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Why is iPhone such a great development platform?

There is an intense debate going on at Venturebeat as to why developers are preferring Apple iPhone platform over the competing platforms.Here are our thoughts on this debate

Firstly, this is the classic case of a company identifying a specific need in a market, and then launching an offering that successfully fulfills this need. Apple has planned and executed the iPhone strategy to perfection. Others can just watch in awe and try to catch up.

We attribute the success of the iPhone platform to primarily 2 reasons

1. As most Apple offerings, It just works. As a developer, iPhone is probably the most hassle free platform you can develop on. The platform provides some great tools for development. The device and OS experience is consistent with few strings attached. This is an advantage when the company owns the whole widget

2. The power to decide has shifted from the ‘Enterprise’ to the ‘Consumer’. Now this is a huge shift. The consumer’s imagination has been fueled by the pathbreaking features the iPhone provides. Such features had never been seen before, and human imagination simply feeds off such innovation.

Elaboration on point number 2, never before had the user been given so much power to decide what apps they had wanted. The onus was on the handset vendor, the carrier and the software vendor. These organizations are large and bureaucratic, stifling innovation. Rest assured, many an app has died a silent death, due to multiple meetings, approvals and sign off required from a zillion stakeholders.

The iPhone is the world’s greatest ‘live’ market research going on, and the feedback is instantaneous.

Now conceptualizing and monetizing an app is as easy as ‘Develop’, ‘Test’, ‘Distribute’ as advertised in the iPhone Developer portal. Many of the apps we develop,are conceptualized by individuals who have come up with a great idea. Match human ingenuity with innovation and the result is brilliance. Most of our clients have zero development experience, but they know how the features of the iPhone can help find a solution to their needs/their industry’s problems.

Now, what do the other platforms have to offer? Well Android is the closest to the iPhone platform and the most developer friendly. The signup and upload process is easier than the iPhone. RIM Appworld is coming up well, but it still has a long way to go. Win Mo and Symbian have the greatest inertia and the longest legacy to manage.

Now wonder, most of our clients want us to start with iPhone, and then port the app for Android, Blackberry,Symbian, Win Mo and Palm Web OS , mostly in this order.

Will the others catch up, well it is for time to tell, but we are happy with the innovation that is happening all around!

…and we are back

Hi Folks,

Thanks a lot for all your support while we were away. We have been busy working on some great ideas with some really innovative companies. Soon, we would be detailing out the apps we have been working on.

We would also be more active in posting on this blog and bring you the latest updates at New Generation Applications and our take on the happenings in this space!

We are Hiring!

Folks, we are having a great time here at Newgenapps churning out some really cool apps for our clients.

We are growing and we are looking at some really bright and passionate people to join our team.We offer a dynamic work environment, flexi working hours, a great compensation package, and some great surprise offerings!

Application Developer (2 Positions)

If you have a passion for coding then this job is for you. You would be working on the latest game changing technologies, and would be developing some of the coolest applications.

If you are self motivated, passionate and an exceptional programmer, then this is the right job for you. You must meet the following conditions

1. Atleast 4 years of development experience is a must

2. You must have completed atleast a 4 year graduate program

3. Any prior expertise in iPhone SDK development,Cocoa Development, Game development or Java development is a huge advantage

4. You must be ready to take up challenges, and be able to work in a start up environment

If you meet these criteria then send across your updated CV asap to careers at newgenapps.com with the subject as “Opening for Application Developer”

Sales and Marketing Manager (1 Position)

We are looking for a dynamic Sales and Marketing Manager to join us and take us to the next level. If you can think out of the box, define, articulate and implement great sales and marketing strategies, then this job is for you.

