America Online is developing new ways of accessing the popular online service including hybrid Internet-television content and high-speed access.

Without announcing a timetable, AOL - as part of its AOL Anywhere strategy - is in the "development and testing stage" of a service called AOL TV.

The company is discussing high-speed access options with cable and telecommunications companies, said spokeswoman Tricia Primrose.

"Our vision of all of this is not putting AOL or putting web pages on television. The television has a very sacred place. People are not going to toss out their TVs," Ms Primrose said. "What we do believe is that elements of the interactive world can be used to greatly enhance the television experience."

She said the companies envisage users watching a sports match and being able to pull up a list of friends to chat with online during the game. The company is working to develop such a device to reach the estimated 75% of Americans that are not online, she said.

Presently, most Internet users connect using a PC and an analogue modem, but that is changing. As part of its AOL Anywhere initiative, the company plans to bring the online service to a myriad of devices.

The company is exploring not only set-top box technology providing integrated online and television content but Net-enabled telephones, wireless devices and electronic message boards on people's refrigerators.

The company is vague about when these new services and products will be available both in the United States and internationally. "We're at the early stages of this in the market place and the adoption of new electronic devices generally takes several years," Ms Primrose said.

AOL flexes its muscles

AOL has reached the point where it is "flexing muscles planning and driving content to next layer," said Harry Fenik, vice president of analysis for Internet consultants Zona Research.

"Net access will not only be freed from PC but freed from anything we currently understand as devices. Every company on the hardware side is rushing madly trying to figure out what the next big appliance is going to be."

The number of net-enabled devices will explode

"We expect tons of these things to come out," he said, from general-use handheld computers to devices with specific applications such as inventory and remote data collection.

Companies such as AOL will determine the winners. "The areas of explosion will be driven by the AOL of the world," Mr Fenik said.

Ending the world-wide wait

But as Internet content becomes richer, it requires more bandwidth.

AOL's 14 million subscribers now access the service using relatively slow analogue modems, but cable companies and telecommunications providers are starting to deploy high-speed access options in volume.

The Washington Post reported that AOL is discussing high-speed access options with several regional telephone companies that provide local service in the US.