Tag Archives: platform

Mobile App Development And Your Organizations

Technological advancements have made most business organizations to realize that Mobile Application Development allows and facilitates them to move in contemporary world of opportunities. This petite program works as a vigorous tool and completely changes the business operations either internal or external. This specialized application gives miraculous results for brand recognition which ultimately results in improved customer engagement.

Mobile applications require little efforts but deliver excellent customer services. Professionally executed mobile applications enhance business unit’s performance and pull more customers towards company. That’s why majority of organizations prefer to implement mobile apps so that they can get optimum mileage out of them. In this scenario, it is really advisable to have such sources for desired progress which pushes business on sky heights.

Advanced technological kernel facilitates for complex demand solution in unique way and provides result oriented mobile applications. Nevertheless, there are certain points too, which they have to keep in mind to seize the whole project closer to success.

Still, the mobile application adoption for business is in extremely preliminary phase.

It is really an early phase to use mobile applications for business functions. Still better customer engagement has not attained a drenched level. However many organizations have found mobile applications work worthily. A professionally developed mobile application augments customer engagement ratio.

Users are in initial phase of its utility; so Mobile Application Developers have some prospects to manipulate them.

Balanced utility of mobile budget is a prerequisite.

Organizations are fanatical to receive the forceful mobile apps development to improve customer engagement. The more customer engagement means you are on the right path of more brand recognition. On frequent visibility Mobile Application Development appeals the users in terms of necessary tool to be employed. Companies want to invest in Mobile Apps Development as it can be utilized for multiple platforms. However, not all the platforms are able to deliver magnificent performance. So one should target the project on successful leading platforms first and them on other platforms for confident success.

Mobile Platform choice

Different industry verticals are now adopting mobile apps to win over PCs. They have big plans to beat into the potential of these amazing and result driven services. Businesses want more customers to endure and expand. At the same time, nowadays we have smart phones to cope up with market scenario which delivers desired demands. Advanced mobile apps development can help your business segment in varied ways its powerful presence.

Source: http://www.spyghana.com/mobile-app-development-and-your-organizations/

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Create your own apps for free with open-source LiveCode 6.0

Application development may have once been the exclusive domain of professional programmers, but today a growing number of amateur-friendly development environments invite just about anyone with an app idea to bring it to life.

In the past few years we’ve seen the arrival of BuildAnApp and Google’s App Inventor for Android on the mobile side, for example. An even longer-standing contender, however, is RunRev’s cross-platform LiveCode, a recently renamed version of the HyperCard-inspired "Revolution" development system born in the early 2000s.

LiveCode has traditionally been available only as a paid development environment, but on Wednesday its maker rolled out the platform’s first-ever free, open source version. If you’ve got a mobile, desktop, or server app idea for your small business, the new LiveCode 6.0 could be the tool you’ve been waiting for to help make it happen.

Drag-and-drop functionality

LiveCode 6.0 is actually the result of a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the open source version. Closed at the end of February, the campaign raised roughly $760,500, far surpassing its $539,000 goal.

Targeting iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and server, the commercial version of LiveCode offers an intuitive graphical user interface with drag-and-drop functionality and a natural English-like programming language. Apps developed in LiveCode can be written once and quickly deployed on all popular mobile, desktop, and server platforms. Annual pricing is $500.

Now, however, RunRev is targeting educators, students, and business professionals with this first open source edition of the rapid application development platform.

‘The power of programming’

“With its drag-and-drop interface and easy-to-learn English-like language, LiveCode puts the power of programming in the hands of students, business professionals, and novice developers, regardless of their familiarity with programming,” RunRev explains.

For those who want a little extra help, LiveCode “academies” are also available with step-by-step videos and documentation, including sample apps and code. Two free eBooks on the topic can also be downloaded from RunRev’s site focusing on mobile apps and games.

LiveCode 6.0 is released under the GPL3 license, and the only requirement for users is that they make their apps open source as well, with the source code publicly available. If you decide you want to build a closed-source app, you can buy a LiveCode license at that point, RunRev says. You’ll also need the paid version if you want to upload your app to Apple’s App Store because of license incompatibilities, as RunRev’s product-selection chart points out.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2033881/create-your-own-apps-for-free-with-open-source-livecode-6-0.html

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Java Application Development and it Major Benefits

Java is a computer programming language, which is complex and object oriented. The Java application development is made after using some concepts from C, C++, Smalltalk and some other computer programming languages.  Java was developed originally by James Gosling (Sun Micro System). It was released in the market in 1995. It is the most versatile language for computer programming as well as for the development of mobile applications.

