Android Apps Development - Possibilities Are Unlimited!

Achieve Perfection in Android Apps

The market of Google's Android OS has remarkably increased in size and persuaded almost all major brands to launch their version of Android Smartphone. Since this OS came into users' hands, it has become one of the most popular platforms; a pocket-to-fit-PC whose performance is never less than what a laptop or desktop does. Certain features; such as low application development cost, quickly growing platform, support to interactive media features, support to Java and Flash, support to most of the graphics & media formats and tools, and availability of SDK, helping developers and programmers in structuring rich and unique apps, have made Android the second to none OS globally.We can surmise the popularity of Android OS by the fact that more than 500,000 apps are downloaded every day and in the first quarter of 2011, it exceeded iOS as well. Considering this, businesses, corporate, NGOs, news & entertainment channels, educational bodies, and even government departments are getting Android apps developed to increase the horizon of their services.

When it comes to Android application development, the obligatory things are knowledge and talent, working on plans and implementing them into reality. Now, powerful mobile applications can quickly be developed and easily be provided to users. Being an open source platform, developers can develop and customize the operating system level apps at affordable charges. Here, I am going to give you information about the elements supported by Android software development: This Operating system supports most of the formats of audio, video, and image including MP3, AAC MIDI and WAV (audio); MPEG-4, H.264 and H.263 (video); JPG, GIF, PNG, and BMP (image).(By certain third party apps, the support to audio, video and image can by enhanced to other formats too) Android can also provide support to a wide range of graphic libraries such as 3D graphic and 2-D graphics. 2-D graphic helps in static application, animation and interactive games. Including 2D, the OS also supports high performance 3D graphics with the Open Graphic Library (OpenGL); a cross platform graphics API, specifying standard software interface for 3D graphics processing hardware.

It supports different date receiving and sending technologies such as EDGE, EV-DO, GSM, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and UMTS. The latest version of Android OS does support 4G as well.

This operating system is fully compatible with touch screens (both resistive and capacitive), accelerometer, video camera, GPS, magnetometer, and P2P (peer-to-peer) date sharing and distribution. It supports four main concepts of Android apps development: Activities, Broadcast receiver, Services and Content provider.When developed by an expert company, such as Rapidsoft Technologies, Android App can deliver remarkable growth in your business. All you need is to hire a professional Android apps developer.

Android Application Development - Easy and Fast Applications for Mobile Phones!

Google and the Open Handset Alliance's android operating system for mobile phones literally powered up these handy devices to literally perform like walking PCs. Based on Linux Kernel this mobile application is an open source platform for application developers to develop more effective and user friendly applications for the smartphones without any hassles. It requires less investment and promises a good return on investment as well. Android application development has become a pretty lucrative business for small and medium business owners as well as independent developers to make good money with less investment.

Why does Android Application Development Makes Sense?

There are various reasons behind the increasing number of android developers taking interest in this particular industry segment.

• Being an open source platform, it provides developers with an edge over others. Its community of developers work towards making it more powerful and bug free and ensure that the application developed is less prone to failure.

• The Linux kernel base provides higher performance stability and provides a smooth operating system without the fear of crashes as well.

• Android development doesn't carry much hassle while porting the application. The developer needs to smartly work on customizing the layouts and finding out what is best for his project.

• As it is openly available, the cost involvement is low and also the time factor is considerably reduced which in turn helps in faster development and saves both money and time.

Looking at these positive aspects, android development has taken up the market by storm with more and more developers showing interesting in creating unique and interesting android applications.

What's the catch about Android Application Development?

Smart phones have become an indispensable device as it connects one to the world with just one touch. Whether one wants to use it for work or entertainment, the devices like BlackBerrys and iPhones have proven to be ideal choices. Even for smaller PCs or netbooks, android applications are suitable for multiple purposes. The growing number of smart phone users is in constant need of more efficient and focused android applications increasing the amount of work for android application developers. If you study the market and the growth in this sector you would notice a straight rise in applications and buyers who want to get more utility out of their handheld devices. While trying to fulfill these ever growing needs of users, android developers around the world have their hands full with developing ground breaking android applications to amaze the users.

What are the Technologies involved in Android Application development?

