Hands down the best iPhone SDK Primer

The fundamental prerequisite for anyone looking to develop iPhone applications. Whether you are new to Cocoa or just the iPhone SDK this book will quickly get you up and running. From concept to working code the author's approach is both easy to read and quick to understand. The code samples get you up and running applications in very little time and the step by step approach makes the learning process effortless.

Hands down this is the best fundamental primer on iPhone Development on the market today.

500 Apps Launch on the iTunes App Store

One's got to wonder when Apple will rename the iTunes to the iEverything store. With it now serving application content along side it's media content, the name would seem to almost not fit anymore.

A brief review of the 500 apps show a wide variety. Everything from the very detailed Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards to the silly iPint are available. With a number of the apps also fitting in the corporate space it's clear that there is a very large and well developed community behind this new application platform / venue.

Clearly standing out among the crowd is the gaming community. While this was rumored to be the belle of the ball it's proven to be even better than once thought. Games like CroMag Rally and MotoRacer take full advantage of the OpenGL ES engine in the iPhone and give remarkable results to the end user. If you haven't seen a demo I strongly suggest it if you in the gaming market at all. The threat Apple brings to other mobile handheld gaming is palpable once you see this..

-ZuCom

-ZuCom

Strong webapp showing from corporate interest in the iPhone

The WWDC Keynote showcased corporate iPhone App Development partners from several Fortune 500 companies, with blockbuster demo's in the Finance and Life Science industry. Since then several of these same companies have released web apps targeted and optimized for the iPhone / iPod Touch. An initial review of these web apps by ZuCom has shown that even these apps will be something to contend with.

The iPhone OS 2.0 promises to support new CSS animation and 3D standards that are truly amazing for any web application and could potentially give cloud computing a chance. Within the enterprise the need to develop fat client applications appears to be fading... FAST.

With the added benefit of lower client costs web apps have long been the preferred method by enterprise IT managers to deliver services and products to clients. Browser limitations have stifled the development of better web apps to date but Safari and Safari Mobile are aiming to change that. There's even some talk in the WebKit community of "bundling" to enable those on other platforms to access leverage these new standards not yet supported in other browsers.

Which ever way you choose to go, WebApp or iPhone OS App, ZuCom offers guidance support and services for corporate and small business clients.

The Apple Enterprise Mobile Platform - WWDC

The Apple Enterprise Mobile Platform

With the WWDC Keynote, Steve Jobs has delivered the vision for enterprise mobile development on the iPhone. With the announcement that the iPhone 2.0 OS has support for Exchange and custom third party applications it's no wonder that enterprise I.T. giants like Bank of America, Genentech, and the US Army were keen to be early adopters. Strong demonstrations from Life Science partners MIMvista (http://www.mimvista.com/) will no doubt add another arena to the already crowded market for this mobile platform.

While the details have yet to be defined. Apple also announced three different models for application distribution. As expected the App Store will be the default distribution for commercial applications. Along with that announcement was an Enterprise distribution channel and something they are calling an "Ad Hoc" channel that promises to allow for the emailing of applications back and forth.

ZuCom is dedicated to consulting I.T. management on the implementation of this platform and will be engaging Apple on the details of the new Enterprise and Ad Hoc distribution channels. These two channels would appear to be the best avenues by which, large corporate I.T. environments will integrate this mobile platform into their existing infrastructure.

iPhone, Quality, Content and Design.

As stated in the iPhoneSDK Keynote, Apple will hold final say as to what third party applications end up on the iPhone, through iTunes.  While not specifically published or stated, this position seems to give the inference that there will be certain Quality, Content, and Design standards.  Given this, there must also be a well designed process to inspect applications for adherence to this standard.

This is an area where casual developers and professional developers often take different paths.  Most professional development efforts value a well developed SDLC, where good requirements and quality assurance practices are seen as tools to developing stable well functioning software.  To the casual developer the value of these processes are often too expensive, from a time perspective, and frequently take a lower priority.

Many have commented about the approach that Apple is taking here and even referred to it as a "closed" system.  Rich Miner, (Group manager of Wireless Platforms at Google) recently gave a talk (link to video) about the challenges to mobile software development, and the impact open source initiatives have had in this space.  In this presentation Rich mentions that even the Google "open source" mobile initiative (Android) will have some detailed quality and design requirements.

