Though the announcement may have been dampened by the earlier release of third-party iPhone instant messaging applications, and a widespread hope for an Apple-developed iChat application, AOL today demonstrated the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) for iPhone, an early version of an program that will provide native rather than web-based instant messaging access to iPhone and iPod touch users. In addition to displaying your buddy list and separate discussions, AIM for iPhone enables you to skip from discussion to discussion with swipe gestures, use a photo from your iPhone’s camera or iPod touch’s collection as your buddy icon, and update your current profile on the AIM network. The application’s release date and price, if any, are currently unknown.
