Tag Archives: develop

Android is winning – if you’re writing apps for China. Elsewhere, though…

android

If Android is winning (to quote Techcrunch, which managed to read the Gartner release on smartphone share and see the big 68% for the share of Android phones shipped), then howcome American developers still aren’t battering down the doors to develop for it? Why aren’t they all launching on Android first?

To quote the Techcrunch article,

There is no denying Android’s dominance anymore. There is no way even the most rabid Apple fanboy can deny that iOS is in second place now. Android is winning… Developers cannot ignore Android. The old mantra of releasing on iOS and then eventually hitting Android needs to be rethought… Android the ecosystem still sucks, but Android the mobile platform is winning.

To which the simple answer is that those US developers would certainly be rethinking it if Android were really running away with the smartphone business in their own backyard. But it’s not quite that simple. Why? Because Gartner’s headline figure is for worldwide share. In the US – where many of those developers are – different measures pertain. And in Europe, where many more developers are, different measures pertain again.

What those differences add up to is a world where while it’s absolutely true that Android is the best-selling mobile platform, for US and European mobile developers – in fact for any who aren’t developing specifically for China – the whole topic is more nuanced.

Let’s revisit the Gartner numbers: those said that Android had a 64.1% market share worldwide, and Apple’s iOS 18.8%. Other platforms – Symbian, RIM’s BBOS, Windows Phone – were all under 10%, and totalled 17.1% (that is, less together than iOS). Android is winning, right?

The China syndrome

But the world is not a level playing field, and it’s not split up into evenly-sized areas. Digging a bit deeper into those Gartner numbers (as I was able to do), you learn that China is the world’s largest market, and that it’s there where Android really stakes its claim. Of the 153.7m smartphones shipped in the quarter, 39m (that’s 25% of the total) went to China, and of those 31.2m (80%) were running Android. Apple managed just 4.7m (12%). Everyone else? Just 3.1m. Slim pickings.

Which is great – bringing the internet to people in rural China must be a good thing – but means that the story for Android, the iPhone and other platforms in the rest of the world is rather different.

The US, the world’s second-largest smartphone market, took 23m devices (15% of the world total): there, Android was 58% (13.3m) and the iPhone was 36% (8.3m). Everyone else? Just 1.38m, which is astonishingly slim pickings in terms of new phone sales. Yet it fits with what we’ve seen over Nokia’s Lumia sales, which were reckoned to measure in the hundreds of thousands in the US, despite an encouraging launch.

Here’s how the picture looks if we split the world into three territories – China, the US, and everywhere else – and show the averages from the Gartner figures. Suddenly it’s clear that Android is over-represented in China, and that it distorts the average. If you’re a smartphone developer in China, then you’ll want to be on Android. But you already knew that.

Android shares by region 2Q 2012 Android, iOS and other smartphone platforms’ share by region: US, China, rest of world, 2Q 2012. Source: Gartner

Yet even that doesn’t tell the full story. "Market share" reflects sales, not installed base – and some (many?) smartphone sales are upgrades. What we really want to know is the installed base for each platform; if in the US all of those iPhone sales are going to existing customers, but all the Android sales are going to new customers, then that’s significant – for developers, the new customers represent potential growth in sales, whereas someone who already has an iPhone and just gets another one won’t have to re-download all their apps. (Of course then you run into the question of whether they give their old iPhone to someone who didn’t have one before, who sets up a new account, and then does download new apps. But this is why we’re looking at installed base.)

US smartphone installed base by platform US installed base by platform. Source: ComScore, interpreted by The Guardian

It turns out that the only set of data that gives us a picture of installed base anywhere comes from ComScore, whose monthly data sampling of thousands of users in the US has been giving us a picture of smartphone evolution there since 2009 or so.

New US smartphone users added per month US smartphones users added or lost by month, by platform. Source: ComScore, interpreted by The Guardian

And what does that tell us? That Android is indeed the dominant installed base in the US, with nearly 57m users; next is iOS, with just under 36m users. RIM has 11.8m; Microsoft, 4.2m, and Nokia’s Symbian is still in the not-yet-cold-or-dead hands of just under a million people. In all, more than 110m people in the US has a smartphone – but that’s out of a mobile-owning population of 234m. There’s a huge amount of room for those four platforms (and any new ones) to expand into; more than half of users there don’t yet have a smartphone.

New users, or just new phones?

So in the US, by the ComScore numbers, Android has 51.6% of the installed base of smartphones in the US; iOS 32.4%; RIM 10.7% (but falling); Microsoft 3.8%.

