Microsoft ASP.NET - Platform for Mobile WEB Apps

[caption id="attachment_794" align="aligncenter" width="432"] Microsoft ASP.NET - Platform for Mobile WEB Apps[/caption]

Mobile WEB Apps – the next big business word for Start-up Smallbiz communities. Well, everyone is talking about these web apps, accessible through mobile devices for quite long time – but how many Indian start-ups really made business out of it. There are few mini social networks and shopping sites showing good growth but very less in other areas for example: productivity, travel, etc.

Mobile Web App is not just porting the existing Web app into mobile device for flexible access. I see many products are not considering about benefit able UI for mobile device, performance issues, etc. When I discussed in forums, many companies accepted that they are using the same web development strategy for their mobile web apps development too.

Recently I met a small team of developers at Coimbatore. They are in .NET programming for past 3 years – pretty fresher community, and I discussed with them on best practices in mobile web apps development through ASP.NET / SQL Server as technical background.  They invested for a Windows Web Server hosting and their products are mostly on LBS + M-Commerce.

Microsoft ASP.net for Mobile is an excellent platform - you can download Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Express or Microsoft Web Matrix for Development and start developing apps. Build you knowledge in HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript / Jquery for advance Mobile Web Forms Development and rest all with ASP.net & SQL server programming  [of course you have to do a little study on mobile web controls too]. I used Microsoft visual web developer 2010 express for my practices. MSDN support is always available and developer community meetings provide great help.

The UI and performance strategies should be improved and there, I am supporting the Smallbiz teams. They take care of development of a product and my job is to make it perfect for users. For more information on using Microsoft ASP.NET Mobile WEB development – send me an email and follow me on twitter.

How to be a Specialist in Technology

[caption id="attachment_781" align="aligncenter" width="432" caption="Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist"][/caption]

The Indian Information Technology (IT) industry always respects the professional certificates – even though the candidate is having experience and knowledge in his respective technical domain.  There are many professionals I see around me, are having brilliant knowledge in technical domains, especially in Microsoft technologies. There are designers, programmers, administrators and many – while discussing with them, I found that, they have very good knowledge to become a professional and improve their career values, but not having an idea about it.

So, what should be the next step – from a career strategist point of view? Well, go for a certification in your technical sphere of influence – right, but what to choose! I suggest starting with Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist Certificate.

If the candidate is having one or more years of experience, and knowledge in implementing, troubleshooting, and debugging a specific technology – the small medium size enterprise owners should push the candidates to go for a certification – because, it not only improves the career value of candidate, but also the business value of SME.

Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist certifications are for Windows Operating System, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Project and Project Server, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and even for Microsoft Biztalk and Microsoft Dynamics.

“Earning a Microsoft Certification validates your proven experience and knowledge in using Microsoft products and solutions. Designed to be relevant in today's rapidly changing IT marketplace, Microsoft Certifications help you utilize evolving technologies, fine-tune your troubleshooting skills, and improve your job satisfaction” – says Microsoft.

So, what makes you waiting? Start your career in right path with an industry standard certification to prove your knowledge values to the world around you.

All the best dear friends

Top 12 Knowledge Requirements for 2012

[caption id="attachment_728" align="aligncenter" width="432" caption="Top 12 Knowledge Requirements for 2012"][/caption]

2011 gave a very powerful positive impact on specialized business life for Social Media and Smart Phone Professionals - many new Gadgets, Applications, Job Profiles, Start-ups and Success Stories.

2012 – Definitely, is coming with lot more new opportunities for IT communities.

Well, what is essential for your success in 2012 – Let’s take a quick look on top knowledge requirements.

• Mobile Application Programming – It is not just Android, Windows Phone and IOS Programming. Look into HTML5, CSS3, Advance Java-script, JSON, JQuery and PHP. Mobile WEB Frameworks are going to be an excellent option for “Develop Once-Deploy to All” Concept.


