Getting Started with
iPhone SDK, Android and
others: Mobile Application
Development –
Create your Mobile
Appli-cations Best Practices Guide
Mobile Application Development 100 Success Secrets
Copyright © 2008
Notice of rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the products described in it.
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Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.
Mobile Application Development 100 Success Secrets
There has never been a Mobile Application Development Guide like this.
100 Success Secrets is not about the ins and outs of Mo-bile Application Development. Instead, it answers the top 100 questions that we are asked and those we come across in forums, our consultancy and education programs.
It tells you exactly how to deal with those questions, with tips that have never before been offered in print.
This book is also not about Mobile Application Develop-ment’ best practice and standards details. Instead, it introduces everything you want to know to be successful with Mobile Appli-cation Development.
Table of Contents
Using 3G Mobile Applications for Entertainment and Business Purposes ...11 Getting Information on Mashup Applications Projects for iPhone and T-Mobile...13 Trends in Mobile Software Development Using Client or Web Based Applications ...15 How to Reduce the Cost of Mobile Application Development Projects?...17 Important Steps in Getting Price Quotes for a Large-scale
Wireless Consumer Application...19 Steps to Finding the Right Web Application Development
Outsourcing Company...21 Mobile Application Extensions Hold the Keys to Full ISP
Integration...23 Types of Mobile Application Development in the Enterprise that Can Improve Business Processes...25 Choosing Between Python and J2ME for Developing Mobile Phone Applications...27 Android and the Cellular Carriers: Making Changes in the History of Mobile Communication ...29 The Skill Set of Developer Determines the Best Mobile
Google Takes a Step towards Becoming the Next Operating System Company ... 32 A System for Displaying Mobile Ads: Are Operators Interested? ... 34 Question of the Moment: Is the Digital Divide Getting Smaller? ... 36 Choosing between Global or Local Maps for Windows Mobile development ... 37 Steps to Gain a Foothold in the Wireless Application
Development Market... 39 Important Aspects of Design Documents for an Application Development Project... 41 Android: A Viable Business Opportunity within Your Reach... 43 Best Information to Recommend a Mobile GPS Application Development Company ... 44 The iPhone Application Model: Making Mobile Computing Smarter... 46 Future of Mobile App Development: Gearing Towards Cross Platform and Fully Integrated Mobile Software... 48 Learning on Mobile Devices Can Revolutionize the Educational System... 50 A Three Step Mobile Device Testing ... 52 Is There a Single Mobile Development Platform that Developers Should Use?... 53
Mobile Applications Will Be the Next Killer App...55
Adobe Flash Lite -- Competitive Mobile Software...57
The Criticism that Hit the Android Mobile Software...58
A Software Technology called ItsNat ...60
The Progress of a Microbrowser-based Mobile Phone...62
What Mobile Application Developers Do? ...64
The Best and Effective Ways towards Mobile Marketing...65
The Structure of the Python Programming Language ...66
TagsMe: The Amazing Mobile Application Technology at Present ...68
Top 3 Things to Remember about Windows Mobile Application Development ...70
Android: The Revolutionary Mobile Software...71
BREW: The Emerging Software Technology in the Mobile Industry ...73
Dissecting J2ME as the Tool for Mobile Software Development 75 Mobile App Development: A Lead to a Navigated Future ...76
The Secrets of an Effective Mobile Application Development Tool...78
The Fast Evolution of Mobile Software impacting the Mobile Technology...79
The Positive Results of the SMS Integration with Web Application...81
Does Developing Mobile Application Need Responsibility? ... 84
Develop Mobile Applications for Web Use: Ease of Use Important... 86
There's Business in Mobile Application... 88
Open Source Mobile Applications in Demand ... 90
The Popularity of Symbian Application Development ... 92
Develop Mobile Application: Make It Useful ... 94
J2ME: Ideal for Mobile Applications Development ... 96
What Mobile Application Platform Do Developers Use? ... 98
Why Mobile Application Testing Is Important... 100
Wireless Application Development Bring in More Fun and Useful Services... 102
Tools for Developing Mobile Applications ... 104
Mobile Developers: Building Mobile Applications is a Tough Job ... 106
Mobile Development, Mobile Platforms, and Users’ Options.. 108
A Preface for Mobile Programming ... 110
.NET Mobile Presentation... 112
Mobile Database: an Overview ... 114
