Mobile War - "Apple Vs Android"

iphone v/s android..
Its an all out war out here. On one side we have a rage and on the other we have a competitor who is as strong if not stronger. Its high time we analyze the strength of android which is powered by the ever growing and highly innovative brand of Samsung ( leader among the pack ). The article quotes that Samsung could use Android in every sector in which it is involved. Go through the article and analyze it for yourself.
Should Apple be worried about Samsung?

http://www.androidauthority.com/why-apple-is-very-afraid-of-samsung-26459/

Steve Jobs- A Tribute

Steve Jobs- A visionary, forefather of the digital age, countless innovations….

Some of the phrases related to the great man who left us for heavenly abode on 5^th October 2011. Somehow I feel Steve Paul Jobs is a synonym for innovation. He was some one who went beyond the normal and provided people with luxuries no one would have dreamt off. As he said to a magazine, “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.” That is one of the principles he worked with. He was an innovator par excellence. He bought to the common man products which changed his outlook towards technology. No one would forget the trademark blue jeans and black t-shirt clad product presentations which were a treat to watch. His way of presentation and sense of humour would give an edge to any product.

 Apple under his leadership has been at the centre of innovation for decades now. He redefined how we use the mobile phone with the introduction of iphone in 2007. It was not just a phone, it was a phone, a music player and above all a internet communicator. Multi touch was a thing of the future, Apple bought it to us. ipad wasn’t a thing which was a necessity but large crowds forming long queues three days prior to the launch of ipad showed that it was nothing short of a rage with the world and it only added to the legacy of this great man leading a great company. Every product coming from the Apple office is keenly awaited and taken up with both hands.

The success story started from the family garage and led to the large Silicon Valley office. It would be a fairy tale for many but it was more of a hard working, never give up attitude to a yearning to be the best and providing the customer something that they never imagined would be possible. As Steve Jobs himself said “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” He followed the path of innovation and we all know how he redefined the word leadership.

From a marketers point of view Steven Paul Jobs created markets and product categories. He altered the way we consumed products and entertainment. He absolutely changed the perception that technology is complex and for the young. He defied market research, never believed in the normal conventional products, he wanted to be the best, give the best possible product to the customer. These are qualities rarely found in a leader.  

The Steve Jobs way of working was to take risks, venture into the unknown. Can you think of another person who would have had the vision to take his company into uncharted waters like a mobile phone with no keypad, which no market research had showed any demand for, and then change the world with that? Or who'd have the courage to bet upon and live with one, just one, model to take on the world's phone vendors... and then to edge them out, with the world's most brilliant, and most profitable smart phone? All these things speak volumes of the man’s spirit to be the best and a way to tell the world that he will not settle for anything less than the best. It is also clearly seen with the way he left Apple for almost 12 years before returning with greater vigor and energy. In between he was the leader of Pixar Animation Company involved in producing animation movies like Toy Story (a franchise now) and also a recipient of numerous awards for a number of films.

His list of achievements can go on and on. His words of wisdom could make up a book (a sure bestseller), his innovative ideas have changed the world if not generations, he was the face of the most recognizable brand of the world. No words can describe this legendary figure who made the ugly world of technology look good.

Surely the great man has left a great void in the world of innovation. You have been a legend, a true role model. Hats off to you Sir. May your soul Rest In Peace.

InfoQ: SlideShare migrates from Flash to HTML5

Posted by Alex Blewitt on Sep 27, 2011

Today, Slideshare, the popular on-line presentation hosting site, completed its transition to using HTML5 instead of Flash for its eponymous slide sharing utlity.

Previously, browsers had to have Adobe Flash installed in order to view presentations on their site. However, with the advance of HTML5, and an increasing amount of traffic from (mobile) browsers without Flash support, the transition to HTML5 meant that SlideShare could be ahead of the competitors in terms of the delivery of components for other browsers.

Not only that, but the slides load 30% faster ...

Read more at - InfoQ: SlideShare migrates from Flash to HTML5

Aitrich Technologies Onam celebration on 8th September

This year’s Onam celebrations at aitrich technologies is going to be a grand affair. We, the recreation team take the privilege to invite you all to the grand Onam celebration which is going to be conducted on 8th September 2011.
The main centre of festivities will be in our reputed company's Office at Thrissur. Our Onam celebrations will be started at 8.00am with ‘Athapookkalam’ creation. Followed by this, we have arranged a number of fun filled competitions in groups. The winning team and participants of the Game events will be honoured. There will be a delicious “ONASADHYA”.
The activities and feasts are followed by various cultural Performances. Anyone can participate in this Event. It’s the Stage for unleash our potentials. Participants will be awarded with surprising gifts.
We whole heartedly welcome you all to this grand occasion and cordially request all the support and participation from your side to make the program a great success.