• Customized Agile Project Management – Agile is still not professionally implemented in many organizations. Most of the Small and Medium size companies are using it as simplified version of traditional project management – but in the name of Agile. Certified Scrum Master and Agile Scrum Trainings for your Project Team are essential for a success with quality.


• Location Based Services – There are very few applications with Location based Content Identification as a feature and most of them are just social and Infotainment. There are lot more requirements which can be fulfilled with LBS – for Example: Tourism, Education etc.


• Data Center / Networking Technologies- The demand for networking professionals is high with virtualization and cloud computing projects. Virtualization and the Cloud could also be behind the increased need for IT professionals with backgrounds in data center operations and systems integration.


• Smartphone Security – Smartphones are becoming part of corporate network elements now days and security for official and personal data becomes major question. Data Security Applications, Anti-virus Tools, Remote Content Management, Policies for using Smartphones are high in requirement.


• User Interface Design – UI Design and Development is an important presentation layer element, which decides the success of many Smartphone and Tablets apps, and also PC and WEB Apps. There are certification course available to educate you about best practices and standards and it is a hot item in job market too.


• Mobile Commerce / Payment – Smartphones and Feature phones are fully capable for Money Management now days with Applications from various vendors. There were few banking apps, mobile malls and payment apps showed success stories last year, and I am expecting more to come in 2012.


•  Context Aware Applications – A new technology provides improved user experiences by using the information about a person's interests, intentions, history, environment, activities, schedule, priorities, connections and preferences to anticipate their needs and proactively serve up the most appropriate content, product or service.


• Gaming Smartphones, Devices – estimated to $800 million business, it provides numerous opportunities for business owners and technical professionals.


• Help Desk/Technical Support–Mobile operating systems have added a new dimension to help desk and tech support community and this will improve a lot in future.


• Business Intelligence – from Cost saving to investing in Technology, I am expecting many new prospects with BI.  There are certifications, Business Analysis best practices to improve it.


• Life with Open Source – Open source is not just limited to PHP and MYSQL, but there are more useful, free to use, efficient platforms for developers, designers, project managers, analysts, testers, business owners and general IT end-users.

I wish you all the best in this New Year 2012 for many new success stories, career improvements and business values.

Personal Goal Planner 2012

Dear Friends,

This Simple Goal Planner 2012 will help you to Plan your Goals, and Track it with milestones periodically.  Give me your comments.

I wish you everything success in this New Year 2012.

All the best.

Download your copy here

Programming .Mobi – Mobile Websites

Are you a programmer? What programming languages are you using currently – C#.net, Java, PHP, Perl, Ruby, SQL … don’t worry – you got some new career opportunities in mobile web site development too.

Even though all the above mentioned programming languages can be used, I strongly suggest going with PHP-MYSQL combination – because of its tremendous advantages in dynamic content design and delivery.

Also – the Wordpress, Joomla and other Content Management Engines mostly follow PHP-MYSQL as preferred programming. Personally, PHP-MYSQL programming is very easy to learn, and a average developer can do wonders in 10 days with right challenges.

• XHTML and CSS knowledge - required – Very important but can be easily handled with Dreamweaver type of Software Tools.


• Javascript knowledge - required – but can be handled with customizing available downloaded code blocks.


• SQL – required – Database Programming, Query based applications.


• XML – required – to handle simple and complex data structures


• Knowledge in using popular IDE tools for PHP – this reduces development time by instant help, and programming support.


• Preferred knowledge – HTML 5, Mobile detection using WURFL, Multimedia and Streaming, Mobile Wordpress, Location Detection, Widget Design Patterns, Mobile SEO and Social Features and MIME Types for Mobile content.

I strongly suggest having a code library for all required functionalities, so that the plug-and-execute can happen with little or no modification.

Creating Business values using .Mobi Website

LinkedIn.com is giving me lots of opportunities to meet professionals and people from various industries, of course with all different kind of business requirements. I recently met a LinkedIn contact – who works in Education Management, for one of his requirement on .Mobi websites for Educational purposes. He suggested me to give a write-up mentioning the business values of .Mobi website – so that he can present it to his higher authorities. I did a small research on it, and designed a PPT for him, but I would like to share some points which I learned through the research.

