Mobile Application Development Seyoum T.

Jan 12, 2011 MIT

Outline

Mobile vs other computing devices Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Markup Language Messaging Technologies

SMS, EMS, MMS Java/.NET frameworks for mobile app devt

Emulators

Mobile devices: Characteristics

Handheld Devices

PC-like Systems

Memory

2MB to 64MB Sound, limited color displays 128 x 160 to 320 x 480 pixels 9.6 Kbps to 11Mbps

CPU and considerable memory

Display area

Hundreds to millions of colors

Capabilities/resolution

640 x 480 to 1600 x 1200

Limited bandwidth

> 28.8 Kbps Stable Networks

Intermittent connectivity and high latency

Mobile App Development

App for small, low-power handheld devices Apps are either

Pre-installed during manufacture Downloaded by customers from app stores

e-Business vs m-Business Will it work?

Moving a Web app into a mobile app? Differences in device, network, user

WAP: Wireless Application Protocol

Protocol to support development of apps over cellular networks Added support for IP, TCP, HTTP Address unique characteristics of wireless devices

Small screens, limited memory, limited user interfaces, limited battery-life

Minimized processing power requirements, optimized network resources

WAP Architecture

Layered protocol stack

Primary concern for the developer: defines app-specific markup languages such as WML

GPRS, GSM

WML: Wireless Markup Language

A markup language intended for devices that implement the WAP specification

Similar in concept to HTML

Produces XML document Validated against its declared DTD

WML...

WML documents are called decks Navigation support

Use of <a> to link two cards together wireless bit map graphics (wmbp) image format <image> tag

WML is restricted in its support for images

Like HTML, WML provides data input, hyperlinks, text and image presentation, forms, etc WML decks are stored in a web server

text/vnd.wap.wml MIME type enabled

WAP gateway bridge between mobile devices and the WWW

WMLScript add more functionality to WML such as looping, decision making, etc

XHTML

Derivative of XML and HTML HTML web sites (PC-based browsers) WML apps for handheld devices Can we create a single version of apps that can be viewed by PC-based browsers and minibrowsers available on handheld devices?
YES!
Using reduces development time standardizing the appearance

XHTML

Emulators

Simulators for app development Java

J2ME Wireless Toolkit Integrated with IDEs such as NetBeans and eclipse emulation environment, documentation and examples Microsoft Mobile Explorer 3.0 Ericsson WAP Toolkit 3.1 Nokia WAP Toolkit 3.1 Windows Mobile 2003 Emulator

.NET

How mobile Apps Work?

Sample .NET mobile app implementation

Mobile Messaging Technologies SMS, EMS, MMS

SMS

Short Message Service Text only, max of 160 characters From cellphones, pc or handheld to a cellphone Enhanced Messaging Service Long messages: text, pictures, animations, other objects

EMS

MMS

Multimedia Messaging Service Multimedia messages

How SMS works

SMSC SMS Center Store-and-forward

MSC Mobile Switching

Center Tower, Cell

Development of SMS-based apps Inter working between SMS and Email

Add Email gateway for SMSC WAP Push Minimum user intervention

Push Technology

Web Apps and SMS integration

Thank You!