Program Schedule

8.00 am: Pookkalam Creation
10.00am: Games
12.50pm: Prize Distribution
1.00pm: Onam Sadhya
3.00pm: Cultural Program

Pookkalam

Pookkalam will be created by the members of the Aitrich technologies.
The pookkalam committee is Shaheer, Ullas, Sreejith, Faris,Sabu, Prasanth, Dipin.

Team

We divide our Staffs as 4 Team (Atham, Chithira, Chothi, Vishagam). The Team has selected by lot :-). Students will be selected for each team, during the beginning of Onam Celebration.
The responsibility for dividing the students to team is taken by Reshmy and Precy with the help of four team leaders.

Games Details

1: Bubble Handling:

Name itself describe what it is...    It is the game of sucking the ball with help of straw and dropping    in another vessel. 3 minute are given in this game.

At a time one member from each team can participate. Like that 4 rounds are taken place.

& which team drops dropped maximum balls in the vessel get 10 points. Second team will get 5 point. Third Team will get 3 points.

2: Sundharikku Pottukuthal:

A Beautiful baby will be placed in front. It’s the activity of marking the fore head of the beautiful baby without opening the eyes.  Maximum 30Minutes are given for this game.

4 Members from each Team can be participated for this game. The game has certain rules and regulations and that will be announced at that time.

3: Dumb Charades:

Giving dumb actions to the contest. To recognize the word (Film Name) that was written in the card. 30 Minutes are given to this game. At a time 3 Persons can be participated and 3 rounds are taken place.

The game has certain rules and regulations and that will be announced at that time. 

4: Spoon Racing:

    

Conducting race with spoon and Lemon. Person has to walk placing the lemon in the spoon and have to return to the original place without dropping the lemon. And drop it into the vessel kept.

1 Prize is given to team who having as much as lemon in the vessel and time is limited for each round as 5 Minutes. At a time 1 member can participate from each team and like that 3 Rounds are taken place.

5: Musical Chair:

Chair is provided along with music. We have to select our seat when the music stops.

All members in each team should be participated. Like other games and it’s also have a certain rules and regulations. This is conducting as an Team event. And Details of the game should be announced at that time.

The team for Organizing and Controlling the games are: Shaheer, Ullas Mohan, Sreejith, Prasanth U, Vineeth, Figi, Pracy, Selmath, Lali and Jisha.

Prize Distribution

There will be a prize distribution ceremony for honouring the winner team and participants of the Game events.

ONASADYA

The grand food, “ONASADYA” is served on a banana leaves in a traditional manner. ONASADYA contains numerous dishes ranging from the spicy ‘avial’ to the sweet ‘pal payasam’.

The team for Co-ordinating “ONASADYA”: Ameer, Ratheesh, Dipin, Sreejith, Faris, Prasanth P, Noushad, Nasar, Shafi ps,Manaf and Jinas.

They will treat your palate to an unforgettable spread of traditional specials prepared by Kannan sami.

Cultural programs

After “ONASADYA”, we have arranged various cultural performances. The cultural programs include Thiruvathira Kaly, Vanchy Pattu, Group Song, Skit, Onappattu, Mappila pattu etc. Any Person can participate in this Event. It’s the Stage for unleash our Potentials. Participants will get surprising gifts.

Co-ordinators - Nasar, Shaheer, Ullas, Shafi VK,Fristo, diljith,Favas, Anjali, Selmath, Precy, etc

Photograph Team

Faris, Shafi, Sabu, Jinas, Vipin

Blog + Social network Updating Team.

Faris, Shafi, Sabu, Shaheer and Ullas.

NB: Even though we have co-ordinates. Each individual have to come forward and must make the occasion a grand success.

Mobile Web Vs Native Mobile App Vs Hybrid

Source: Global Intellgence Alliance[visit]

 

What is the best choice between a mobile web application and a native mobile app, say, iphone app, android app, win mobile app... when planning a new mobile application ?

Or is a hybrid solution the right choice ? 

What are the concerns and considerations ?

Which platform (mobile web/ a native app/ hybrid) is more suitable for my business needs ?

What are the future directions ? Guidelines... ?

Both mobile web as well as native apps have their own merits and demerits. I found myself curious to see what the industry think about it, surfing through different community resources. An interesting debate is going on around this topic in the community.

Developers consider various factors before choosing the right platform for their new app. It was interesting to see what various camps think and advocate about.

• There are few factors that make this debate really interesting
• Mobile development is at its very early stage.
• Its is growing and changing very fast, you cannot predict what is going to be there two years ahead from now.
• Lots of new players and concepts are coming in.

