Multi Platform Mobile Development Approach

One of the biggest challenges faced by the IT teams of large organizations is their ability to support multiple platforms. This gets further burgeoned as mobile OSes continue to wax and wane, the pressing question remains: Which devices to support and which to ignore? Added to this is the even increasing demand from the users for more and more applications and in a shorter period of time.

Endeavour, “The Mobility Company”, has been into mobile solutions, consulting, and advisory space for the past nine years and we have seen the mobile platforms evolve as well as stupor. We have seen evolution of cross-OS platform solutions coming to the fore and promising to offer almost everything which is possible on a native platform but the truth is that they are only alternatives and in no way come even close to native application development.

The approach to multiple mobile platform support therefore lies with the ability to build reusable components, which could be readily customized thereby minimizing the development time and effort while retaining the strengths of native application development on respective platforms.

Middleware at the same time also plays key role in mobile solutions, and has evolved along with the mobile devices, the technologies and the demanding needs created by this combination. These middleware cater to various needs such as multiple file formats, media formats, data sources, content re purposing and so on. A common middleware catering to multiple platforms is a challenge on its own, as the middleware has to play key role of handling multiple content formats and converting them to overcome the limitations in individual platforms.

Mobile Enterprise Knowledge Platform (MEKP)

At Endeavour, these common routines and re-usable components form an enterprise application development repository. Mobile Enterprise Knowledge Platform (MEKP) has huge knowledge base of components and each of these components holds individual responsibility for managing the application system. They are well managed, reviewed, documented for re-utilization.

Mobile Enterprise Knowledge Platform is a collection of components that comprises of three sections.

      1.     Mobile Application Layer

      2.     Middleware components

      3.     Data connectivity layer

Each section holds responsibility of inter exchange of data across the layers on various modules.

Mobile Application Layer:  It is a collection re-usable component specifically made for mobile platforms. Each component is created to act independently and is also capable of adding services for the mobile application.

Middleware components: This component acts as a data storage and data exchange layer between the Mobile Application layer and the backend system. It comprises of various component that are common for all listed mobile platforms. A common workflow model has been formed to exchange the data between these modules.

Data connectivity Layer: This layer holds responsibility for establishing and managing connections between the middleware and backend system. There are external interface connectors provided to interact with backend system.

Conclusion

So, if you are planning for a mobile application and struggling to figure our the best platform to select as well as manage the development effort within your schedule then we should be able to assist.


mobile application development

Mobile enabling e-learning solutions

Introduction. Education systems have evolved over a period of time starting from the traditional class room based systems to Distance education systems to where we are today. The inability of the working elite, to attend class room based sessions generated the need for distance education. Technology has come a long way and has added great amount of value in the success of distance education. The growth and reach of technology to the common man has been so enormous that, today, e-Learning has become a part and parcel of each and every distance education working model. 

Convenience and technology being the prime drivers in the evolution of education systems, the next obvious step is to recognize the amount of convenience provided by smart phones and the rapid technological advances which are working wonders on the smart phones. Considering the fact that the number of mobile phones has already overtaken the number of personal computers, it is a matter of time before smart phones repeat the same. And it makes all the sense for the e-Learning industry to extend their solutions to get into the m-Learning mode. This article delves into the growth trends of both e-Learning, smart phones, the shortcomings of the e-Learning mode and how m-Learning fills the gap. Apart from the same, the article also covers a high level overview on the readiness check that the e-Learning solution providers need to perform to ensure that they are ready for the m-Learning revolution and how Endeavour could help them in their journey.

Growth of e-Learning. A report from Ambient Insight claims that the demand for e-Learning is growing by a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.8% and revenues will reach $49.6 billion by 2014. North America will remain as the biggest market. The growth rates in Asia are astounding as well. The compound annual growth rate in Asia is a very healthy 33.5%.By 2014, Asia(which includes Australia and New Zealand in this report) would overtake Western Europe to become the second largest market after North America.

Shortcomings of e-Learning. As detailed earlier, convenience and technology have been the prime drivers of the evolution of educational system. Looking at the current trends on convenience, e-Learning has its own shortcomings when it comes to catering to people on the move. Consumers are bound to a specific location as they have to depend on a Personal Computer with Internet connectivity and the dependent resources. Though laptops seem to bridge the gap, they have their own shortcomings, as one need to go through the hassles of opening a laptop, power on or booting time, ensuring connectivity, limited battery capacity, space and comfort levels while travelling to name a few.   

How Smartphone fills the gap? On the contrary the Smartphone fills the gap perfectly, where the consumer can access the content anytime and anywhere as long as they have network connectivity, making the learning solution truly mobile.  The Smartphone proliferation and its penetration in the society have grown leaps and bounds over a few years and the future growth trends are amazing. These facts obviously make m-Learning as the next step in the evolution of the educational system. The statistics on the growth rate of mobiles and mobile internet from Tomi T Ahonen, depicted in Fig 1. , stand a proof for the same.

