title: Android chat server
body: <p>I need to create a chat/communication server for android based clients. </p>
  
  <p>The android chat clients will be connected to internet via 3g or wifi network
  I need following simple features </p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>register a new user</li>
  <li>send messages from one client to another</li>
  <li>will have roughly 500 clients connected at a time</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>Coming from desktop app development, I only have socket based solution in my mind and that the server should be a java based application </p>
  
  <p>So the question is : Is the socket based approach workable or should I use some other communication protocol.</p>