Coding cross-platform iPhone, iPad and Android mobile applications in Javascript

Talking about mobile application development, most of us will think about Objective-C for iPhone/iPad and Java for Android devices.

Well, there are at least 2 ways we can produce cross-platform iPhone, iPad and Android mobile applications in Javascript.

One is by using the open source PhoneGap mobile framework by Nitobi Software, which is basically a wrapper that runs your mobile application via the webview browser object and provides some access to native APIs of the mobile platform. The trade-off of using PhoneGap including: slower application runtime, limited access to OS and hardware APIs, web-like user interface (compared with native user interface), etc.

Another way is by using the open source Appcelerator Titanium Mobile development platform, which will compile your Javascript codes into native iPhone, iPad and/or Android mobile application. As a result, the mobile apps developed with Titanium Mobile will have almost the same runtime speed with native apps developed in Objective-C (for iPhone/iPad) and Java (Android SDK).

You will need an Apple Macintosh computer (with Apple iPhone SDK installed) to build iPhone applications with Titanium. You can build Android applications in Apple Mac, Windows or Linux computer, with the Android SDK and emulators installed. This also means that if you are using Titanium in a Mac, it is possible for you to develop cross-platform mobile applications for both iPhone and Android using the same code base.

One of the beauty of Titanium is that it has a rich library of APIs of 30+ modules, 80+ objects, 800+ methods and 2800+ properties  (and still expanding) which enables developers to get the most out of the mobile resources, including resources from Internet such as the Facebook APIs, Yahoo APIs, etc. It even made available a Kitchen Sink demo program, which showcases majority of its available APIs.

Mobile apps developed with Titanium including Sugar Mobile by SugarCRM, eBay Corporate by eBay, GetGlue by AdaptiveBlue, etc.

You might probably also be interested to read about:

• Now it is possible to develop Desktop applications (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) with web programming language (Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby)
• Develop cross-platform iPhone and Android games with Corona Mobile Development Platform

Now it is possible to develop Desktop applications (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) with web programming language (Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, Ruby)

For decades, programming for Desktop applications running in Windows, Linux or Mac OS X is a different world from programming for Web applications (LAMP, Django, ASP.Net, etc.).

Developers from the Java world, and the Adobe Flash world, might argue that their development platform can go across Desktop as well as Web application development, and even Mobile application development too. That's true, but the application developed with Java or Flash will have trade-off in performance compared with native applications. There is also limited support to OS level controls, interfaces and functionalities as well.

If you are a Web developer familiar with languages such as Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP, Python and/or Ruby, have you ever though of using your favourite web programming languages to develop desktop applications that run on Windows, Linux and/or Mac OS X?

Appcelerator Inc. has put their endeavours to make this dream come to reality with their open source rapid application development (RAD) platform called Appcelerator Titanium Desktop. In fact, you can also build cross-platform applications that run on these 3 different OS platforms, compiled from a single code-base.

Titanium platform is a similar product in a number of ways with Adobe AIR. For web developers, its main advantage is that you don't need to learn a new language like Flash or ActionScript, as you can leverage on your existing knowledge in Javascript, HTML, CSS, PHP, Python and/or Ruby. In addition, Titanium provides access to native OS controls, as well as numerous APIs for you to work with.

The Titanium Developer tool itself has separate build for installation on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. This means regardless you are using Windows, Linux or Mac OS X, you can develop applications with Titanium in your favourite OS platform, and even develop for another OS, such as developing Linux applications in your Windows computer.

This is what they claimed: "Flaunt your geek cred with Linux applications, go mainstream with Windows, get hip with OS X, or do all three from one code base. Titanium apps take up to 1/10th the memory of Adobe AIR apps and have complete access to the local system. "

Sounds promissing? Well, Titanium is still a relatively new product, and you might hit some bugs or flaws when using it. It has been improving from version to version, and its community base is growing.

In fact, Appcelerator Titanium is more popular being a cross-platform RAD for mobile application development (iPhone, iPAD, Android, etc.)

Take a look at my next article about Titanium Mobile.

Converted my CIMB credit card transaction to Smart i.Pay instalment

During Chinese New Year time, I have made a relatively large purchase in a retail shop with my CIMB credit card, amounting to RM3k+.

After considering the additional cost incurred (the interest), I've decided to convert that transaction to 10 months instalments with a one-time upfront interest of 2%. This means that by paying CIMB RM60+ for the interest, I can repay the RM3k+ credit card transaction in 10 months period, equilvalent to 0.2% interest per month.

The process is pretty simple. Just make a call to 03-62047877 (CIMB credit card customer service) and inform them you want to convert the transaction to CIMB Smart i.Pay instalments. After some verification and confirmation, the transaction will be converted into the instalment plan accordingly.

CIMB Smart i.Pay scheme is as below:

Maximum amount for Smart i.Pay conversion is RM30k per transaction.

In fact, if the transaction made is for education, insurance or hospital expenses, you can convert it to CIMB Smart Flexi-Pay for 10 months, 0% interest repayment scheme. The minimum spending for that transaction is RM1k to be eligible for CIMB Smart Flexi-Pay.

• Click here for more information about CIMB Smart i.Pay
• Click here for more information about CIMB Smart Flexi-Pay
• Click here for more information about CIMB Balance Transfer (6 months 0%, 12 months 1%)