If there's anything more exciting than the flood of mobile applications being churned out, it is the race among platforms to develop applications for in 2010. Old players like Nokia are jostling with Apple and Google, with the BlackBerry app in between the old and the new.
Let's start by listing all the major mobile application development platforms. The main ones are, of course, the RIM Blackberry, Google Android, Apple iPhone, Nokia Symbian and Windows Mobile. Industry insiders will also know of Qualcomm BREW and Sun J2ME.
BlackBerry application development has a clear head start over Apple and Google - 55% market share in North America, 20 million subscribers on App World and app downloads approaching a million per day. So the RIM platform offers a better view of how this application will look over the next year, or in the next 5 years.
It's best for new developers to gain an understanding of how data moves around on wireless networks. Next step is to decide on a development environment. In this case, developers have a choice of either Java development or web development.
Working with Java necessitates a certain amount of expertise and comfort with direct coding and the logic behind it. Web development, on the other hand, is recommended for new developers who might be more comfortable with the 'put-it-together' environment offered by Microsoft Visual Studio. The RIM developer portal has plenty of documentation, downloads, support and simulators for both environments.
The RIM developer portal also offers useful mobile app development tools. Developers should start by downloading either the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse v1.1 or the BlackBerry Widget SDK v1.0. This means using either Java 5.0 or BlackBerry Device Software v5.0.
Another helpful download is the BlackBerry Theme Studio, used to create custom smart phone themes, mobile websites and animated content for these kinds of phones. The themes and graphics can be tested on all devices and operating systems using the simulators. Developers can also submit themes on the App World vendor portal.
Minimum requirements before downloading the web plug-in for Eclipse or Visual Studio include a system that has as the OS Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Developers will need to have either Eclipse or Microsoft Visual Studio installed before the web plug-in can be installed.
New developers usually get bottlenecked at the beginning, when it's hard to make choices without knowing what it means. BlackBerry makes it easy by taking them forward in simple steps. There's also a support network in the form of local developer groups and a video library that demonstrates clearly what needs to be done.
Note that BlackBerry is not the only one that offers all this. Apple developers looking to build an iPhone app or Google's Android developers have all the same help. But there is a certain difference in how easy (or not) it is for new developers. Developers can jump right in and start off on day one - the tools are that sophisticated and easy to use.
Let's start by listing all the major mobile application development platforms. The main ones are, of course, the RIM Blackberry, Google Android, Apple iPhone, Nokia Symbian and Windows Mobile. Industry insiders will also know of Qualcomm BREW and Sun J2ME.
BlackBerry application development has a clear head start over Apple and Google - 55% market share in North America, 20 million subscribers on App World and app downloads approaching a million per day. So the RIM platform offers a better view of how this application will look over the next year, or in the next 5 years.
It's best for new developers to gain an understanding of how data moves around on wireless networks. Next step is to decide on a development environment. In this case, developers have a choice of either Java development or web development.
Working with Java necessitates a certain amount of expertise and comfort with direct coding and the logic behind it. Web development, on the other hand, is recommended for new developers who might be more comfortable with the 'put-it-together' environment offered by Microsoft Visual Studio. The RIM developer portal has plenty of documentation, downloads, support and simulators for both environments.
The RIM developer portal also offers useful mobile app development tools. Developers should start by downloading either the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse v1.1 or the BlackBerry Widget SDK v1.0. This means using either Java 5.0 or BlackBerry Device Software v5.0.
Another helpful download is the BlackBerry Theme Studio, used to create custom smart phone themes, mobile websites and animated content for these kinds of phones. The themes and graphics can be tested on all devices and operating systems using the simulators. Developers can also submit themes on the App World vendor portal.
Minimum requirements before downloading the web plug-in for Eclipse or Visual Studio include a system that has as the OS Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Developers will need to have either Eclipse or Microsoft Visual Studio installed before the web plug-in can be installed.
New developers usually get bottlenecked at the beginning, when it's hard to make choices without knowing what it means. BlackBerry makes it easy by taking them forward in simple steps. There's also a support network in the form of local developer groups and a video library that demonstrates clearly what needs to be done.
Note that BlackBerry is not the only one that offers all this. Apple developers looking to build an iPhone app or Google's Android developers have all the same help. But there is a certain difference in how easy (or not) it is for new developers. Developers can jump right in and start off on day one - the tools are that sophisticated and easy to use.
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Be the first to market in the new blackberry application develoment market. DEVCON 2010 will showcase the future of mobile application development on Blackberry.
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