Search Info On BlackBerries
By Adriana Noton
If there's anything more exciting than the flood of mobile applications being churned out, it is the race among platforms to develop applications for in 2010. Old players like Nokia are jostling with Apple and Google, with the BlackBerry app in between the old and the new.
Let's start with a list of the platforms for application development. This includes Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, Nokia Symbian and Windows Mobile. There's also Sun J2ME and Qualcomm BREW.
BlackBerry application development has a clear head start over Apple and Google - 55% market share in North America, 20 million subscribers on App World and app downloads approaching a million per day. So the RIM platform offers a better view of how this application will look over the next year, or in the next 5 years.
Let's take a look at what it takes to put together an app. For those new to wireless apps, it's best to start by reading up on how data moves on wireless networks. If the concept is clear, the next choice is the development environment - either web development or Java Application development.
Working with Java necessitates a certain amount of expertise and comfort with direct coding and the logic behind it. Web development, on the other hand, is recommended for new developers who might be more comfortable with the 'put-it-together' environment offered by Microsoft Visual Studio. The RIM developer portal has plenty of documentation, downloads, support and simulators for both environments.
The RIM developer portal also offers useful mobile app development tools. Developers should start by downloading either the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse v1.1 or the BlackBerry Widget SDK v1.0. This means using either Java 5.0 or BlackBerry Device Software v5.0.
Another helpful download is the BlackBerry Theme Studio, used to create custom smart phone themes, mobile websites and animated content for these kinds of phones. The themes and graphics can be tested on all devices and operating systems using the simulators. Developers can also submit themes on the App World vendor portal.
Both plug-ins - Java and web - have certain minimum system requirements. It needs Windows Vista, XP or Windows 7 as the OS. The system must, of course, already have either Eclipse or Microsoft Visual Studio.
The most difficult part for new developers is knowing where to start and whether or not they're doing the right thing. It's hard to start over later on when something goes wrong. BlackBerry has made this easier with step-by-step instructions for both web and Java development. There's also a video library and community programs that help developers find and connect with a local developer group.
Of course, other mobile application development platforms including Apple iPhone and Google Android offer pretty much all the same stuff, and also have large communities of developers and app users. But RIM has fine-tuned the whole system so that new developers are not made to jump through any hoops and can use the tools to follow clearly defined steps. These tools are good enough to allow even new developers to create very professional BlackBerry apps.
Let's start with a list of the platforms for application development. This includes Google Android, RIM BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, Nokia Symbian and Windows Mobile. There's also Sun J2ME and Qualcomm BREW.
BlackBerry application development has a clear head start over Apple and Google - 55% market share in North America, 20 million subscribers on App World and app downloads approaching a million per day. So the RIM platform offers a better view of how this application will look over the next year, or in the next 5 years.
Let's take a look at what it takes to put together an app. For those new to wireless apps, it's best to start by reading up on how data moves on wireless networks. If the concept is clear, the next choice is the development environment - either web development or Java Application development.
Working with Java necessitates a certain amount of expertise and comfort with direct coding and the logic behind it. Web development, on the other hand, is recommended for new developers who might be more comfortable with the 'put-it-together' environment offered by Microsoft Visual Studio. The RIM developer portal has plenty of documentation, downloads, support and simulators for both environments.
The RIM developer portal also offers useful mobile app development tools. Developers should start by downloading either the BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse v1.1 or the BlackBerry Widget SDK v1.0. This means using either Java 5.0 or BlackBerry Device Software v5.0.
Another helpful download is the BlackBerry Theme Studio, used to create custom smart phone themes, mobile websites and animated content for these kinds of phones. The themes and graphics can be tested on all devices and operating systems using the simulators. Developers can also submit themes on the App World vendor portal.
Both plug-ins - Java and web - have certain minimum system requirements. It needs Windows Vista, XP or Windows 7 as the OS. The system must, of course, already have either Eclipse or Microsoft Visual Studio.
The most difficult part for new developers is knowing where to start and whether or not they're doing the right thing. It's hard to start over later on when something goes wrong. BlackBerry has made this easier with step-by-step instructions for both web and Java development. There's also a video library and community programs that help developers find and connect with a local developer group.
Of course, other mobile application development platforms including Apple iPhone and Google Android offer pretty much all the same stuff, and also have large communities of developers and app users. But RIM has fine-tuned the whole system so that new developers are not made to jump through any hoops and can use the tools to follow clearly defined steps. These tools are good enough to allow even new developers to create very professional BlackBerry apps.
About the Author:
Be the first to market in the new blackberry application develoment market. DEVCON 2010 will showcase the future of mobile application development on Blackberry.
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