Mobile application development 

 Mobile application development is the process by which application software is developed for small low-power handheld devices such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These applications are either pre-installed on phones during manufacture, or downloaded by customers from various mobile software distribution platforms.

 Contents

1 Execution environments

2 Platform development environment

3 Testing

4 Application stores

5 Patents

6 Patent Enforcement

Execution environments Android, iOS, BlackBerry, HP webOS, Symbian OS, and Windows Mobile support typical application binaries as found on personal computers with code which executes in the native machine format of the processor (the ARM architecture is a dominant design used on many current models). Windows Mobile can also be compiled to x86 executables for debugging on a PC without a processor emulator, and also supports the Portable Executable (PE) format associated with the .NET Framework. Windows Mobile, HP webOS and iOS offer free SDKs and integrated development environments to developers. Machine language executables offer considerable performance advantages over Java.[citation needed] Platform development environment Each of the platforms for mobile applications also has an integrated development environment which provides tools to allow a developer to write, test and deploy applications into the target platform environment. The following table summarises the elements in each of the development environments. Programming language Debuggers available Emulator available Integrated development environment available Cross-platform deployment Installer packaging options Development tool cost Adobe AIR Action Script, HTML, CSS, JavaScript Yes Yes Flash Builder, Flash Professional iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch), Android, BlackBerry The native distribution format of each platform Flash Builder, Flash Professional – Commercial licenses available Adobe AIR SDK (command line tool) – Free Airplay SDK (Now Marmalade) C, C++ Yes Yes Visual Studio, XCode All native: Android, BlackBerry, BREW, iOS (iPhone), Maemo, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile 6.x and desktop, OSX The native distribution format of each platform Commercial licenses available alcheMo Java Debugger integrated in Visual Studio, Eclipse or XCode Emulator is available in corresponding IDE Visual Studio, Eclipse, XCode Android, BREW, iOS (iPhone), Windows Mobile The native distribution format of each platform Commercial licenses available Android Java but portions of code can be in C, C++ Debugger integrated in Eclipse, standalone debugging monitor available Yes Eclipse, Project Kenai Android plugin for NetBeans Android only, because of Dalvik VM, March 2009 apk Free Appcelerator JavaScript Yes, in Titanium Studio, currently in beta. Emulator is available using 3rd party tools Internal SDK Android, iPhone; BlackBerry planned The native distribution format of each platform Apache 2.0 license, commercial licenses available [[AppMatrix, Inc.]] Javascript,CSS,Objective C, C+ Yes, XDK, 3rd Party Debuggers Yes, Emulator Also available using 3rd Party tools Template:YES iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Desktop Custom Application Development Available, Sub Licenses available visit www.appmatrixinc.com appMobi HTML5 (JavaScript,CSS3,HTML5) Yes, XDK (Google Chrome App Store) Yes, In XDK Integrates with developer’s preferred tool (VS, Notepad ++, VI) iOs, Android, HTML5 Web Apps, HTML5 Hybrid Apps The native distribution format of each platform No Charge Aqua C, C++, JavaScript Yes Yes Visual Studio, XCode, Eclipse Android, BlackBerry Playbook, iOS, Palm/webOS, Samsung bada, Windows Mobile 6.x, Windows Desktop The native distribution format of each platform Free & commercial licenses available Basic4android Visual Basic Yes Yes Yes Android apk Commercial licenses available Bedrock Java Yes Yes Eclipse Java ME, Android, BREW, BlackBerry, DS, iOS (iPhone), Palm/webOS, PSP, Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7 The native distribution format of each platform Commercial licenses available BlackBerry Java Debugger integrated in IDE Yes Eclipse BlackBerry only, because of RIM API alx, cod Free Blueprint XML routed through Yahoo Mobile servers and displayed in native browsers None beyond a schema check N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed N/A, any XML or N/A, translates to web or mobile as needed Combined config upload at Yahoo with self-hosted dynamic XML Any XML or BREW C; the APIs are provided in C with a C++ style interface Debugger support for the native ARM target code.Can use Visual Studio to debug the x86 testing code No Emulator for the target ARM code, has a simulator for the x86 testing code Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio 2003 .NET, Visual Studio 2005 Compile for the specific BREW version available on the handset OTA Related dev fees typically needed for Brew App Certification – VeriSign annual fee for becoming a certified developer. Realview ARM compiler for BREW (the free GNU C/C++ is available, but with limited function and support). TRUE BREW testing fee for distributing the application. Canappi mdsl, easy to learn programming language dedicated to mobile solutions, from which iOS, Android, … code is generated Native Platform Debuggers (iOS, Android…) Native Platform Emulators (iOS, Android…) Eclipse, with mdsl plugin, Apple Interface Builder and Balsamiq for graphical UI design iOS, Android. Design tools like Interface Builder can be used in a cross-platform way. You create your GUI once in Interface Builder you generate code for all platform, all resolutions from a single file. Native deployment for each platform Free & commercial licenses available Celsius Java Yes Yes Eclipse Java ME, Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile The native distribution format of each platform of a Java binary Commercial licenses available CoStore Web-based drag-and-drop N/A Yes Web-based app builder iOS, Android, HTML5 Native deployment for each platform or web-based Free unlimited trial; commercial licenses available for deployment Corona SDK Lua Yes Yes Xcode iOS, Android, NOOK Color Native deployment for each platform Free unlimited trial; commercial licenses available for deployment DragonRAD Visual drag & drop tiles Yes Uses 3rd party emulators Proprietary IDE Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile OTA deployment Free & commercial licenses available FeedHenry HTML, CSS, JavaScript Yes Yes Studio includes full IDE and Eclipse Plug-in Apple iPhone & iPad, Android, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry, Nokia WRT. The native distribution format of each platform Free, Professional and Enterprise Plans available Gideros Mobile Lua No Yes Proprietary IDE iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android The native distribution format of each platform Free & commercial licenses available iOS SDK Objective-C Debugger integrated in Xcode IDE Bundled with iPhone SDK, integrated with Xcode IDE Xcode iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Only via App Store, needs review and approval by Apple Inc. Tools are free for an Intel-based Mac. Simulator testing is free, but installing on a device needs a fee for a developer signing key Java ME Java Yes Free emulator, Sun Java Wireless Toolkit, mpowerplayer Eclipse, LMA NetBeans Mobility Pack Yes although many VM implementations have device specific bugs necessitating separate builds Jad/Jar packaging; PRC files under Palm OS Free JMango JMango N/A N/A JMango Flash IDE Java ME, Android, Bada, BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile 6, Windows Phone 7 The native distribution format of each platform Free July Systems Mi™ Platform Java, HTML, Groovy, Freemarker, Java Script Yes Yes IDE – Eclipse with GUI or iOS, Android, Blackberry, WP7, Mobile Web, HTML5, QT Native distribution format for each platform Commercial licenses available Kony Graphical Drag and Drop Yes Yes, utilizes Native Platform Emulators( iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7) Eclipse-based Yes. Support for full OS-native, hybrid, and wrapper applications. Includes Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Java ME, Palm/webOS, Symbian, Windows Phone 7. Mobile web browser support (WML through to device-optimized HTML5) The native distribution format of each platform Commercial licenses available Lazarus Object Pascal Yes, can debug in IDE via ActiveSync for Windows CE Uses the emulators of the platforms Lazarus IDE, including integrated GUI designer and debugger Compiled language available for Windows CE, Linux-based devices, SymbianOS port in development The native distribution format of each platform Free Macromedia Flash Lite ActionScript Yes Bundled with IDE Macromedia Flash MX2004/8, Eclipse Yes SIS / CAB deployment or OTA/IR/Bluetooth SWF files Varies, free but limited with MTASC Microbrowser based XHTML (WAP 2.0), WML (WAP 1.2) Yes Many Many Basic page rendering with per page customizations for different browsers N/A Free Meme IDE Memescript easy to learn programming language Validation is provided in the problems