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.

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.