• The success of creating business value of .mobi site starts with defining the purpose of a mobile website itself


• A strategic business plan and setting realistic goals are important as first step for a successful mobile website


•  Identification of types of users – including prospects, clients, investors, job seekers. After this process is completed, now we determine at a high level what our mobile website needs to accomplish. Visitors will make decisions based on their experience and perception of the Mobile website.


• Organizations should invest in hiring a professional Mobile web consultant to assist them with designing a site that will achieve their goals and purpose of the site.


• Mobile Web Users are a unpredictable group; they have short attention spans, fly from page to page, and are highly judgmental, holding their attention takes careful planning and execution.


• A Mobile website has several aspects including design, content and functionality.


• The design of the website should be simple to browse, should use the same color theory / theme of your corporate website and should be clear with right size fonts and images.


• The content should be easy readable text in small paragraphs – mostly about services, product information and interactive transactions (ex: javascript based registration for corporate events) if any.


• The content should follow Attention, Interest, Desire and Action template – to invoke the desired visitor response.


• Mobile websites should be powered using SEO – Search Engine Optimization, a technique that allows a .mobi site to be indexed and ranked on search engines such as Google search engine for mobile websites.  Using analytics will provide us reports on SEO functionalities.

Best Sellers in Management shelf

Recently one of friend introduced me the store manager of landmark at Chennai. We discussed a lot about the change in reading habits of people now days, the growth of new age Indian writers, book exhibitions, and the type of books they sell in recently business scenarios.

I saw these books on stand – and found that these are the best sellers now days.
- Leadership @ Infosys by Matthew Barney
- Destination Work : Getting People Excited About Coming To Work And Working Hard by Harry Paul, Ross Reck
- Being The Boss : The 3 Imperatives For Becoming A Great Leader by Linda A. Hill, Kent Lineback
- Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional Management Upside Down by Vineet Nayar
- Marketing 3. 0: From Products To Customers To The Human Spirit by Philip Kotler
- TEN MUCH- Ten Ordinary Processes For Extraordinary Success by A. G. Krishnamurthy
- The Maruti Story by R C Bhargava

Friends, Try these books and let me know your comments.

Social Media – what more…

One of my valuable clients came back again with a new request on Tourism business – using Social Media. There are many websites available already – for ex: WAYN, but they wanted to have a detail discussion on ‘What more can be done’. The discussion happened in their office – for around 6 hours – non-stop with many examples, case studies, success stories, risks, and opportunities.

We discussed mainly about using Social Media (Facebook, Twitter etc) for Tourism based services, Health Tourism management, Lifestyle Programmes, Content Development and Broadcasting, Food and User Generated Information Management. We agreed to develop a framework using Facebook as a platform. I am happy to see some improvements every week.

Motorola Enables Enterprise Device Management

Motorola has publicly released Enterprise Device Management (EDM) APIs that address the critical need of enterprises to remotely manage email, private networks, certificates, and important data stored on SD cards. Building on the basic device management features offered in Android 2.2, these APIs allow enterprise developers to create custom Android client applications that handle remote device administration, and thereby ensure a higher level of security between device and corporate network.

The APIs are available free through the device-specific SDK add-ons for products in which the APIs are enabled, such as the add-on for Droid Pro.

Project Risk Information in Enterprise Project Management Dashboard.?

What is the best way to show project Risk related information in enterprise project management dashboard.? I have Risks, Issues and CRs (Change Requests). The Impact of Risks identified should be displayed. I planned to use Bar Graphs, but is there any other way?

Legal policies for Travel Website - Suggestions required.

I am working on a Business modeling for Travel website - just same as WAYN, but with some more facilities to attract local business owners. One of the stakeholders suggested me to check applicable legal policies for Travel Website Business Processes. I tried to google, but found very few. Is there anything specific for Travel related Businesses? Where can I find more information? If you have any suggestions, please share with me.