The shocking thing, really, is that the ComScore numbers suggest that the net increase in smartphone ownership over the past three months was less than 4m – yet in that time Gartner is saying 23m handsets were shipped (of which most, one would think, were sold). That’s a lot of trading up by existing users.

We can even break it down further: 13.3m Android devices were shipped to the US; the Android installed base increased by 2.65m (on my interpretation of the figures ComScore releases).

For iPhones, it’s 8.3m shipped, while the installed base increased by just over 3m. On that data, Apple would seem to be getting less churn, and growing its users more as a proportion of shipments than Android.

The intriguing thing with Android’s installed base share is that it is bumping along at about 51%; the distortions in the US market (which make iPhones on contracts cost almost the same as much cheaper Android phones) mean that the iPhone gets a disproportionate share. Every month, about another million featurephone users shift to a smartphone; and it seems that Android captures about half of them, though sometimes the iPhone does. (It’s hard to be sure, though, because there are also defections among platforms, with people leaving RIM and Symbian in particular.) What’s clear is that feature phone users are, slowly but surely, upgrading to smartphones.

Everyone’s a winner

The conclusion? Android is indeed winning – in the US as well as China. But the single "worldwide" figure masks far more complexity in the market than you might think, and the fact that Android’s "market share" (the sales snapshot) is high and growing actually masks a situation in the US – where, like it or not, many of the headline apps appear – that favours the iPhone.

In Europe (for which figures weren’t available), Android likely has a similar advantage – but remember the distortion of the Chinese market on the "average". For the rest of the world, Android is closer to that 56% figure of the US, and other platforms stronger than iOS.

Even then, though, the story isn’t so simple, because of the twin hassles for Android developers of different devices, and of OS fragmentation, and different monetisation.

From the Techcrunch comments, one finds this:

Meanwhile in the discussion on Branch (side note: it’s already useful) about Android fragmentation, there’s a comment from Matt Brezina – co-founder and chief executive of Sincerely, and previously the founder of Outlook inbox organiser Xobni:

I’m on the front lines – building both iPhone & Android apps. I won’t comment on the revenue disparity between the two – that is for a different branch. But I will say we release lower quality, less tested apps on Android because we can never test all devices – we test live with our customers. It sucks. Luckily the Android customers know to submit their android device & OS whenever they send us bug reports.

Fragmentation in my experience has produced less, and lower quality apps.

Of course fragmentation is often in the eye of the beholder; for someone using a device, it doesn’t matter what the latest and greatest version of Android is (and, as is always pointed out, developers can target multiple versions of Android inside the development framework). All that matters is what they have.

OS versions accessing Google Play Android OS versions accessing Google Play over time, by version. Source: Google, The Guardian

And while we’re on that topic, the latest monthly figures from Google Play are in, and show that Android 4.0 is rising rapidly, and has now passed "Froyo" (2.2, released in June 2010). It’s still the year of Gingerbread, but all the signs are that Android 4.x is going to rule 2013.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2012/aug/16/android-winning-apps-china-smartphone?newsfeed=true

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JavaScript And Recursion

Recursion is an age old concept used in mathematics when an object is defined by other objects of the same type.  A real life example would be the mirrors in a department store dressing room. If you look in the right spot, you can see both reflections repeating themselves in each other.

Each iteration of your image grows smaller and smaller into infinity. In computer science recursion happens when a solution to a problem is resolved by computing smaller instances of the same problem.  In JavaScript, recursion boils down to a function calling itself to solve a problem.

This concept can be tough to grasp, but taking the time to learn how to code recursively provides many benefits. Sorting methods can be sped up immensely using recursion.  An example of this is C. A. R. Hoare’s “Quicksort” pattern, which was developed in the 1960’s. If coded correctly, methods utilizing recursion are shorter and take up less bandwidth.  Another benefit is better methods for combinational searches. And many mathematical induction methods run faster and are simpler to code using recursion, for example computing factorials.

Read More:

http://www.developerdrive.com/2012/04/javascript-and-recursion/

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SAP Develops Database Software to Challenge Oracle

German software maker SAP said on Thursday that it plans to become a large database software developer, which exacerbates the long-term hostile relationship between the company and Oracle. Moreover, on April 10, SAP will hold a press conference in San Francisco, not far away from Oracle headquarter.

SAP is the world’s largest business management software developer, whose products could manage accounting, manufacturing and wages and other aspects. Although Oracle is in the second place in this area, thanks to the leadership position of database market, its total income is still higher than SAP.

SAP said in a statement that it will launch a unified data management product set and prove how they will become the industry leader of database.