Figure 1: Growth of Mobile devices and the Mobile Internet

What does it take to mobile enable an e-Learning solution? Having established the fact that, m-Learning is the way forward, let’s take a look at what it takes to extend the existing e-Learning Solutions to the mobile devices. At a high level the Solution architecture is the key and if the solution has been architected with SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) as the base, things become easier, as the extension to the mobile devices is the only missing link. However, the other solution elements also need to be studied in detail as we get into the finer details of mobilizing any e-Learning solution.

Here again the mobile extension can be either web based or a native application can be built, depending upon the type of the e-Learning solution. Native mobile applications are applications which reside on the mobile device and interact with the server side components for the data. Mobile websites are nothing but enabling the existing websites to work on the mobile. To provide some more clarity, websites do not work the same way as it works on a Personal Computer, when it is accessed from a mobile. So essentially there is an effort involved in mobile enabling a website and this effort depends upon the complexity of the website and the technology involved.

How can Endeavour help? Endeavour Software Technologies can help you perform a detailed assessment of your existing solution and can come up with the cost and the schedule for mobile enabling your e-Learning solution. Endeavour also has the advantage of designing and implementing a m-Learning solution which can be a hybrid solution having elements of a native application as well as a mobile website, thereby bringing in the best of both the modes, resulting in a perfect user experience.

Act Now. To tap the immense potential being generated by the m-Learning revolution, the e-Learning solution providers should act now, before it is late.

About Endeavour – The Mobility Company ^TM

Endeavour is a specialist Mobility company since 2002. Endeavour has been providing strategic consulting and product development for Mobile enabling businesses in the Manufacturing, Media, Print, Healthcare, Consumer solutions, Telecom and Business Intelligence verticals. Endeavour has a strong mobile application development team on all mobile platforms in the market today, including, RIM, Apple, Symbian, Android, Windows Mobile, Palm Pre, micro Linux, Brew. Endeavour is based out of Austin, Texas, Bangalore India and London, UK. 

iPhone Application Development, Android Application Development, Blackberry Application Development

Blackberry Application for XIX Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games were first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Canada. The event was renamed as the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, the British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and from 1978 are named as the Commonwealth Games. The  Games are held every four years in which all the member nations and territories of the Commonwealth of Nations participate in a multi-sport event which features competitions involving thousands of elite athletes. The Commonwealth Games are one of the world’s largest multi-sport events.
The vibrant city of New Delhi, home to 14 million people, will be hosting the XIX Commonwealth Games from 3 October 2010. This will be the first time India has hosted the Games and only the second time the event has been held in Asia (Kuala Lumpur in 1998 was the first).
The logo itself is in an invitation to every person across all divides – Indian and Commonwealth - to let go of themselves and participate in the Games to the best of their abilities, in the true sprit of the Games.

Come Out and Participate

With a vision to make this dream successful wherein every person is able to participate and Cheer for their respective countries and sportsperson, Endeavour – The Mobility Company, has developed “CWGames” Mobile Application to facilitate the sharing of experiences of Commonwealth Games 2010.

The solution would help visitors, fans and attendees of Commonwealth Games 2010 to keep themselves updated with the latest happenings in the Game Village comprising of

Medal History            

 Access to the details of records established in the previous CW Games sorted by Game, Sport, Event and Country. The user can also view the latest results from various sporting events during the XIX Commonwealth Games as it progresses.

Event Schedule

The application will provide detailed schedule of events along with information related to various games and map view feature to facilitate the visitors in locating the venue in Games Village.

Cheer My Country

The users will be able to cheer for their country by playing Cheer Sounds and voting for their respective nations. They can also save new and innovative sounds which would be then available to other users to use as Cheer Sounds.

Commonwealth Photos

The application allows the users to take pictures of their athletes as they perform share, upload and share their experiences with their friends and colleagues.  This ensures access to latest happenings around the Game Village even in cases when the user is not physically present.

In Summary, CWG Mobile application provides blackberry users to get all the latest updates on Commonwealth Games 2010 along with enriched interactivity such as cheer country with excellent sounds, upload/share CWG photos & messages which are Unique and Entertaining. This application provides details about the past history, guide maps to events venue, latest Medal standings and Event Schedules. The Voting for the Favorite message/sound of the day feature allows the user to Live Through the CWG Games. Stand a chance to win BlackBerry phones by simply uploading your photos and cheers! 

Rahul Aggarwal, MD, Endeavour Software Technologies, said the CWGames Blackberry application will mark a dramatic shift towards how people participate in the games and share their experiences with fellow members. According to him this application will provide a unique experience and set new standards for the Games to come. "We are excited about having this application available exclusively to Airtel BlackBerry customers and the value that it would bring to the visitors of Commonwealth Games," he said. 



