While so far the major names in instant-messaging have steered clear of releasing iPhone-compatible clients for their platforms, that hasn’t stopped employees dabbling in a little Apple-IM on the side.  Joining the existing array of IM options comes TinyBuddy, an AOL client written by the company’s own James Burke.

What makes TinyBuddy special – aside from the employer of the author – is the method it uses to authenticate your account.  Unlike other clients it accesses AOL’s OpenAuth servers to process your password, meaning the TinyBuddy server itself (although it’s even hosted on AOL Greenhouse) never has access to your details.

[via iPhone Central]