Google’s App Engine service is starting to get some mainstream attention, though it’s attention for all of the wrong reasons. A recent price increase for its service is having many developers question their commitment to this brand and offering.

The Google App Engine is a service designed to host web apps. With it,

If Google hopes to challenge apple in the mobile app business, they will need to keep the developers using the platform happy

The method of calculating CPU time has transitioned between a primarily resource driven price structure to one of front-end usage. This means that even applications that have very low bandwidth and resource requirements but that are constantly running will see a huge price increase. Some sources have reported that an application that used to cost around $3 a day to run is going to hit $70 by November when the complete transition is complete.

The biggest problem that this is going to have for Google is the transition by developers from Google services to other platforms. Android Developers are now more restricted to Google’s APIs and huge price increases, especially if they are taking advantage of the App Engine. This could lead android developers to transition to being iPad and iPhone developers as Apple has a brilliantly simple payment plan. While they do charge a heft percentage for their mobile apps, it is the same across the board without deviation.

While some developers may choose to transition away from Google, the most haunting issue is the lack of new blood coming into their ecosystem. With the cost of entry now catapulting ahead, a rise in iOS development will probably be seen. This only makes the problem worse in that competition in the mobile apps marketplace is not exceedingly high. Apple has a stronghold, at least in the states, but with Google’s fractured Android system, plus their new pricing structures, Android developers may be making the transition to a unified, streamlined production process. Ultimately, Google needs to step up and make their mobile app platform as a bit of a loss leader if they ever hope to chip away at the Apple dominance in the app market.

Web applications are the future of Internet marketing. Building something in HTML 5 and distributing it to the whole web all at once is the fastest and easiest way to reach the most customers. Web software like Gmail is a good example of what web applications can do. Web application developers have the highest potential for getting hired on jobs because most business owners are developing for the web before they develop for isolated platforms like IOS and Android.

Any web applications are also visible on mobile operating systems because they all have access to the Internet. Even if web software does eventually make it to the native applications of mobile devices, they are usually built on the web first. Web software reaches all audiences regardless of the type of device they have. Web application developers also don’t have to learn new languages. Web application developers are usually proficient in HTML 5, CSS, Javascript, MySQL, and PHP.

One of the top strategies for business owners to utilize is to develop on the web first. Software that used to only be available as local applications is now migrating to the web. Sometimes, whole new browser-based interfaces have to be used. Other times, an existing application merely takes on a different form and presentation. These awesome applications allow the user to use the application for annual or monthly fees without ever having to download it. Application service providers, shortened with the acronym, ASP, are getting a lot of talk around them in business circles on the web.

Some of the benefits of these include that they don’t require hard roll out procedures because the only thing that’s needed to make them work is a web browser. They also require very little disk space. There are no upgrades because everything is done on the web. Web applications can also work easily with email and searching and work across most operating systems.

Business web application development is making its way into; email marketing, event management and marketing, video marketing, social media marketing, online sales, online presentation, and online payments. These are just some basic ideas of what custom web software can do. Every business is different, no off the shelf solution is perfect for all their needs, which is why businesses should consider having a custom web application developed for their business.

To find out how a business application can make your business run smoother, and more efficiently, contact the experts at EcomSolutions.

HTML5 is making a big splash in the tech community. Heralded as a new standard to ease content creation and consumption on the web, it is still definitely in its infancy. Companies are coming out with new technologies, implementations, and tricks as they learn how to best take advantage of this new standard. Combining HTML5 with the surge of Mobile Devices makes for a winning combination. As more and more mobile devices gain popularity, developers are beginning to feel the strain of writing native Mobile Applications for each and every device. The promise of HTML5 is that it will scale and run like a native app on every device. One of the hurdles with this is establishing a functioning backend to support all of these new features. This is where ColdFusion comes to play.

ColdFusion is Adobe’s HTML5 content creation suite. It is billed as a fast, agile, and powerful development tool for both desktop and mobile implementations. ColdFusion can be used to refer to the software itself, or the custom scripting language which is akin to PHP in function. This can make some of the custom features of the program easy to implement and modify at a server level.

The feature set of ColdFusion is immense, capable of meeting almost any developer’s need. All of these can be leveraged at the mobile level, giving even more functionality to these portable Mobile Devices. Some of the features include server monitors to fine tune the application behavior, direct and easy image and file modifications, multi-threading capabilities to give complete control of application behavior, integration with Adobe Flash, Microsoft products, PDFs and much more! The ability to make robust, yet lightweight, Applications with ColdFusion and the relationship with HTML 5 serves to create the best in Mobile Web Apps.

