This week, DeveloperTech (DT) spoke to Mark O’Neil (MO) from Axway about the importance of the API economy and the rise of its economy to the point it is invaluable to both developers and businesses alike.

An API (Application Programming Interface) helps software components interact with each other; including direct access to hardware and databases – significantly easing development.

DT: Let’s jump in with the first big question; how important has the API economy become?

MO: It...

Whilst we’ve seen cool apps from Google themselves, and great concepts from third-party developers; we’re yet to see an SDK release to bring these fantastic ideas to the wider-public’s retinas (that’s not patented by Apple yet, right?)

The wait is nearly over; Google has announced a two-day Hackathon in San Francisco for developers who want to test the “Glassware Development Kit”.

Scheduled to happen on November 19th – 20th, this marks a momentous occasion for...

The two dimensions of application programming experience (APX)

This post is influenced by a recent discussion on the Developer Evangelists group on LinkedIn about “What developers want from API providers.” I bring together various trains of thoughts here.

What developers want from API providers ?

There is an upcoming notion of APX – the application programming experience –...

Are you part of the ID@Xbox program? If so, good news! You’ll have access to renowned middleware Unity at no cost – yep, completely free.

In today’s PR, released on Xbox.com, it clarifies the motivation for the announcement: “One of the cool things about working at Microsoft is that we have access to pretty amazing resources. For independent developers though, tools like Unity on console can cost quite a...

Google, ever since their ‘KitKat’ collaboration with Nestlé, has been teasing what was coming in this latest Android update since September – now we know – and the dust has settled around the major features showing some unannounced additions.

First let’s run through some of the more well-known goodies; such as the ability to run on “entry” devices with as low as 512MB of RAM.

There's also full-screen album art and controls for Chromecast, the ability to hide system and...

It’s not a secret that software development is a long and labor-intensive process which requires a lot of time and efforts, not speaking about financial and material costs.

If you deal with IT, you know that very often a lot of misunderstandings regarding the requirements to the software product under development appear during the collaboration between a client and developers. Surely, both sides want the software to work properly, but sometimes it’s impossible to do so.

This is where agile methodology can help...

As consumers continue to flock to mobile for different needs, well-established companies are re-thinking their customer engagement approaches. This rethinking almost always includes a larger emphasis on mobile and a unified omni-channel brand presence.

Staples...

Thanks to Android Police, an APK teardown of “GlassVoice” reveals a whole host of new features – yet some, if brought to reality, won’t help with the privacy concerns many have about the device.

Let’s get the worrying stuff out the way; after all, I’m a bad-news-before-good kinda guy.

Google hasn’t (yet) included eye-control for Glass, saying “OK Glass, take picture” is less worrisome than someone blinking a couple of times.

Yet, the ‘Gaze’...

DeveloperTech (DT) caught-up with Phillip Benkler (PB), founder and CEO of crowd-testing service company, Testbirds, ahead of his speaking appearance at Apps World Europe.

Based in Munich, Testbirds specialises in crowd-testing apps for mobile devices (Apple iOS, Google Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry OS) as well as web applications (online-stores, websites). Needless to say, if you need testing insight, these are your guys!

DT: What are you planning to speak about at Apps World?

PB:...

I consider the Lean Startup principles as very useful and efficient – not just for launching a startup, but also for any internal activities or projects you may have. If you are interested you can read up on a summary about the “Lean Startup principles and mobile app development”.

Related to this I just finished a module on Udacity – the free online university – about

The $2.2 trillion worldwide telecom industry (revenues projected for 2013) is changing. Consumer behavior and demand is changing. One driver for this change — or a consequence depends on how you see that — are APIs.

Traditional mobile...

If you’re developing an app, it’s very easy to forget basic testing tasks. Even if your app has won awards, there are still areas which can be improved on.

That’s where the App Quality Alliance (AQuA), a not-for-profit association run and funded by the likes of AT&T, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Oracle, Orange, Samsung and Sony, comes in.

AQuA, with its App Quality Directory, provides the testing criteria so developers don’t fall down on simple errors. And with the Appsters...

You may have heard of Elliptic Labs and their technology; the company previously had brought touchless gesture control to Windows 8 – now they’re taking that same unique input to Google’s smartphone OS, Android.

The 20-member team is showing off a prototype at CEATEC in Japan, after all, it’s not the most conventional of technologies! It’s also not the only solution on the market. Samsung has recently started to include “Smart Scroll” in their handsets.

Don’t...

Whether you sit on the Xbox or PlayStation side of the fence – both consoles have some undisputable grunt under their respective casings; yet many titles still aren’t even hitting 30FPS at native 1080p resolution, let alone the ideal 60FPS. Why is this?

The majority of the problem revolves around parity between console versions; many cite the Xbox One as not being powerful enough to handle many games at 1080p at a steady 60FPS – despite first party titles such as Forza 5 displaying...

Creating applications for mobile devices is a great way to capture a user’s attention and continued business. Once installed your app has a persistent presence on your user’s device placing your services literally at their fingertips. It’s an invaluable piece of real estate that many organisations are looking to make the most of. Apps give better performance verses a mobile web site, mean your customer has to do less to access your services and provide an ever present icon in the...

By Mark Mason, founder and CEO, Mubaloo

The data wars have begun. Eleven months after launching the UK’s first LTE network, EE has been joined by O2 and Vodafone with Three just around the corner. EE has the widest and fastest network available - and for the moment offers the best data allowance. From a user perspective, LTE delivers faster network speeds than most home or office connections. This means video streaming and video calls are not only better quality; without any spinning wheels.

As with...

Google’s “Open Project” allows you to sling your Android screen onto a connected touchscreen, simply, and easily.

You may be thinking this somewhat mimics the functionality offered by the (awesome) Chromecast; only instead trying to create an industry standard without another device.

To get started is easy; run the webpage on the computer attached to your screen; scan the QR code on your smartphone; then all your content is ready on the display for your engagement! It’s as easy as...

The complexity of software is increasing; whether it is applications or games; the time it can take to “build” is rapidly on the rise – unless you utilise an innovative solution such as IncrediBuild.

DeveloperTech spoke to Eyal Maor about the solution; what makes it unique, and a bit of insight about the development industry.

I have to say, I was instantly impressed.

There are occasions when you come across technology which you know is groundbreaking, and this is one of...

Recent trends reveal a market shift away from cost-per-click and cost-per-install as pricing models begin to reflect the growing demand for in-depth in-app analytics through cost-per-action – pricing on user engagement.

At the same time, app analytics have become increasingly more sophisticated to cater to these campaigns.

With the app economy moving towards developing and acquiring certain actions within an app it has become essential to track these events as they happen, to get a clear picture of the...

Android is a geek’s dream; the open-source OS from Google is the most popular mobile operating system in most major markets and offers near-limitless customisation and tinkering to enhance the UX.

Now the team at Jolla want to use their China-focused Sailfish OS to build upon that foundation.

Whereas the widely-used social network in the majority of regions is Facebook; in China it's Qzone.

The most popular Microblogging service around the globe is Twitter; China’s citizens prefer to use Tencent...