Without exception, CES generates a lot of exciting news for the mobile app space. Here’s a quick summary of the key announcements in mobile this year.
Thinnest tablet ever
The Toshiba Excite X10 tablet is the thinnest tablet ever made with a 10.1 inch screen, 0.3 inch thin and 1.2 ibs weight.
Our take:
The Toshiba Excite X10 tablet is an alternative for the iPad2 and this could be Apple’s real competition. However it is unlikely that it can compete with Apple’s iPad3 which is expected in the next couple of months
Intel in partnership with Motorola Mobility
Being in partnership with Intel allows Motorola to use Intel’s Atom processors on their mobile computing devices. This includes smartphones and tablets for consumers and businesses during the next couple of years.
Our take:
Currently, Qualcomm and ARM dominate the mobile processor market and more competition is needed. This should lead to more innovation in the mobile processing space including better battery life and increased processing power.
Smartphone news
LTE devices across all price points
Most of the major device manufacturers announced LTE devices together with the carriers in the US including LG, HTC, Nokia and Samsung but also Huawei, ZTE and Pantech.
Our take:
Although LTE is important from a network capacity perspective an transition to GSM technology in the US the technology will not have much impact on consumers right now as 3G speeds are adequate for most smartphone usage. Nevertheless, the speed of the transition is impressive.
Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone
AT&T is launching the Nokia Lumia 900 in the US with LTE and stands firmly behind Windows Phone.
Our take:
This will bring positive media echo for Nokia Luma and Windows Phone devices. Uniqueness and differentiation is good news as it shows there is still room for innovation in the OS space. Thanks to this, Apple has not been able to steal the show like they did last year.
Sony Xperia S
Sony launches the first device without the Ericsson brand as a game focused device with Android.
Our take:
The device looks great with nice specs but we don’t believe it’s unique enough to compete against the top Android devices from Samsung and HTC.
Waterproof phones
Will waterproofing treatment make smartphones ruined by water damage history? The company HzO thinks so and announced a new technology for waterproofing that they want to license to phone manufacturers.
Our take:
This is probably one of the most exciting news for consumers coming out of CES. Many of us have dropped their phone in water or gotten it ruined by rain or water splashes. If the waterproofing works without having to turn the phone into a piece of rubber like previous attempts then this could be a big trend in the future.
Apps, apps and more apps
With over 100 great apps submitted for Mobile App Showdown here are 3 of our favorites:
CIA: Operation Ajax Amazes!
An app delivering a graphic novel with interactive sounds and animations, which seems like a unique way of mobile story telling.
SkyQ
SkyQ is an easy to use astronomy application that locates and identifies virtually any celestial object visible in the night sky with portable convenience right from the palm of your hand.
Swakker
Swakker lets you personalize your mobile messaging. Communicate in creative ways, like drawing in a chat and writing messages in the sky.
Biggest news of all
No show would be worthwhile without an app by Golden Gekko of course and to avoid disappointment Qualcomm showed off Golden Gekko’s augmented reality app for the National Guard. More about this later…
Showing posts with label android tablet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label android tablet. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Friday, 6 May 2011
Why Android Tablet Apps?
The iPad currently accounts for 90% of the tablet market, so why bother with Android? More than 20 device manufacturers have now announced Android tablets with prices ranging from 150- 700 USD. Key devices such as the Motorola Xoom are showing top quality design, and impressive hardware specs that are opening up interesting opportunities for our customers. At Golden Gekko, we're confident of strong growth in the Android tablet market over the coming months. Being first to market with quality offerings is a key recommendation for our customers. Supporting tablets, with the correct user experience will pay dividends:
• Impressing early adopters
• Being well situated for the users who are sure to enter the market in 2011
• Increasing your chances of being featured on the Android Market – our experience shows
this can have a huge effect on download figures
Key attributes of the Android Tablet
Golden Gekko has been exploring the tablet focused version of Android (Honeycomb) since it was first released to developers. We have also been observing the adoption of the technology, reviewing apps and experimenting with different user journeys.
The key enhancements, that we see adding true value to the Android experience are:
• We can now take advantage of the extra screen real estate, showing more complex pages. A common example is combining a list view on the left, with a map or details view on the right, allowing the user to browse the items they have, without needing to switch screens.
This level of interaction is simply not possible on smaller, phone sized devices.
• A new action bar has been introduced. This is a big change in the standard Android design pattern. We're also increasingly seeing this being applied to the phone variants of the apps.
Not quite everything is transferable, but it's a slick new option.
• Drag & Drop has been added, allowing for interesting new interaction between components
• Slicker animations are possible thanks to enhanced support from Android, and typically from the enhanced power of the tablet devices. Apps are evolving to feel more interactive with ever more impressive levels of polishing touches.
• We're seeing tablets being used in different ways to our phone apps. Typically, your phone is for when you're on the go, tablets for when can take your time over a coffee or a glass of wine. This allows for more in depth user journeys and more thorough integration with Social networks.
Image: An example screen-shot, showing the split screen approach. Notice the action bar introduced at the top of the screen. The soft keys in the bottom left have replaced the hardware buttons, and rotate with the device.
Key challenges
Adapting to the tablet world requires a fundamental shift in application planning. Many people will use your app on a tablet and on their phone. Ensuring a consistent user experience, while still taking advantage of the device capabilities will be a key factor in the success of your application.
For anyone used to developing iPad apps, the extra device burden that Android brings to the table will also come as a shock. Android tablets are becoming available in all shapes and sizes, with varying screen resolution, OS level and processing power. Thoroughly testing and optimising your apps for the full range of devices is a critical pre-launch step. A few bad reviews from users experiencing bugs or crashes can have a serious impact on the long term success of your app.
Friday, 10 December 2010
How much does it cost to develop an iPad app or Android tablet app?
Business Insider has a great article about the cost of developing one of the most popular and more advanced iPad apps available for download on the Apple appstore. This is by no means an indication of the average cost of developing an iPad app but demonstrates the range in cost between very simple apps of below 20.000 USD and the top utility apps at closer to 250.000 USD. On the other hand some of the top apps such as Google Maps, Facebook, BBC iPlayer have all costed considerably more to develop.
Generally the cost of adapting an iPhone app to iPad is about 30-40% on top of the original development costs but to develop an original iPad app with a rich and optimal user experience, the requirements are considerably more complicated. Just like for a website or an advanced iPhone or Android app the development team needs to
a) Start by coming up with the concept
b) Design the app including user interface, use flow, wireframes and creative assets/graphics
c) Produce a technical architecture and specification
d) Develop the app in various iterations of testing and feedback loops
e) Test it with real users as a beta to further enhance the app before public launch
f) Launch the app and continuously improve it
The cost of developing an Android tablet app is essentially exactly the same based on our experience although there are great synergies if planning and development is carried out on both platforms for the same service.
Read the full article on Business Insider:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)