Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Major changes in app development to come - are you ready?

Mobile devices and apps are evolving even faster than you think they are.

I came across an article by SD Times Suzanne Kattau who covered a recent Forrester report called, "The Future of Mobile Application Development." In the report, Jeffery Hammond and Julie Ask draw out major changes that mobile app developers must take into consideration within the next few years.

Focus will go from touch to voice

Touch will remain an important aspect, but voice functions will become more and more intertwined with apps.

Mobile apps have already become a part of everyone's daily lives -- but the whole point of having a mobile device is being able to take it with you somewhere and being allowed to access it when you are doing something else.

Apps will make it easier on users to be able to do other things, like go for a run or drive, and voice functions will do just that. Operating your mobile device without looking at it will be the big wave users are waiting for.

As mentioned, that is not to say that touch will become anywhere near obsolete. When you are in a noisy environment (or a quiet one in which you don't want to make noise), you will want to switch back to touch. Developers may want to keep in mind mode changes between the two.

Accessory integration

Everyone has heard of virtual glasses, but they still seem quite like something out of a sci-fi movie.

But!

The report says that glasses that are plugged in to mobile devices will be available by 2014. The mobile device itself will simply be the processor you leave in your bag.

I expect that this will completely change UI and UX as we know it. More 3D and virtual reality functions will also come into play.

Blending in with platforms

Less and less apps will be released stand-alone and more will come through a platform and as a part of other services.

We have so many apps out there and it is becoming more and more difficult for people to find. Apps will serve more as "plug-ins" to other services.

Better web support

As mentioned in my other posts, more apps will integrate web support into their apps, whether becoming a full-blown web app or a hybrid.

This part of the report is completely consistent with other reports mentioning how a majority of apps will integrate HTML5 into their architecture.

With the growing number of devices and OS, flexibility and coverage will definitely remain a huge issue.


These next few years will be an exciting time for app devs!



Tuesday, January 29, 2013

DaVinci noted in Wikipedia!



Wikipedia is one of the largest reference websites with over 4 million articles in English. It includes various items with notability, from historical facts, household goods to celebrities.

Check out the article about DaVinci by searching for "DaVinci (software)" or you could just click here.

DaVinci has just gone into history!




Monday, January 28, 2013

Mobile apps challenging TV?

As we all know, app revenue is skyrocketing, leaving PCs in the dust.

People are spending more and more time on their phones...challenging TV to be the most time-consuming form of media today.

According to Venture Beat, the US accounts for 181 million smart devices (iOS/Android), China is next with 167 million, and 35 million in the United Kingdom.

 

 

Mobile app use in the US has reached an average of 127 minutes, while averages for TV amount to 168 minutes and 70 minutes for web browsing. In 2010, it was only 66 minutes for mobile apps!

 
 

Now, in one of our previous blogs, we mentioned that games account for 43% of users' time and that social networking apps account for 26%.

However, did you know that Facebook alone accounted for 88% of that social networking chunk?
That's a huge number, meaning that 23% of users' total time went solely to Facebook, driving it to become the number one app in the US for 2012.

Google came in with the next five popular apps with Google Maps, Play, Search, Gmail and YouTube.

The most popular apps to follow was Pandora Radio, iTunes, Cooliris, and Yahoo! Messenger.



Sunday, January 27, 2013

Why choose DaVinci over Sencha?

There are several HTML5 dev tools in the market: Adobe Edge is still in Beta, leaving Sencha as DaVinci's major competitor.

There are quite a few Sencha users out there, but it is not without it's flaws. Here is a quick look at how DaVinci manages to fill up the holes that Sencha has left with their tool.


Sencha Architect 2

 DaVinci Studio

Startup &
Migration


  • Requires much experience and skill in JavaScript, as it takes on a high-level JavaScript-oriented dev model
  • Difficult to integrate service environments, such as existing server scripts, etc. (front-end and backend need to be re-developed)



  • Utilizes standard web dev. models such as DOM/JavaScript/CSS and does NOT require specialist knowledge – basic dev. knowledge and experience is sufficient, which accommodates a wide range of developers
  • Projects can be easily integrated with server script services such as PHP, JSP, etc. 


3rd Party Library
Utilization


  • Functions CANNOT be added to the solution and customizing to meet client needs cannot be done 
  • Meta format is used from the authoring stage and thus 3rd party libraries cannot be used



  • DaVinci is based on HTML5 from the first stage of development and offers a 100% HTML5 technology embraced open-architecture, which guarantees easy integration with 3rd party solutions


Media Query


  • Profiles are set according to each target device and users are provided with views designed to match these profiles
  • View changes according to device, but that also means that view structure is quite complicated

  • Media Query Editor helps devs optimize their UI/UX for various LDC sizes
  • Provides universal functions for responsive web design that actively responds to outside environments


To wrap it up, DaVinci Studio is not only an easy to use, WYSIWYG tool that lets you "drag and drop" components, reducing a lot of tedious coding, but it is abundant in functions AND allows you to freely add to it with it's 3rd party integration capabilities.



And another huge reason why DaVinci is worth it -- the SDK is free for download at our homepage and will remain free for a long time.






Thursday, January 24, 2013

Games: mobile app moneymakers

Most of the popular games out there are free. Actually, probably all of the most frequently downloaded games are.

Yet, it has become clearer that the big moneymakers in the app market today are games.

