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AIM Now (Mostly) Open To Developers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on

gregsblog writes "Today is a historic day at AOL as we announced a software development kit for AOL Instant Messenger. Open AIM will empower you, as the developer, to write custom clients and plugins. For now, lets concentrate on the Open AIM SDK and get into what it can do for you. First, the development kit is written using COM, so plugins and custom clients can be written for Windows in languages like C++, VB, C#, and eventually J-Script. In the near future we will have solutions for LINUX, MAC and Windows Mobile devices. Why is this important? We now have a solution to provide all AIM users and consumers to build their own IM clients and to extend the features of Triton via plugins. Of course all of this is free of charge. How do I get started? Well my team has provided a quick start guide, and tutorials, in addition to numerous coding examples, from the simple to the complex. Our examples are in C++ and C#. What are the limitations? Basically anything goes, with the exception of writing multi-headed clients."

5 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Re:That's great but what about step 3? by Lord+Satri · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maybe there's no step 3 in regards to instant messaging. With Jabber being open and being used more and more (Google Talk is a Jabber account), with tools such as Gaim (heck, even with iChat you can connect to all IM protocols), I fail to see how any corp could be making money out of instant messaging protocols...

    --
    Animoog.org
  2. Re:Well, that'll change everything... by inerte · · Score: 3, Informative

    Definitively. I've seem some phones that can connect to MSN to send and receive messages, but you have to pay for each.

    SMS + IM integration is a gold mine for telcos, and a rogue developer plus a small subscription based website/service can probably pull lower prices. Don't want that happening :)

    --
    Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
  3. Not OPEN at all! by capnal · · Score: 5, Informative

    From AIM's FAQ:

    Q: Are there any restrictions on what I can build?
    A: We tried to make the Open AIM Program as restriction-free as possible, but in order to help protect our network and users, certain rules apply. We have highlighted some below, but please refer to the Developers License Agreement for details.

            * Developers are not permitted to build Custom Clients that are multi-headed or interoperable with any other IM network.
            * Custom Clients developed for use on a mobile device or via a wireless telecommunications carrier's network and/or wireless services require separate licensing and business agreements with AOL. Any inquiries regarding mobile applications should be sent to AIMCommercial@aol.com.
            * Custom Clients designed for sale to a corporate customer base or to serve a corporate employee base require separate licensing and business agreements with AOL. Any inquiries regarding enterprise use should be sent to AIMCommercial@aol.com.

  4. The "official" mac client: by Kadin2048 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I think that iChat is the "official" AIM client on Mac OS X. Back when it first came out, there was much hoopla about Apple having reached some sort of agreement with AOL, which I assume probably involved a gym bag stuffed with cash or a horse's head in somebody's waterbed, that allowed them to make a non-AOL but still completely interoperable client.

    You'll notice that unlike Gaim, and like the official AIM client, iChat does all the file transfer and direct connect stuff without problems (almost all the time, so basically in the same situations that the AIM program would).

    I think this is why AOL's Mac OS X efforts have been effectively suspended -- Apple is doing it for them.

    And frankly, given what a pile of turds the AOL client always was, I'm quite happy that they leave it this way.

    --
    "Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
  5. Re:Excellent openness... but what about... by juberti · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes. The rules have changed. That is why this is a big deal.

    Any client that properly identifies itself (i.e. does not claim to be an official AIM client and uses an Open AIM key), and conforms to the AIM Developer EULA, will be allowed to use the AIM network, regardless of whether or not they use our SDK.

    Now, the SDK provides A LOT of functionality, including full support for file transfer, image sharing, voice, video, security - things that would take a long time to get working right if you are starting from the base protocol - so I recommend that you use the SDK.

    More info: http://journals.aol.com/juberti/runningman

    Justin