view Yes, Android emulator can be integrated Eclipse RCP Android, Windows Mobile The native distribution format if each platform Free for development MobiAccess CoBaBe, easy to learn and dedicated to mobile solutions. Six platform in one language. Very similar to .net No Yes, only Windows (Apple upcoming) MobiAccess – proprietary IDE, internal SDK iOS (iPhone, iPad,), Android, BlackBerry, WP7, Windows Mobile, PDA, Qt (Linux, Symbian) The Native Distribution format for all platforms Free and Commercial licenses available MobiFlex Visual drag & drop tiles N/A N/A, runs on phone in seconds Web Portal, comes with data management add-ins Android, iPhone N/A Free for development only MobileNationHQ Visual paradigm/javascript N/A N/A instant cloud-based deployment Integrated SaaS environment Android, iPhone N/A Free and Commercial licenses available Moscrif JavaScript N/A Bundled with Moscrif SDK Internal SDK (Mono based) All native: Android, iOS (iPhone), Samsung bada, Symbian, Windows Mobile The native distribution format of each platform Free & commercial licenses available Mono for Android C# Yes Yes Visual Studio 2005 and MonoDevelop Android The native distribution format of the platform MonoTouch C# Yes Yes Visual Studio 2005 and MonoDevelop iOS The native distribution format of the platform MoSync C, C++, Lua Yes Yes Eclipse, Visual Studio 2005 and later, MoBuild w/ text ors Android, Java ME, Moblin, iOS (iPhone), Smartphone 2003, Symbian, Windows Mobile (Pocket PC), Blackberry (experimental) SIS, CAB, JAD, JAR, APK, OTA deployment Free, GPL 2.0; commercial licenses available .NET Compact Framework C#, VB.NET, Basic4ppc Yes Free emulator, source code available, also bundled with IDE Visual Studio 2008, 2005, 2003, Basic4ppc IDE Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Symbian-based devices via third party tools OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync Most tools free, but commercial ions of Visual Studio needed for visual designers NS BASIC/App Studio Visual Basic Yes No, Test in Chrome or Safari Browser Proprietary IDE iPhone, iPad, iPad Touch, Android 2.1+ Java Web App or native deployment using Phonegap Evaluation Version & Commercial Licenses available OpenPlug ActionScript, XML Yes Yes OpenPlug ELIPS plugin for Adobe Flash Builder Android, iOS (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), Symbian, Windows Mobile The native distribution format of each platform Free & commercial licenses available Palm OS C, C++, Pascal Yes OS 1.0 – 4.1: Free Emulator provided by PalmSource (Access); OS 5.0: – 5.4 Device-specific Simulators provided by Palm (palmOne) Palm OS Development System (Eclipse), CodeWarrior, PocketStudio, HB++, Satellite Forms Palm OS handhelds, or Windows Mobile with StyleTap emulator PRC files, PalmSource Installer (.psi) Free (POSE or GCC for Palm OS), or commercial (CodeWarrior), or various commercial rapid-development frameworks Particle SDK Java, ActionScript Yes Yes Eclipse plugin with GUI or Android, BlackBerry, iOS, webOS, and Windows Phone 7 mobile devices plus Flash, HTML5 web apps The native distribution format of each platform Currently in free beta. Commercial license will be available. PhoneGap HTML, CSS, JavaScript Yes No, 3rd party tools No, 3rd party tools iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Palm The native distribution format of each platform MIT license Python Python Yes Add-on to Nokia Emulator Several, including plugins for Eclipse Interpreted language available natively only on Nokia Series60 (and desktops) though ports exist to other mobile platforms, including PalmOS Sis deployment with py2sis or can use Python Runtime Free Resco MobileForms Toolkit C# Yes Yes Visual Studio Windows Mobile (Pocket PC), Windows CE, Android, iOS, Smartphone The native distribution format of each platform Free & commercial licenses available Rhomobile Ruby with HTML interface features compiled through an interpreter into native applications. Yes N/A, applications can run in Win32 runner, or in device emulators for supported platforms. xCode or Eclipse, on-demand RhoHub version includes full IDE Yes, supports iOS (incl. 3.0) on iPhone and iPad, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Mobile Windows 6.0 Standard, BlackBerry 4.6, 4.7, 5.0, 6.0 (BlackBerry 4.2 and 4.5 supported but database access is very slow on these devices), Symbian and Android 1.6 and higher OTA deployment, iOS through App store, .SIS, .CAB, .APK, .COD Rhodes is free and open source under the MIT License, RhoSync is under GPL or commercial, Commercial support available. Subscription for RhoHub Smartface