Longtime Internet pioneer, AOL today matured its mobile platform with a two new applications for Android handsets and an HTML5 version of the AOL Mobile website for smartphones. The new site — still found at http://m.aol.com — now supports richer content and media on handset browsers supporting HTML5. While it’s not surprising that AOL is looking to support advanced devices such as smartphones, the selection of Android over iPhone for the new software title is notable.

Speaking of Mobile Strategy...

It is an interesting choice and certainly not a bad one specifically due to the momentum of the Android platform. They can follow this with an iPhone app and not even miss a beat.

I like it because they are not following the crowd. It shows both leadership and independent thinking... Although we don't have visibility into all the reasons why AOL chose Android over the iPhone it does put a marker on the ground and shows they are thinking things through and not bowing down to the buzz.

I like it.

A few years ago in speaking with customers their priority for development was:
- BlackBerry
- iPhone

Then it became:
- iPhone
- Android
- BlackBerry

Will it soon become...
- Android
- iPhone
- ... and maybe BlackBerry?

RIM started publicly talking about Super Apps on Tuesday of this week, though its been an internal idea for about 4 months. The idea is that rather than having each application in App World being a separate island, that apps should have a huge level of interoperation. Mike specifically said that they don’t want a thousand apps on a phone when just the right ten apps would do.

The primary example is the currently most used app on Blackberry: the Inbox. Yes, the humble email inbox is the most wanted aspect of a RIM device. Blackberry wants to make Inbox into a Super App by by having high quality, highly integrated apps included in it. For example - apps for scheduling, IM, VoIP, mobile internet and more can be built into Inbox in the form of clickable icons along the top of the screen. Rather than having each app being a standalone “island”, Blackberry wants them to be bundled together in inter-connected ways that make using them far faster and simpler.

This is fully open, so 3rd party developers can build their own stuff into existing RIM apps - and RIM claims it won’t even wield the “banhammer” too much. It wants to leave the success or failure of a third party app up to the market (although old rules like “no gambling, no porn” still stand).

RIM showed off one example of an app it says really gets the whole idea. Poynt is a free local search app for Blackberry, which integrates other services into itself at every point. If you want to find a movie, it will pull in weather updates, location-based service and email links. It will let you add the movie to your calendar app, feed it into a mapping app to figure out the route and (of course) buy the ticket.

What we think?

The “scheduling your movie” feature should be enough to show how business oriented the whole Super App idea is. These are not apps designed to be sexy or cool - they are apps designed to be ultra-functional. RIM isn’t even going to really publicise these until it already has a very solid line up of Super Apps ready for market. After that we’ll see a lot of promo from RIM based on getting that out.

Whether or not this Super App idea is a success really depends on whether the eventual applications are good or not - but I do like the way RIM is thinking. This isn’t a mindless leap onto the app bandwagon. This is RIM looking at a massively successful mobile service, and plotting out a way in which it might be made to work for Blackberry. Because Blackberrys may run on an OS, but they ain’t your typical smartphone.

This idea definitely captures my interest like no other news coming from any device manufacturer in a long time. Although not used, the operative word for me here is 'integration.' The integration of a few select and highly desirable apps into the 'inbox' seems like a good idea to me. Of course it all depends on the actual developers and the applications they build, but I am sure something of value will come out... especially when we start thinking at the enterprise level. Apps that integrate directly into my workflow are the ones that I will go be going after.

What's the use of having hundreds of thousands of applications that are of no value to me? When 5 well integrated apps into my processes will catapult my business into the next level?

In a series of patents filed recently, it seems RIM is working on methods for monetizing BlackBerry messages. One patent, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INCORPORATING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT INTO A MESSAGE HANDLED BY A MOBILE DEVICE“, describes a method for examining a message and linking keywords in the message to an ad. This sounds just like what Google does in its webmail and RIM is probably going to see if it can generate some dollars from a similar service.

Another patent, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR EVALUATING ADVERTISING METRICS“, describes a method for determining whether an application or user has attempted to defraud RIM’s advertising model. Personally, I think RIM could do well with a partnership with Google, instead of trying to do it themselves. Google has figured all of this out already and I bet RIM will come across some of the same problems Google faced in its early stages of development. One particular problem I see on the horizon is a backlash from people seeing ads in their BlackBerry Messages. Email is a very private service and while Google saw a backlash from their web service, I think seeing ads on your handheld will generate more concern.

What do you think, would you care about seeing ads in your email? What if there was some benefit like cheaper devices in the long run?

This would never affect BES users. So that's okay for my BES email. But I certainly do not want to see ads in my BIS emails. This would be enough to make me finally streamline all of the different email addresses I use.

The new tools allow Google Apps Premier and Education Edition administrators to manage enterprise smartphones directly from the Google Apps control panel, without having to deploy additional third-party mobile device management software offered by vendors like Sybase iAnywhere and Good Technology (formerly Visto).

IT administrators can lock down and remotely wipe data from lost or stolen mobile devices and establish more complex password administration protocols. Google Apps Premier business customers pay $50 per user per year, while educational institutions receive the service free.

Google Apps supports almost every device on the market today, including RIM BlackBerry with the introduction last year of its Connector for Blackberry Enterprise Servers. However, interestingly, Google has yet to produce enhanced security and mobile management support for RIM BlackBerry or even its own Android phones like the Droid and its recently unveiled Nexus One.

