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Why you should use metadata-based platforms for mobile development

By David Akka

February 22, 2011 — (Page 1 of 2)
The growing capabilities of mobile devices has brought about an explosion in development not just for consumer applications but also for those designed for enterprise use. The evolving technological capabilities of devices means that we are now seeing applications which have a very real function in almost every area of business. From placing orders, checking stock availability, and raising invoices to managing customer accounts, the increasingly mobilized workforce now requires the ability to access data and communicate with centrally held systems, with all the speed and efficiency that they can in the office.

What are the challenges for developers tasked with deploying enterprise applications on mobile devices? As yet, the battle for dominance between the major players has no clear winner in the market as the giants jostle for position. The recent launch of Windows Mobile 7 will see the competition intensify as Microsoft's new mobile platform will be aiming to compete with established players, such as Google and Apple.

At the recent Mobile App World event, Brandon Watson, director for Windows Phone 7 at Microsoft, used a keynote speech to highlight the challenges for developers, stating that “there are so many choices, it’s almost overwhelming. It’s the paradox of choice.”

This shifting market (and fragmentation of available platforms) creates issues for developers and enterprises attempting to second-guess where the biggest commercial opportunities will exist, both now and in the future.

Mobile application development can be a complex process involving coordinating separate programming teams and programming languages. The reality is that mobile applications are defined by the limitations of bandwidth, which is typically much lower than that from desktop applications, and despite improvements in processing power, devices require compact software applications.

At the same time, developers must develop feature-rich applications that carry the functionality that enables business workers to have an experience, which is as close as possible to what they would be familiar with on their laptop or desktop. The challenge is closely related to that of developing rich Internet applications: how to bring together rich functionality and Internet mobility.

Related Search Term(s): mobile development

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Kik Launches an Open API to Enable Mobile Developers to Bake Instant Content Sharing Into Any App
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