Social Gaming and booming Opportunities

Social Gaming is a next generation gaming platform, for playing computer games as a way of social interaction. The popular examples are Care World, Farmville etc from Facebook Games section. These types of games are becoming more popular not only with youngsters but also with many, who ever using social network for various purposes. It’s a great mind relaxation technique, many doctors say.

Now days, these games are in internet enabled computers, and in near future, it goes to mobile and televisions through 3G and broadband television networks. Just like any game development model, the social gaming zone is also having plenty of openings for experienced and also for newbie. There are many types of Social Gaming include Role Playing Games, Alternate Reality Games, Board Games, Social Casual Games etc. Each model will have its own fundamental graphical / logical / technical framework to build multiple concept games.

The possible openings at first level are

1. Graphic Designer – with knowledge in Photoshop, Flash, animations, graphic design
2. Programmer – Action-script, SOA, XML, Network Programming, C++, Java is also required
3. Concept Analyst – with Game theory, Logical Model Development and Integration knowledge
4. Game Engine expert – Game engine development and framework configuration knowledge + SOA + Knowledge about multiple delivery media including Mobile and Television Networks.
5. Testers – Knowledge in testing games with multiple criteria, devices, environments etc. Knowledge in strategy building for efficient test automations.

Come – lets work on the new booming industry. It is going have a big impact with multimedia based development in near future.

Nokia is looking for innovative applications

Nokia is looking for innovative applications that raise the quality of living across various spheres of human life.

Select any of the categories and submit your entries before 10 th June 2010

Eco/Being Green
Entertainment
Productivity
Life Improvement
Growth Economy Venture Challenge

What you can expect to win
Grand Prize : 30,000 USD in cash.
2nd Prize : 15,000 USD in cash.
3rd Prize : 5,000 USD in cash.


Plus some special prizes:
Best application for the Nokia N900 : $50,000 (USD) in cash.
Best cross-platform application using Qt : $50,000 (USD) in cash.
Best mobile computing application: $50,000 (USD) in cash, plus the winner of this special prize will be included in a multi-million dollar global marketing campaign that will be used to help promote the winning app.
Best locally relevant application with global potential : $15,000 (USD) in cash.

Cash of course matters but a chance to work with Nokia is simply priceless !
Details of the contest are available at www.callingallinnovators.com

India: Destination Next for the International Gaming Industry

India is fast emerging as a key destination for Game development - It is already a $10 billion industry in United States. The overall development period takes around 24 months and the production budget is from $4 to $10 million now days. The game industry is under increasing pressure to reduce development time and cost of production. Many publishers and studios are looking for outsourcing development.

Computer games, Video games and Wireless games are three major segments. There are few companies in India - already in aggressive development in all these segments. The requirement is still high and it’s an excellent business and career opportunity for many. The development cycle includes concepts, scripting, programming, character design, animation, level making and testing – as an overall – pre-production, production and testing. There are many training institutes provide good training on all these. There are free-lancers and professionals work together for great results.

The skill-sets and software: basically the right combination of design, programming and creative art.

PC Games: Shockwave, Flash, Visual Basic, Java, visual C++, DirectX, Open GL, Graphics software like Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Pocket PC Games: Flash, Embedded Visual C++, Embedded Visual Basic, Personal Java, graphics software like Macromedia Fireworks, Freehand, Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

Mobile phone Games: Visual C++ for native application development, J2ME, VB, WAP, ASP, JSP, graphics software like Macromedia Fireworks, Freehand, Adobe Photoshop, animation software like Maya, 3D Studio Max, Lightwave etc.

So guys – business application development and websites is not going to be the only option for career– there are a lot..!! Check them and do great in your business and career.

HOT Topic: Prepare yourself for new job opportunities

3G – the magic word in mobile industry is going to create a good impact in Indian job market. Basically 3G is a family of standards for wireless communications defined by the International Telecommunication Union – which includes GSM, EDGE, UMTS, CDMA2000 as well as DECT and WiMAX. 3G Services can be wide area wireless voice, video calls and wireless data transfer – everything in mobile environment – mostly between devices or between computer network and mobile devices. Compared to 2G or 2.5G services, 3G services allows simultaneous use of speech and data (ex: Video Chat) at higher data rates. Thus, 3G networks enable network operators to offer wider range of more advanced services to end users.