Mobile Developers’ Community Braves the Challenges... 116
Mobile Device Development of Applications... 118
Mobile Software Development at Its Peak ... 120
Finding the Right Provider of Application Development and
Continuation Services...124
Ways on How to Select a Mobile Platform...126
The Best Books about Mobile Computing and Digital Communication...127
Ways on How to Select a Mobile Platform...129
Clever Web Developer Avoids the Mistakes in Windows Mobile Development ...130
Opera Mini: The Most Distinguished Java Application for Mobile Phones...132
Mobile Application Architecture Guide Provided by Intel’s Genius...134
Introducing the Two Great Books about Mobile Phone Programming...136
Ways on How to Select a Mobile Platform...138
Jonathan Knudsen Provides Clear and Comprehensive Wireless Development Tutorial ...139
Why the Application API Was Created? ...141
The Benefits of Web based Application Development...142
JAR Mobile Software Online ...144
.NET Application Developer and the Task Ahead ...146
The Various Benefits of Database Administration with Pocket PC ...148
The Various JAR Mobile Games Online ... 151
Skills for Mobile Game Development ... 152
The Benefits of .NET Development ... 153
Understanding SDK... 155
Using the Help of an Application Example ... 157
Applications in Mobile Phones ... 158
The Importance of Using Application Tutorials... 159
Mobile Phone Applications: Which Mobile Phone Application are You? ... 160
Windows Mobile Applications Made Easy... 162
Application Examples: Ask if it Works on the Mobile ... 164
Application Tutorial: Don’t Throw the PDA ... 166
A Closer Look at the Sony Ericsson Mobile ... 167
Application Framework: Application Improvements ... 168
PDA Software Development: Developments in PDA ... 170
Understanding the .Net Compact Framework ... 172
Flash Lite in comparison with other Analogous Platforms ... 173
Java ME: The Most Popular Application Platform for Mobile Phones... 175
Lazarus: The Free Software for Everyone... 176
The Stages in a Mobile Application Development... 177
The Palm OS and its Key Features... 179
Pocket PC and its Interesting Evolution ... 180
11
Using 3G Mobile Applications for
Enter-tainment and Business Purposes
3G mobile applications integrate the functions of modern consumer electronics with mobile phones. This can be clearly seen on the increasing trend of using 3G phones as an all in one entertainment system.
Most 3G enabled mobile phones today support tions for standalone or interactive online gaming. These applica-tions are very appealing to 3G users belonging to younger demographics.
As an entertainment device, it is not surprising to see 3G applications that enable users to use their phones to watch streaming videos. The capability of a 3G phone to produce DVD quality videos makes it an ideal platform for viewing recorded shows or downloadable movies.
3G devices are also capable of streaming live TV broad-casting. With broadband connectivity, 3G applications for TV viewing are becoming very popular among mobile users.
However, 3G devices are not exclusively used as enter-tainment systems. These modern phones are also being used for business purposes. That is why there are lots of 3G applications today that enable business users to conduct real time video conferencing.
This specific feature can be very useful for corporate ex-ecutives. They will be able to conduct important meetings and business consultations via 3G devices. That is why interactive
12
video conferencing application is always pre-installed on any 3G mobile phone.
3G mobile applications are getting more sophisticated nowadays. These applications virtually convert mobile devices into complete entertainment system as well as important busi-ness tool. As more powerful 3G phones are introduced in the market, more 3G compliant applications will be developed to improve user experience and productivity.
13
Getting Information on Mashup
Applica-tions Projects for iPhone and T-Mobile
The popularity of iPhone 3G and T-Mobile G1 has created a lot of buzz in the application mashup community. No doubt there is a current mashup development going on especially for the T-Mobile G1 model.
Apple’s iPhone and T-Mobile are currently supporting a wide array of mobile applications. This alone could push mobile applications developers to create mashup applications.
As for the iPhone, developers are submitting their creation to Apple for testing purposes and compatibility. Apple has a standing practice of keeping the mashup development silent. Users will only know that a new mobile application is available after a formal announcement by the company.
On the other hand, T-Mobile G1 mashup applications pro-jects are quite well known. That’s because the operating system as well as the applications framework of T-Mobile remains open source.