You must meet the following requirements

1. Atleast 5 years of Sales and Marketing experience

2. MBA from a premier B-School is a must

3. Prior experience in Web Marketing is a huge advantage

If you meet these criteria then send across your updated CV asap to careers at newgenapps.com with the subject as “Opening for Sales and Marketing Manager”

iPhone vs Android

In his thought provoking article Randall Bennett has compared the iPhone and Android rivalry to Apple vs Microsoft rivalry of the 80’s. The article show the similarity in Apple’s current approach to its approach in the 80’s where it lost out to Microsoft.

This article provides another viewpoint on the hottest rivalry currently going on. The surprising fact is that no commentator has Microsoft even in the frame. Even the venerable New York Times has a post on iPhone vs Android

We think that a major change is happening in the technology space today

• The game is moving away from the Desktop to the Mobile
• Microsoft has been relegated to the background in the mobile wars
• Apple and Google are encouraging a trend (even though as rivals), where more and more productivity apps are coming onto the cloud and the mobile
• A huge chunk of developer community is moving towards the Android and iPhone development platforms. This is expected to provide Google and Apple the same Network Effect advantage, which propelled Microsoft in the 80’s and 90’s
• The Application Delivery channel has become web based (iTunes,Android Marketplace etc). A person with a great application idea in the remotest place on earth can now can sell the applications to millions of users across the globe

So is this really a rivalry? Surely, both the platforms would like to capture as much marketshare as possible, but this rivalry is creating a healthy eco system for both the organizations to benefit.

I will take 2 examples how the mobile platforms are helping the organizations

Apple

Apple iPhone Apps can only be developed on a Macs. With the success of iPhone and the super success of iPhone Apps, a large number of developers have started developing for iPhones. Now this would result in a huge number of Macs being bought, just for development purposes (and the numbers can be really huge in a country like india!). Infact, I think that analysts have not fully factored this phenomena while determining price targets for Apple.

So Apple benefits from Mac sales. But the biggest benefit is that a large number of these developers would also start bulding applications for the Mac. Now this would result in a lot more Mac apps being available and a drastic fall in prices on Mac apps, which would induce consumers sceptical of lifetime owneship costs to jump onto the bandwagon.

Google

I believe Google has a brilliant strategy in place. Sometimes the only way to win a game is to change the rules of the game itself. This is precisely what Google is doing. Can’t compete with Microsoft on Desktop Apps, just make the desktop redundant!

Google has been evolving Google Apps slowly but surely over the years. We ourselves run on Google Apps and can vouch for the tremendous benefits it offers. Google has been adding features to its Google Apps suite. Going forward we see more and more integration between Android based apps and Google Apps. This would in a few years result in a very compelling value proposition for enterprises to move onto this platform.

From our perspective, we believe that this rivalry is just accelerating the move from the desktop to the mobile. People have been blown off their feet by the kind of apps that can be developed leveraging the innovations present in the Android and iPhone platforms, and rest assured, the game has just begun.

We are excited to be at the forefront of this change!

The journey has begun…

Hi Folks,

We at New Generation Applications are pleased to officially launch our website and our blog.

Today, we stand at the cusp of an exciting era. We have some really exciting technologies and platforms coming up, to serve the needs of the enterprise, small business and the consumer. The solutions and content delivery channels available today transcend geographical limitations and have lowered entry barriers. Today, an individual with an idea has a greater chance of succeeding, than ever before. The world has never been flatter.

We believe, this would result in game changing innovation. Today, one can reach out to millions of consumers through iTunes and Android Marketplace, connect with millions of people across the globe using Facebook, run businesses on the cloud using Google Apps and manage Customer Relationships on the fly, using Salesforce.com

The complexity is moving to the cloud and the convenience is moving to small devices like cell phones.

The journey has just begun.

Who are we? Well, we are a bunch of folks who believe we can contribute in our own small way. We believe in our dreams, and have set out to achieve those dreams. We have been part of the industry, many years now, and find that the following tenets always hold

1. Work with passion
2. Communication is important. The most complex of problems can be solved, when people communicate
3. Transparency and honesty are the key to long term customer relationships

We start our journey with these beliefs, and we would strive to uphold these beliefs through our existence.