CMT3313 - Week 10 Post - Mobile Technology

Introduction


This week's blog will focus on the ever changing mobile technology world, and when I say ever changing, I mean it! As by the time you read this post, it would probably already be obsolete :( 

Apple vs Android

So, what do I mean by mobile technology world? Obviously it's everything that has to do with mobile devices such as phones, tablets, even watches.
If you look at the hardware aspect at a glance it's obvious the the leading players are currently Apple, Samsung, HTC, RIM and Nokia. But in this post I will focus more on the software aspect, which instantly gives us:

• iOS
• Android
• Blackberry OS
• Symbian OS
• Windows Phone

Currently the strongest players are Apple's iOS and Android, the open source giant, therefore I will continue this post by concentrating on these two.

StatCounter's European Statistics of top mobile operating system from April 2011 to April 2012 

Mobile Development

To start developing a mobile application you must first decide on what platform you want your application to run on as Android use mostly Java to code their applications while Apple prefer the Objective C language.

In this section I will explain the basics of what you need to know to start off on both platforms.

Apple iOS

Developers must register with the Apple iOS Developer Program and pay the annual fee of €77. This will give them access to an array of tools, tips, debug tests and guidelines.

Keep in mind that to launch your application on the iOS market, your application must pass approval, thus adhere to strict regulations on what you can and cannot do.

Android

To start off with Android it's a little less difficult, as being an open source project, android provides it's starter kit for free. This kit consists of the Android Software Development Kit (SDK), sample projects, source code, development tools and a testing emulator. Also, Android provides loads of how-to videos, technical articles and step-by-step instructions on application development.

The only costs are a one-time fee of just €19 when you decide to launch your application into the play store. Which by the way doesn't require strict approval (although this is not always a good thing).

Other development tools

Smartphone applications have become sort of a trend nowadays and everybody wants to have their own mobile application or mobile website for multiple reasons, therefore many third-party tools are also available, such as Appcelerator, PhoneGap and MobDis. These tools are designed for web developers or people who aren't professional developers to create mobile content without having to learn Objective C or Java.

Conclusion

To wrap up this post I would like to mention that rumours are going around saying that Facebook is working with HTC to jump on the wagon by producing a smartphone which will run a heavily modified Android platform and incorporate all of it's services and features with easy access.

To read more about this subject visit Forbes.