Tag Archives: google

Has Adobe won the mobile war? I think so…

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There is so much misinformation out there it is ridiculous. I hear so many rumors from non-developers about mobile development and the funny thing is, most of them have never developed an app. So why has Adobe won? Two software packages – Adobe Air and PhoneGap.

Each of these software packages allows you to create mobile apps on multiple devices. So I can develop one app and it will run on the iPhone, iPad, and Android based devices. Thus I no longer need to waste valuable time developing apps for both iOS and Android when I can develop one that deploys on both.

With Adobe Air, you develop your app in Flash and package it for each device. Wait, isnt there a rumor that Flash doesnt work on iPhone? Yes there is that rumor and it is only partially true. Flash does not run in the iOS browser BUT it will run as a stand alone app. So YES you can develop apps in Flash for Apple and they work very well.

With PhoneGap, also owned by Adobe, you can develop apps via HTML5 and then publish to Android and iOS devices. Again these work very well.

Additionally, with both of these software packages I can actually use hardware features of the phone and use them when not connected to the internet. Something you can do with all mobile apps but not the mobile web. The disadvantage to developing an app over a website is that Apple has to approve it (not a problem with Android). Otherwise Apps are much better than a mobile website.

Why would I use one over the other? Flash apps are designed for more sophisticated apps that require large amounts of data (database), high intensity graphics, lots of screens, animations, etc. PhoneGap apps are better for small simple apps. Both are great for development though. Additionally, Adobe is really starting to integrate phonegap into dreamweaver so I would not be surprised if we see these two software packages merged at some point (maybe CS7?).

I will be using both of these software packages in my courses next year, so if you are interested in learning more about them, please contact me.

Adobe Air – http://www.adobe.com/products/air.html

PhoneGap – http://phonegap.com/

iPhone vs. Galaxy Nexus vs. S3? Can’t compare on specs alone

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While certain features of these phones are comparable, like the camera. There are just certain things that you cannot compare when looking at these devices.

For instance, while the 1.2 dual core processor or 1.4 quad core processor seem to blow Apple’s .800 dual core processor out of the water, this couldnt be further from the truth. Many forget that Apple runs a different OS. Meaning that Apple’s iPhone is built specifically for their OS. They didnt need a 1.5 quad core processor because their OS does not require or utilize it. Additionally, you cant really even compare the Gnex to the S3 for the same reason. While they both run ICS, the Gnex runs a vanilla version of the OS and was made to specifically to run the OS just as the iPhone was for iOS. The S3 contains TouchWiz, which is Samsung’s bloatware and thus needs that extra power that the Gnex does not need.

All in all, there are some things you can compare but overall you cannot compare these devices by just looking at the specs. The specs are not very helpful in really telling you much about the big picture, they are simply a small piece. Each of these phones is so different that it’s going to be a matter of preference which is better, not the one that has the best specs is king.

Where does your site fall in Google search listings?

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Wonder where your site falls when people search for terms or keywords related to your page? Well there are a few ways to find out.

1. You can search yourself – however do NOT do this. Google knows you have been to this page and may even put it on the first page, making you believe your page is coming up. This is not accurate however. The search engine is smart and tries to put pages that you visit higher in your personal rankings but this is NOT what others will see.

2. Hire a company or have a friend check – Again, there is an easier way but these are both acceptable.

3. Use a free page checker. There are tons of them. Here is a good one that I like: http://www.searchenginegenie.com/google-rank-checker.html

Google changing the way you search: Semantic searching coming soon…

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Google will be changing the way you search soon. Instead of just searching for a term and coming up list of that term, Google’s new algorithm will look at more than just keywords as it does now. It will look at relationships. Thus it should become a better engine, helping us find what we are really looking for. For those that do not know, semantic searching has been discussed for a number of years but has yet to really be done well so we will see how Google handles it.

Here are a few articles on the topic:

Engadget

dailymail

wall street journal

Rumors, rumors, rumors….

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Finally back from my conference and now playing catch up. Will start up my regular posting as well….anyway several BIG rumors that I have heard in the last week.

1. I personally heard from a good source (someone who would know/that I trust) that the iPad 3 will be coming out in March. Just confirms all other rumors but hearing from this source is a pretty good indicator that it is definitely coming soon.

2. Google might be releasing Jellybean (android 5.0) which will boot with dual cores in the Q2 of this year! Wow and ICS isnt even on any phones except the Gnex. However, I would suspect this would only be on tablets at first. link to article

 

Android Design

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Found this very cool. Google has released some design tips/guidelines for android developers. While somewhat simple, this is a great start to designing mobile apps. This was created due to differences in their new OS ICS from Gingerbread and Froyo. Now if Google would just release their own developer software so that I wouldnt need to use eclipse:)

http://developer.android.com/design/index.html

Google Nexus phone released

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Google has finally released their much anticipated Galaxy Nexus phone. It was released in the US yesterday and I got one:) Now for most mobile users I recommend an iPhone for various reasons. For myself and other ‘techies’ this is the phone to get and here is why:

– first phone with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwhich. Will be a few months before other phones get this update OS.

– It’s a google phone so you will get updates straight from google i.e., first. No other phones have this advantage.

– No bloatware. Normally when you buy an android phone is comes pre-installed with all sorts of software that you cannot delete. For instance moto blur for motorola or sense from htc. This is a vanilla version of android.

– It’s a developer phone. This means that you can easily root and unlock the phone. You can also reset it to factory settings.

Well those are the advantages of this phone over all others. If you want to know the reason why I recommend iphones over droids for most users stay tuned, i will eventually get around to writing that article.

Here is a link to the phone to check out the features: http://www.google.com/nexus/