Platform Drag-and-drop tools and action ing No, not needed Yes Smartface Designer Yes: Android, BlackBerry, J2ME, Symbian S60 The native distribution format of each platform Community licenses available Symbian C++ Yes Free Emulator Many choices Compile per target SIS deployment Commercial and free tools available TotalCross Java Yes Yes Eclipse, TKN Mobile Studio for TotalCross Android, BlackBerry, iOS (iPhone, iPad), Palm OS, Windows Mobile. Windows Phone 7, Symbian planned The native distribution format of each platform (cab, jad, apk, pdb/prc, deb) SDK is open source and free for desktop development. VM for target devices must be licensed WebORB Integration Server C#,VB.NET, Java, PHP, ActionScript, JavaScript, Objective-C, XML Yes Uses emulator for corresponding mobile SDKs Works with Eclipse, Visual Studio, intelliJ IDEA and Amethyst IDE Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad), BlackBerry Playbook, Windows Phone7 The native distribution format of each platform Free development licenses; Free and Commercial deployment licenses webOS JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C and C++ through the PDK Yes Free emulator Eclipse webOS, Palm only OTA deployment, webOS through App store, Web URL, Precentral, .ipk Free WinDev Mobile WLanguage Yes Yes WinDev Mobile, Android DSK Android, Windows Mobile OTA deployment, apk, CAB files, ActiveSync Commercial licenses available Windows Mobile C, C++ Yes Free emulator (source code available), also bundled with IDE Visual Studio 2010, 2008, 2005, eMbedded VC++ (free), Satellite Forms Windows Mobile, Windows FU, Windows CE OTA deployment, CAB files, ActiveSync Free command-line tools or eMbedded VC++, or Visual Studio (Standard ion or better) Windows Phone C# Yes Free emulator, also bundled with IDE Visual Studio 2010 Windows Phone OTA deployment, XAP files WorkLight Mobile Platform Choice of standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript, native languages or a combination of both Yes Bundled with the IDE Eclipse-based plug-in Yes, supports Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone 7, as well as modern mobile browsers for web apps The native distribution format of each platform Downloadable free evaluation version, commercial licenses available Fivespark Web-based point and click N/A Preview in desktop browser Web-based app builder Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone 7 plus other modern mobile browsers HTML5 OTA Free for development Tiggr – Mobile Apps Builder Web-based, visual or, HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery Mobile, PhoneGap Yes, in special debug window No need, test right in browser or device Web-based, can also export to Eclipse or Maven project Mobile Web (HTML/JS/CSS), iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7 The native distribution format of each platform or mobile Web (HTML/JS/CSS) In free beta, subscription will be available in the future [] Testing Mobile application testing involves Functional testing, Security testing, Load testing & Performance testing, Localization testing, Usability Testing [1] Many types of tests are automatable. [] Application stores Several initiatives exist both from mobile vendor and mobile operators around the world. Application developers can propose and publish their applications on the stores, being rewarded by a revenue sharing of the selling price. Most famous is Apple’s App Store, where only approved applications may be distributed and run on iOS devices (otherwise known as a walled garden). HP / Palm, Inc have also created the Palm App Catalog where HP / Palm, Inc webOS device users can download applications directly from the device or send a link to the application via a unique web distribution method. Recently, mobile operators such as Telefonica Group and Telecom Italia have launched cross-platform application stores for their subscribers. [] Patents There are numerous patent applications pending for new mobile phone apps. Most of these are in the technological fields of Business methods, Database management, Data transfer and Operator interface.[2] [] Patent Enforcement Main article: Lodsys On May 31, 2011, Lodsys asserted two of its four patents: U.S. Patent No. 7,620,565 (“the ’565 patent”) on a “customer-based design module” and U.S. Patent No. 7,222,078 (“the ’078 patent”) on “Methods and Systems for Gathering Information from Units of a Commodity Across a Network.” against the following app developers:[3] • Combay • Iconfactory • Illusion Labs • Shovelmate • Quickoffice • Richard Shinderman of Brooklyn, New York • Wulven Games of Hanoi, Vietnam