Here is a brief compilation of the findings from my few hours of surfing and reading on the topic. Most of them are extracts from online resources, for the purpose of the readers to read and make their assumptions.


Native or Web Application ? [Global Intelligence Alliance]How Best to Deliver Content and Services to Your Audiences over the Mobile Phone.

The choice overa web or native (i.e. device specific) application holds important implications on, or is dictated by, a number of launch considerations for any mobile publisher or service provider:

• User Experience design
• Billing
• Reach
• ROI
• Go-to-market
• Discoverability
• User analytics

Despite conventional beliefs, by 2013 the majority of native device attributes are set to reach mobile/HTML5 web applications (as estimated below) while enabling user experiences that rival those of native applications:

Web apps offer an architectural advantage when targeting a cross-device launch, where significantly less platform migration is required as compared to native applications enabling substantial savings in porting and QA costs.

 Read more here >>

Web vs. Native Mobile App? Forrester Says Do Both

What is the future of the mobile Internet? Are native applications going to be the dominant form of digital interaction? Will new and developing browser technologies like HTML5 make the mobile Web preferable to apps? Developers, engineers, product strategists and brands large and small want to know what the future will look like in order to make spending decisions.

 Read more here >>

Insights on Web vs Native Mobile App: Forrester Says Do Both

"More than half of European (and 60% of US) consumers who download apps at least monthly also access the Internet via their mobile phones at least daily. In short, heavy app users are also heavy mobile Web users," Forrester said.

While this list of pros and cons, technical and business merits of each serve as a useful starting point for determining a sound app strategy for business apps, at the end, for product strategist, the question will be: what is your objective?

 Read more here >>

Native App vs. Web App: Which Is Better for Mobile Commerce? [Mashable]

One of the resounding themes for mobile software developers in 2011 is the debate between building a native app or building a mobile web app. While some developers are looking at ways to build hybrid solutions, this is a topic that continues to become more complex.
This is especially true for mobile commerce sites, where the conversion rates between browsers and purchasers can vary dramatically based on the platform and the method of presentation.
David Eads, the vice president of product marketing at Kony Solutions recently wrote an article for Mobile Commerce assessing the mobile channels brands need to support.

 Read more here >>

Designing for Mobile: Mobile Web Vs Native Apps [Sachendra Yadav]

There’s a big debate out there on this topic but there’s no silver bullet. Mobile web and native apps offer different benefits and serve different audiences. You need to look at what experience your app needs to deliver? What you are trying to achieve? What is your business model? What is your budget? Who is your target? etc; weigh the pros and cons of both the mediums and decide what works best for you.

 Read more here >>

A few thoughts on mobile web vs. rich app [Tech Republic] 

Takeaway: One of the very first questions we face when we begin planning to build an application is whether to do mobile web or rich app development.

As a mobile developer, I get asked my opinion on mobile web vs. rich app development quite often, and understandably so. For most mobile developers, this is one of the very first questions we face when we begin planning to build an application. And to be honest, there’s really no “correct” answer to the question. If I absolutely had to break it down to a couple distinct criteria, the decision would likely be based on the following:

• OS/Hardware-specific feature requirements
• Development budget
• Development timeline
• Target audience

 Read more here >>

An excellent slide on this topic..
Native vs Mobile Web vs Hybrid Apps for Mobile Development

The years ahead seems to be very exciting with lots of new trends and players in this field. Only those who constantly adapt to change is going to survive, as change is the only constant that can be seen in the Mobile technology spectrum.

This wide variety of technology choices is in fact giving many opportunities for the developer community. Developers can specialize on natvie platforms of either of the big camps or become a generalist by focusing on mobile web. However the challenge is to keep themselves up to date with the frequently changing trends, features and versions.

Either you enjoy this challenge by upgrading yourself constantly, or let yourself go out-dated. Choice is yours!

Microsoft is serious about mobile: The race begins !

Black Berry, Apple Now Mango?

Microsoft previewed the next major release of Windows Phone, code-named “Mango,” through a series of media events around the world.  Microsoft  claim that, “Mango” will deliver more than 500 new features to push the boundaries of the smartphone experience around communications, apps and the Internet.

“When we looked ahead to the next release, we wanted to stay true to the principles of Windows Phone 7 – that software should get out of your way and quickly connect you to the things that matter most,” said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of mobile communications at Microsoft. “Mango builds on the work that we did in Windows Phone 7 and extends a lot of key scenarios around communications, apps, and Internet experiences – with even more capability and a deeper level of integration.”

Watch the video..

