Ustream Launches Viewer for Android Devices

Ustream, one of the best services for those in need of a free video streaming platform, has just launched the Android Viewer, an app that lets you watch any Ustream show on your Android device, provided you’re connected to the Internet via either 3G...

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APAC mobile multimedia services to dethrone SMS

By year-end, revenue from mobile multimedia services will overtake that of short messaging service (SMS) for the first time to become the top non-voice service in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan, according to a new report. Released Monday...

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Microsoft warns of IE exploit code in the wild

Microsoft on Monday said it is investigating a possible vulnerability in Internet Explorer after exploit code that allegedly can be used to take control of computers, if they visit a Web site hosting the code, was posted to a security mailing list. Microsoft...

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EU extends deadline for review of Oracle-Sun deal

European regulators have agreed to extend the deadline to review Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, giving Oracle some more time to develop arguments in reply to Europe's concerns, according to Reuters. Earlier this month, the European Commission...

READ MORE - EU extends deadline for review of Oracle-Sun deal

Where to download Microsoft Office 2010 and Office Mobile 2010

Latest in Microsoft's chain of releases Office 2010 beta has been launched at its annual Professionals Developer Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles today. All you over-curious geeks looking for a first hand experience can now download Office 2010 beta....

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Sinofsky's Windows plan: More data, less testosterone

LOS ANGELES--While some have criticized Steven Sinofsky for being tight-lipped, the Windows boss insists that he is being prudent, not secretive. "Everybody wants to know what's coming and what's next." But, he said, talking too soon, too early is...

READ MORE - Sinofsky's Windows plan: More data, less testosterone

Software developers looking to enter the market should focus their energy on building games, navigation and music apps for the mobile platform, because this is where the money currently is. Tim Renowden, device analyst at Ovum's London office, noted that these apps are popular with the consumer masses. However, these market segments are also highly competitive and developers would have to come up with "something unique" to tap the burgeoning sector, Renowden said in an e-mail interview. According to Ovum, the number of mobile app downloads will clock 18.6 billion across all platforms in 2014, with end-user revenues reaching US$6 billion. "These areas are highly competitive and difficult to make money from, unless an app is a huge success," said Renowden. "Most apps struggle to find an audience unless they can break into the very top ranked app lists on each platform, which is extremely difficult especially for smaller developers." He added that most popular apps are tied to an existing Web service. His assessment is shared by Nokia's Purnima Kochikar, vice president of Forum Nokia and the Nokia developer community, who said there is no "free lunch" for developers hoping to make a quick buck out of a "hit app". "Developers should [instead] look for platform vendors who provide longer term viability for their business, by providing both the technologies that simplify development costs and provide global reach," explained Kochikar. "This includes not only tools to build the apps, but an understanding of local markets, business models and consumption patterns." Enterprise-level applications, and the marketplace for these software, will also become "more prevalent", she said, due to the availability of high bandwidth and cloud computing. This, she added, will change the "dynamics of the types of apps, modes of operation and types of users" in the market, although coding business apps would require a different skillset. Android next big thing? Another potential lucrative niche is the Android market, which Renowden observed is receiving "enormous industry buzz" at the moment, particularly as more Android-based handsets are released into the market by major manufacturers and the platform continues to mature. "There is potential for Android handsets to vastly outsell the iPhone simply because it's becoming clear how many models will be running [the Google OS], and at various price points," he said. Travis Ho, director of Touch Dimensions, thinks likewise. The Singapore-based startup is currently developing its Windows Mobile-based real time strategy game Autumn Dynasty. Ho noted that the Windows Mobile and Android platforms--though still in their "nascent stage--are the most likely competitors able to shake iPhone's dominance of the apps market. "Both app stores have the potential to reach loads of phone users as [the app stores] are still under-exploited. So it's likely that there is much room to grow [on these two platforms] before the next killer platform, that everyone wants to jump onto, is introduced," Ho told ZDNet Asia. Regardless of platform, developers should look closer at opportunities for apps that deliver compelling experiences to end-users. Mark Glikson, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific general manager of developer and platform evangelism, pointed to the company's latest beta version of its Web development platform, Silverlight 4, as an example that can deliver rich performance apps to heighten user experience. Platform interoperability barrier However, the main challenge mobile developers face today is the wide variety of platforms available in the market, and the difficulty in producing apps that are platform-agnostic. This platform fragmentation shows no signs of easing off, with various platforms based on mobile Linux now emerging, noted Renowden. These include Nokia's Maemo, Vodafone's 360 and Emblaze's ELSE platform, which are not compatible with each other or with other operating systems such as Samsung's Bada or Palm's WebOS. Ho, however, believes this issue is not difficult to resolve. He explained that programs for desktop computers, Microsoft's Xbox game console and Windows Mobile OS phones, can be coded in the C# programming language, which is "fairly easy to cart around". He noted that some recoding is "unavoidable", since different platforms only support a certain set of framework, while others simply have different properties such as mobile phones and their small screen format, and PCs without accelerometers. Jeffrey Jiang, also a director at Touch Dimensions, said the initial development phase requires significant time testing on various platforms. "But, once the first game is deployed on multiple platforms, subsequent programs would be a lot easier," he said. Kochikar also noted that Web technologies enable platform-agnostic application development for the most part. However, while these technologies are good enough for building basic apps, they are not "sophisticated enough to enable fantastic experiences" that some rich-media developers aspire to build. "At Nokia, we are addressing this by providing WebRT for the basic apps, and Qt, a runtime that works across many platforms, as means to enable the fantastic applications without the complexity of building native apps," she said. Glickson added that there is a time and a place for both platform-agnostic and platform-specific applications to co-exist. "[While] there is the opportunity to deliver strong value across multiple standards-based browser platforms…quite often the richest experiences and the best economic value point, for both the developer and consumer of an application from a productivity perspective, will come from leveraging the proprietary strengths of platform elements designed for a specific form factor," he said.

