Among the radical changes in the recent world is the impact of mobile devices on modern society. Quickly becoming the first screen of information for everyone, mobile apps are even being used by the electronically resistant senior population who has found convenient use of large-print apps and the ability to maintain closer contact with grandchildren. We have seen such a great shift in the past five years so that even the shortest elevator ride has people pulling out their phones to manage their lives. This poses opportunity, as well as, challenges for businesses trying to stay ahead of the pack.
Big business has been the first mover with custom mobile apps that segment services to their simplest form. With a few clicks on an iPhone, anyone can re-order medication, purchase movie tickets, or find their way using GPS technology. To the small businessman, mobile apps are still something to put-off developing because it adds to the development budget, and they resort to mobile friendly sites that only require one build. This means developing web apps with a width of less than 960 px and reducing the number of pages that display on mobile devices. A true mobile app requires additional development dollars, but is native to the mobile device, even using geo location sensors and maps.
There are also more challenges involved with mobile apps because, just as web applications must function in multiple browsers, mobile apps must also function in multiple mobile frameworks (iPhone, Android, etc.), adding to the burden and cost of development. For all the trouble, most small businesses throw in the towel applying their efforts in things they understand.
A new friend has come into the development community, and it has the potential to narrow the gulf between small and large business. PhoneGap is a free and open source framework that allows you to create mobile apps using standardized web APIs for the platforms you are most likely already using. That means, without needing to write code in a new language, developers can continue in their native environments, like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. PhoneGap will then recompile the code, turning your web app into a mobile app that runs on IOS, IPhone, IPAD, Android, Blackberry, Windows 7, Web.O.S, and Simbian.
Build great apps powered by open web standards. Cut down on development time by re-using your existing web dev skills, frameworks and tools. Get all the benefits of cross-platform development while building apps just the way you like.
Developers should be paying attention because they can use their existing development team without the need to find or create mobile specialists. It also allows the ability to incorporate sensors, like geo location and cameras, which are native to the mobile environment.
Small business will love this because it simplifies their development strategy and gives them wider access to their customers. It makes mobile development affordable for everyone and could very well equalize the playing field between big and small business. For this reason, we are paying close attention to PhoneGap and hope to add it to our list of services very soon.
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