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Companies eager to get to involved with iPhone apps can be put off by the time to learn, retrain and reskill developers into the Objective C language and syntax. Increasingly, companies are looking at alternatives to Objective C / native code.

Driven by a “time to market” need, or other pressures, developers (even myself) have been looking at alternatives to the native platform.

Of the many non-native frameworks, PhoneGap and Appcelerator Titanium (there are others, including Corona) are increasingly popular to developers.

Both PhoneGap and Appcelerator promise developers the ability to play to their strengths using technologies such as HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.

Both platforms are open source development frameworks for building cross-platform mobile apps.

Although I won’t be doing a comparison of the two platforms (there is already a great thread on StackOverflow and ManiacDev on this), I’m wanting to cover some issues that I feel the Appcelerator team need to address.

Appcelerator uses a JavaScript API and deploys apps as Native. They look, feel and act like Native iPhone apps.

My problem with Appcelerator really can be summarized in this bullet point list.

• The API documentation is not informative enough and lacks samples, in addition the video demonstrations cost money.
• There is no official dedicated technical developer team on the forums.

  There are literally hundreds of questions which could easily be resolved if there was a developer team that actually responded to developer’s questions

• Can Appcelerator handle large databases? And what is the best practice for handling large databases using Appcelerator?
• The forum design is really poor. There is a voting system which is never used and seems to have higher prominence than the actual number of replies that a forum thread has garnered
• The desktop API, the API that allows you to make cross-platform desktop apps has been neglected, so has its video screencasts. But it is something they are addressing.

Is Appcelerator viable? Yes, if your app is reasonable in size; if you’re trying to build a game, or large database heavy application then its possibly not the right option.

Despite my frustrations with Appcelerator, its a very good application. You can build native applications that look, feel, act and deploy as native iPhone applications.

If time to market is important to you, take a look at Phonegap, Appcelerator, Corona, or one of the many other frameworks out there.

Editors Note: Article updated (29 Jul 2010): I have found some courses — see the end of this article for all courses I found.

If like me, you’re attempting to get into the world of iphone (or Android) development, it can be quite hard to learn the platform, the language, the syntax (!) and that’s even before you get involved with the more complicated stuff; then I hope you find this article useful.

One of the things I’ve noticed is a lot of Universities in the USA offering dedicated, focused modules on iphone (and/or Android) development; one only has to mention Stanford Universities collection of video tutorials on iTunes (link), or the MIT collection of lectures (link) to know the American Universities are getting serious about the latest technologies on offer.

I wanted to know whether any of the major Universities in the UK were planning to offer a similar or comparable course on either iphone and/or Android and went about contacting about 10-20 different Universities to find out more.

I specifically targeted Master degree courses; the reason being, I’m a Graduate, I’ve been a PHP developer for many years and I really wanted to move fast on iphone development (and/or Android); I felt a Masters’ degree in say, Games Programming, would give me the grounding in programming XBox, PS3, etc whilst at the same time allow me to specialize in the iphone SDK.

What I wanted was a course similar to the ones offered by Stanford / MIT; that is, course lecturers, lectures from iphone gaming start-ups, etc; something that would give myself the edge, the motivation, to out there and make an app.

I know what you’re thinking “Why not just learn it at home, on your own time, on the Internet; for free?”, and yes; I am doing that — I’ve got over a 50 odd bookmarks on websites, iTunes videos, online tutorials — I’ve signed up to online video tutorial sites, tried reading everything I can on the subject; when it comes to the Internet — its a great resource, and YES! You can learn it all from the web.

But this isn’t the point I’m trying to make.

The point is having a Universities that offer their students the chance to excel; and having the right tools, technologies and methodologies to deliver award-winning content to those who want to excel in a classroom environment; and plus a high-sought after degree that is recognized by employers, investors, etc.

I contacted several Universities via Google, Findamasters.com, emagister.co.uk, and other resources. From the University of Derby, Bradford, Leeds, Teeside, Newcastle, Hull, Cambridge, Bath, Liverpool. I must have contacted about more than half a dozen.

To all of them, I asked whether or not they offered iphone (and/or Android) development either as a module course.

The answer I found was not only depressing, but very frustrating as well.

Of those that offer iphone development (and/or Android) development, I was only able to find one that does; whilst the others offered the olive branch of an “iphone development” as part of a wider dissertation / project.

This isn’t really what I was after as isn’t really in the same league as the courses offered by the American Universities with actual lectures, course material and talks from leading iphone start-ups.