There are some benefits of Java:

•  It is open-source. It reduces the developer’s expense on the Java application development. Its openness helps the developer in developing the applications without paying any subscription payment for the purpose of Java application development.

•  The APIs of Java are easily accessible. It provides an ease of accessing the APIs of Java for building apps and submission of the apps to the app stores.

•  It uses the stack management system for the object allocation. Stack management system is meant to have a Last-In-First-Out allocation of the objects in the programs of Java.

•  The apps developed with Java have a dynamic and attractive nature. All the codes used in the development of the Java apps are arranged in some units which are object oriented.

•  Java programming language has a special feature of automatic garbage collection. It collects the unused codes and allocates them in the bean which makes it very fast, smooth and unique in comparison of other languages.

•  This language is highly secured and safe because it allows the users to download the non-trusted programming codes and use them in a fully secured way; because of this feature the infected files do not harm the application.

•  Java is very versatile and can be used on any platform which makes it platform independent and a multi-platform supporting language.

•  This language provides a facility of reusability of codes.

The developer can reuse the codes for redeveloping any other app.

•  It has the best designed and multi-tasking APIs which reduces the hassles and provides an ease of developing application.

•  Java provides an ease of distributive computing as it has the inherently integrated network capability.

•  It is multitasking and multi-threaded. It can perform several tasks simultaneously within a program. If any developer is running a program he can simultaneously run another application if he wishes to.

Above mentioned are some of the top benefits brought to you by experts in mobile application development and web application development to provide the best information to the readers.

Source: http://www.spyghana.com/java-application-development-and-it-major-benefits/

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Mobile apps need a new approach

Businesses’ growing need for anytime, anywhere information, coupled with the advanced capabilities of smartphones, means that the demand for mobile applications, designed specifically for enterprise use, is robust.

For channel players in the mobile ecosystem, be they ISVs or SIs, the time is right to harness this explosion.

Building or implementing mobile solutions offers a wealth of new business opportunities. However, with high demand, comes new challenges. In this rapidly changing market, ensuring you are equipped with the means to quickly create and deliver applications across a multi-platform, multi device environment, in the most efficient way, holds the key to real business success and maximising revenue opportunities.

Managing the shifting sands

In today’s business environment, organisations demand more from their mobile devices. Increasingly, we rely on smartphones for highly complex business processes; everything from inventory tracking and processing orders, to customer care. Forrester has predicted that by 2016, some 350m workers will use smartphones and business spending on mobile projects will have doubled.

For ISVs creating software or SIs implementing solutions, there is heightened pressure to bring mobile apps to market quickly that not only have rich functionality, but which can also be deployed across different operating systems. Whereas traditionally on desktops new operating systems were released every year, in the mobile space this can be yearly or even every six months.

Integrators and developers now also have the challenge of designing and running more business-focused applications with an ever-more sophisticated raft of functions. This can range from applications which were originally designed for PCs, and which must be migrated to a mobile environment, to delivering customised, hybrid offerings of SAP, Oracle or other business applications.

The rise of the tablet within the workplace also means that, increasingly, enterprises will need their applications to work across multiple device types. Organisations are recognising the unique advantage of the tablet in a variety of contexts and investing in rolling out tablets and enterprise applications across the workforce. Capitalising on this trend means that applications will have to be optimised for these devices.     

Future proof decisions

The mobile world is creating new challenges but also opening up new opportunities and levelling the playing field between smaller ISVs and the larger, more established names. Launching and delivering new mobile apps means that smaller providers can reach new markets and compete with the big players in ways which have not been possible until now.

However, those within the mobile ecosystem must tackle the shifting fortunes of the big mobile players; there is still uncertainty over where the best commercial opportunities will come from. In the wider market, Android still dominates – with 69.7 percent of the OS market in Q4, whilst iOS declined slightly, however Gartner predicts that “2013 will be the year of the rise of the third ecosystem as the battle between the new BlackBerry10 and Windows Phone intensifies.”

Against this backdrop, can developers or ISVs take the risk of making decisions now, based on what may happen in the next few years?  Equally, can those tasked with enabling enterprise mobility for clients, afford to take a leap of faith and make decisions today when the market remains so uncertain?

Selecting the right development platform is fundamental to business success but it’s not necessary to make the kind of choices which limit or lock users in to one device or platform; there are ways of future-proofing decisions.

New approaches such as mobile application platforms which allow developers to create applications, independent of the underlying platform could take away this risk and have the added commercial benefit of reducing development time. From the same development effort, applications can be leveraged to any device across any operating system.

