Plug-ins liven up AOL e-mail, bridge to Yahoo Mail

AOL revamped its online e-mail site, giving it a right-hand pane that features plug-ins to show AOL content--and Yahoo Mail.

The pane features immediate access to information from AOL Finance, MapQuest, AOL Radio, TMZ, and AOL Elections, said AOL Mail Vice President Roy Ben-Yoseph on the company's AOL Mail blog Wednesday. "The Yahoo plug-in on AOL Mail allows users to preview Yahoo Mail within the AOL Mail experience, as well as take advantage of one-click access to their Yahoo Mail accounts," Ben-Yoseph said.

The Yahoo Mail plug-in is the first of other third-party plug-ins the company expects.

"Over the next few weeks, expect to see more third-party content on mail.aol.com, as we continue to open up our service to offer one-click access to other popular sites, e-mail providers, and content," he said. "Our goal has always been to deliver the best of the Web by opening up our service, we can now offer users a one-stop destination for mail, messaging, and content."

Meanwhile, a revamped Yahoo.com home page lets people check their AOL Mail. How fortuitous for users, if the companies should actually merge.