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We’ve received word of a new application for running AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) on iPhone. MobileChat beta loads your full buddy list with statuses, allows you to change to online/away mode, and includes sound/popup notifications for new messages. The project’s creators, twenty08, claim the application is lightweight enough that it will run almost as well on EDGE (AT&Ts data network) as on a WiFi connection.
Additionally, twenty08 has made the code for MobileChat available as open source so other developers can build upon it.
Another alternative for getting AIM on iPhone is apolloim, which is also in beta.