In this day and age you don’t have to go far to find a framework that claims to be the BEST and MOST SUPPORTED mobile framework EVER!!! Three years ago, there were only a handful. IUI was there, JQTouch was there, and Sencha Touch was early on the scene. In the last year, there has been dozens of new frameworks on the scene. So, with all those frameworks, how in the world can you choose which one is right for you?
I’m not going to go into depth on every framework that is out there. A simple Google search for “mobile web frameworks” will put lists and lists of frameworks in front of your face, but that still doesn’t get you any closer to deciding which one is right for you.
I’ve used many of the frameworks, and I know the pros and cons of them. I’ve used them on client projects and on personal projects. I’ve used them with heavily customized styles, and I’ve used them with lightly customized styles. I’ve used them on iPhones, Androids, iPads, and Blackberry devices. When I talk about mobile frameworks, I know what I’m talking about. Let’s take a look at some of the most important criteria you should have when choosing a framework.
Support
This is perhaps the most important aspect of any framework. Some frameworks only provide API documentation (like Sencha Touch and JQuery Mobile), which is good if you want complete documentation, but it lacks in telling you how it all fits together. Other frameworks like Wink don’t mind telling you how it all fits together, but you don’t get full documentation if you really want to manipulate the application.
The other aspect of support is how quickly you can find answers to undocumented features. Typically you need to reach out to the community for answers. The more established a framework is (like Sencha Touch and JQTouch) the better and more responsive the community is.
The level of support will determine how quickly you learn to use the framework, and how quickly you can deal with obstacles that you come across. If you are going to create a heavily customized or richly featured application, then you want to find good support with a good community that can help you out when you get into a tough spot.
Win: JQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch
Fail: just about everyone else
Custom Design
This is where a lot of frameworks absolutely FAIL. Most frameworks force you (and you’re users) to conform to their designs, layouts, and animations. For some people, this is fine, but if you want to take Sencha Touch and put a high customized design on it, you’re going to run into performance nightmares when using it on anything but an iOS device or the newest Androids.
One good concept when it comes to building user interfaces is to not re-train a user how to use a well-known interface. For example, the typical interfaces on an iPhone are completely different than the typical interfaces on an Android. Why on Earth would you want force Android users to learn an iPhone interface? They chose an Android for a reason. Are you so arrogant that you alone can determine that an iPhone interface is superior to an Android interface?
In order to provide a highly customized interface, you’re going to want as much control over the looks and interactivity while retaining as much performance as you can. This is where smaller frameworks like XUI come in that merely provide a core set of tools and it’s up to you to make them look how you want.
Win: XUI
Fail: JQuery Mobile, JQTouch, Sencha Touch, many many others, so many others
Performance
Most frameworks show you demos of all their layouts, interfaces, and animations so you can test them out and see how wonderful they are. That’s only half the story though. What you’ll quickly find out is that when you start building your own application and customizing designs or animations, it’s quickly going to bog down. If you want to retain the original performance level, you’re going to have to stick with how they design things. The arrogance!
If you’re fine sticking with their designs, then that’s fine… nothing against that. That’s why I used JQuery Mobile on one of my projects because it was for iOS users only and I wanted something quick, simple, elegant, and not highly customized. It worked perfectly! However I’ve worked on projects that required a lot of styling and design and most frameworks performance quickly fell short especially on non-iOS devices.
Win: XUI
Fail: JQuery Mobile, JQTouch, Sencha Touch, too many to mention
Continued Development
The ideal framework will have an active development cycle. You don’t want to use a framework that was only created by one guy in order to fix a certain problem they had (ie. CiUI). Since technology is moving forward at such a fast pace, you want a framework that’s going to be around for at least a couple of years and that is going to be updated to move with technology.
Win: JQTouch (sorta), JQuery Mobile, Sencha Touch
Fail: CiUI, iUI, too manny to mention
Analysis
We’ve looked at some of the major criteria to take into account when trying to decide which mobile framework you should use. You need to have a framework with good support, good performance, and that will be around for a while. The bit about custom design isn’t for every project. There are only a handful of frameworks that are viable candidates at the current time.
Conclusion
JQuery Mobile, JQTouch, Sencha Touch, iUI, and XUI are the few and the proid. If you stick to that short list, you should be able to find something that suits your needs.
source: golen.net
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Using QR Reader revolutionary application, IDGLabs Mobile solutions provide new ways for consumers to interact with brands using their mobile phones, allowing marketers to bridge the gap between physical media and the digital world.
The application lets consumers capture any ScanLife enabled barcode with their phone’s camera to instantly launch or download content, receive calendar dates or contacts, dial a number or send a message, email or tweet. It reads the widest range of barcodes including UPC/EAN retail codes and EZCode, QR and Datamatrix 2D codes.