In-app purchases for virtual items have reached $13 billion worldwide -- and this amount does not include revenue produced from advertising within the app.

As a note, mobile advertising has been reported to amount to only $6 billion...that's less than half of the in-app purchases of games.




And these numbers are growing.

The percentage of users willing to spend more than $.75 per day has increased from 3% to 15% between 2011 and 2012.

And considering the stay-time of users for games compared to other apps...you've got pretty good ground. 43% of time is spent on games, compared to 26% on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking apps.


 
 
Many app markets have integrated game centers and social networking features to keep users in the platform and impell them to come back.
 
Although Google Play is the largest Android app market in the world, followed by Amazon, a drawback is that users don't have any reason to stick around after they find what they want. They search, download and go.
 
The third largest app market in the world is found in South Korea called, "T Store." It's owned by the largest carrier in the country and was the first Android open market place in the nation.
 
What T Store has done is integrate a game center, where users can not only download games, but compete with not only their friends but overall users.
 
This makes the games you download more enjoyable AND it drives up your advertising revenue at the same time.
 
 
In any case, games have made their way to become the mobile king. And whether you think they are a waste of time or not, they are here to stay.
 
 
 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Grocery shopping via mobile?


Nearly everyone with a smartphone has made purchases with it, some time or another.
Numbers are on the rise and will continue to rise as more retailers are taking advantage of sales occurring anytime, anyplace  24/7.

Here, we see that 35% of smartphone users in North America use their smartphones to make small payments, check out product bardcodes, and/or use coupon services. Asia leads the group with 43%.


When it comes to groceries, online purchases are not something new and quite a few people might have already tried it out.


But have you had the opportunity to try out grocery shopping on your mobile phone?


There are a lot of shoppers that integrate their mobiles while shopping at Safeway or Walgreens, such as using coupons or researching items. It has changed the way we shop today as a whole. But now some grocery stores actually allow you to shop in their virtual stores with your mobile phone and deliver your items to you.


When I first heard about this, it seemed quite "futuristic" to me, since buying a sweater on my smartphone seemed completely different from buying milk and bananas.


But once you start using it, you will keep going back!


Just order whatever you want, including meats and dairy products, select the time frame you want them to be delivered and click "order"....all while being at the park or somewhere else not in front of a PC.

For the store that I use, shipment is like $1...which is usually covered by some kind of deal only offered to online shoppers. And considering gas prices, it doesn't amount to much.


This is a huge help for me, especially when I need to buy jugs of water and heavy things.


Of course, I still like to go to the nearby market for my fruits and veggies -- I really want to pick the ones that look tastey and ripe. (Besides, once in awhile, they might send you slightly old veggies...)

And I like actually being in the store, scanning the isles to give me ideas for dinner.



But mobile commerce has made its way to nearly every part of our lives, even to parts that we would have never expected.


Online purchase/delivery services are not offered in all parts of the US, but it might not hurt to try it out if you happen to be in an area that does have it.

 

Sunday, January 20, 2013

What is DaVinci really like?

Here are a few tutorials so you can see what DaVinci studio is like before you actually download and install it.

It's very easy to use and I'm sure you can get into the swing of things really fast.

This is a start-up tutorial:

 

And here's a tutorial showing you how to use data binding in DaVinci:



Go ahead and download DaVinci just to dinker around with it. It'll be fun, I promise. =)

It's not a "30-day trial" (although it says it's a trial, it's the full version at this point and won't have a time-limit on it for some time) -- besides, it's free...and everybody likes free toys.

Visit our homepage at davincisdk.com for the download.

Monday, January 14, 2013

DaVinci Animator complete and to be released soon!

The Animator is finally up and running! It is undergoing final confirmation and will be ready in just a bit!



I just saw a demo done by one of our engineers today and it is quite similar to working with Flash, so anyone can dive into work right away.

It uses a timeline so you can easily add effects and create animation the way you want it.

What I thought was a really convenient feature, was when you want to change the graphic that you had been using for animation: for example, say you were working on something, but decide that the graphic needs to be changed...you would normally have to start work all over again, but with the Animator, just replace the graphic and all the settings will be applied to it!

There are tons of more features...and I'll post up a promo video once it's ready.

Have a great week!

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Starting off the new year

I put some thought into my New Year's Resolution for 2013.

There are actually a lot of things I would like to accomplish and that I am confident will materialize this year. It's difficult to pick just one.

But I believe we shouldn't set our goals too high above our reach -- many of us do, which is why we break our resolutions and give up before Valentine's Day.


I've decided to "share love" and change my attitude starting from this year...or rather, get it back to where it used to be before.

Say what?

What's "sharing love"?


It's one thing to be polite and let things slide and another thing to not let things bother you.

I've noticed that recently, a lot of things bother me and I just try to ignore it.

But wouldn't it be easier to just "don't sweat the small stuff" from the beginning?


I've read somewhere that love is patient. Love is kind. It's humble, gentle merciful and compassionate.

Love isn't only an emotion that we share with the special people around us like friends and family.
And being able to share that with people you don't know would be beneficial not only for others, but also yourself.


So that's my resolution. Stop hating, judging and don't get irritated. Be merciful and let things go...because it doesn't matter!

Happy new years everyone. Hope 2013 brings you lots of love, joy, and happiness!


Here's a picture of the road that leads to our office. Nothing like fresh fallen, white powder snow!