According to Reports from UMTA Forums, 3G data services are subdivided into content connectivity and mobility, then further subdivided to create the following six services:

· Customized Infotainment
· Multimedia Messaging Service
· Mobile Intranet/Extranet Access
· Mobile Internet Access
· Location-based Services
· Rich Voice


According to a whitepaper form Nokia, 3G applications can be divided into:
· Wireless Advertising
· Mobile Information
· Business Solutions
· Mobile Transactions
· Mobile Entertainment
· Person-to-Person Communications
· Bearer Entrance and Periodic

The business reality is that computer and Internet application will merge with communication and location based services. Network operators, vendors and third party providers are already creating the applications and demos. Learning about mobile devices, and application development for mobile devices will open golden doors into Indian + international job market. Programming, media, architecture, testing, design etc are going to be the hot points in future.

Next generation opportunities in Mobile development

Mobile application development is becoming a big software marketplace for next generation. Every week, I am seeing new mobiles from LG, Samsung, Nokia, HTC and others. People started to use GPRS network just like their SMS. Many are using mobile phones not just for talking, but also for Personal Information Management. The sales graph of Nokia N series, Blackberry and HTC phones shows this completely. In this business scenario, I would like to invite all our developers, designers and testers to get into the mobile application development domain and explore its possibilities for better next generation opportunities.

Required Skills for Designers

1. UI (User Interface) design Knowledge – just browse all phones.

2. Knowledge in small screen design & Icon design

3. Color theory – the basics

4. Common sense – put yourself into user’s shoes

5. Adobe Flashlite knowledge – to get more salary.

6. Knowledge in mobile devices – memory, screen type etc.

Required Skills for Developers

1. Knowledge in PHP programming – for mobi websites

2. Knowledge in J2ME or Microsoft Mobile applications development – this is easy to learn too.

3. Knowledge in C++ - Palm, IPhone development etc.

4. Knowledge in using Core Mobile components – Camera, Audio recording, SMS

5. Knowledge in Mobile OS – Symbian, Blackberry, IPhone, Windows Mobile, Palm OS etc

Required Skills for Content Developers

1. Knowledge in developing mobile screen savers, icons, themes – there are many tools available for this.

2. Knowledge in mobile devices – capacity, limitations etc.

3. Website development knowledge to showcase and sell (download to mobile) contents

Required Skills for Ebook Developers

1. Knowledge in developing mobile ebooks – minimum content + picture based ebooks.

2. Knowledge in courseware development for mobile demo sites, Kiosks.

Required Skills for Testers

1. Knowledge in Mobile devices, limitations, functions, etc – just use mobile phones to explore

2. Common sense – experience user shoes.

3. Knowledge in same type of apps (if available)

Note: Re-post from SiliconIndia Blog

5 Ways Social Networking helps in professional development

Social Networking started for connecting with friends – few years ago. Now days, it became a part of young students and professional for many reasons. People share scraps, Photos and videos – also many widgets are available for sharing games, music, movie list, etc. Orkut, Facebook, Linkedin are part of many individual’s and professional’s life. They access it in PC also in Mobile. If we use it appropriately, Social Networking gives us many advantages. Let’s see how it can help us in professional Development.

1.Keep in touch with your old friends [mostly from previous organizations] – know about what is happening there, new opportunities and get new friends through your old friends. Share information like walk-in interviews, useful web links with your friends – it helps them to update their knowledge and suggest you best opportunities when they cross in your interested areas. It also shows your knowledge areas and interest areas. [Example: Orkut, Facebook, SiliconIndia, LinkedIn etc]

2.Professional knowledge sharing – Use social bookmarking sites to share your Favorite URLs with friends. You can also get an idea about what links they are visiting - [Example: delicious]. There are many PPT sharing and PDF sharing websites [Example: Scribd, Slideshare, etc]- you can collect, upload and share your documents with interested people, it helps you to promote your works.