Immediate: Makes a call to action instantly actionable Measurable: Allows brands to monitor activity in real time Dynamic: Codes can be instantly redirected Low cost, flexible distribution: Barcodes can be published on media of all types and retail barcodes on packaging can be ‘activated’ to work with QR Reader
To install QR Reader on your mobile phone search for ‘QR Reader’ in your app store
Follow the prompts to download the application to your mobile phone
You are now set up to activate QR Reader enabled barcodes. Simply take a photo of one within the QR Reader application.
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Mobile payment systems have been in the news quite frequently over the past several months. The fact that a mobile payment infrastructure is going to happen must be accepted. An international study shows that globally, businesses and consumers have the same concerns regarding security of data, but the reasons for its acceptance vary.
Near Field Communication (NFC) technology has been around for some time now. However, it has become most famous (or infamous) for the role it will play in the emerging mobile payment systems. The embracing of a mobile payments system holds benefits for everyone involved; from the brands, merchants and consumers to the financial servers and mobile manufacturers. Read full story
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Today we continue dropping some basic BlackBerry knowledge.
Today, we’ll discover where to find your BlackBerry PIN. This can be an important number to know, or at least be able to locate. The easiest method of adding BlackBerry Messenger contacts is with your PIN.
Open up your full applications menu, and go to Options. Then go to Status. Your PIN is right there. I wish it was more complicated, so I could explain it a bit further. Alas, it’s that simple. A couple of screenshots after the jump.
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Where to start? Google aired new initiatives left and right at its Google I/O developer conference, such as Google TV and the Android 2.2 OS, but also made plenty of other headlines good and bad.
Let’s be charitable and start with the good, since it outweighed the bad.
Mobile website design is very different to designing a desktop website. Mobile web design faces many challenges, not least the fact that there is no uniform browser for mobile devices. Mobile website design also has to take account of different screen sizes. Here are our top 10 tips for a great mobile web design. Read full story
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What if you could customize the content on your website based on which mobile phone visitors are viewing your site with? Could you increase your traffic? Could you increase the time your visitors stay on your site?
Could you increase the amount of repeat traffic you see? Could you make more money? I’m sure you could do all of that! Let’s take a look at what mobile browser detection is, why you would use it, and how to do it. Read full story
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Some web applications require interaction with mobile devices. A key ingredient when writing such application for mobile devices is figuring out which device “talks” with our server, serve it with best fit markup, and make correct business-logic decisions (i.e. send the correct video format, setup package, etc.)
It is easy to assume that Mobile 2.0 means simply bringing Web 2.0 to mobile devices, but the driving force behind Mobile 2.0 goes much further. Mobile 2.0 isn’t about delivering PC content to our mobile devices, it is about delivering mobile content.
And, more than that, it is about personalizing the content.
So, just what is Mobile 2.0? A good definition is that Mobile 2.0 is about combining Web 2.0 with the mobile device.
Mobile 2.0 – Bringing Web 2.0 to Mobile Devices vs. Combining Web 2.0 with Mobile Devices
There was once a time when many mobile tech enthusiasts believed that a portable device could only provide the full internet experience if it had a minimum screen resolution of 800 x 480.
There were other prerequisites as well (Flash support, processing speed, page rendering, etc.), but a low-resolution screen was one of the immediate deal breakers. Gadgets that otherwise looked promising were often withdrawn from consideration as soon as their resolutions were revealed to be lacking.
Today, however, screen resolution seems to have taken a backseat to mobile-browser “flourishes” like momentum-based scrolling and tap/double-tap zooming. If not for such workarounds, the idea of browsing the web on a 3.5-inch screen with a paltry 480 x 320 resolution wouldn’t sound very appealing.
Though some feel that these “tricks” fool users into believing they’re getting a true internet experience because of the “fun factor,” millions of iPhone and iPod touch owners don’t seem to mind. On a similar note, I don’t see any criticism this morning about the Nokia N97 and its 3.5-inch 640 x 360 screen.
This, then, raises the question that is the subject of the poll you’ll find below.
What is the minimum screen resolution for acceptable web browsing on a portable device? (Poll Closed)
UPDATE: Thanks for voting.
To put those resolutions into some context, here’s a quick table I put together of 10 mobile devices (5″ screen max for true pocketability) and their respective screen sizes and resolutions.
Device
Screen Size
Screen Resolution
AT&T Tilt
2.8 inches
320 x 240
HTC Touch Pro
2.8 inches
640 x 480
SE XPERIA X1
3 inches
800 x 480
Nokia N97
3.5 inches
640 x 320
Sony mylo 2
3.5 inches
800 x 480
Apple iPhone
3.5 inches
480 x 320
Nokia N810
4.1 inches
800 x 480
Aigo P8860 MID
4.8 inches
800 x 480
Archos 5
4.8 inches
800 x 480
HTC Advantage
5 inches
640 x 480
What’s more important to you than screen resolution? Screen size? Browser? Speed?
My mobile web priorities list would look like this:
Browser
Screen resolution
Page rendering
Screen size
Speed (load times)
Flash support
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