AOL Open Mobile Platform (OMP) - Keeping You Informed

Dulles June 9, 2008 - With 59 business days to the Open Mobile Platform 0.5 August 31, 2008 release, there is a whirlwind of activity spread across AOL development teams in Seattle, Dulles, Bangalore Development Center (BDC) and Beijing. OMP 0.5 will be released to the open source community with five reference applications including a MapQuest client, a Bluestring uploader application, an AIM client using OpenAIM, an RSS reader and an LBS application. User documentation will also be included with the 0.5 release. Developer documentation includes OMP Primer/Getting Started, Installation and Configuration, an MML (Mobile Markup Language) Reference Guide and Intergrating with AOL Services guide.

In the early summer of 2007, AOL purchased Air Media, a mobile development company that targeted the broad midsection of the mobile device market commonly called feature phones. (Feature phones today comprise 80% of the mobile market.) Given the wide variation in processors, memory availability and screen capability in the mobile market, the solution that was architected is a thin client, fat server approach. This approach moves most of the requisite processing to the server while the mobile device displays output using Mobile Markup Language. Device variations are handled by the server using WURFL device data.

The February 2008 announcement of the AOL Open Mobile Platform in Barcelona has drawn significant interest from experienced mobile developers. Placing OMP in the open source community with a least restrictive license (Apache 2.0) appeals to developers who want control over their intellectual property. As part of the 0.5 release, developers can leverage AOL Open APIs and services in their applications. OMP will also provide developers with the ability to monetize applications via Third Screen Media advertisements.

In 2007, 1.12 billion mobile devices were sold worldwide. The target market for mobile developers is extraordinary. A mobile application can complement a desktop application, extend a web application or be targeted solely for the mobile device. The mobile device is nearly always within reach 24 hours a day whether we are in business meetings, driving to the golf course, sitting in church or relaxing at the pool. There are a myriad of opportunities available for developers and business managers.

If you would like to have an overview of OMP, how OMP can benefit you or just a chat about our roadmap, please complete and submit this form. An OMP team member will contact you.

Jai Jaisimha is the OMP executive sponsor, Core engineering is led by Chip Millson in Seattle while John Nicholas in Dulles leads the OMP operational team.