This process also involves java programming to help develop useful application. Simultaneously if the android developer wants to incorporate other third party applications, he can easily do it using the java and android open source framework. Android uses GSM, CDMA, EDGE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EV-DO and UMTS to send and receive data on varied platforms. It also allows 2D and 3D graphics as well as incorporates MPEG4, H.263, H.264, AMR, AMR-WB, MP3, AAC, JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, WAV, and MIDI formats for image, video and audio files. Other features include Video camera, GPS, touchscreens, accelerometer, and magnetometer etc. you can even use the Interprocess communication (IPC) message passing and P2P for Google Talk as well as SQLite for data storage etc.

Android helps the developers to come up with innovative and usable applications with its easy framework. And this is the reason why you find increasing number of both independent and organizations looking at making money though android development.

Android Application Development - Steps to the Building Blocks

With the Android market on the rise, the demand for Android application is on the rise. This is mainly because the websites need to be compatible with the smart phones with Android operating system and platform. On the other hand no business would like to give the competitors a chance to forge ahead by ignoring the users of Android phones. Developing an Android application is one way easy but very difficult the other way. If you have a software programming background the task of building an Android application becomes quite easy.

Some of the vital building blocks needed to prepare the Android application are as follows:

The first prerequisite is the installation of Java Development Kit (Version 5 or 6) on the computer. The Java Development Kit is usually mentioned as JDK. The JDK is already installed if you have a Mac with Snow Leopard or Leopard.

If you have a Linux or Windows machine you will have to download and install the JDK from the Java website. For this you have to browse: "Download JDK" followed by clicking "Continue" from the visit on official web site.

Eclipse:

To build an Android application, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is Eclipse. For this browse visit on official web site. The next step is selection of the operating system. You will come across different versions of "Eclipse IDE for Java Developers". Click the one that is applicable.

Android SDK:

The next step is downloading the "Starter kit" from the Google web site. This "Starter kit" has the Software Development Kit (SDK) which is the main element for building the Android application.

Android Plug in:

The installation of the Android Plug in follows. This has to be installed in the Eclipse. The Android Plug-in has to be instructed about the whereabouts of the SDK.

Restart the Eclipse:

The Android Plug-in now needs to be configured. The Eclipse needs to be again instructed about the downloaded Android SDK. Verify if everything is done correctly. For the sake of verification, the menu should display "Android SDK and AVD..." You are not supposed to click this until you are very sure about it.

Following are the steps to setup/configure the Android Plug-in:

First click Window, then preference in Eclipse, then Android (left pane), the location of the unzipped Android SDK needs to be entered in the right pane, then click "Apply" and finally "OK". Now click on Window, then Android SDK and AVD manager. This will result in opening of the SDK tools dialog. The left pane features "Available Package". Click this. The right pane will display a URL.

A click on this URL will lead to downloading of the 19 packages that are available.

Finally you have to verify the installation of the packages. For this the Android Entries and Google APIs should be seen when you return to the main Eclipse window and click window, click preferences, and select Android mentioned in the left pane.

Give Wings to Your Mobile Application Development Business

A report which was published by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2008 stated that there are more than 5 billion mobile phone users.It also stated that 1.9 billion people are using mobile internet. Recent statistics state that Apple has sold out more than one billion applications from their iTunes store. When compared to mobile applications, traditional web applications and enterprise software solutions consume very high bandwidths. In order to save on bandwidth and also to function effectively, mobile solutions are being more accepted in recent times. This is the driving force for all software companies to come up with better mobile applications.

Mobile applications can be built for different business verticals like healthcare, banking, insurance and many others. These applications can be built on different mobile platforms like iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Symbian and BREW. These applications can be stored at their respective mobile app store. As a matter of fact the revenue of an individual or company increases by downloading the application which is in the app store by the users.

In today's scenario the common applications from where the revenue flow is high are Games, geo-tagging, music applications, currency converters, online libraries and offers in popular showrooms.

Games Applications: Mobile gaming is an addiction in the recent times irrespective of age or status of the mobile users. The majority of downloads taking place for mobile game applications is not only by the kids or teenagers but also the adults. The secret of generating a buzz in the app market is to build an application that is compatible with major mobile platforms like iPhone and Android. As these two mobile platforms are reigning in the mobile space, it is important that any application developed should work successfully on these platforms.