In July 2010, SAP purchased Sybase, the fourth largest database software developer in the world. After the ransaction, Sybase CEO John Chen still served as CEO of SAP Sybase sector. However, SAP spokesman Scott Behles said John Chen would not speak at the press conference on April 10.

Since the acquisition of Sybase, SAP has been working to expand Sybase’s mobile software product line, rarely disclosing the related database technology program. Moreover, SAP will challenge the two industry giants IBM and Microsoft in the process of marching to database business.

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Developers to Soon Favor Android Over iOS?

Application developers may favor Apple’s mobile operating system iOS now, but they are expected to grow fonder of Google’s Android platform in the near future, according to research firm Ovum.

Android will overtake iOS within the next 12 months to become the most important mobile operating system to developers, Ovum said. In its second-annual developer survey, Ovum also found, however, that nearly all developers will support both platforms.

Though Android leads the smartphone market, iOS has traditionally been thought of as a bigger money-maker. Last year, Apple was number one in terms of revenue generation, with 74 percent of developers ranking it a number one or two. Consequently, apps have traditionally been made available for Apple users first. But the tide may be changing as Android becomes more important to app makers. During a recent earnings call, Google said users have now downloaded more than 11 billion apps from the Android Market.

Also, while developers focus most of their efforts on Android and iOS, they are also growing increasingly interested in BlackBerry OS and Microsoft Windows Phone, according to Ovum.

Read More:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399214,00.asp

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The Rise and Fall of Programming Languages in 2011

Last year marked many changes in programming: Mobile devices emerged as a major programming platform and, at the other end of the spectrum, clouds became an established platforms for data and applications. In between, desktops and laptops gained substantially more RAM and somewhat more processor cores. Predictably, some of these changes trickled down to the choice of languages.

The well-known Tiobe Index (an index that culls frequency of mentions of languages and language products and translates it into a percentage of overall mentions) found the greatest language growth last year to be in Objective-C. I believe few readers would be surprised by this. Between the iPhone, iPod, and iPad (and to a lesser extent Macs), the demand for Objective-C skills has clearly grown.

The effect of mobile appears as well in Java, which over the last 10 years of Tiobe data has been in a steady decline. Two years ago, it began something of a comeback — I believe driven by Android development — and this year, Java stayed essentially even with last year. My belief is that Android is filling the gap caused by JVM languages, such as Scala, Groovy, and JRuby, which are drawing Java developers away from the language on desktop and server platforms.

As mobile programming takes off, it brings developers back to a lower level of programming that’s closer to the hardware. Typically, because applications on a mobile device tend to have small code bases and require specific languages to exploit every new hardware feature, scripting languages have gained little traction in this area. (Apple’s tight controls on languages and tools has also contributed to the phenomenon.) As a result, for the first time in years, possibly ever, all the primary scripting languages — Perl, Python, Ruby and PHP — declined this year. Of these, Python and Ruby’s are the most interesting.

Source: http://drdobbs.com/mobile/232400093

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2012 Cloud Computing Award Winners Announced

The 2012 winners for the annual Cloud Awards Program have been announced today.

Cloud computing is a field of IT and computer systems where services are typically offered remotely as a service, as opposed to within the organization’s own firewall. Judged among almost 200 entries, the final winners represent "the best of the best in their fields."

The annual cloud computing awards program, open internationally across the US and EMEA regions, recognizes and celebrates industry leaders and pioneers in the field of cloud computing. Categories include B2B Customer Strategy, Best Cloud Infrastructure, Data Innovation of the Year, Developer of the Year, Most Promising Start-Up, Best Platform as a Service, Security Innovation, Best Software as a Service and Web Services Excellence.

Cloud Awards organizer Larry Johnson said: "Almost 200 organizations entered the program, which is among the first of its kind. We were swamped by entries, and the standard was remarkably high. Judging the submissions was a challenging task. But we’re happy to endorse all of the winners as among the best of the best in their respective fields.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/2012-cloud-computing-award-winners-announced-2012-01-10

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Challenges And Opportunities Within The Mobile Application Development

Mobile users have often been finicky concerning the whole user experience as well as mostly choose a look that is most effective for undertaking different sorts of actions like social networking, chatting, messaging, hear new music etc. simply. Developers often look for to create the native experience in cell programs for better reputation.

Probably the most profound alter introduced about by mobility could be the terrific evolution from being linked to being converged. All programs such as voice, messaging, place solutions and video clip now converge within the smartphone for an experience depending on convergence. With the advent of SOA, several firms started the idea which included Connected Systems. Mobile programs evolved from linked methods and now possess an arbitrary software which contain several programs for messaging, information, place and video clip solutions which are managed by different third party companies. Such Converged Applications will also be operate on the downgraded mode when the user is just not authenticated. The majority of the attributes are then downplayed for this kind of users.

