America Online (AOL) has launched its India portal to offer next-generation e-mail service with unlimited storage and spam blocking.

The company said that the Web site, www.aol.in, offers a host of Web services such as instant messenger, Google search, videos, Bollywood channels, City Guides, education, international music, and access to mobile devices for e-mails, chat, and downloads.

Speaking on the occasion, Ron Grant, President and Chief Operating Officer of AOL, said, "Our next-generation e-mail service is the first of its kind being offered worldwide on AOL, even before its introduction in the US and Europe. Our Indian software development team played a key role in developing the software for this unique mail service."

Besides regular features, the portal provides users a wide range of content, including video and special channels dedicated to news, movies, Cricket, Hollywood, plus an online expert advice service called 'Guru' channel.

The e-mail service comes with high security protection against viruses and industry-led spam blocking. The messenger service comes with unique features such as offline messages, picture sharing, personalization, group messaging, and access to multiple e-mail IDs.

The portal will soon launch mobile communication and an infotainment suite for Wap mail to access mails on mobile devices, and extend the messenger to devices such as SMS.

Maneesh Dhir, Executive Vice President (International) of AOL, said that by launching the India-centric portal, AOL is making a strong statement about the importance of India to its global firm in the online world.