Here are the list of features coming from Microsoft itself:

• Third-party Multi-tasking
• Twitter integration in People Hub
• Office 365 and SkyDrive support in Office Hub
• Internet Explorer 9 Mobile
• Improved application discovery
• Custom ringtones support
• Over-the-air Podcasts Download
• Better marketplace navigation
• Bing Search “Extras”
• Multiple Live Tiles per app
• Revamped Games Hub
• Expanded language support
• Configurable background services
• Pinnable email folders and conversation view
• Microsoft Lync Mobile app
• 1500+ New APIs (Motion Sensor, Gyro, Sockets, Database and more)
• Private and Beta Marketplace and Parental Controls
• Exchange Server email search, enhanced security and information rights management, and support for hidden WiFi network

Communications: Easier to Connect and Share

The smartphone experience can be complicated by a sea of disconnected apps and accounts as people attempt to keep pace with all the ways they communicate — from calls, texts, email and instant messages (IM) to status updates, Tweets, check-ins, photo posting and tagging. To help people stay on top of that growing complexity, the “Mango” release organizes information around the person or group people want to interact with, not the app they have to use.

•	Threads. Switch between text, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.
•	Groups. Group contacts into personalized Live Tiles to see the latest status updates right from the Start Screen and quickly send a text, email or IM to the whole group.
•	Deeper social network integration. Twitter and LinkedIn feeds are now integrated into contact cards, and “Mango” includes built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the Web.
•	Linked inbox. See multiple email accounts in one linked inbox. Conversations are organized to make it easy to stay on top of the latest mail.
•	Hands-free messaging. Built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support enables hands-free texting or chatting.

A Smarter Approach to Apps

Windows Phone will challenge the way people think about apps. Today their usefulness is measured by what can be done within the app, but Microsoft sees the promise of apps in how they can be integrated directly into the core experiences of the phone. In addition to making it easy to get timely notifications and updates from apps right from the Start Screen, the “Mango” release also will surface apps as part of search results and within Windows Phone Hubs. As a result, a useful app is more likely to be right there when needed.

•	App Connect. By connecting apps to search results and deepening their integration with Windows Phone Hubs, including Music and Video and Pictures, “Mango” allows apps to be surfaced when and where they make sense.
•	Improved Live Tiles. Get real-time information from apps without having to open them. Live Tiles can be more dynamic and hold more information.
•	Multitasking. Quickly switch between apps in use and allow apps to run in the background, helping to preserve battery life and performance.

Taking the Internet Beyond the Browser

In addition to including Internet Explorer, the “Mango” release will connect the power of the Web to the unique capabilities of Windows Phones, such as location awareness, camera and access to apps, to present a way of viewing the Web that is more localized, actionable and relevant.

•	Internet Explorer 9. A browser based on the powerful Internet Explorer 9 and including support for HTML5 and full hardware acceleration.
•	Local Scout. Provides hyperlocal search results and recommends nearby restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy-to-use guide.
•	Bing on Windows Phone. More ways to search the Web, including Bing Vision, Music Search and Voice so it’s easy to discover and decide.
•	Quick Cards. When searching for a product, movie, event or place, see a quick summary of relevant information, including related apps.

One more video ..

Find information on the Beta Mango Tools here.

Read the announcement of Window Phone Marketplace of the Web for Mango here.

Explosion of Apps Market

I was going through some articles related to the Mobile Apps Development and their market place recently, and found very interesting statistics in one blog with the heading, Apps to Explode to $38 Billion Market by 2015 (click here).

While iPhone leads the market with an astonishing 82.7% as of the start of this year, the race has begun for the market share from the giants, Android, Black Berry, HP, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft, LG etc. The interesting trend is that, the parameters change in such a big pace, we cannot predict the situation after 2-3 years of time now. Who will dominate the market ? Which all new players will be there ? We should wait and see.

iPhone has just triggerred this explosion, but if you look at the competitors, Android is penetrating the market in a bigger pace, Black Berry is targeting business class customers, even Acer has emerged as a strong player in the field.

The collaboration of Microsoft and Nokia over the Windows Phone 7 for Nokia smart phones is a clear indicator on what is Microsoft's aim on this market. The exciting new features released with Windows Phone 7 Mango clearly tells us how fast they want to capture the market.

All indicators predict that what we see now is just the tip of the big iceberg yet to emerge in the coming days.

An interesting discussion going on over this link on topic, Does Windows Phone 7 stand a chance versus iOS, Android and BlackBerry?. Take a look.

Few interesting reads on the topic.

• Mobile App Internet: Making Sense Of The 2011 Mobile Hysteria (Forrester Blog)
• Can Anyone Compete With the iTunes App Store ?
• Major mobile app store revenue will grow 77.7% in 2011

Just wondering, what will be our share in this big figures .... :)