Classifying Mobile Applications

Increasing usage of Smartphone as primary device to access web and to stay connected has led to many developers and enterprises to rethink their web strategy . Should a business require both a website and a mobile application? If it is mobile application then which type of mobile application is good for me or my enterprise

Based on Technology
• Native Applications
An application specifically designed to run on a device’s operating system and machine firmware like iOS or Android. They have binary executable files that are downloaded directly to the device and stored locally.

1. Native apps make use of all the phone’s features, such as the mobile phone camera, geolocation, and the user’s address book.
2. Native apps do not need to be connected to the internet to be used.
3. A native app is specific to the mobile handset it is run on, since it uses the features of that specific handset.
4. Native apps can be distributed on the phone’s marketplace (e.g. Apple Store for iPhone or Ovi store for Nokia handsets).

• Mobile Web app
Modern mobile devices consist of powerful browsers that support many new HTML5 capabilities, CSS3 and advanced JavaScript. recent advancement of HTML5 and support of webgl turning into a powerful development standard for rich, browser based applications. Web apps run in the phone’s browser.

1. This means the app works across all devices, and ensures cross-platform compatibility.
2. The same base code can be used to support all devices, including iPhone and Android.
3. However, web apps do not make use of the phone’s other features, such as the camera or geolocation.

• Hybrid Applications – Best of both worlds
The hybrid approach combines native development with web technology. Using this approach, developers write significant portions of their application in cross-platform web technologies, while maintaining direct access to native APIs when required. The native portion of the application uses the operating system API’s to create an embedded HTML rendering engine that serves as a bridge between the browser and the device API’s.

1. Using a development framework, companies can develop cross-platform applications that use web technologies (such as HTML, JavaScript and CSS), while still accessing the phone’s features.
2. A hybrid app is a native app with embedded HTML.
3. Selected portions of the app are written using web technologies.
4. The web portions can be downloaded from the web, or packaged within the app.
5. This option allows companies to reap all the benefits of native apps while ensuring longevity associated with well-established web technologies.

Based on Purpose
• Enterprise Mobile Apps
Applications designed for Employees and Partners.

1. These applications are published using Enterprise application stores or Mobile Device Management softwares
2. Top Enterprise mobile apps are Email/messaging, Enterprise telephony, Sales force automation etc
3. Needs Enterprise framework to be developed
4. Requires Enterprise grade Secure login, Sandboxing on devices, Access to Enterprise systems, Encrypted data transfer etc.,

• Consumer Mobile Apps
Applications designed for Consumers.

1. These apps are published to leading application stores like appstore or android marketplace.
2. Top categories of consumer apps are games, Travel & Local, Social, Entertainment etc

ECM 2011 Predictions

We are at the end of this year 2010 and ready to welcome new year 2011. At this moment i am reading through predictions for ECM in 2011 and would like to consolidate all the links at one place. Following are some links:

1. Top 10 ECM Pet Peeve Predictions for 2011
2. 2011 Content Technology Predictions
3. 2011 ECM Prophesies and Trends by Lee Dallas
4. Enterprise CMS Trends for 2011

Webpage Optimization Tools

Webpage Optimization Tools are very handy to the find root cause on why a webpage is slow.
Following are some tools which help & i use them ...

SEO - Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is no more adding keywords in Meta Keywords.
It is all about the following ...

Definitions

Portal : A portal provides a single point of entry to widely distributed information on the web, and it offers a unified way to access that diverse information. Portals provide an easy way to configure desired content on a personal web page. Plus, portals provide a consistent look and feel. Users can take advantage of diverse applications in the same manner, making it easy for them to access information from various sources.

Here’s another definition from Sun Microsystems, which defines “portal” in its Java Portlet Specifications (JSR 286) as follows:
A portal is a web-based application that commonly provides personalization, authentication,
[and] content aggregation from different sources and hosts the presentation
layer of information systems.