The redesigned MSN service is scheduled to be deployed next month and will be discussed more fully in this column then.

Microsoft has been pursuing a Web portal strategy with its MSN service with little success.

Ants was created in 1996 as a proprietary game for Microsoft's MSN service.

Until very recently Microsoft had no instant-messaging subscribers on its MSN on-line service.

The center hosts a technical support team for MSN services.

Its subscription revenue was down 2 percent and subscribers to the MSN service remained flat, at eight million.

It will be promoted with a $400 rebate for customers who commit themselves to a three-year, $21.95-a-month subscription to the MSN service.

Microsoft, too, is looking to refashion its MSN service as a premium add-on for customers with broadband service from local companies.

Despite heavy investment, however, the company has stopped giving out numbers on its subscriber base for the MSN service.

Compaq has introduced a similar device, in conjunction with Microsoft's MSN service.