Android has been in the focus this IO and this should not come as a surprise as most of the user computing is getting accumulated into the Smartphone. While android leads in market share, Apple has been dominant with revenues. Apple’s consistency in user experience coupled with a stable app development environment was something that android app developers always craved till date. But not anymore as Android app developers are going have their hands on Android studio very soon.

It solves many issues
The android studio is a critical upgrade for android developers as it promises to bring many lingering issues imperative to android app development. The foremost is the cross device compatibility of the UI elements which is now solved to a great degree as the Android Studio interface will be able to flash varying screen sizes and densities at the same time. This will save a lot of time and would also check errors   that happen between screen density and icon size.

The new framework also executes real-time changes in codes and hence saves time that’s spent switching between the API and app interface which is currently under development.

The best thing that came out of Android Studio is its ability to provide beta testing services for android app developer. The apps can be put to test and the entire monitoring can be done from the framework itself. Apart from testing, Google also ensured that the language barrier in applications be thinned and provided translation services in the framework as well. Developers can search for translators and the entire process is controlled from the console itself.

It has been recently announced by Microsoft that Outlook users can now access their Gmail friends within the outlook interface. According to an article published in Techcrunch, Product manager of Outlook Dharmesh Mehta has expressed that people did find the newer version of the outlook interesting but the overwhelming numbers of friends logged onto Gmail was a downer for them.

It comes as a strange step as Microsoft which is struggling with mobile app development and possibly concerned about Google’s expansion into the office paradigm in mobile has announced such a thing. In the last few weeks Microsoft has been criticized by a lot of experts and commentators for overtly negative scroogled ads that criticized Google for reading the email content of its users. MS has also created an ad which highlights the inconsistencies of Google docs. One of the major concerns that MS must be facing is the integration of quick office into the mobile version of Google docs. While MS office is undoubtedly the champ, free access to Google docs along with androids rapid expansion might pose a great challenge for MS to attract the mobile app development fraternity towards windows.

Meanwhile MS has also stated that that the chat feature will be accessible across inbox, calendar, address book and Sky Drive. To enable the chat feature, users need to simply connect to the standard OAuth system to give Microsoft access to their accounts. Despite this being great news for many Outlook lovers; the chat feature does not feature group chats as of now but would surely get the upgrade in future.

The focus is on disruption this decade and more and more devices are aimed to be presented with a brand new perspective. We have been listening to Google glass and its potential across the blogs. But the idea of glass is accompanied by various barriers, other companies including Google itself getting ready to jump into the smartwatch race.  While we already have a smartwatch from Sony in the market, the efforts are not enthusiastic for the mobile app developers who have their eyes laid on this upcoming market of smartwatch.

The smartwatch brigade
All the leading companies in the Smartphone biz have stepped up their ante in developing their own version of smart watches. While the rumors of Apple’s I-watch is quite strong (thanks to the various patents obtained by the company); the android team is in no mood to leave this upcoming trend and initiate the next wave of innovation. Mobile app developers working for android are likely to be flooded with devices from various manufacturers. Infact it is reported that Google’s own smartwatch running on android will be developed by Motorola.

Watches will increase the applicability of smart phones
Smart watches will work in an integrated manner with the smartphones. Receiving messages, receiving calls and monitoring other stats; the watch will be able to perform these tasks while generating a lot of app development potential for mobile app developer.    

There is stagnation in the Smartphone market as a result of which companies shall surely be spending some bucks on the smartwatch to keep the momentum going.

Rumors have been high for Google IO as tech bloggers are trying to chew every piece of the event in advance and making predictions about the next Nexus in store. However, Sundar Pichai; holding the helm of both Android and Chrome downplayed the rumors and stated that the IO will be completely aimed towards chrome and android app developers.  It is certain that these are the biggest platform and Google is banking huge on both. 

The problem of being Open
Pichai has expressed his will to provide equal user satisfaction across each and every android device. He however cited the challenges of an open source operating system while also mentioning the advantages as well. It was clear that Pichai acknowledged the challenge of cross device performance issues of android that often worries the android app development companies. Being mentioned a lot of times, it is certain that Google has laid some serious thoughts on addressing the issue of consistent performance across devices. Sure, it cannot go the Apple way but Google can try and streamline its android development plans to make OEMs adapt to a single version of the OS.

Android app development is one of the most critical jobs available in the entire IT domain. As the size of android user base becomes massive with, the platform becomes more valuable than before. Android plays by user count for sure. Most of the apps are free hence a large audience for ads are exclusive to the android ecosystem. However if Google has acknowledged the challenges of uniform experience, the upcoming Google IO can become an important milestone.

Google IO is just round the corner and hopes are high across a lot of new Google product and upgrades are expected be launched in the meet. In midst of this a war of advertisements between Microsoft and Google has started to take shape. After the Scroogled ad, MS is back at Google docs for its inconsistency in document layout and other features. It must also be taken into notice that android app developer at Google have integrated Google docs in the browser which allows users to easily edit and share files with the help of their mobile devices. While Microsoft office still leads being the best office suite for documents and spreadsheets, Google’s integration of quick office features into Google docs can be worrying for Microsoft in the long run.

Android app development is moving fast and Microsoft is already lagging behind in mobile devices. While MS office dominates the ground, Google’s continuous efforts could provide users with a substantial version of docs that is entirely cloud based and outperforms MS office. In fact at present, while Google docs supports real time content saving, MS’s Skydrive still needs manual saving commands to save your files. Thus in case of a power outage or a long signal drop, it will be much safer to use Google rather than using MS.

With android invading a plethora of communication devices android app development is set to become even more valuable in the future. Given that, Google will be ready to take on MS office with docs with full power.