Mobility has revolutionized the numerous software distribution methods that had been present previously to the wonderful ring tone business product. The ringtone business product reaches hundreds of countless people today with quite a few ringtones and the listing is often expanding. The developers have scores of alternatives to duplicate their programs and numerous more possibilities to market them since they are mostly dedicated to certain domains. For instance, Angry Birds had a universal charm and and proved to be preferable across different sections of the culture too as different geographic locations. There is often numerous cell apps which is often specific in the course of an individual year all pertaining to different markets and domains. There needs to be a household of cell apps if one desires to delve into cell software improvement since the degree of competitors is highly substantial and there ought to be a score of apps which need to be excellent enough for that in-app payment.

Source: http://taxila-academy.com/challenges-and-opportunities-within-the-mobile-application-development-globe/

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Applications Licensing using the .NET Framework

Control Licensing

Nearly everything you’ll read about .NET licensing binds the licensing concept to controls, with the idea being control developers could ship controls that are licensed at design time and/or run time. As it happens, you can apply Framework licensing to any class derived from System.Windows.Forms.Control, which would include entire Windows Forms applications, but I’ll begin with controls themselves. The basic control licensing UML static class diagram is shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1. .NET Control Licensing Static Class Diagram.

The general execution sequence is shown (as a UML sequence diagram) in Figure 2. The licensed control, in its constructor, requests a license from the LicenseManager:

license = LicenseManager.Validate(typeof(MyLicensedControl), this);

In this case, the constructor is for the licensed control as implemented in the class MyLicensedControl. Interestingly, there may be nothing more you need to do with the license object itself (it depends upon the implementation of the license), except to properly dispose of it as there may be resources attached. Out of the box, the important action we took was to call the license manager and ask for a license. If a license is not to be granted for some reason, the Validate() call will fail with an exception if exceptions are desired or return a null license if exceptions are to be suppressed. (The call to LicenseProvider.GetLicense() controls this, and the default Framework implementation is to allow exceptions.)

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Source: http://www.developer.com/article.php/3074001

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What to consider for fist time outsourcing

If it is your first time to outsource, the first thing you need to do is to understand exactly what outsourcing is and why you need it. Also, it’s essentially that business owners understand the challenges and potential pitfalls in order to get the most from outsourcing. As long as it is done right, outsourcing can bring huge benefits to a company. Here are some points of outsourcing.

1. When should you outsource?

Discussing your concerns openly with potential suppliers will often be enough to reassure you. Also, a prospective outsourcer’s costing process and service presentation should provide reassurance and help you understand how and what parts of the process can and should be outsourced.

2. Key considerations

You need to have assurances in place to make sure any issues in the repacking process aren’t transferred to the end consumer. Moreover, the warehousing system between the client and supplier has to be completely integrated. While selecting an outsource partner, you need to consider the supplier’s ability to do the job as well as its ability to manage an escalation in increased volume.

3. Benefits

One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing is being able to continue with production at full speed. And another major benefit is managing resources through the peaks and troughs. Furthermore, it allows the organisation that is outsourcing to concentrate on its core services.

4. Potential pitfalls of outsourcing

As a potential outsourcer you’re going to have to work extremely hard to put together the mnost accurate invitation to tender. If you fail at that, you will fail all the way through. Hence, you need to know what you’re buying clearly when looking for a optential outsource partner.

5. The secret of successful partnerships

Business owners need to discuss their plans for the future with suppliers openly in order to develop closer relationships and work out mutually beneficial strategies. Business owners and suppliers need to work harder at forging stronger relationship, as it’s only when close workig partnerships are developed that the benefits of outsourcing are truly realised.

Source: http://www.sourcingfocus.com/site/opinionsitem/3967/

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China’s IT outsourcing companies want to move up the value chain

VanceInfo, as one of China’s largest IT outsourcing companies, have long cooperated with Microsoft, IBM and other multinational companies. It leverages China’s low-cost work force to develop products and enterprise software for many of its clients. Vice president of global marketing for the company Ken Schulz, however, said that continuing to rely on low-cost labour to attract business is becoming outdated. Today, Chinese IT outsourcing companies intend to provide more that just cost savings for their customers while facing rising labour wages and increased competition.

Source: http://www.cfoworld.co.uk/news/technology/3295553/chinas-it-outsourcing-companies-look-to-move-up-the-value-chain/

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