AOL July 22 launched two Google Android applications and opened a new smartphone portal and mobile Website to better compete with Google, Facebook and Twitter in the emerging mobile content market.
AOL July 22 moved to shore up its mobile
offerings, launching two Google Android applications and opening a new
smartphone portal and mobile Website.
The company, which is working hard to transform into an Internet-content
provider, is making a big bet on mobile to compete for eyeballs with Google,
Facebook and Twitter.
Many users are accessing the Web on the go from smartphones fitted with full
HTML Web browsers. Google, Facebook and Twitter now are vying to show these
mobile users online ads.
AOL's smartphone portal, m.aol.com,
supports HTML5 to render content as fast and fresh as any mobile Website.
Users with Apple's iPhone and Android smartphones will be able to rapidly
scroll through articles and content. Consumers will also be able to leverage
location-based services for local weather, movie, traffic and other content.
The
AOL Mobile Website
lets users select their iPhone, Android or Blackberry phone to see a list of
apps and properties the company supports.
The site also pulls content from AOL
properties such as Engadget, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, and AOL
News.
Finally, AOL is offering two Android
apps. An extension for the AOL Mobile
Website that users can download to their Android smartphone,
AOL
for Android helps users consume content from AOL's properties. Users can
also access AOL Mail and MapQuest.
The
AOL DailyFinance app for Android helps users track up to 25
portfolios and receive real-time stock quotes and financial news.
AOL Vice President of Mobile David Temkin
said AOL chose Android as
the go-to platform for these apps because "Android has emerged as a
top-tier smartphone platform."
"While we'll continue to focus on development for multiple mobile
platforms, this time, we are releasing an early version of an app on Android
first," he added.
The vote of confidence for Android over the prestigious Apple iPhone should
provide a boost for a platform with a third of the market share and an App
Store with more than 225,000 apps.
Android Market currently registers 70,000 apps, but manufacturers are
shipping 160,000 Android phones each day.
The market for tablets is an even greener field. Apple's iPad has stormed
its way to more than 3 million units shipped in three weeks.
Android
tablets are on the way from Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, and
even Google and Verizon.
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