Are you looking to get into Smart Phone development?  So am I!  Read on for a comparison of the leading three, and forecasted main players!

With Valentine's Day coming, I'm falling under a spell.  Hey, not THAT kind of spell (well, with my SO yes, for sure! LOL) but more to the point, with a certain cell pho.....oh, sorry, we're not in the 90s, they're called SMART Phones now eh!  But in all seriousness, I am finding myself daydreaming a little bit (ok a bit more than a bit) about ditching my paper daytimer and replacing it with a sleek and cool smart phone.  I fantasize about synchronizing my contacts from machine to machine, email aliases are just updated, calendars are ALWAYS up to date, birthdays and anniversaries are always at hand.  Oh, ya, and there's the cool thing about having something new to program!  That's always cool too!

To try to remove the emotional component from this purchasing decision, I figured I would do some investigations and do my due diligence.  Here's my first blog about a layman's spin on the cell phone market.  Next is my analysis (albeit brief) at the development environment you'd/I have to get into if you/we were to release some applications.

This isn't coming completely out of the blue.  My boss (SG) has actually done this!  He's created an app for the iPhone and for months (without exaggeration!) I saw him every day beaming with excitement about something new he created, found, debugged, fixed, implemented, etc.  I tell ya, it's VERY contagious!  That kind of excitement is just too cool IMHO!  Now, this guy's special.  He's one of the four smartest developers I know (DF, SI and MC are the other three) so to imitate his feat is not my goal.  Participating in the excitement, sharing the learning, doing the coding, THAT'S the cool pieces I want to get into!

To get into smart phone development requires more than just an SDK, some phones even require you to pay money for that privilege.  It's a bit of a different model from WinForms/WPF developmemt.  Read on for some (potentially surprising) line items I found about doing smart phone application developmemt.

Every attempt was made to include links to the OEM's website for reference.

Company
Product
Year First Released - Product	1999 - Two-way pager	2007 - iPhone	2008	2000 - Pocket PC 2000
Current Devices	Bold, Storm2	iPhone 3GS	Lots of hardware vendors	Est rel ~2010
Current Version of OS	BlackBerry OS 5	iPhone OS 3.1	Android 2.1, Rel 1	Window Mobile 7
Current Version of SDK/APIs	Java Development Environment 4.7	iPhone SDK 3.1.3	SDK Tools, Revision 4	Window Mobile 7, Microsoft .Net 4.0, plus mobile libraries
Development Tools	BlackBerry JDE Plug-in for Eclipse v1.0	Xcode and Interface Builder	Eclipse	Visual Studio with Mobile 7 plugins and possibly special version of Blend for Mobile
Language	Java (MIDP 2.0)	Objective-C 2.0	Java and C/C++	Microsoft .Net 4.0
Development Website	BlackBerry Developer Zone	Developer Connection	Android Developers	Windows phone
OS/Hardware Required	Windows, Macs or Linux machines	Macs	Windows, Macs or Linux machines (?)	Windows boxes
Multi-tasking Supported	Yes	No	Yes	No
Application Store	BlackBerry App World	iTunes App Store	Android Market	Marketplace
Launch Date	2009	2008	2008	2009
# Applications (02-11-2010)	4999 (from their own category counts)	140000	10000+	725 (from their own category counts)
Developer Fees	$200US/10 submissions (includes updates)	$99/yr US, unlimited submissions	$25US	$99US/yr for 5 Apps, then $99/App
Developer Revenue	80% of application price	70% of application price	70% of application price	70% of application price
Application Store Listing Requirements	Approval by RIM	Approval by Apple	Listed without prior approval	Approval by Microsoft

Conclusions?  Sure! 

 The BlackBerry will continue to rule the market for the older generation of people who had them four/five years ago.  That is, unless they can update their menuing OS, not my words, just things I'm reading on the web.  Apparently it's antiquated and requires a massive uplift.  And for me....the ONLY way I would ever go back to Java would be if I were to get a job at RIM.  That would be the only way I would EVER touch java again.  The thing that ticks me off here is the developer fees RIM is charging, and UPDATES are included in your 10?!  WTF?  If you're a developer who finds and fixes a bug, are you REALLY going to release that update if it's going to cost you one of your submissions?  May not be such a big deal for a large company, but if you're some lowly shlep trying to play with the technology, this is NUTS!

The iPhone's where it's at right now!  Four years ago, I thought the uptake of BBs in the market was good, TODAY the number of people buying iPhones is HUGE!!!!!!  Just tonight while researching this blog, CW emaile me to tell me HE got an iPhone last week!  I asked a group of people at work how many they had, holy crap, just with three of them, they had SEVEN iPhones an iPod Touches!!!!!!!!  SEVEN for three households!  Taking a quick inventory of the people on Linkedin, I see constant updates about how so-n-so is now using the iPhone connector!  I can't believe the uptake of the iPhones man!  Apple, the company that makes a couple computersis FIFTH in the US for electronic retailers!  And that's not even including their iPhones, ya, that's right, that's just the iMacs!!!!!!!!  And here's the biggest surprise I'm seeing, people are looking around them and saying, "Ya know, I need to update my computer for Windows 7 ANYWAYS.......hhhhmmm I wonder if Apple's Macs are as good as their iPhones?"  Believe it or not, just in the last three months, I've seen four people buy Macs who historically have ALWAYS been Windows/Microsoft people!!!!  What it comes down to is, people just have confidence in what they're buying when they buy Apple.  Simple.

There are two potential downsides I can see to developing for the iPhone, requiring a Mac and learning Objective-C.  I'm told it's not an impossible task, but could be expensive and is another learning curve (language, hardware, OS, etc).

 Android lost me at C/C++.  Sorry.  And since Google's making the OS, they have NO control over the QA of the devices any of the hardware manufacturers are producing.

  

Microsoft's Ballmer is going to make some BIG announcement Monday at the Mobile World Conference, and is rumoured to be announcing details about Windows Mobile 7.  IMHO, it's just too little too late. MS has had HOW many kicks at this proverbial can? Get it over with, just buy RIM, stick .NET on it and THERE, instant mobile strategy!  Right now, if the leaks are true, MS is talkig about Mobile 7 being"iPhone Complete."  HUH?  WTF?  Aren't you TRYING to be better than your competitor?  No, you want to be the same.  HUH?  You're losing me here, you want my business, but you're NOT going to differentiate yourself.  hhhhmmmmmm...........

Unfortunately I can't for the life of me find the link, but I read today, Windows Mobile 7 is going to require a special set of downloads to develop with Visual Studio 2010.  You SHOULD be able to code in VB.NET or C#, but you'll need to download project templates, SDKs and there's even talk of a new Expression Blend required JUST FOR MOBILE!  WTF?  Another Blend?  Oh and remember my rant about the costs with RIM and updates?  Ditto for MS and their stupid pricing model!  No wonder they only have 725 apps!

You know, I am a Microsoft guy, through and through!  People would even use it against me in discussions/debates/arguments.  But with the CURRENT (not vapourware, not futuristic, not tomrrow, Star Trek timelines), shipping phones, I believe Apple's nailed it.  People LOVE their iPhones, they take them EVERYWHERE!  They also have my attention.

Now that "the place down below" is starting to chill over, it's time to grab a coffee and get coding!

 

Reference:

The Code Project: Windows Mobile, iPhone, Android - Marketplace Comparison