Choose a neutral platform and read the fine-print in the cloud provider's SLAs (service level agreements) to maintain data integrity in the cloud, say industry voices. The advent of offsite data residing on the cloud has raised concerns about data...

READ MORE - Software developers looking to enter the market should focus their energy on building games, navigation and music apps for the mobile platform, because this is where the money currently is. Tim Renowden, device analyst at Ovum's London office, noted that these apps are popular with the consumer masses. However, these market segments are also highly competitive and developers would have to come up with "something unique" to tap the burgeoning sector, Renowden said in an e-mail interview. According to Ovum, the number of mobile app downloads will clock 18.6 billion across all platforms in 2014, with end-user revenues reaching US$6 billion. "These areas are highly competitive and difficult to make money from, unless an app is a huge success," said Renowden. "Most apps struggle to find an audience unless they can break into the very top ranked app lists on each platform, which is extremely difficult especially for smaller developers." He added that most popular apps are tied to an existing Web service. His assessment is shared by Nokia's Purnima Kochikar, vice president of Forum Nokia and the Nokia developer community, who said there is no "free lunch" for developers hoping to make a quick buck out of a "hit app". "Developers should [instead] look for platform vendors who provide longer term viability for their business, by providing both the technologies that simplify development costs and provide global reach," explained Kochikar. "This includes not only tools to build the apps, but an understanding of local markets, business models and consumption patterns." Enterprise-level applications, and the marketplace for these software, will also become "more prevalent", she said, due to the availability of high bandwidth and cloud computing. This, she added, will change the "dynamics of the types of apps, modes of operation and types of users" in the market, although coding business apps would require a different skillset. Android next big thing? Another potential lucrative niche is the Android market, which Renowden observed is receiving "enormous industry buzz" at the moment, particularly as more Android-based handsets are released into the market by major manufacturers and the platform continues to mature. "There is potential for Android handsets to vastly outsell the iPhone simply because it's becoming clear how many models will be running [the Google OS], and at various price points," he said. Travis Ho, director of Touch Dimensions, thinks likewise. The Singapore-based startup is currently developing its Windows Mobile-based real time strategy game Autumn Dynasty. Ho noted that the Windows Mobile and Android platforms--though still in their "nascent stage--are the most likely competitors able to shake iPhone's dominance of the apps market. "Both app stores have the potential to reach loads of phone users as [the app stores] are still under-exploited. So it's likely that there is much room to grow [on these two platforms] before the next killer platform, that everyone wants to jump onto, is introduced," Ho told ZDNet Asia. Regardless of platform, developers should look closer at opportunities for apps that deliver compelling experiences to end-users. Mark Glikson, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific general manager of developer and platform evangelism, pointed to the company's latest beta version of its Web development platform, Silverlight 4, as an example that can deliver rich performance apps to heighten user experience. Platform interoperability barrier However, the main challenge mobile developers face today is the wide variety of platforms available in the market, and the difficulty in producing apps that are platform-agnostic. This platform fragmentation shows no signs of easing off, with various platforms based on mobile Linux now emerging, noted Renowden. These include Nokia's Maemo, Vodafone's 360 and Emblaze's ELSE platform, which are not compatible with each other or with other operating systems such as Samsung's Bada or Palm's WebOS. Ho, however, believes this issue is not difficult to resolve. He explained that programs for desktop computers, Microsoft's Xbox game console and Windows Mobile OS phones, can be coded in the C# programming language, which is "fairly easy to cart around". He noted that some recoding is "unavoidable", since different platforms only support a certain set of framework, while others simply have different properties such as mobile phones and their small screen format, and PCs without accelerometers. Jeffrey Jiang, also a director at Touch Dimensions, said the initial development phase requires significant time testing on various platforms. "But, once the first game is deployed on multiple platforms, subsequent programs would be a lot easier," he said. Kochikar also noted that Web technologies enable platform-agnostic application development for the most part. However, while these technologies are good enough for building basic apps, they are not "sophisticated enough to enable fantastic experiences" that some rich-media developers aspire to build. "At Nokia, we are addressing this by providing WebRT for the basic apps, and Qt, a runtime that works across many platforms, as means to enable the fantastic applications without the complexity of building native apps," she said. Glickson added that there is a time and a place for both platform-agnostic and platform-specific applications to co-exist. "[While] there is the opportunity to deliver strong value across multiple standards-based browser platforms…quite often the richest experiences and the best economic value point, for both the developer and consumer of an application from a productivity perspective, will come from leveraging the proprietary strengths of platform elements designed for a specific form factor," he said.

