Category Archives: Mobile Tutorials & Articles
PHPMaster: Creating a Mobile Photo Blog, Part 1
It seems like everyone these days is texting away on their mobile phone or updating their social network status every 5 minutes. It’s no surprise that the convenience of being able to access the Internet from anywhere at any time has made sharing messages and pictures so popular. I can’t imagine going anywhere without my cell phone on the off chance that something interesting might happen and I can document it as if I were the first news reporter on the scene. This is the first article in a two-part series in which I will show you how to create a photo blog as part of your personal website which you can update from your phone simply by sending an email. Continue reading
BuildMobile: The Future of WebOS
Not very long ago when we were planning the launch of our humble magazine BuildMobile, which you are reading right now, the content strategy included coverage of the nebulous WebOS mobile operating system. Come launch time, there wasn’t enough traction to include it in our platform categories, but we were hopeful for the future. WebOS in 60 Seconds WebOS is a mobile operating system based on the Linux Kernal Initially developed by Palm and first released in January 2009 Acquired by Hewlett-Packard in April 2010 for US$1.2b WebOS uses a “card” UI with a left-to-right flick for app swithcing, flick up for “off” The WebOS broswer, called simply “Web” is based on the WebKit layout engine WebOS “Synergy” feature integrates information from many cloud services into a single list Devices include the Pre , the Pixi and the Veer phones, then the HP TouchPad HP announced in March 2011 that WebOS would run within Windows by the end of 2011 On 18th August 2011 HP announced it would discontinue operations for WebOS devices Potentially even more HP TouchPads will be made and sold at a loss Web Standards based Native Apps A feature that was full of promise, and partly responsible for the underdog adoration WebOS attracted from developers worldwide, is that web technologies like HTML, CSS and Javascript are first class tools for developing native apps for the platform, with full access to hardware APIs like the camera. Continue reading
DesignFestival: Design for Mobile — Putting it Into Practice
We’ve looked at some of the broader considerations when designing for mobile, so now let’s address the business of our application. First, we need a plan. Our client has given us some high-level user scenarios, which we will need to examine in more detail to figure out what each means for our application. It’s crucial to decide precisely which features we intend to deliver, and to whom Continue reading
BuildMobile: Mobile Web Apps: Events
This is another excerpt from the upcoming book “Build Mobile Websites and Apps for Smart Devices” by Earle Castledine , Myles Eftos and Max Wheeler . BuildMobile is exclusively publishing a complete chapter from the book, the chapter on Mobile Web Apps, this is the second section on Events. 2. Events For many users, the most noticeable difference between a website and a native application is the way each one transitions between screens or pages. Continue reading
BuildMobile: The Build Mobile Muster
The TouchPad from HP heads to market on Friday, that’s today. It looks pretty cool, and Jason Snell has an optimistic review at Macworld , with many points to recommend it. WebOS opens the door to Web Standards developers, which may deepen the wealth of apps. Continue reading
The Mobile Web: Discover the Possibilities
Our new title “Build Mobile Websites and Apps for Smart Devices” gives you the skills to adapt your sites and create apps for mobile devices, opening the door to some pretty cool opportunities. Continue reading
DesignFestival: Design for Mobile — Build a Better Mouse
Many, if not most, of the new breed of mobile devices use touch as their main input method. While many of the principles we usually apply to interface design are the same, there are some shifts in mindset required. Our fingers are remarkably dexterous, but they lack the same level of precision of a mouse. Continue reading