The one course I did find was at Birmingham City University (www.bcu.ac.uk)

Computer Science – MSc
www.bcu.ac.uk/courses/computer-science-msc

Quote:

“Mobile Software Development
This module is concerned with the theoretical as well as the practical elements of Mobile Computing. This includes many forms of architecture, ranging from standard client/server to more innovative peer to peer configurations. Topics covered include the client technologies: J2ME, Google Android, iPhone and Symbian.”

Here is an overview of the content (please excuse the Verboseness of the content that follows):

[quote]

Indicative content
1. Introduction
Introduction to Mobility
Theoretical underpinning
Fundamental technologies
Standards/Protocols
2. Architecture
Application architectures
Application analysis and design
3. Platform Support and Middleware
J2ME, Google Android, iPhone, Symbian
4. Mobile Client Development
Client User Interfaces and Usability
Persistent storage
Client Applications – Web Access, SMS, Multimedia, Games
5. Contextualization
Personalization and Context awareness
6. Security
Protocols
Key Management
Authentication
Intrusion Detection
7. Application of Technology
Matching technology to business requirements
Appraisal of technologies

Study mode / delivery method(s):
The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures, which will be used to identify and explain key issues, and seminars that will adopt a problem based approach to learning using journal articles in conjunction with case studies to enable learning through research, practice and experience.

Learning Outcome Learning and Teaching Methods
On completion of the module, the student should be able to:
1. Appreciate and apply the theoretical underpinning of techniques used in the design of mobile systems.

Key issues are presented and explored in lectures.
Seminars that will adopt a problem based approach to learning using journal articles in conjunction with case studies to enable learning through research, practice and experience.

2. Evaluate different mobile technologies and architectures and be able to design, implement and evaluate a mobile based application in at least one key technology.

3. Assess contextual issues associated mobile applications and propose and/or implement solutions to these problems;

4. Assess security issues associated mobile applications and propose and/or implement solutions to these problems;

5. Interpret the broad range of business activities that are supported or enabled by mobile technologies and be able to advise organisations on the appropriate use of mobile technologies.
[/quote]

My interpretation of the above is that the course is a general theoretical-based overview of the respective Android, iphone, Symbian platforms; whether it is on a par with the modules offered (and widely distributed via the Internet and blog posts) by their American University counterparts would require a much more detailed enquiry.

If, however you’ve been on the above course and wish to post a rebuttal; please do so via the comments as this would be important information for those wanting to make the right course decision.

—

Other avenues open to those attempting to break into iphone development is the NTI Leeds course (www.ntileeds.co.uk) and the respective course held at NTI Birmingham and other NTI branches across the UK.

This course costs £900+ (discounts are available if you live in the York and Humber area) and is a 4 day course. Its an excellent course as I’ve been on it myself, but the problem is that the high cost / education content ratio. There’s a lot to learn from the iphone sdk; and loads to learn before you even get to actual iphone games development.

The NTI Birmingham branch offers an iphone games camp (for 4 weeks), this is something I’m actually very excited by; however it is still going through a funding process (at time of writing) and it may not even get renewed.

The 4-week games camp (more at: NTI Birmingham ) is exactly what I mean; a focused, dedicated course — lectured by leading iphone developers; and sadly it may not even win funding.

—

Other avenues

One solution I’ve found is finding a University that offers a Business Hatchery, or a Business Incubator; The University of Sunderland offers a Master’s degree in conjuction with the Sunderland Software City; however the downside is that is geared towards business, it’s not a technical course; and whilst you would have mentors on your side — you wouldn’t necessary have a dedicated lecture/course material at your finger tips.

Although the idea of having/starting my own iphone/android business interests me, one would really need a good foundation in overall games programming and a lot of funding!

With this in mind, there is the option of doing a games programming Master’s degree course where you could learn XBox, PS3, PSP, DS programming (which is something I am tempted to do) and obtain the foundations for a dissertation project in Android/iphone.

If you are living overseas, or have duel Nationality, you could try the Stanford Universities, MIT’s, or even the

iPhone 3D Application Design course at Victoria University in Australia.

Or, if you have the money or work at a like-minded company you could invest in Commercial training (ie: the 4-5 day courses that cost £1,000+). Try: Emagister or EventBrite to find events, courses in your area.

If you are not affected by procrastination, you can try some of the online resources; a summary of this and all links is at the bottom of this post.

—

A summary and comment

I’ve tried several avenues to find a college/University in the UK that is even touching iphone, android development and the response is disappointing and very frustrating.