Magento has remained as developers favorite and has been able to create a large army of magento developers many of whom have turned to become magento evangelists. Magento ecommerce development has become one of the most trusted ways to get an ecommerce site done. Big or small, companies of any size can depend on magento ecommerce development to build their ecommerce site. But what are the advantages that make magento an indispensible tool to create a desired ecommerce site?

A rich plethora of plug-ins
Just sneak into the magento store for once and you will understand yourself. Magento developers have the choice to choose from thousands of magento extensions. Depending on the criticality of the need, a magento developer can select either a paid or free extension to add a particular feature in your e-store. If the feature is highly important to your e-store then paid extensions with better features can be used or vice versa. In addition to it the extensions can be customized to get the desired results. This makes magento ecommerce development a preferred route to build the ecommerce site of your choice.
 
Magento go
Adobe has recently moved its products up in the cloud but magento built its cloud platform a long time ago. Anticipating the thin budget and limited features of small scale e-stores, magento go offers easy customizable e-store on cloud. Magento developers can create the store on magento cloud servers and this cuts an enormous amount of fixed cost that is otherwise hard for small businesses to shell out. Small retailers have extensively used magento go and made fortunes out of it.

Ecommerce has become a necessary component and touch point for businesses and tools like magento makes it affordable to small businesses as well.

Facebook’s home app has been rated down by thousands of users. Really the app isn’t cool and takes away the native android experience away from the user    s. People who spend a lot of customizing their home screen can feel offended by the intrusive nature of the application and this is what exactly happened after users installed the app.  Seeing this Facebook has now decided to rope in its mobile app developer again to create a layered form of application that does not intrude the android experience of users. It is important for Facebook to create a substantial application as it has to create its dominance in the mobile.
 
Facebook has been facing competition from messenger apps like whatsapp which are always online and challenge facebook’s dominance on the mobile platform. If the application can be adjusted according to the likes and dislikes of users, Facebook’s overall usage time on Smartphone can increase drastically.
 
What’s in for users?
Obviously, better mobile experience for Facebook and their favorite apps.  But along with users, mobile game development experts and Facebook itself gains a lot from making a native app which is online every time.  It has been observed that Facebook home increases the online time for FB users by 30% and if it accelerates, then Facebook can increase its revenues from app installs in smart phones.  Hence, following this strategy Facebook can generate a lot of revenues and also become a lot more valuable for mobile app developers too.

iPhone app development companies now have their anticipations running high. As sharp along with other LCD makers gear up for massive productions of LCD screens rumors are high on the arrival of the cheap iPhone. It has been recently reported that Sharp along with Japan display and LG display has been offered by Apple to produce screens for its iPhone.

Sharp which has remained as one of the largest electronic maker of Japan has been suffering a rough patch with a low demand. Given this situation a massive contract of this nature might put its fortunes back on track. Sharp’s Kameyama LCD plant is most probably be the place where the screens of iPhone 5S will be manufactured.  The plant has a maximum production capacity of 600m units a day but its currently operating at 60% of its total efficiency.

The massive production of screens has also increased the likeliness of the cheap iPhone that is creating a lot of rumors across the world. The cheap iPhone which is supposed to come with a plastic chassis and a smaller screen will target the developing nations competing Apple’s archrival Samsung and other android phones.

In the meantime, the iPhone 5s is supposed to pack in some more utility features that can rope in the interest of iPhone app development companies. One of the major additions includes a fingerprint sensor. If apple provides a fingerprint authentication mechanism then, the iPhone 5s will become the first Smartphone ever to provide substantial biometric authentication.

Android is all over the market. From Smartphone to cameras they have now invaded into portable gaming console and set top box as well. This aggressive expansion of android platform has made android a great platform for android app developer to test their app development skills while monetizing the same. Let’s look at a couple of low price android devices that have appeared in the market.

Ouya gaming console
This mini gaming console can be grabbed for less than $100 and runs on android operating system. The console does not match the depths of a PS or Xbox but costs 20% of what Xbox or PS would cost you. Based on Android it’s obvious that it will support all the android games. But the most interesting part with Ouya is its ability to allow gamers to turn game developers for the console. Yes, users can create their own games and can host it on the Ouya store.
 
The gaming console is not for die hard gamers but for a small price tag access to the entire android world of games is not a bad deal at all.

G-Box mid night MX2 Set Top Box
This set top box is also powered by android operating system and is equipped with a cortex A9 processor. The set top box supports hardware accelerated playback and can also run services from Amazon and others.  One of the best things of the Gbox MX2 is its availability with a rooted version of android. Thus there is nothing to hack while allowing full developer privilege as well.

Android happens to be one of the most popular opensource software ever built. And with its invasion into other devices too, things look a lot interesting for consumers and android app developers.

Nokia is coming with the Lumia 928 and the rounds of rumors, leaks are flowing in at a constant rate.  In the same line a recent video that has surfaced in the US shows the superior camera of the Lumia 928. The result as usual is staggering as compared to the iPhone 5. The photos taken in dark conditions are great and beat the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 by miles. But wait a minute! Aren’t these phones more than a year old now? Yes, the galaxy is more than a year old and iPhone is just a few months short of that.

Obviously the comparison does not make sense and if Nokia wants to become significant; it better compete the swelling number of iPhone and Android mobile app developer. Windows phone developers still do not bear a significant identity and that is one of the major factors that have shaped the Smartphone market. Comparing its new flagship to year old Android and iOS phones won’t get much affirmative gestures from mobile app developers. It has been already debated in detail that the apps are driving the market and if you do not have them you don’t have the user base.   For example, a popular health and fitness application called Runtastic has many versions in which some are paid while the rest are free. From over a dozen of apps, the Windows store features a single paid version of the application.

The reception of Lumia has been lukewarm till date and if it wants to gain momentum it needs to rope in the likeliness of mobile app developers.