Technology moves at the speed of light – literally and figuratively, so you have to be plugged in all the time to keep up on all that is happening each day. One of the fastest developing markets in technology is the mobile market; more specifically the world of cross-platform mobile development. Smartphones are taking over the world and the lives of millions, and for businesses the way to get in on all of this is through app development.

The firm leading the pack in development platforms for enterprise mobility is Rhomobile. Their Rhodes framework, which just released its version 2.2, will be a household name among all app developers in a very short order. This most recent upgrade now gives developers the ability to support Bluetooth, Calendar, and Android Cloud to Device Messaging for all major smartphones (iPhone, Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian). Just as desktop software has been evolving for over thirty years, smartphone apps continue to become more demanding on resources and on programmers. Deployment on multiple platforms has posed significant challenges for many companies and developer groups, but cross-platform frameworks like Rhodes eliminate this problem altogether.

Not only can developers write for all smartphones in one build, they can also build native applications that perform such tasks as accessing and creating events in the native device calendar. Another example is with geolocation applications, which let end users add events, places, or notifications right to the calendar on their device. The new Bluetooth support provides developers with an additional layer of connectivity to their Rhodes apps; this turns apps into a powerful and efficient communications protocol to facilitate data transfer between all smartphones and other hand-held devices.

Cloud based push is a common feature to Blackberry and iPhone but is new to the Android OS, and Rhodes 2.2 features support for Android Cloud to Device Messaging. Developers using Rhodes 2.2 can now build apps on the Android platform and leverage support for cloud-based push. With the new push support, the server sends requests to receive updated application and user data to the smartphone application. With this technology data is kept current, even when the app is not open. As always coding on Rhodes is very simple – using HTML, Javascript, and Ruby; this is especially crucial and time saving when building feature dependent apps on multiple platforms.

Because there are so many platforms available to develop on, it can be easy to lose track of all the native device features. The following list is fairly comprehensive and lets you see that the sky is the limit! Native features that Rhodes developers may take advantage of: Bluetooth Capability, Calendar Support, Support for Android Cloud to Device Messaging, Model View Controller framework, Object Relational Manager (ORM), Support for Push Synchronized Data on all platforms, Hosted build and app provisioning, ability to work with synced local data for rapid access and ease of operation when disconnected or offline, barcode, signature capture and optimized native styling for all devices, full access to device capabilities: GPS, audio and video, PIM contacts, accelerometer, native mapping, camera, and calendar.

Mobile phone development continues to get easier and faster. With few quality alternatives, app developers are turning to Rhodes in huge numbers and as it becomes more popular the community is growing even more. The Rhodes mobile app framework is open source and completely free, so come try it out for yourself.

Learn more about mobile apps development on Rhodes 2.2. Sign up for a free download of the award winning mobile app framework and see why developers cannot live without it.

The competition between the top mobile platforms is an all out turf war. The wealthiest and most successful tech companies are going to great lengths to secure as much ground as possible. Mobile users are being courted by all possible means and the ads are sleek and never ending in their effort to win over more support. In the midst of this battle the unsung and often neglected heroes are the equally innovative and enterprising developers. The platform companies talk a big game in trying to get developers to build on their platforms but at the end of the day they know that a big user base will attract more support than anything else. Because of this the developer ends up being a second class citizen, so to speak; the low man on the totem pole, if you will. So as a neglected developer what platform do you build on? Do you build for the masses or the high rollers?

In the following paragraphs you will learn a relatively well kept secret that the most successful mobile app developers have been employing for a couple years now. When you have good and better as options and someone tells you both you have a right to be skeptical, but in the world of technology this is common place and you end up with one thing – best! Crossplatform development is absolutely the best way to develop apps. Not every developer has caught on, so we decided to outline the top reasons for converting and becoming wealthier and happier than you presently are – stick with me.

First, you will have total access to the mobile market. Right now developers who build on one platform are only able to distribute their apps to a small percentage of the total market. Even on the most popular platforms you lose out on over half of all consumers. The popularity of the App Store has given Apple a tremendous advantage in attracting talented developers, but these developers can build the same app and distribute it across all platforms without any major changes by using a crossplatform framework. This will undoubtedly raise their profitability and brand recognition. Greater access is the key and crossplatform development instantly provides this for you.

Time is of the essence. The mobile developer’s goal is to get in and out of the development cycle as quickly as possible and developing for more than one platform becomes cost prohibitive because of the time it takes to rewrite the code. Why not let a crossplatform framework do all the work for you? You write once and then publish code on the five major platforms, which happen to serve over 95 percent of mobile users worldwide. That’s efficiency for you.

Diversification is king. The next reason for developing your mobile apps on a crossplatform framework is to diversify. Each platform is marketed to a specific group, and even though you might think your app would only do well with a certain one of these groups the truth might surprise you. As the platforms and the phones they run on become ever more sophisticated we will see a cross pollination of users. Not building for every platform will box you in and keep you from being as successful as you are capable of becoming. If you have the least bit of talent and you diversify you will win.

Take advantage of advanced development environments. The mobile corporations are good at what they do, but at best they are only ok at creating the frameworks where you work. A crossplatform development environment was created with the mobile app developer specifically in mind – code your UI in HTML, code your controls in Ruby, and increase productivity with an MVC framework and an ORM. Building apps will not only become more lucrative, but it will become more enjoyable too.