The scalability of ColdFusion‘s offerings make it perfect for Mobile Web Apps. The features are unique and easy to work with so custom, specific apps can be created for a small business’s employees. It is also robust enough to scale to work with hundreds of thousands of users, all the while maintaining a rich and interactive front end.

ColdFusion and ColdFusion Development continues to change with the times. Always offering the latest in Web technology, it has grown into an extremely powerful and agile development platform. Its HTML5 offerings keep in in the front of the pack today. In addition, its mobile feature set makes it the perfect choice for mobile web app development.

iOS development — the development of Software for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad Mobile Devices — can be a costly enterprise, particularly for those that prefer to program in a Windows or Linux environment.

To begin with, iOS development can only be legally undergone on the Mac OS X Operating System, using the Xcode integrated Development Environment (IDE) in the Objective-C programming language. Potential iOS Programmers who prefer a Windows or Linux environment, and who are hence unlikely to own an Apple computer, will therefore be required to part with at least a few hundred dollars for the requisite hardware in order to get started developing for iOS devices.

In addition to costs for Programmers unfamiliar with Mac programming, there exist costs that all developers, regardless of preferred development environment, will have to incur. In order to write software for iOS platforms, developers are required to register for Apple’s iOS Developer Program, a $99/year service providing the various tools required to get iOS programs up and running on Apple devices, and for distributing them to end users. The primary development tool is the iOS Software development kit (SDK), consisting of the iOS simulator for running, testing, and debugging iOS Software on the computer, the aforementioned Xcode IDE, and the various code libraries needed for control of device-specific functions. Next is a suite of tools allowing software to be run directly on the device, in order to test software on the hardware itself, and thereby enabling the developer to catch any hardware-specific bugs. Finally, membership in the program gives developers the ability to distribute their completed software through Apple’s App Store.

Even after the Software has been developed, tested, and distributed, there is cost to be accounted for. For each copy of the app sold, Apple takes 30% of the sale price. Hence developers are continuously losing a significant amount of revenue in the form of commission.

On a final note, iOS development is particularly pricey for those with an abundance of ideas but a lack of programming experience. In addition to the costs previously mentioned, these people will need to pay up to thousands of dollars to hire experienced iOS developers to implement their ideas.

There are many apps available for all mobile devices on the market. Both HTML5 web apps and native apps are available and both have their own advantages. A web app can be accessed through the Internet while a native app is one designed to work on a specific operating system. 
Web apps have many advantages, such as no third party fees charged when a mobile web app is brought to market. Web apps are not required to be approved, which means a web app can be created for just about any subject matter. Mobile web apps are designed to run on every mobile browser that exists. Web app users do not have to download an application or update it because, when the apps website is loaded, it updates the app. Web apps are much easier and cheaper to develop than native apps. Web apps allow users to access their content on several different mobile devices. Most businesses prefer web apps to native apps because mobile web apps are more valuable to businesses than native apps. 

Native apps also have many advantages, including access to APIs that web apps can’t access. Native mobile apps allow the user to save data and reload it when the app launches. All native apps are integrated with whatever operating system the mobile phone uses. Many native mobile apps can be run offline and apps can be customized to the capabilities of the user’s phone. Media and entertainment businesses can benefit financially from native apps by forming a stream of revenue come customers paying for the apps. This allows customers to be able to get free news and videos on their phone. Internet access is not required to run native apps and they offer a faster user interface than web apps. Native apps provide access to microphones, cameras, and GPS tracking. Users of native apps will be able to access their content even if the phone is not connected to the Internet.

There are advantages to both web apps and native apps. Which one is best for an business is determined by what the company wants to be able to do with the app. For a free consultation on what mobile development solution is right for your business, contact EcomSolutions the mobile development experts. 

HTML5 Logo by W3C.

HTML5 is the biggest buzz in the tech world. A standard that was only agreed upon in the last few months, developers are actively writing and rewriting applications and services to run on the new system. The advantage of HTML5 is its standards base, cross-platform operability, and ease of implementation. Any mobile development company who is wanting to stay on the cutting edge needs to have a firm understanding and the abilities necessary to create these new mobile applications.

The biggest draw for companies to have an HTML5 mobile web app is its ability to run on any standards compliant browser. Instead of writing different apps for iPad, Android, and Desktop computers, one application can be written and run natively on each of these devices. The user experience is completely engaging and responsive to the end user. In fact, with a company well versed in mobile web development, the experience will be one that performs exactly like a natively written app.

As many people know, Apple currently takes 30% of all sales made through its App Store from any mobile development company. Google takes a similar portion from the Android marketplace. This has caused some large name companies to begin offering their own mobile web app. Amazon’s Kindle experience has recently released an HTML5 application to avoid the proprietary restrictions imposed on the iPad and iPhone. With a solid mobile web development company, any business can optimize their spending on app development by having one mobile web app written.

