AOL expands multimedia reach

Couple interesting items involving AOL today. First, the company announced it has launched a new audio/video search feature while at the same time acquiring SingingFish, which creates such search technology. Both Microsoft and Real use the SingingFish search capability in their respective products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Also, AOL and Macromedia announced a partnership that will allow Flash developers to write applications that interact with AOL Instant Messenger and take advantage of the presence features it offers. The two companies are jointly developing an SDK that will allow Macromedia Central developers to add IM capabilities to their applications. It will also allow users to display their buddy lists inside Central user interface without having to launch a AIM application separately. The SDK should be available sometime next year.