SMARTPHONE DEVELOPMENT

The Internet has been buzzing with discussion of the possibility of a Facebook smartphone being in the works. Is this actually happening, or is it merely rumor?

When Apple held their Worldwide Developers Conference last week, new Macbooks stole the headlines. But Apple didn't leave smartphone developers out in the cold – and there's a lot to love in iOS 6, the update the company unveiled at the conference. Let's take a closer look.

If you've been impatiently waiting to do some smartphone development with an Ubuntu operating system, your wait may soon be over. Judging from some tantalizing statements made by Canonical representatives at a recent trade show, your wait could be over as early as the end of this year.

Will the Windows Phone mobile platform rise to the occasion and be a main competitor to Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS offerings, or is it doomed to remain in relative obscurity? Some app developers offered their thoughts on Windows Phone and what it needs to be successful.

App Promo, a provider of marketing and strategy services for the app industry, recently released the results of its First Annual Developer Survey. The overall results of the survey show that app success is possible for developers should they dedicate significant time and financial resources to their projects, and those who fail to do so will have trouble staying afloat.

Getting into the app game as a developer can be as nerve-wracking as it is exciting. You never truly know if the time and money you invest into designing an app will pay off. Luckily, the introduction of the new Apptopia market is allowing some developers to recoup some of their initial investments into app development.

Is fragmentation in the smartphone market a true enemy of app developers? Many believe it to be, but could it also be a positive that developers could use in their favor? Some say yes, and this article will explain the reasons why.

The popularity of Google’s Android platform has allowed the company originally known for its search engine prowess to become a giant in the mobile industry. Android’s status as the most widely used mobile OS is certainly great news for Google, but it has also brought with it plenty of unwanted attention from unsavory sources. More specifically, cybercriminals have entered the practice of developing malicious apps and sneaking them into the app marketplace to place unsuspecting victims into their web.

It’s no real secret that Google’s Android platform has been underperforming when it comes to apps. Yes, Android currently reigns as the most widely used mobile platform, but its apps have failed to reach the level of success that competitor Apple has achieved for various reasons. While Google’s app efforts aren’t completely underwater as of yet, recent surveys show that it is losing the favor of developers over time.

Google has made it clear that Android developers must use its Google Wallet payment service if they hope to develop games and apps for the mobile platform. While the move may seem restrictive and monopolistic to some, many believe that it will help developers in the long run by providing a streamlined method of payment for customers.

Google knows it has some work to do if it wants to catch Apple in the app race. While the search giant certainly has had no problem in attracting consumers to its Android mobile platform, its app market is another story. In order to increase the appeal of Android to developers, Google recently announced that it raised the maximum file size for Android app submissions from 50GB to the current limit of 4GB.

In an attempt to ease customer fears about data overage charges, AT&T announced that it plans to launch a new service in 2013 that will charge content providers and app developers for customer data use.

There’s little doubt that Google’s Android platform for smartphones has been a huge success. The search engine giant has managed to transform Android into the most widely used smartphone operating system, despite Apple’s immensely popular iPhone. While becoming the mobile OS leader is certainly cause for celebration, Android is slipping a bit when it comes to the production of new apps.

Apple and Google have enjoyed immense success with their smartphone releases, and both companies have battled it out for mobile platform supremacy. With all the good comes some bad, however, and each is fighting separate issues that have made way into their booming app markets.

This second part in a series on developing your first iOS app using Xcode delves into the code of our "Hello World" application.