In this dynamic industry, time to market and speed of delivery are key considerations. In order to capitalise on the business opportunities and open up new revenue streams,  it’s important to be equipped with the flexibility to transition applications across platforms and devices without the need to ‘rip and replace’.

Approaches which simplify the code writing, deployment and integration process can give players a first mover advantage and help to deliver more business-focused mobile applications, in a reduced timeframe.

Source: http://www.channelpro.co.uk/opinion/7685/mobile-apps-need-new-approach

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Lack of enterprise Windows 8 app development tools complicates upgrades

If Microsoft can make it more appealing for application developers and enterprise users to create Windows 8 applications, then the migration to the new operating system may not be too daunting for enterprises considering the upgrade.

Microsoft offers basic controls for building consumer apps, but nothing for enterprise apps, said Chris Sells, vice president of developer tools at Telerik, a tools provider in Waltham, Mass.

"We are filling in the missing enterprise controls," Sells said.

Microsoft offers the Windows 8 Software Development Kit and Visual Studio 2012 developer tools. While these tools enable Windows Phone and Windows 8 app development, developers want a software code base that can be easily compiled for all different platforms, including Apple iOS and Google Android devices.

Windows 8 upgrades hinge on app compatibility

Applications and access to data represent important pieces to the enterprise puzzle as businesses move from Windows XP and upgrade to Windows 7 instead of Windows 8.

Windows 8 and apps for a variety of mobile devices could be successful if the code base, whether for commercial or in-house apps, can be ported to different platforms.

The ability to use a portable software code base for different platforms cuts down on costs and software development time, and would enable enterprise users to build their own custom applications based on their own needs.

Source: http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/news/2240179957/Lack-of-enterprise-Windows-8-app-development-tools-complicates-upgrades

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HP’s behind the Boral IT outsourcing

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HP has revealed it is the key partner supporting the extensive IT outsourcing plan with diversified materials company Boral revealed in mid-January, with the global technology giant to supply a complete set of products and services as part of the program.

Boral is one of the largest building and construction materials organisations in Australia, with some $5 billion worth of sales and almost 15,000 staff working across 580 sites globally as at 30 June 2012. However, the company is currently undergoing a degree of internal turmoil, with a new chief executive officer, Mike Kane, coming on board in mid-2012 and the property market downturn hitting its building materials business. In January it revealed it would promote its chief information officer and was planning to embark on a wide-ranging IT outsourcing program in which a number of local jobs would be lost.

In a statement this morning, HP wrote that it had signed a five year, multi-million dollar strategic services agreement with Boral. “Over the last 15 years, Boral’s IT infrastructure has played an integral role in supporting almost every part of the business, steadily growing in utilisation and complexity,” HP wrote. “In order to maintain an efficient, secure IT platform and remain competitive in a challenging business environment, Boral sought to streamline its technology infrastructure.”
“After performing a comprehensive IT infrastructure assessment, Boral decided to consolidate and refresh their IT infrastructure by utilising a range of HP services and hardware to better manage assets and improve its market leadership. These services will be delivered from HP’s next-generation Aurora Data Centre in Sydney.”

“Reliance and demand on our existing technology has continued to evolve, and we needed to ensure we had the right assets and IT capabilities to support our business,” said David Oxnam, chief information officer, Boral. “HP’s ability to provide a unified, end-to-end solution of core business services and hardware will allow us to optimise our systems and deliver improved access to operational capabilities. This will enable IT to deliver a better service to our business and, in turn, our customers.” 

HP said it would supply a range of services under the agreement, ranging from datacentre services to network, workplace (service desk, managed messaging, collaboration and workplace software management services), enterprise security (including infrastructure security services, endpoint threat management, policy compliance, firewall, VPN and public key management services) and enterprise service management services.

HP added: “HP Converged Infrastructure technology, hosted in Aurora, will provide the foundation for Boral’s IT platform. The solution includes HP ProLiant BL460c server blades, HP BladeSystem c7000 Enclosures, HP 3PAR Storage, HP StoreOnce Backup systems and HP Networking Switches and Routers – a part of the HP FlexNetwork architecture. HP will also refresh Boral’s aging end-user computing systems with HP Compaq Elite 8300 Small Form Factor Desktop PCs and HP EliteBook 8470p Notebook PCs.”

Source: http://delimiter.com.au/2013/03/05/hps-behind-the-boral-it-outsourcing/

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Is Cloud Computing Ready for Primetime in Healthcare?

Is Cloud Computing Ready for Primetime in Healthcare?

