AOL Announces Open Mobile Platform
Just when you thought AOL had nothing left to offer the world, they announce their Open Mobile Platform at the MWC in Barcelona. It will be available this summer and will provide developers “with ready access to the tools and source code they need to build and distribute applications across all major mobile device platforms and operating systems including BREW, Java, Linux, RIM, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.” The platform will include an XML-based language, mobile device client and an application server. Support will extend to AOL’s current API lineup for “AIM, AOL Mail, AOL Video, MapQuest, Userplane, Truveo, Winamp, and others.” Matt Asay from CNET is skeptical about the platform: “AOL is jumping into open source and offering a new mobile platform. The real news here, however, is that AOL still exists.. …While its new open-source mobile platform will comprise an XML-based, next-generation markup language, an ultra-lightweight mobile device client, and an application server, it will come without broad relevance and a compelling purpose. You need those last two things to be relevant to developers.” Source: Mashable