AOL, Sun to begin cross-messaging tests

NEW YORK : AOL Time Warner Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. will begin testing for a way to allow users of their respective instant messaging services communicate with each other, an AOL spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Sun is the second company that the world's largest Internet and media company is working with on interoperability trials. This summer AOL Time Warner said it would work with IBM Corp.'s Lotus in such trials. Interoperability -- or enabling users to chat with users of other services -- has been a hot button issue ever since regulators' review of AOL's $106.2 billion purchase of Time Warner, which was completed in January.

The Internet and media giant has attracted the ire of rivals because its popular real-time chat services, ICQ and AIM, were not interoperable with other services, leading many of its rivals to call AOL Time Warner monopolistic and to create their own group to create interoperability.

However, many of those efforts have stalled. While the technology has been worked out, executives familiar with the groups have said that the process has been held up over deals, as well as the recent dot-com shakeout. The deal with Sun comes as both companies' rival, Microsoft Corp., prepares for the launch of its new XP operating system in which its messenger service will be integrated.

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