Endeavour Software Technologies is a niche mobile solutions services company since 2002. The company offers Technology Solutions geared towards building Enterprise and Consumer Mobility Solutions for various verticals including Healthcare, Finance and Banking, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Consumer Oriented Organizations as well as market research, publishing and PR firms.

The enterprise dilemma: Key considerations while embracing Mobility

In this fast-paced business scenario, shifting over to innovative mobile technologies is one of the crucial business strategies organizations are adopting today. Their dream is leveraging pioneering solutions to acquire considerable business value and gain a competitive edge over their competitors. In an effort to employ the power of mobile technologies, a majority of businesses are automating and streamlining their business acumen with cutting-edge mobile applications which could ensure improved productivity and reduced operational costs.

The diagram shows the shift in the enterprise world in terms of implementing mobility from strategic perspective to optimize cost associated with managing the information.

Micro Browser apps vs native apps

Background. There is presence of certain leading drivers for wireless technologies but even so , the market is still in its infancy. Some would argue that there is considerable difference of opinion in adopting dedicated platforms in organizations.  The jury is still out over the question as to which mobile micro browser apps on mobile browsers would not only be cost effective but also open new vistas in enterprise mobility. The question on the other side is, should the enterprise adopt a Mobile enterprise application platform (MEAP). There is debate regarding the use of browser based micro-apps and the role of MEPA. Above all it is a point to ponder that there are 100s of variations of the mobile browser, which bring up the unexpected QA issue.  Our previous article “web developers can rule the mobile development” discusses some of the challenges and benefits with browser based applications.

Debate. Organizations are also discussing the role of multitude  Mobile micro browser-apps, in the enterprise environment and native apps. The micro-apps are light-weight and do simple things such as  alerts, approvals, expense reports etc.  The point to consider here is the enterprise going to manage these. Whether the mobile users would use ”n” different enterprise micro-apps on their Smartphone? Micro-apps may be considered as short term innovations which can simply be consolidated into a mobile enterprise application platform (MEAP).  The interesting point, based on our work with different enterprises, is that an enterprise user would like to have a single icon on their mobile dashboard and not “n” different icons for each micro application. That single icon in return could offer “n” menu options along with mobilized business processes.  More such options can be added later as an opt-in function such is the flexibility of this platform.

On the other hand, by native apps we mean mobile apps in native environments of the mobile platform in question.  These native apps reside on the mobile devices which while connected to the Enterprise environment could get the data by using secure protocols, use the underlying capabilities of the platform – camera, accelerometer, GPS, enhance User experience. By the way did you know BlackBerry apps are using Java along with standardized Java and RIM-specific interfaces?

No doubt the MEAP vendor’s job would be to create micro-apps and consolidating them on their required platforms. The big question is how quickly the best MEAP apps could be created which can get enough market exposure, while at the same time leveraging the target mobile platform capabilities to the maximum.  The best MEAPs could include excellent visual design tools for adapting and creating new mobile enterprise applications, dominant combo tools which can be connected and synchronized with different backend database applications and environments etc., and different tools for the IT help desk, mobile user and mobile device management dashboards etc.

Role of Mobile Roadmap

It is no secret that the mobile market is developing at a faster pace but its major components such as  wireless networks, applications and devices are evolving unpredictably. For organizations it has become a herculean task to deploy mobile applications that permit communication-mobility amidst multiple devices. There is a cutthroat competition amongst the Smartphone players including, Symbian, Blackberry, Web OS, Mac OS X, mobile Linux.  In this cut throat competition platforms such as  Qualcomm Binary Runtime for Wireless (Brew) may have fallen slightly behind but they are also trying to compete.

The diagram below depicts how enterprise mobility platforms are evolving with respect to device proliferation.

It should be recognized that implementing the right mobile technology for your organization’s requirement is sine-qua-non for your enterprise health. Fortunately, there are varied browsers available on mobile devices like the upcoming RIM, Palm, Symbian s60, android, and iPhone which are based on WebKit.  Individuals or different organizations can choose these platforms according to their necessities and requirements by deciding whether they would be satisfied with the micro-apps or MEAP.

Your Organization’s Mobility Road Map. Given this complexity it is necessary for organizations to first identify the roadmap for building the capability and infrastructure to deliver applications on mobile devices. The Roadmap should be able to answer important questions ,

·         What are the mobile application needs within the enterprise for their employees and what are the opportunities to build mobile applications for consumers?

·         What is needed in terms of people, process and organization capability to develop mobile applications?

·         What do they need in terms of infrastructure to support mobile devices – either their own or employee owned devices?

·         How do they design and build the mobile development environment for the long term, as well as deliver applications that can show the possibilities to users

·         What is the roadmap and associate costs and value of enterprise mobile application development?