This means developers are free to hack behind the source codes of current mobile apps for G1 phones. Mashup applica-tions are then widely publicized on tech communities and online news resources.
It is not surprising therefore that the geo tracking and Google map locator is becoming the popular mashup application for the T-Mobile G1 model. Through the Google map, developers are creating an extension that will improve mobile interface.
14
Users therefore can use an intuitive map locator and geo tracking through such mashup application developments. Future mashup applications projects are more difficult to guess for the iPhone smart phone.
To get the latest information about current or future ma-shup mobile applications, you need to subscribe to the sites of Apple and T-Mobile. Google’s official blogs can also be a good source of information for any mashup application projects currently in progress.
15
Trends in Mobile Software Development
Using Client or Web Based Applications
Mobile phone users are getting the benefits of current software development especially on applications designed to enhance mobile device functionalities. Most applications how-ever should be installed on the phone.
This is also known as client based software for mobile de-vices. Such applications are more stable and highly intuitive. These client based applications provide mobile users easy access to several web services.
There are also applications that add different functional-ities to mobile phones. For example, you can install call filtering and blacklisting software so you can choose only incoming calls you wish to accept.
There are also applications that can configure your mobile phone to go on auto pilot. The software will automatically redirect calls or messages on a web server so you can easily access recorded calls through the Internet. You can also set an auto responder application to handle your communications much like setting up an email auto responder.
These client based mobile applications are more popular because they can be utilized even when offline. The client soft-ware synchronizes the data when connectivity is established.
Web based applications for mobile devices however are slowly catching up on client side software development. More software developers are now creating applications extensions for mobile devices.
16
Most web based applications for mobile phones are still limited to browsers, email clients and organizers. However, software developers are now enabling mobile phone users to access numerous web services.
This allows users to take advantage of cloud computing using their mobile devices. Mobile computing therefore can be realized sooner as web based applications become more sophisti-cated.
17
How to Reduce the Cost of Mobile
Applica-tion Development Projects?
Commercial costing estimate for mobile application de-velopment could run into several thousand dollars. The largest percentage of this would go to professional service payment for developers.
Mobile software development is quite expensive especially if you will hire a software development outfit. That’s why some companies outsource development projects to independent programmers or foreign outsourcing companies.
Aside from professional fees, you will also need other hardware resources for the development projects. Creating software will require lots of server resources to host the coding and development phase. You will also have to take into consid-eration bandwidth requirements for testing and prototyping purposes.
Distribution of the software should also be included in the development process. Software distribution cost involves paying for hosting provisions so that the application can be made acces-sible to users.
Independent software developers however are taking ad-vantage of virtual machines to accomplish applications develop-ment with minimal cost. Renting rack space, virtual computers, and server space, would be economical than hosting the devel-opment process on your own infrastructure.
The biggest concern however for independent mobile ap-plication development is the cost of testing the software. Some
18
developers get around this problem by introducing the mobile application in beta mode. In this way, testing the application would be free of charge as users will simply install the app on their devices and send feedback to the developer.
So if you want to start a mobile application development project, you can adopt the methods applied by independent developers. In this way, your company could develop a mobile application with less overhead expenses.
19
Important Steps in Getting Price Quotes
for a Large-scale Wireless Consumer
Ap-plication
Development projects for large scale wireless consumer application are complicated. Such projects need the expert skills of a team of developers so that the application can achieve its intended purposes.
Before you ask for development quotes, you need to create a project map detailing the requirements of the project and the required qualifications of the developers.
To do this, you have to map the appliance or the hardware that will need the application. Each appliance should have detailed development requirements. You will use this project map to determine the qualifications you will demand from the developers.
Several important questions must be answered by the ap-plication developers. First, you need to know their experience in large scale development projects. You can also ask for referrals and project portfolios of the development team.
As much as possible, always verify the projects imple-mented by the developers. You can research the known projects of the developer team or directly contact the team’s previous clients.
After your background research, you can now ask for quotes from the developers. The more quotes you get, your choices will be broader also. You can also ask for project cost quotations from web based application development companies.
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Study each quote carefully to determine which proposal offers the greatest value. You should not arbitrarily base your decision on who made the lowest offer. You have to take into consideration some specific aspects of each proposal as well as the successful experiences of the developers.
A large scale wireless application development project is not a simple affair. You need to take extra measures to ensure that your project will be successful.