While researching an article on cloud computing recently, I had an opportunity to interview hospital CIOs on their opinions of the cloud. Although the CIOs I spoke with acknowledged potential benefits of the cloud to reduce costs and foster more collaboration among users, they are taking a decidedly cautious approach when it comes to implementing it in their organizations.

Chuck Podesta, senior vice president and CIO of Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt., for example, says healthcare provider organizations will be “one of the last frontiers” to use the cloud. His main concern is around security, particularly with protected health information. Nonetheless, he thinks more organizations will take advantage of the cloud as security improves. He adds that one area where the cloud makes sense is imaging, because of the bandwidth requirements to share images.

Scott Whyte, vice president of IT connectivity at Dignity Health, a 39-hospital system based in San Francisco, says the organization’s move to the cloud has gradually expanded; he says Dignity Health has taken a strategic approach to the cloud, where the solution needs to be implemented quickly, is highly secure, and compliant with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. He describes a “portfolio approach” to the cloud, in which its applications are divided among the cloud, hosted by the vendor or as a SaaS, and its own enterprise data center.

In Whyte’s view, one driver in cloud adoption in the future will be as a collaborative platform. After all, he points out, most health systems in the country are not comprehensive systems that combine the health plan, hospital and physician group all under one umbrella. When one takes into account the different reimbursement models and care delivery models that will be paired together, many of these groups will need to collaborate, and there are advantages to being able to share and house information in different locations, he says. He says the cloud is able to foster collaboration between external partners in a way that can be implemented quickly.

Of course, all of the partner can expect that there will be an auditable process in place, and that their information is secure. That’s where the choice of a cloud service provider can either make or break the cloud as a platform for collaboration. He suggests that criteria for evaluating a qualified cloud service provider goes beyond strictly technology issues to “thought leadership, skills, and an understanding of the healthcare space.” To be sure, choosing a qualified cloud service provider is a bridge that must be crossed by any healthcare CIO considering a move to the cloud, regardless of the type of application.

Turn to the cloud computing story in the March issue of Healthcare Informatics for more on what CIOs and IT experts say about making a choice that makes sense for the organization.

Source: http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/blogs/john-degaspari/cloud-computing-ready-primetime-healthcare

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Google cozies up to developers with Google+ Sign-In

Google is making it easier for app developers to connect with users on its social network through Google+ Sign-In, a new feature that allows people to sign into third-party apps using their Google+ credentials.

The authentication system lets Google+ users sign into outside apps with their existing user name and password, and includes Google’s two-step security verification when logging in from a mobile phone. The user’s Google+ info is automatically pulled into the app with the tool, which is available to Android, iOS and Web application developers.

"It’s simple, it’s secure and it prohibits social spam," said Google+ product management director Seth Sternberg Tuesday in a blog post.

The sign-in feature is aimed at making Google+ and Google’s developer platform more widely used, while other social networks like Facebook and Twitter already offer easy access to outside apps.

The feature works like this: If a person is signed into Gmail, YouTube or any other Google service, the user can sign into the outside app with the same credentials. The person then lands on a Google+ permissions page outlining the data that the person is sharing with the app, which can be customized.

Google is highlighting Sign-In’s content-sharing controls as a major feature of the service. The functionality rests on the premise that users might want to share certain types of app content with some people in their network but not others.

People might want to share things, for instance, like high scores on a gaming app with the world, but keep other things, like data from a fitness app, to themselves, Google said.

The sharing controls are also designed to encourage more engagement with apps on Google+. When Google+ users share an app that uses Google+ Sign-In, friends will see a new kind of "interactive" post in their Google+ feed. Clicking on the post will take the person inside the app where he can buy, listen to or review what was shared, Google said.

Google+ Sign-In is also designed to simplify the app installation process across desktops and mobile devices. When Android users sign into an app on the desktop, they can install the mobile version of the same app on their Android device with a single click, Google said.

Google seems to be positioning the Sign-In service as an easier way for Google users to engage with apps and to better target who they are sharing with on Google+. The feature also functions similarly to how people can already sign into apps using their Facebook and Twitter credentials using those social networks’ developer platforms.

Still, Google’s Sign-In developer platform comes more than a year-and-a-half after Google’s launch of its Google+ social network.

Developers currently using Google+ Sign-In include OpenTable, Flixster, the Guardian, and USA Today. Tuesday’s rollout is an initial release, Google said. "We’re just getting started," said Sternberg.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/t/application-development/google-cozies-developers-google-sign-in-213545

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IBM, AT&T Team to Empower Mobile App Developers

IBM and AT&T have announced an expanded relationship to provide software developers with a set of new tools to create and deploy next-generation mobile apps.