When it comes to entering the enterprise, Google’s moves, so far, appear deliberate and calculated. Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported Google plans on launching an online business software store packed with third-party applications that seamlessly integrate with Google Apps, which may replace today’s Google Solutions Marketplace. Google would not confirm the plans, saying only, “We're constantly working with our partners to deliver more solutions to businesses, but we have nothing to announce at this time.”

The company also remains mum on when it will commit fully to an enterprise Android strategy. A Google spokesperson told Channel Insider, “To date, Android-powered phones have been targeted toward consumers. Future versions of Android will introduce more functionality for IT managers to deploy enterprise devices, which will be of particular interest to our Google Apps customers.”

Google’s silence is not stopping some business-to-business software developers and VARs from supporting Android, however. DataViz, the creator of Documents to Go and RoadSync, is experiencing substantial success in the Android Market, telling Channel Insider that it is close to reaching 500,000 downloads of its introductory version in the Android Marketplace. The company’s software also comes preloaded on RIM BlackBerrys, and supports Symbian-powered phones and iPhone.  DataViz also offers an enterprise version of its software, complete with volume licensing. The company has a variety of resellers like CDW and Insight.

Good Technology, a provider of enterprise mobile security and device management software as well as mobile e-mail and collaboration software, recently announced its support for Android. Good faces an uphill battle as its offerings are slowly being challenged with the release of the ActiveSync protocol and bundled versions of mobile device management and security offerings by Microsoft and Google.

Enterprise mobile application and platform provider Antenna Software supports Android as well, and sees the growing pervasiveness of Android in the enterprise as key to its business.

“Overall, we believe very much that device diversity is a wonderful thing—people love choice, and the fact that Google is creating choice is great for the market. We see a good amount of interest and pull for Android from our customers,” says Jim Somers, Antenna’s chief marketing and strategy officer.

The mobile OS wars continue to provide sport and plenty of blood-letting for those interested, and the fun is only beginning. Apple and Microsoft are facing a massive threat with the increased adoption of Android and Google Apps. Apple CEO Steve Jobs thinks he knows what Google wants, telling employees recently, “Make no mistake, they want to kill the iPhone.” Jobs continued, using an expletive to describe Google’s “Don’t Be Evil mantra,” which the search giant quietly dropped last spring.

Time will tell, but if Google’s early 2010 moves are any indication, the mobile enterprise is set clearly in the company’s sights.

Google is not going to ignore enterprise mobility. It is too big an opportunity to pass by.

As a Google Apps user I welcome any and all improvements to the Google Solutions Marketplace which is not very user friendly or intuitive. In fact it is the main reason I haven't really extended my Google Apps beyond the basic stuff.

It may be suddenly fashionable to say so, but the new Apple iPad tablet won’t kill the Kindle from Amazon. Here are three reasons. My colleague, Nick Bilton, has weighed in on this topic from the opposite side. Please add your thoughts in the comments section below.

The Kindle is for book lovers, and the iPad is not.

Sure, the Kindle’s potential market may have shrunk today, since the two-books-a-year folks will now choose the more versatile iPad.

But the Kindle (and other devices with E Ink screens) will continue to be the best device for lovers of long-form reading, period. (And they do love it; check the Kindle forums for the passion of Kindle owners.) The iPad’s backlit screen, higher price and more limited battery all make it a poorer choice for curling up with a novel.

Also, there’s the distraction factor. When you read a book, you just don’t want to have e-mail, Twitter and the ESPN Web site beckoning from the browser. The absence of those services on the Kindle — sure, it’s also a flaw — actually make it better for focused leisure reading.

Amazon will continue to improve on the Kindle.

A Kindle with color? With a Pixel Qi screen? A Kindle tablet to rival the iPad? One indication that Amazon plans to continue releasing new Kindles in the months and years ahead comes from the Web site of its design division, Lab126, based in Cupertino, Calif. I count a whopping 46 new job postings on the Lab126 career board in the last two months alone.

The Kindle store will continue to thrive.

Amazon smartly separated its Kindle hardware division from its Kindle e-book store and has since released or announced Kindle apps for the iPhone, PC, Mac and BlackBerry. Despite the fact that many consumers will now choose an iPad over a Kindle, Amazon will likely undercut Apple on e-book prices. (If publishers band together to withhold cheaper e-books from Amazon in favor of pricier ones on Apple, there could be some legal issues — more on this later.)

Commenting on the Apple announcement today, an Amazon spokesman, Drew Herdener, said this: “Customers can read and sync their Kindle books on the iPhone, iPod Touch, PCs, and soon BlackBerry, Mac and iPad. Kindle is purpose-built for reading. Weighing in at less than 0.64 pounds, Kindle fits comfortably in one hand for hours, has an E Ink display that is easy on the eyes even in bright daylight, two weeks of battery life, and 3G wireless with no monthly fees — all at a $259 price. Kindle editions of New York Times best sellers and most new releases are only $9.99.”

Bottom line: books, music and movies — its worldwide media business — constitute half of Amazon.com’s overall revenue. Jeff Bezos and Company have a huge stake in protecting that business as it inexorably shifts from analog atoms to digital bits.

In theory yes - a different audience. Pure readers versus multi-taskers. I could see Amazon dropping the price of tis Kindle to just under $200 to make it more palatable for those that want to have multiple devices. If I just want to read and am in the waiting room somewhere I will either check emails or my feeds on the BlackBerry or I will pop out the Kindle and go back to my book.