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AOL launches open mobile platform
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 14 February 2008, 03:06 IST
AOL unveiled a mobile phone development platform at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The Open Mobile Platform comprises of tools and source code needed to build and distribute applications across operating systems, including BREW, Java, Linux, Research In Motion's BlackBerry OS, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile. The company plans to make the platform available to developers in the summer.
The AOL platform specifically consists of three components, an XML-based markup language, an ultra-lightweight mobile device client, and an application server. In addition, applications built with the platform can be integrated with third-party application programming interfaces, as well as with AOL's APIs for instant messaging, Web mail, online video, maps, and other services.
Developers also would be able to share ad revenue with AOL by displaying in their applications advertising supplied by the Web portal. Such ads would include clickable banner ads.
AOL continues to lag in the online advertising business, despite major investments by Time Warner. While its U.S. ad revenue in 2007 rose 18 percent from 2006, the increase was less than the overall online ad market, which increased by 21 percent to $19.97 billion, according to JupiterResearch.
AOL parent Time Warner last week said it would separate AOL's subscriber-losing dialup business, a move that analysts said could lead to a sale or spin off into a separate company.
AOL subscribers have left in droves as the company dropped most subscription fees in favor of ad-supported services on the Web portal. AOL's revenue dropped 33 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, due to a 52 percent decrease in subscription revenue. The decline was offset in part by the increase in ad revenue.