Under this new partnership, customers will benefit from access to secure, high-quality apps, including those featuring speech-recognition and mobile-payment capabilities, the companies said.

AT&T has been expanding its network capabilities and increasing access to research from AT&T Labs across a range of mobile development platforms, including IBM Worklight. Part of the IBM MobileFirst Application and Data Platform, Worklight is an open, mobile app platform for mobile devices. It  provides an integrated platform that includes a development environment, mobile-optimized runtime middleware, an enterprise application store, and an integrated management and analytics console–all supported by a variety of security mechanisms.

"As the business opportunities associated with mobile technologies move beyond the device to the enterprise, we must continue to invest in tools and resources that enable developers to create apps that meet changing demands," said Phil Buckellew, vice president of mobile strategy at IBM, in a statement. "Our partners at AT&T share this commitment to building out the mobile development ecosystem and driving more value from mobile technologies. With access to some of the most powerful development tools in the industry, developers will now be better able to help organizations accelerate and monetize their mobile strategies."

The AT&T API Platform, featuring IBM Worklight Adapters, will enable the more than 31,000 members of the AT&T Developer Program to create and deploy enterprise apps that improve subscriber engagement and customer loyalty. With these adapters that support AT&T’s ecosystem of APIs, including those for speech, SMS, device capabilities, notary management and payment, developers can create business-ready apps across a variety of platforms, such as iOS, Android and Windows.

Some of the various opportunities enabled by the Worklight adapters include the ability to use voice-mail–to-text features to transcribe voice mails, and then post the voice notes to a centralized area for all users to see. The adapters also give organizations the flexibility to control the look and feel of how they present purchase options as well as how they deliver digital goods to the customer.

"AT&T is committed to the success of our rapidly growing developer community," said Carlton Hill, vice president of developer services at AT&T, in a statement. "By expanding our platform’s reach and making our API toolkit available on an expanding number of platforms, including IBM Worklight, our developers have the information, tools and resources to continue to build great things and contribute to the mobile ecosystem in meaningful new ways."

Big Blue officials said the agreement between IBM and AT&T is timely as communication service providers (CSPs) are faced with the challenge of providing a more personalized mobile experience for their customers and meeting rising demand for quick access to services and apps.

Overall, the AT&T APIs provide the mobile development community with easy-to-use on-ramps that accelerate app development. The IBM DeveloperWorks community will benefit from a single source of trusted mobile and telecommunications content via the AT&T Developer Program to streamline development processes. Additionally, members of the AT&T developer community using the prebuilt Worklight adapters can further reduce time to market, cost and complexity of development, as well as facilitate a better user experience across a variety of mobile devices, IBM said.

Source: http://www.eweek.com/developer/ibm-att-team-to-empower-mobile-app-developers/

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Apple iOS development extended to Visual Studio

Apple iOS development extended to Visual Studio

Developers using Microsoft’s mainstay Visual Studio IDE on Windows will be able to build native Apple iOS mobile applications via version 2.0 of the Xamarin development platform, which is being announced Wednesday.

Leveraging the Mono .Net runtime, Xamarin, from the company of the same name, enables development of cross-platform mobile applications for Apple iOS, Google Android, and Microsoft Windows via C#. Developers can leverage Visual Studio using the Xamarin.iOS for Visual Studio feature within version 2.0, though having a Mac on the network for the purpose of software builds is required.

Xamarin gets .Net developers on board with mobile development, says analyst Jeffrey Hammond, of Forrester Research. "The chief strength of the Xamarin approach is that it leverages a lightly tapped resource in the mobile space: .Net developers," Hammond says. "We see more C# and Java devs in enterprise IT than any other programming language. Xamarin gives at least one of these developer pools a way forward into the mobile-first age."

Hammond also sees Xamarin’s cross-compilation approach as viable, noting music service Rdio’s use of Xamarin. "The Rdio app is a good example. I doubt most customers who use it have any idea it’s written in C#. That’s really the barometer: If the customer doesn’t notice and the experience is ‘good enough’ to meet expectations, then as far as I’m concerned, it’s a lower-cost way to go cross-platform that is more maintainable in the long run."

Also part of version 2.0 is Xamarin Studio, which is the company’s own IDE for native mobile development. The Xamarin Component Store, for adding third-party libraries to applications via a few lines of code, is featured as well. Developers can add native UI controls and design themes. In addition, Xamarin is offering Xamarin Starter Edition, a free tier intended to make it easier for developers and businesses to get running with Xamarin.

Source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/apple-ios-development-extended-visual-studio-213127

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