Why are our Universities and colleges constantly playing catch-up? Perhaps its a wider sign of the “Austerity measures”; perhaps its a funding issue, perhaps its a demand issue; there be many a dragon in the way; and for those who want to get started, get involved and get into the App store; the message is as depressing as it is soberly re-assuring, — until we get the funding and the demand; you’re on your own.

—

Are you on a UK University course at the moment (Gaming or otherwise) that is covering iphone development (I don’t mean just the theory) and or Android development? What subjects did you cover and, if possible, please post 1 link only. Thanks.

—

Links and resources

Course finders

• emagister – Online course finder
• Find a Masters – Online Masters’ degree course finder

Other resources

• Birmingham City University, » MSC Computer Science
• NTILeeds
• NTIBirmingham
• EventBrite

iphone resources

• Xcelme – Online tutorials by Gary Bennett, $97 a course
• Edumobile – Online tutorials, $200 a course
• 71squared – Online video tutorials on iphone games development
• 100 free courses for iphone developers
• Stanford iTunes iphone course (iTunes)
• MIT iphone course lecture notes
• UMBC Computer Science course on iphone development
• New Boston Channel (Youtube)

Update (29 Jul 2010): List of courses/modules I found that offer iphone courses.

• MSC Mobile Application Design at Kent University
• Mobile Applications Department at Edinburgh Napier Univeristy
• Advanced Computer Science has a Mobile Computing module
• FdA and BA (Hons) Games Art and Design at Norwich University College of the Arts.
• BSc (Hons) Interactive Entertainment and Games Development
• iPhone/iPod Touch Games Development with Objective C (Short course)
• iPhone/iPod Touch Software Development with Objective C (Short course)
• Intermediate Certificate iPhone Games Design for Beginners @ Thames Valley University

Its been a while since I’ve posted anything on my blog; at first I wanted to retire from blogging, I had very little to add to the blogosphere; and what I wanted to add had already been said by far more distinguished and established bloggers.

That being said, the one thing that attracted me to write this blog was the idea of doing “news worthy” blog entry posts; something that actually had some kind of visceral meaning; although I’m not sure if this is worthwhile in a world full of Tweets and 190 odd characters.

Anyway, I hope that the articles I post have a more broader appeal than generic re-active posts than one normally expects from a blog post; no more knee jerk blog posts about how bad England were at the World Cup.

In the IT/web field there is this running joke that whenever working on a project a developer will at some point claim that a project is “90% done”. With the recent Q&A between games publisher Midway and the IGN portal website about the upcoming next generation wrestling game, “TNA: Impact!”, it seems this joke seems quite apt.

“TNA:Impact!” is an American wrestling in the same vein as WWE (formly known as WWF), and was initially made famous for its high-flying acrobatic “X-Division” (Cruiserweights) section. This was best illustrated in the years between 2004, 2005 and the very recent “World X Cup”, where high-flying, fast-paced wrestling has caught the imagination of WWE and Youtube fans wiery of the stale product dished out by the number 1 name in pro-wrestling.

With this in mind, TNA have spent the last year and a bit working with Midway publishing (famous for its work on the “Mortal Kombat” series) to create a wrestling game that would outclass WWE’s game, “Smackdown vs Raw”.

However, in a recent Q&A session with the IGN portal the game makers seem to be holding their hands up and saying the game “isn’t finished, but we released it anyway!”. (more…)

This is a quick overview of the different Content Management System’s (CMS) I’ve used and my thoughts on them.

I always choose a CMS based upon ease-of-use, personal feel and what I want to use it for.