Apps to flourish on mobile, games

Software developers looking to enter the market should focus their energy on building games, navigation and music apps for the mobile platform, because this is where the money currently is. Tim Renowden, device analyst at Ovum's London office, noted...

READ MORE - Apps to flourish on mobile, games

Bing integrates Wolfram Alpha results

Microsoft has integrated results from the Wolfram Alpha computation engine into its Bing search engine. Bing is one of Wolfram Alpha's first application programming interface (API) customers, Wolfram Alpha developer relations architect Schoeller Porter...

READ MORE - Bing integrates Wolfram Alpha results

Expert says Adobe Flash policy is risky

A lax security policy in Adobe Flash puts visitors to user-generated content sites at risk, says a researcher who has found a technique exploiting the way browsers handle Flash files. The problem stems from the origin policy of Adobe Flash, Mike Bailey,...

READ MORE - Expert says Adobe Flash policy is risky

'Pragmatic' Intel seen in AMD deal

Intel's settlement with AMD is seen as "pragmatic" on the part of the market leader to avoid lengthy legal battles and further court damages, according to an analyst. John Spooner, senior analyst at Technology Business Research (TBR), said Friday Intel...

READ MORE - 'Pragmatic' Intel seen in AMD deal

Smartphone batteries need 'breakthrough'

It will take "years" and a technology "breakthrough on multiple fronts" before the battery lives on smartphones will reach "good" levels, according to the head of Nokia's research center, Henry Tirri. By "good", Tirri meant phones that can last on a...

READ MORE - Smartphone batteries need 'breakthrough'

NBN to lead pay TV way for SingTel

Local carrier Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) believes the ability of its Internet Protocol television (IPTV) network to interoperate with the next-generation national broadband network (NBN) will be the company's key differentiator in the pay...

READ MORE - NBN to lead pay TV way for SingTel

Is Project Manager Redundant in Extreme Programming?

Extreme Project Management (XPM) is an agile approach for managing project that emphasizes on incremental planning instead of traditional one-time planning.  It helps managers to control  project schedules, assign work tasks, and assure that...

READ MORE - Is Project Manager Redundant in Extreme Programming?

Ancestry.com hopes to stand test of time

In 1997, a publisher of genealogical reference books and magazines launched a Web site, Ancestry.com, to complement its other offerings. More than a decade later, the site has eclipsed the magazine and grown into a profitable online destination for genealogical...

READ MORE - Ancestry.com hopes to stand test of time

The Role Of Quality Manager in Agile Development

Agile projects emphasize on  working software, which is quite different from traditional software. Traditionally, the success of a project is measured by the functional milestone.  (analysis complete, documentation complete, code complete...

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Wi-Fi-free iPhone officially lands in China

It could be the Year of the iPhone in China, as Apple officially started selling its iconic smartphone in the world's largest mobile market Friday night. While China saw nothing near the frenzy of the first iPhone launch day here in the U.S., crowds...

READ MORE - Wi-Fi-free iPhone officially lands in China

Google: We're not making Android hardware

Google's Andy Rubin, head of the company's Android development, would like to clear something up: Google is not in the phone-making business. Don't expect to see Google-developed hardware competing with the Motorola Droid anytime soon. Last week...

READ MORE - Google: We're not making Android hardware

Opera: Mini leads cross-platform charge

Norwegian browser maker Opera Software says it wants to be platform agnostic and enable all devices to communicate with one another. "Opera started off as a PC browser developer but we [later] decided to move our browser core to other devices as well,"...

READ MORE - Opera: Mini leads cross-platform charge

Freescale aims Android at embedded kit

Freescale Semiconductor has begun taking orders for a Power Architecture development platform for Android-based products, opening a new category of embedded devices to Google's open-source mobile operating system. Freescale's MPC8536-ADK product combines...

READ MORE - Freescale aims Android at embedded kit

S'pore workers job-hunting, IT professionals in high demand

Despite the depressed market conditions and increased unemployment rates in Singapore, IT talent is still hard to come by, according to an employment trends survey by human resource (HR) and recruitment firm, Randstad. This comes as Singapore's Ministry...

READ MORE - S'pore workers job-hunting, IT professionals in high demand

Smaller APAC telcos innovate to compete

Tier two and three mobile operators in the Asia-Pacific region are banking on innovative services to grow their subscriber base, according to an industry player, who says Singapore operators can do more in this respect. Tan Choon Seng, Asia-Pacific...

READ MORE - Smaller APAC telcos innovate to compete