Integrate native features. Building apps that incorporate the native features of the mobile device makes for happy users and greater imagination. As phones get more advanced, the apps that run on them can too. Ideas that were only a dream a year ago are now a reality. If you are not building apps that use the various features available to the user then you are leaving way too much on the table. Crossplatform development allows you to easily code these functions into your apps, and the sky is the limit as to what you can create.

Here’s another one – synced data. With a standalone server you can keep data current and available on the user’s phone. You can write apps that store data locally and then sync to the server every time they connect. This is especially valuable when building enterprise smartphone apps, and it is also a feature that you can add on to any app you build to make it much more powerful than anything else non-crossplatform developers can make. You can seamlessly link your apps to backend applications and thereby create performance and functionality never before possible.

Last, but not least, the main reason why you should consider switching to a crossplatform framework (if you needed another reason), is because everyone is doing it! That’s right you are the last person on the bandwagon – of course we are being facetious in saying this. The real reason for you and a big reason why this is becoming the leading technology for app development is because it is Open Source. Thousands of developers working together and making the process better, all for the low cost of nothing.

If you haven’t already skipped over the last half of this article in your anxiousness to get started you may now proceed. Click on any link below to begin the revolutionary crossplatform development movement. After you try it you will wonder how you ever survived without it. Thanks for joining us.

Visit us at rhomobile.com and start writing apps on the premier crossplatform mobile framework. A free signup gives you access to the software, the online hosted development environment, and the sync server – use it for consumer or enterprise smartphone apps.

Platforms are what drive development and mobile platforms are ruling today. Mobile platforms have very deep market penetration and app builders enjoy fast development and high returns. This is why growth in the hi-tech world is being driven by mobile. This has been a landmark year for mobile so far. In seven months we have seen innovation and renovation at its best – most notably the iPhone 4 and iPad, as well as Google’s Android boom finally taking strong root. Consumers are not limiting their personal platform portfolios either as many own multiple mobile devices. Every day thousands of new devices find their way into the hands of consumers especially as they become better and more affordable.

Developers of apps for these devices have mainly focused on developing for individual platforms. With the available tools this has been the only practical approach for most of them. This has limited the size of the mobile market for every app developer out there. But new tools are opening up the entire smartphone market to developers through crossplatform mobile development frameworks. Now all the endless time spent developing can be rewarded even more handsomely by building once for every smartphone platform.

Now developers have access to the entire smartphone market. What does this mean for mobile developers? First it means higher revenue. For the same amount of development time you have access to a market that is four to five times bigger if not more depending on what platform you would otherwise specialize in. Second it means better apps for the consumer, which in turn broadens the user base and grows the size of the market. This increase in demand further increases the return on any app you develop. So it is not difficult to see why mobile app developers are all starting to use crossplatform frameworks.

Not only are these frameworks making it possible to write one app for every smartphone platform, but also developers are using these tools to take full advantage of the wide range of native features available those various platforms. The native features are what drive app usage when mobility isn’t the only concern for the end user. The more powerful the platforms and the more versatile the native features – the more innovative and powerful the applications will be. Crossplatform development is not just smart, it’s powerful.

Building crossplatform mobile apps will become the standard in the future because once developers catch on to this there will be no turning back. The adoption rate is constantly increasing and will continue to do so until it reaches critical mass. At that point the developers who found the best frameworks to use early on will be sitting in the best position to capitalize on the highest premiums the industry will ever see. This is definitely a word of encouragement to be an early adopter. Tens of thousands of developers around the world have already started to use some of the various crossplatform mobile development frameworks. Hopefully you are one of them but if not, change that right away!

Learn more about crossplatform mobile development. Sign up for a free download of the award winning smartphone development framework and find out all about building crossplatform mobile apps.

Recently, there has been a launch of a mobile app that is social using the Social Engine software. This is an awesome way to have the users of your social network connect using their phones and allow them to create new content from the Iphones, or Ipads. This new way of reaching people and staying connected is creating tons of buzz.

Here are some of the main features of this app: 1. Ability to monetize your app by selling it in the Itunes store 2. Quickly launch your branded app 3. Included in the app are push notifications 4. Showing member location in member map and ability to send them messages 5. YouTube Video Integration – easily play videos in your app 6. Integrate your social network into the app and have content added immediatly

The mobile application market is increasing in popularity right now. It is popular among users of smart phones and many others because of how easily they can be monetized. There is no better time than now to build a social app, while the market is in its infancy.

This particular app for social engine works so well because it is a great addition to the social engine network you may have and again, much easier to monetize than a website. The reason it is so easy to monetize is because users can download the app for whatever price you decide. However, I would advice to keep it in the $1.99 to $3.99 range, that way you will have a higher volume of downloads.

One major point I would like to touch on is that this app when deployed for you is guaranteed to be accepted into the Itunes store. This is important to know when building or buying any white label app because Apple has very strict guidelines for allowing apps into its store. Before you start any project, you will want to get familiar with those guidelines.

As you can see, this app has a plethora of features and it is great to have if you are using Social Engine. The possibility of making money with this is huge. Most importantly, it follows Apple’s guidelines for entering its store so you can start making money right away. However before deciding to tackle such a project do some research first on what this should cost, how long it should take, how much you should charge and what are the projected revenues if launched based on a sound marketing campaign.

If you are looking to find out more information about the Social Engine Iphone app visit Jason Martell’s website www.booyamedia.com and see if this kind of Iphone Development is right for you.