Dulles, Va. - Needing to tighten its belt, AOL plans to discontinue its AOL Pictures photo service, its BlueString multimedia composition tool and the Xdrive file storage and backup service in December, Ars Technica reported.

The site said that the company, which maintains a large presence in Dulles, plans to inform customers next week.

The news comes just weeks after AOL announced the closing of its AOL Journals and AOL Hometown services.

Photos stored through AOL Pictures reportedly will remain through June, when users will be able to either move their photos to American Greetings PhotoWorks or purchase a DVD archive.

Owner Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) revealed last month that advertising at AOL has slipped considerably in recent weeks, hurt by the struggling economy.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/4saxs (Ars Technica)

http://snipurl.com/4say9 (TechCrunch)