The features of HTML5 are immense. The ability to create custom web pages and apps that move and flow in ways that could not happen without Flash before are now a reality. Every standards compliant browser renders these the same way, so one mobile web app runs the same on any mobile device. This revolutionizes mobile web development and creates a strong competitor to Apple’s iPad and App Store. The biggest choice for businesses to now make is which mobile development company to choose.

Many developers now exist for iPad and iPhone but specialize only in iOS apps, a limited market share. However, a mobile development company who specializes in mobile web app creation can future proof your business and keep updates for all devices on the exact same schedule. The future of applications lies in mobile web app development. Keeping all consumers on the same footing provides the same features to everyone and allows interoperability previously impossible on different mobile platforms.

When a company decides to pursue an iOS app development project, there are two general ways to develop it. First, the company has the option of developing

The advantages of outsourcing iOS development may seem obvious, but a lot of the costs are hidden.

internally. Second, the company can outsource the project to an iOS app development company. Typically, a business choosing to outsource its iOS app development needs might choose an offshore company to outsource the project to. There are several prospects that cause companies to consider these non-domestic companies. Businesses interested in developing an iOS app should fully consider the consequences of outsourcing.

One of the largest lures about outsourcing iOS app development is the cost savings. Companies rationalize that they can save money by hiring someone else to do the work. This is especially true in the case of offshore outsourcing, in which labor is generally much cheaper than in the United States. As far as upfront costs are concerned, offshore outsourcing is much cheaper than keeping the project domestic.

Companies should be aware, though, that there are more costs beyond the upfront cost. When outsourcing to an offshore companies, there may be discrepancies between how the two firms view acceptable quality. An outsourced iOS app development company is more likely to have lower quality standards than the firm contracting the work. Even though the labor is cheaper when outsourcing, companies will more than likely have to contract for more hours than they would if the project wasn’t outsourced. Additionally, a company taking on an outsourced project won’t have the exact same ideals as the company in need of iOS development. They won’t have the same standards and will likely take extra time to understand the vision of the project. It’s likely that extra time will be wasted in trying to conceptualize the project for the contracted company. In the end, the result may never match what the company hiring for development was hoping to achieve.

In addition to this, many offshore iOS development companies do not provide support for the app. You pay them, and once the project is released, that’s the end of the business relationship. What happens a month later when a bug is discovered? Or what if you decide to add a new feature to the app? The majority of the time, you’re left on your own. You can take the project to a local iOS developer who then might update it, but it will cost far more than if you had developed domestically to begin with. This is because it is very difficult for iOS developers to go through someone else’s code, especially when it’s of the low quality found in outsourced developers. Many local iOS developers would be unwilling to provide fixes, and you’re left with a buggy or unfinished product.

Another important thing to keep in mind with offshore outsourcing is the communication barriers. Real-time communication can be virtually impossible with these companies. For example, the time difference between New York and Beijing, China is 12 hours. Instead of being able to give the iOS developer a call or email and discuss issues immediately, communication is staggered. Language barriers can also be a hindrance, as you’ll need someone who is bilingual to facilitate communication or you’ll have to do with poor quality online translations. Because of all of these communication issues, a conversation that might taken ten minutes with a domestic developer can take days or even weeks with an offshore iOS developer.

When this is taken into consideration, it becomes clear that there are fiscal as well as non-fiscal advantages of not outsourcing iOS app development. When companies opt for outsourcing, the hidden costs typically add up. While the stated costs of a non-outsourced project may be higher than those for outsourced companies, the total costs are usually higher when outsourcing. Because of this, it’s advisable that companies not outsource their iOS app development projects.

EcomSoulutions is a New York based iOS development company with a dedicated team of iOS developers.

Any company that wants to reach its target audience needs to have a mobile version of their Web site. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, mobile data traffic tripled from 2010 to 2011, and the average use of smart phones doubled in 2010. Today, smartphones represent 78-percent of global mobile data traffic. These numbers alone should be enough to convince a savvy business owner that a mobile Web site is important.
A mobile website provides your business with a fast and efficient way to connect with your customers. Today’s customers don’t want to be encumbered by a desktop or laptop. They want your products or information about your business right now. Today’s customers will not wait to get home and look at your site. They’ll use their smartphone and find someone else.

Mobile websites allow you to give customers an easier way to purchase your products and services. Most mobile device users store their purchasing and credit information on their device. With a click of a button they can easily make a purchase. Making things easier for your customers will result in sales, which means a larger bottom line for your business.

