it even easier and more convenient for users to stay in touch in real time from wherever they are and in a variety of different ways," Jim Bankoff, president of AOL Web properties, said in a statement
This is not AOL Time Warner"s first Web-based IM service. AOL launched a Web-based version of its AOL Instant Messenger, called AIM Quick Buddy, nearly two years ago. The product has since been upgraded and renamed AIM Express.