Geo-tagging Applications: These applications are used by people as they travel to reach their destinations with a proper direction guide. These applications are also used as navigation system for vehicles.

Music Applications: This is one the major domains where major interest is shown. The success rate is very high for these applications. Downloading free music applications that allow not only streaming but also online storage of songs are very popular applications.

Currency Converters: These applications are mainly used for stocks, Forex and by international travelers.

To achieve high standard mobile applications for your business requirements make sure that the applications are developed by an expert developer or an organization that concentrates and possess skilled mobile computing resources.

Things to Know About iPhone App Development

As iPhone registers good growth in sales with each passing day, iPhone app development is gathering pace and attracting the attention of developers the world over. An individual who has the core idea to develop iPhone applications need not develop an application on his own, as there are developers who vie with one another to attract the attention of clients, and who possess rich experience in developing applications for this tool. Before getting involved in this project, an individual should take note of significant aspects concerning iPhone apps to establish fruitful results.

Cocoa framework forms the base

An enthusiast who wants to get the best results from iPhone app development projects should know about the platform on which iPhone applications are built. It is the cocoa framework on which iPhone apps get developed, and the developer who is keen to bring out good applications should glean some basic facts related to this platform before taking part in this program.

Price not the only element

When an individual or a company is planning to hire the services of a developer to build iPhone applications, price is not the only feature that can tilt the scale in favor of a developer. There are important aspects that demand the attention of an individual, when he is keen to hire the services of an experienced developer. An enthusiast should make sure that a developer is qualified to provide good after-sales support, and to issue product updates at a later date.

The Ideal developer

A person who is taking measures to find the right developer should look into various features to handpick the ideal developer. An ideal developer is one who has the experience and expertise in working with this platform, and who comes with rich skills in handling tools like Xcode, Objective C and Cocoa Touch framework. The developer should also be a professional who knows how to leverage Apple's technologies to develop effective applications.

It consumes good time

It is also important to remember that it takes quality time to create ideal iPhone apps. The enthusiast who has hired the services of an experienced developer should stay in constant touch with the developer to know about the developments, and to know if the application is getting developed in the right way.

Applications need experienced designers

It is not the complex coding logic that can do the trick alone to bring out effective applications. The application design should come with an ideal user interface design and should have good graphics to lure the attention of the user. In essence, this program needs a developer who can pave the way for visually appealing graphics.

Before venturing to identify the best developer, and to get initiated with an iPhone app development program, an individual should take note of significant aspects concerning iPhone apps to make the most of this program.

Android Development - A Quick Start-Guide

Google's android technology is an interesting, thought-provoking one that has android development gaining momentum across the world. A simple search on android brings out thousands of pages all discussing the potential this new piece of technology is giving the android application developer.

There are tutorials and articles, even sample codes that all serve the purpose of empowering the android application developer and implement various features of their creative software works. On some specific websites , sample codes offered include those of real-world android platform applications, that one can make and deploy. These codes clearly show all the amazing techniques in use in the android development environment.

There are also numerous articles with loads of tips, optimization strategies and DIY / how-to pieces, that give you the knowledge-base to further understand this particular environment as an android app developer. Tutorials seek to take you through the basics of what an android app is to more advanced-level skills in application development using the technology on offer.

You could also download the android software development kit (SDK) that runs on Windows, Linux as well as Mac OS. It is pretty much easy to set up this SDK. First you need a PC with appropriate features. On Windows, you just install the SDK much the same way as you install any other software on a Windows-based system. After this, you will ready to explore what the android development kit contains. You will get to know the basics on what an android application developer needs to know, what the Android SDK offers and how to integrate whatever application you may have into the overall platform.

Another thing included in this SDK is what is known as the framework topics. These take you through all the baby steps through to internalizing what APIs you may need to advanced skills like user interface development and data manipulation on the android platform.

The android market topics aim at showing you how to not only publish your application as an android app developer, but also the steps to take to ensure you earn from your ideas.

It is important to note that like any other application development platform, android is also fast changing, with various versions out. So you need to appraise yourself on what is current and what may not necessarily work out well. At the present, an android application developer would require the all-new Android 3.2 platform.

In a nut-shell, android development is like a blank slate for an astute android application developer. You can turn nothing into something and earn from it!