If your company has a Web site developed in ColdFusion, it’s important for you to consider having your mobile site built by a company that specializes in mobile ColdFusion Web development. The explosion in mobile technology will continue to grow, and it’s important for your business to develop a mobile Web development strategy. By doing this, you will make it easier for your customers to access your Web content, which in turn will help your business grow.

The mobile Web isn’t a fad. If you want your company to take advantage of this growth, it’s time for you to consider a mobile web development strategy.

The influence of Apple’s iPad can be felt everywhere, and the changes the iPad has brought with it have been enormous. iPads have given businesses new ways to improve productivity, they have given schools new ways to teach students, and they have given consumers new ways to be entertained. So with the iPad being such a formidable force in most aspects of everyday life, where does the ipad stand in the medical field? More specifically, what do iPad apps in the medical field mean for patients and doctors?

iPad apps in the medical field are something that regular iPad users know very little about. These iPad apps in the medical field are an emerging hot topic for iPad developers. iPad developers are being challenged to bring existing technologies in the medical field into harmony with iPad applications.

Imagine giving doctors the ability to carry every one of their patient's charts with them

iPad apps in the medical field have the potential to change the way a doctor interacts with a patient’s information, and the way patients interact with doctors. The introduction of iPad apps in the medical field has the potential to create a dynamic database of patient’s records that would allow doctors around the country to share information seamlessly. Imagine being on vacation and having an accident, it would take far less time for the doctor to treat and diagnose a patient if they had that patient’s whole medical history on their ipad. iPad developers and iPad programmers looking to take on the challenges of developing these kinds of iPad apps for the medical field need to have extensive knowledge of the kinds of database systems needed to support them.

This is only one of the many kinds of iPad apps in the medical field that iPad development companies are looking to create. iPad app developers are looking for ways to allow cardiac sonographers a way to view their findings on the iPad’s large screen. iPad developers are also creating systems and apps that allow x-ray technicians to archive and present all their findings on the iPad. This interaction between existing medical technology and the iPad is quickly enabling doctors to spend more time where they are needed, with patients. Doctors that utilize iPad apps in the medical field are no longer tied to a desktop computer. iPad apps in the medical field give doctors the ability to view, edit, and share information on the run, and in a field where seconds can be the difference between life and death, any time saved is a good thing.

Ecom Solutions is a company that provides iPad development solutions to a wide variety of industries. They also have extensive knowledge of database systems, and content management systems, making them a prime contender to develop iPad apps to be used in the medical field.

The latest news says that Apple is looking to combined their mobile operating, iOS, and their desktop operating system, OS X, into one singular platform. This is a vision that Apple has probably had for a long time. Implementing a system like this would further unify their products, and make their product line all the more attractive to consumers. What dose this mean for iOS developers and OSX developers? Only the future can tell.

iOS developers will most likely welcome this change as it allows for an even bigger audience to take advantage of the apps they create. It could also mean bigger challenges for iOS developers. When this merger of platforms takes place, expected around 2013, iOS developers will be faced with the challenge of not only creating apps that function on the iPad, iPhone, and other iOS device’s, but also making sure these apps function on their desktop and laptop counterparts. iOS developers looking to develop apps that are supported on all Apple platforms will have to consider how to make the iOS app’s multi-touch controls integrate with the traditional computer’s user interface, and vice-versa.

iOS developers will have to make sure they are ready for these drastic changes. Now facing challenges similar to that of android developers (creating apps for a wider variety of platforms) iOS developers must make sure that they are equipped with the skills to develop Apple applications that are dynamic and interactive enough to take advantage of the current iOS devices user interface and the computing power of traditional Macs.

This integration of iOS and OSX are something that could turn the Apple development community upside down. iOS programmers will now have to work hand in hand with OSX programmers to make sure they are ready for the impending changes.

What does this mean for future Apple hardware? Apple is expected to use the 32-bit arm architecture to address the vast majority of the OSX product range, excluding high performance professional devices. This is believed to be the make up of the Apple ecosystem until 2016 when the 64-bit ARM architecture will become available. Once that takes place iOS developers and OSX developers can expect to be working on a single OS and hardware architecture.

Currently iOS developers must make sure they are at the forefront of iOS development technology. IOS developers must make sure their apps are taking advantage of, and ready to take advantage of, all the technology the release of iOS 5 is expected to bring with it. iOS developers must be primed to take advantage of technologies like iCloud because this is sure to be a big part of the Apple computing infrastructure in the future.

Ecom Solutions is an iOS development company ready to take advantage of all the features iOS 5, and future iOS development and OSX development technologies. Ecom Solutions is read to upgrade existing apps to take advantage of iOS 5‘s new technologies, and will be ready, when the time comes to upgrade existing apps to the expected iOS/OSX hybrid operating system.