3.Participate in Groups – Write small articles and post them into Blogs, forums and discussion groups. Ask questions and answer to questions from others. This help you to learn new things and show your knowledge to others

4.Choose right Social Networking - If you are a photographer or artist, showcase your creative works in websites – but make sure you are showing them in right space. For Photographers and artist I would suggest flicker. For Digital Photography – Picturesocial, etc. Search social networking sites based on your interest and use them. Don’t get into common space – where you will get only less focus.

5.Micro-blogging – sometimes, instead of writing essays, a short note will be helpful to everyone. You can share some news, your thoughts and also a quick response to something using micro blogging. You can do this with PC and Mobile. Keep posting micro blogs and it really helps others (even to your boss… J) to know about your knowledge areas and ideas towards something. Twitter is one simple way for this.

Working with social networking is also having some dark sides – particularly when you spend more time with it inside office - J. Use it wisely, and get its benefits. I also would like to warn you about sometimes: Never share personal information to everyone – even to trusted friends through social networking sites – use your phone or talk to them directly always.

Note: Re-post from SiliconIndia Blog

Game Development for Mobile Devices

Mobile gaming is another booming sector now days. Not just to relax for some time, mobile games offer more such as mind building, learning through gaming and etc. Many PC and Game-box development organizations are also concentrating in mobile gaming also – you can refer their websites.

I would like to share my suggestions here – regarding how mobile gaming can be a career for someone

1.You just need a small team of people to build mobile games. A group of friends with some interest is more than enough.
2.Team should have people with graphic design knowledge [Adobe photoshop, Adobe Flash…etc], along with knowledge in Adobe Flash lite Programming, Game Logic Building and Mobile controls management.
3.Games can be simple as Board games – Word games, or racing type, or first person shooting – you can get many SDK and platform from internet.
4.Build for specific devices first and deploy them for free – with limited functions. This will get you user base. There are many websites to provide free downloads to end users – they take care of promoting your games.
5.Multiplayer games need a server application and GPRS usage – I suggest this can be a future idea.
6.Review the mobile games available in Internet – Test them and try to build a improved version. For example: Mobile version of Hang-man.
7.Mobile gaming can pay a lot – if the games are interesting and colorful. Make sure you deliver content not just for fun, but also a little learning inside it (Example: Word Building or Mathematics Games)
8.Learn Flash Lite, Photoshop. Flash Lite programming is simple if you have knowledge in C++ or Java.
9.Learn about OVI – Nokia supports a lot for game developers
10.Test your games in devices, possibly all the options and deliver them with compatibility note.
All the best

6 Microsoft Office Live Workspace Services for Better Project Management

Every project - regardless of its complexity and budget, requires lots of planning, organization, co-ordination and communication between members. In early days we used MS-Excel for scheduling and tracking tasks and member activities, after few years - it moved to MS-Project standalone and MS-project server editions. Now days, there are many small and medium size organizations, working into Web 2.0 and Mobile Development projects and their investment is less – practically the implementation of project management server is becoming a costly thing. But they have requirements to plan, organize and share contents with stakeholders. Microsoft Office Live workspace helps here with lots of useful services – all for FREE.

1. Visit here [http://workspace.officelive.com/en-GB/ ] and use your Office Live ID or MSN ID to log-in. Don’t have an ID – No problem. Create a new ID for FREE.

2. Free Web Space to Store and Share Documents – It is good to store and share your SRS Documents, Bug Reports, Log Files, Specification documents in one place. Microsoft Office Live Workspace helps you with 5 GB space. You can Store your documents, Sheets, scripts and Presentations and share them with access limitations – if required. You can also use this space to deploy your content to clients – Just like an FTP.

3. There are many free Pre-built template Web-spaces available for quick start. You can choose from one of them and start working on documents. For every new project I suggest to have separate Workspaces.