As the mobile development community continues to change, only time will tell what traditional software development practices will be a best fit.  Agile, practices appear to be leading the efforts for today and may still offer the best blend of flexibility and process for a platform that seems destined for great things.  

-Robert Zullo

iPhone Crash Files tid bit.

Today we received a report from a client that may be of interest to many who develop for the iPhone platform. Crash logs can be critical in debugging and testing the behavior of software and systems. The file location you see below contains a number of files that are critical to identifying crashes in the iPhone system and software. Further analysis is underway and we welcome others to add their comments to this blog.


/Users/your user name/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/your iphone name/

and

/Users/your user name/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/your iphone name/Baseband

FYI

Enterprise Applications Support and 3G = International Reach

With the announcement from Walt Mossberg that the next iPhone will be 3G the potential impact of this unique crossover entity might just be moving towards a Corporate International audience.  

Arguments can be made that iPhone is already a corporate entity in the international market but as most non-US readers know, the limitation of not having 3G is a real concern on the international scene.  

Let's face it 768k is only called "broadband" in the US.  Most international markets reserve the term broadband for much higher data transfer rates.  While Walt refers to content and marketing angles as his main points, the rub with enterprise I.T. managers becomes what to do if this 3G option is now part of the iPhone platform.  While dismissing the iPhone is a hard thing to do even today, 3G support would really make this naysayers look more like pundits.  

Walt references a 60 day timeline so time will tell, but should Apple decide to take that angle with the iPhone, it's clearly added another threat to the existing Mobile market.

Mobile Technology, the next enabler

Technology can be an enabler and there is no better example of that today than the space currently known as the "mobile" market.  Advances in mobile chip technology and availability of services have exploded recently and created a market that is simply ripe for change.  While mobile technology and services have flourished, adoption has dramatically lagged behind similar services offered on more traditional platforms.  A key part of this limitation in the US market has been the fact that development for mobile platforms and wireless services has been controlled by a very few companies with a level of proprietary knowledge and risk associated with entrance into the platform.  

To date there has been a lack of cohesion between mobile platforms acting as a traditional personal computer and mobile wireless devices designed to connect users to a wireless service.  Enterprise solutions to mobile needs have followed the same path, and thus have resulted in what we have today.  Development for these distinct areas has thus been somewhat disconnected and not collective.  On one side you have traditional development for mobile platforms sprouting as an off shoot of old fashioned client / server development and on the other you have the retooling of web developers into a new mobile web category.  

The managing of of these efforts in separate spaces, as most do, presents an interesting challenge for the enterprise.  Where business needs are in concert with mobile platforms talent is not often aligned with the effort.  The result is a product that is poorly received overall or not adopted as a service that enables the platform but rather the opposite.  With the introduction of crossover devices like the iPhone, integrating these groups in an enterprise will become more of a natural migration than it is today.

As we saw in the late 90's individual software achievements have the ability to change the world, but blending those talents into a business strategy is what gives the those ideas a place to grow (Steve Jobs Quote).  As mobile platforms begin to integrate, enterprise based approaches to managing technology and aligning it with new mobile business strategies will evolve, the choice we have is to choose that which is right for our needs.

-Robert Zullo

Enterprise Approach to iPhone Development

Apple has updated it's latest release of the iPhone SDK. With the fury at which the last release was downloaded this one is sure to be a hit. While the details of the upgrade are still sketchy and it would appear that Apple is dedicated to the market it has found for mobile development platforms.

As mentioned in the a recent article over on the iPhone Development Blog the reach that this product will give Apple into the enterprise could be big. I would argue that with regular updates and what is seemingly a caring / nurturing attitude from Apple this could be a revolution in the making for the industry yet again.

Many corporate I.T. departments will find development in this area hard to categorize and even tougher to fit in to a standard CMMI, Agile, RUP methodology. Over the next few months ZuCom will evaluate the impact this has had in the industry and look to develop strategies that partners and clients can use to help better cope with this next wave of innovation.

-ZuCom