Mobile Device Emulators and Simulators

 

When developing code for mobile devices, it’s always good to test it out on the targeted device(s).  However, it’s not always convenient or cost-effective to have access to the real thing.  That’s where mobile device emulators and simulators come into play.

Hybrid Applications: A Marriage of Mobile Application Architectures

Most people think of two types of mobile applications: the mobile web and native applications.  The mobile web is obviously web sites that are optimized for mobile devices, like feature phones, smartphones, and now media tablets.  Their strength is that many developers are fluent in web-based development languages and tools.  Their weakness is you don’t have access to most hardware features (camera, accelerometer, sensors, etc.).  Native applications are developed for a specific OS platform using the associated software development kit (SDK).  Their strength is that you can leverage those hardware features previously mentioned.  Their downside is that you have to write different code for each mobile OS (like Objective-C for iOS devices and Java for Android).

Another application type which is growing in popularity is known as a hybrid mobile application.  The idea is that you can leverage common web technologies (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) but get the experience of a native application.  

Media Tablets in the Enterprise: Consumerization of IT Strikes Again

Well, Apple did it again. On April 3, 2010, they unleashed the iPad, a thin, sleek, tablet that has excited consumers around the world. It borrowed a lot from its little sibling, the iPhone, including compatibility with mobile applications in the Apple App Store. Just to give you some perspective, it took 74 days to sell one million iPhones. We know how that product revolutionized the smartphone industry. It took only 28 days to sell one million iPads. Simply amazing.

The Battle of the Mobile Architectures: Will Thin or Thick Client Win?

It’s 2007. The year of the World Wide Web. I should say the decade of the World Wide Web. The browser is the epitome of ubiquity. Everything is either built using web technologies or is retrofitted with a web front end. Google Docs enabled us to edit documents using just our browser. Throw out your old fashioned, bloated client-server technology. The web has won. It’s over, Johnny. IT’S OVER.

Not quite.