The Technology Consulting Group (TCG) at Endeavour- the mobility company, continuously researches on emergent mobile technologies and key mobility trends to provide reliable solutions and strategic advisory to organizations looking to leverage mobility. The TCG evaluates business, IT , Mobile complexities and provides specific advice on the choice of mobile platforms, mobile application – complete product lifecycle, the ROI and the common pitfalls.

Obstacles to tackle

Key challenges – Obstacles that we have seen organizations come up against when considering Mobility Initiatives are

1. The connectivity issue. Users may not always be connected and at times they could be out of coverage or flying.
2. User liable vs Corporate liable devices. As the mobile worker already has a choice of mobile devices the organizations dilemma to use the user’s smartphone for enterprise job function grows.
3. 80-20 rule. What are the 20% of the mobile apps that add 80% of the value in a mobilization initiative? This depends from organization to organization and its particular business and work force needs.
4. Technology. Choice of MEAPs or self maintained applications , the debate between browser and client resident apps.

In the past there were other obstacles like low wireless network connectivity.  We now have access to 3G’s networks which without any doubt are much faster and provide speed around 1 Mbps. With the coming up of 3G and fresh networks like WiMax there would surely be improvement in mobile app performance.

References

• Enterprise Micro Applications Technical User Guide
• Exploring Mobile Applications Technology Landscape Technology
• Nokia focuses on Mobile Web with new Acquisition

Single Consistent Platform for Mobile Application Development

In the mobile development community there has been a constant uproar to find a platform which is supported by many, if not all, mobile manufacturers.

Recently Adobe announced a series of changes. The changes include:

--The next version of the mobile Flash runtime will be free of license fees. Adobe also confirmed that the mobile version of the Air runtime will be free.

--Adobe changed its licensing terms and released additional technical information that will make it easier for companies to create their own Flash-compatible products.

--The company announced a new consortium called Open Screen supporting the more open versions of Flash and Air. Members of the new group include the five leading handset companies, three mobile operators (including NTT, DoCoMo and Verizon), technology vendors (including Intel, Cisco, and Qualcomm), and content companies (BBC, MTV, and NBC Universal). Google, Apple, and Microsoft are not members.

Adobe said that the idea behind the announcements is to create a single consistent platform that lets developers create an application or piece of content once and run it across various types of devices and operating systems. That idea is very appealing to developers and content companies today. It was equally appealing two years ago, when then-CEO of Adobe Bruce Chizen made the exact same promise:
If we execute appropriately we will be the engagement platform, or the layer, on top of anything that has an LCD display, any computing device -- everything from a refrigerator to an automobile to a video game to a computer to a mobile phone.

Microsoft had tried to do the same by the launch of Microsoft Silverlight and in that sense Adobe has still to do a lot of follow up with Microsoft.

Also, the most important changes appear to apply to the next version of mobile Flash and the upcoming mobile version of Air -- meaning this was in part a vaporware announcement. Even when the new runtime software ships, it will take a long time to get it integrated into mobile phones. So once again, Microsoft has a long runway to maneuver on.

Still, the changes Adobe made are very useful. There's no way Flash could have become ubiquitous in the mobile world while Adobe was still charging fees for it. The changes to the Flash license terms remove one of the biggest objections I've seen to Flash from open source advocates. The Flash community seems excited and the list of supporters is impressive. Looking through the obligatory quotes attached to the Adobe release, two things stand out:

--Adobe got direct mentions of Air from ARM, Intel, SonyEricsson, Verizon, and Nokia (although Nokia promised only to explore Air, while it's on the record promising to bundle Silverlight mobile).

--The inclusion of NBC Universal in the announcement will have Adobe people chuckling because Microsoft signed up NBC to stream the Olympics online using Silverlight. So NBC is warning Microsoft not to take it for granted, and Adobe gets to stick its tongue out.


What does it all mean?
Nothing much in the short term. As I mentioned earlier, this is mostly a vaporware announcement (other than the license changes). Some people are speculating that this will put pressure on Apple to make Flash available on the iPhone. That's possible, if Apple's real concern was that they didn't like Flash Lite. Now they can port full Flash, or someone else can do it. But if Apple is in reality unwilling to let anyone else's platform run on the iPhone then we'll see other objections to Flash emerge.

The marketing competition to control the future of mobile apps is continuing to heat up. Microsoft is trying to take the whole thing proprietary by creating a comprehensive architecture, Adobe is trying to drive its own platform, Sun is trying to re-energize J2ME, Google is making its own moves with Android, and so on. Plus, of course, most mobile app developers today are happy with what they're using now and have little economic interest in switching to any unified development platform.

It's an enormously complex situation, and it's going to take months, if not years, before we can start to see who's winning and who is losing.