• WordPress (5/5)
  Although it isn’t isn’t an out-right CMS, it’s still one of the best CMS’ out there and sets the benchmark for blogging
• Drupal (3/5)
  Everyone swears by this CMS. Even the Onion and major newspaper houses use this CMS. It’s said that even the New York Times uses Drupal (I still think they use DragonFly). Even though its a true CMS in the classical sense, I still find it very user-unfriendly. WYSIWYG is not installed by default and there is quite a learning curve. Assuming you can get over this, and the bad user back-end user interface it’s a good little CMS that has lots of potential
• Expression Engine (3/5)
  Created by the same people who brought us the PHP4 MVC framework CodeIgniter this CMS packs a punch but has a very, very steep learning curve. Version 2.0 is built more on CodeIgniter and is a little more intuitative.
• Website Baker (3/5)
  Website Baker is a simple straight forward CMS that is designed for very small websites only. Produces everything in valid XHTML/CSS and is very simple to learn, pick and play.
• MODX (4/5)
  My personal favorite CMS, and winner of the most promising CMS award 2007. MODX is highly programmable but has a steep learning curve. Once you get your head around chunks, snippets, plugins and modules it becomes a very, very powerful CMS. The only problem I found with MODX is that it is very limited in how many pages you can create. On a plus side the CMS is AJAX/XHTML/CSS ready and has a fantastic array of plug-ins and a fantastic help forum, which is more than I can say about Drupal
• Typo3 (3/5)
  Very large CMS library. Very large indeed. I’ve only ever used it once and overly wasn’t impressed by it.
• Joomla/Mambo(2/5)
  I just don’t like Joomla. Yes it is a CMS, and yes you can make webpages, etc out of it. But why is it so bloated? Why is the backend overtly confusing?
• Textpattern(2/5)
  I don’t get the fuss over Textpattern. Yes it has a good architecture, framework and is a good blogging tool, but comparing it to WordPress is like comparing Apples and Oranges. Textpattern has very few plugins/modules, etc for it, and although has a good foundation it has a long way to go for me. Still a lot of programmers, designers swear by TP. If you’re a programmer you’ll probably like Textpattern.
• eZ publish (2/5)
  EZ Publish (or eZ publish) is one of the most bloated CMS’ I’ve ever seen. The download is huge and although you get bang for your buck. I still think using drupal, wordpress or MODX is more prefable than EZ Publish.

Other links;

• opensourcecms.com
• Expression Engine vs TextPattern

With the advent of the Internet, the web and social networking platforms such as facebook, digg and others, marketing has had to change gears.

The web has opened gateways to reach buyers directly with messages that cost a fraction of what traditional big-budget advertising costs.

It’s been said that the web is not about one-way interruption, (IE: In your face marketing/dvertising) but what Seth Godin calls permission marketing.

What works on TV, print and magazines does not necessarily work on the Internet.

David Meerman Scott’s excellent “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” explores the sea change in online marketing and branding from old-school rules of marketing to new ideas such as social networking, virals, blogs and most importantly interaction.

Amongst many of the old rules of Marketing that Scott analyses are:

1. Marketing simply meant advertising (and branding)
2. Advertising needed to appeal to the masses and is by-in-large, one way
3. Advertising relies heavily on interruption to get people to pay attention
4. Advertising and PR were/are seperate disciplines run by different people with seperate goals, strategies and measurement criteria

Whilst Scott offers the following as new rules on marketing/pr (Often referred to ‘convergence’);

1. Marketing is more than just advertising
2. People want authenticity, not spin
3. People want participation, not propaganda
4. The Internet has made public relations truely public, and global
5. Blogs, video, podcasts, and other forms of online content let organisations communicate directly with buyers
6. The web has merged the lines between marketing, branding and PR into one

In terms of press releases, the Internet has really changed the goalposts. No longer does a small business have to write to an editor of a newspaper with a “news worthy story” (whatever that might mean) and cross their fingers and wonder if the editor will publish the story.

With the Internet small businesses can use services like PRWeb and other third-party PR delivery systems that can send the story global.

Political advocacy via the web during this current American presidential election is perhaps a potent indicator that social media marketing, virals, blogs, videos, etc can make an impact; though whether online advocacy leads to offline voting has yet to be proved.

In terms of business models, one must be able to prove to customers that is worth paying $X a month for a service that they may get elsewhere for free.

A lot of what’s known as “web 2.0” businesses give away a majority of their content for free and for extras they create a premium service. That could be a premium online streaming TV channel, or premium content that you wouldn’t otherwise get with free access to their site.

IGN.com, for example, has lots of free content but they have a premium service which gives you features that you wouldn’t normally get; such as HD video, upcoming news, demos and so forth.

An excellent technical book called “Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations” by Amy Shuen is an excellent book explaining how web 2.0 can make money and goes into far more detail than I can.

What the web has proven is that the Internet is not so much about technology as it is about people, using a variety of tools to reach customers/buyers directly and and engaging with them. Online marketing is now all about participation, connection, reaction, involvement and no longer about interruption marketing for the sake of interruption.

Links and resources;

• The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly (Amazon)
• Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations. (Amazon)
• David Meerman Scott (Official website)

A tale of high-impact drama and kick-ass action.

Donnie Yen’s 2007 movie “Flashpoint” is the much anticipated follow-up to his 2005 hit Saat po long (SPL), is an almost perfect Hong Kong action movie. (more…)