4. You can create Small Notes, Lists, Tasks Lists, Contact Lists, Event Lists
a. Small Notes – helps you for quick information storage – I suggest this for instructions management – for example: Release notes, Updates in current build etc.
b. Lists – General list – it can be books list for reference, web links, or sample data for testing etc.
c. Tasks List – Create a simple Work Breakdown Structure of Tasks and set priority with due dates. You can share this with your tea m and stakeholders. It helps to give better visibility of planned works to everyone.
d. Contact List – Store Phone numbers, Email IDs and share them for quick reference.
e. Event List – Schedules of your releases, builds, holidays, milestones etc.

5. You can also store, edit and share familiar MS word, MS Excel and MS Power-point files.

6. For Quick communications – use comments pane. Add comments and it is visible to everyone. Use this for instructions, quick requests etc.

7. You can use “Add Documents” for uploading files from your Desktop. It can be shared via a centralized workspace.

I hope this will help many project leaders to handle their projects and deliver things efficiently.

6 rules for Mobi development

‘Mobi’ is becoming a techie keyword in software development industry. Mobi means Mobile Development. It can be applications or websites primarily for mobile devices. Many software development companies started their initiatives in this market, and I can see many success stories too. This post is a small ‘must do’ list for all those mobi development teams and project managers.

1. Select your users.

For whom you are developing this application or website. If it is a mobile based social networking website – it targets mostly students and young people. If it is a expenses tracking application – it is useful for a business person who always do travel. If it is a music player – it targets young and adults but need to plan for more options – because there are many music players for mobile available for free. If you want to target techie and managers, try some application which links with existing systems – for example, twitter. Selecting a user or community plays a major role in mobile development, because your scope is fully depended based on the users.

2. Devices selection.

Iphones are different from Nokia feature phones. HTC or Palm devices are having more capabilities as smart phones. There are different operating systems for Nokia, Palm, IPhone, Samsung, etc. Every device is different from other, based on the screen size, depth of pixels, capacity to handle media content, useragents, browser resolutions, and memory management. The Graphic part of the application or website should be designed and developed – based on these points. I suggest going for a mock up design or simple prototype model before entering into actual coding process. Browse the mockup or prototype in mobile and see where you need adjustments, how it actually looks in device – mostly all the screens. There are device detection systems available to automatically modify the screen content based on the devices. But this works only for Mobi Websites – for example Opera mini browser and it’s architecture.

3. Development tools Selection.

You can use .Net, J2ME, Python or PHP. Based on a recent survey PHP is selected a best programming language for mobi website development. For mobile applications J2ME is powerful, but for Windows based Smart Phones I suggest to go with .NET mobile framework. Try to have images with less size. Validate your .css and XHTML with online validation systems to avoid performance issues. The best content management systems are Wordpress and Joomla – try them. Collect required J2ME or .NET controls and packages before you start programming and read the attached support documents for compatibilities. Try to get register in Mobile development based forums and keep in touch with book authors.

4. Development model.

a. If you have a clear scope signoff and agreed prototype (calendar or email app) – go for water fall.
b. If your application is a innovative concept (for example: widget) – go for agile model – because you have to revisit and update your requirements at every phase.
c. If you have detail scope and functional samples (for example mobi site) - try iterative model – so that the application can be developed by adding functionalities in each build

5. Testing Pad

Very important phase in Mobile application development. I suggest testing your application / mobi site with real devices. Thus, you can find the realtime issues like layout arrangement, image loading performance, link switching performance and media play level easily. There are many online emulator applications available, including device anywhere and mobi forge. Iphone, blackberry, nokia, palm, android simulators are also available– they are fine for a quick check. One simple online emulator for mobile websites is here [http://mtld.mobi/emulator.php]. But you get 100% results only with realtime devices.

6. BETA

Release only BETA first. Let the application of website be used by other users, and have a forum or postbox to receive their queries, suggestions and support. This is basically to understand the realtime performance with realtime date and to understand the expected future requirements.

I hope the above listed rules will help you in developing quality mobile applications and mobile websites. Let’s discuss online or offline for all your queries and clarifications.