Brightcove has announced the release of Brightcove App Cloud, a content app platform for building powerful native applications for Apple iOS and Google Android devices. App Cloud is based on an open HTML5 with cloud services for cross-platform compilation, automated app distribution, analytics, advertising, and connectors for content management systems. App Cloud will make app development and management more proficient and cost-effective for iPhone developers.

The company has also announced a new name for its online video platform, Brightcove Video Cloud. App Cloud and Video Cloud comprise the set of Brightcove cloud content services that can be used to publish and share digital content.

“Delivering content apps across fragmented devices forces online publishers to choose between redundant one-off app development and cookie-cutter templates,” said Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer.

“App Cloud offers a new alternative with a platform that significantly streamlines the development and management of custom content apps across devices. With App Cloud, Brightcove cloud content services offer unprecedented choice, control and efficiency for initiatives spanning online video, native apps and touch websites,” he added.

App Cloud is currently available in private beta and is expected to be commercially available in the second half of 2011.

Interested iPhone developers can learn more about App Cloud here.

Tags: Brightcove App Cloud, content app platform, iPhone app developer, iPhone App Development, iphone developers

In-Touch Insight Systems Inc., has announced the release of the beta version of In-Touch Apps. the launch was announced at the Event Marketing Summit in Chicago on May 16-18.

In-Touch Apps- a mobile Software as a Service (“SaaS”) solution- will be particularly of use for iPhone application developers, Marketing Research firms and and Marketing departments of organizations. The In-Touch Apps beta will aid an iPhone application developer in accelerating the development process of mobile/onsite data collection apps. Using it, even a non-programmer can build their own data collection apps. The solution can be deployed instantly to a broad range of devices including iPods, iPads and tablet PCs

“Releasing a beta version of In-Touch Apps to the market will dramatically increase our scalability, our channels to market, and provide us with valuable insight on feature requirements. At the EMS we talked to numerous potential customers from Brands to Event Marketing Agencies to the outreach teams of hospitals and educational institutions. There was a clear need from these potential customers for a SaaS technology that allowed them to be in control of mobile messaging and data capture with and on-demand solution like In-Touch Apps. We expect to sign up a number of new customers as a direct result of the show,” said Michael

“In-Touch Apps puts you in control, with the ability to rapidly design and deliver complex, customized data collection applications and an excellent onsite user experience.  With In-Touch Apps you can customize the application in real time, lowering your risk and increasing your data collection potential,” said Michael Kahn, Chief Technology Officer.

Interested iPhone application developer can become an In-Touch Apps beta customer at http://beta.intouchapps.com.

BSQUARE Corporation has signed a new distribution agreement with Adobe according to which BSQUARE will distribute the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK. The SDK will enable iPhone application developers to easily deliver, manage and display high-quality PDF and EPUB documents on mobile devices. The company will also provide engineering support including application porting, UI development and cross-platform development services to iPhone developers licensing the Adobe product.

The Adobe Reader Mobile SDK allows iPhone developers to leverage from Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology that can be used to easily deliver content across mobile devices. The Reader Mobile SDK will also allow device manufacturers to make use of a mobile-optimized software engine, designed to deliver high-quality scalable document delivery even on resource-limited embedded devices. The Reader Mobile SDK also allows cost-efficient workflows that power current Creative Suite editorial tools.

“Over the years, BSQUARE engineers have ported the Flash Platform to more than 100 diverse types of embedded devices,” said Mark Whiteside, vice president of engineering services for BSQUARE.

“Content distribution today requires developers to create applications that work on all types of devices and across operating systems. A major benefit of the Adobe Digital Publishing Solution for eBooks is that it works across multiple platforms, which means customers are not locked-in to file formats or distribution,” he added.

“As consumers read eBooks in increasing numbers, device manufacturers and app developers turn to the Reader Mobile SDK to render PDF and EPUB documents across platforms,” said Nick Bogaty, director of business development, Digital Publishing at Adobe.

“We’re excited to partner with BSQUARE to enable these eBook reading experiences through the Reader Mobile SDK on the devices readers demand.”

The Adobe Reader Mobile SDK is available to iPhone application developers through an Adobe license agreement with BSQUARE. iPhone developer can get more information about the product, licensing and development support from http://www.bsquare.com/adobe-reader-mobile.aspx.

iPhone developers now have an excellent resource to develop, distribute and monetize their apps and games. Adknowledge and Ansca Mobile (maker of Corona SDK) have joined hands to provide an iPhone developer with the fastest andcost-effective way to develop and monetize their applications. Corona SDK is the world’s most advanced mobile app development platform.

The integrated Corona SDK will significantly aid an iPhone developer and accelerate his iOS app development process by reduce the time and costs required to develop and deploy across multiple platforms and devices. The development tool will also make easy for iPhone developers to effortlessly integrate viral monetization solutions to earn revenue and expand their user base.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ansca Mobile to provide an integrated solution that helps developers bring their games to market faster than ever,” said Chris Smutny, general manager of Adknowledge’s Games Division.

“Ansca’s Corona SDK takes the fragmented process of game development, deployment and distribution, and natively combines it with the critical monetization element from Adknowledge, putting everything a game developer needs under one roof. This solution frees developers to focus on creating really good games, rather than all the steps in between,” he added.

“We are extremely excited to be integrating Adknowledge’s Super Rewards, recognized as the leader in app monetization,” said Walter Luh, CEO of Ansca Mobile.

“Combined with Corona SDK’s legendary ease of use, speed of development, and high performance, this partnership gives mobile developers a tremendous advantage in the highly competitive space of mobile apps. The Corona SDK enables mobile developers not only to create top iOS and Android apps, but also to monetize those apps more quickly than ever before.”

The iOS and Android SDKs are incorporated with all Adknowledge’s pioneering platform controls including whitelisting, content filtering, and blacklisting controls. The iOS SDK supports iPad and iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 running on iOS 3.0 and higher. The Android SDK supports Android OS based devices running OS 1.6+.

iPhone developers can get more information about Corona SDK from http://developer.anscamobile.com.

Metaio, a global leader in Augmented Reality technology has recently announced the release of Junaio 2.6, the newest version of its augmented reality “browser” for mobile devices. The company has along come out with a plug-in for third-party application integration and an updated SDK called Unifeye for iPhone app developer interested in bringing AR into his applications.

The latest release of Junaio 2.6, which includes superior open API access to its mobile AR browser, will provide an iPhone developer better interface improvements and social networking capabilities such as full integration with Facebook. The Junaio plug-in will allow an iPhone developer to work in an augmented-reality facility.

The newly released tools will surely aid an iPhone developer in developing high quality augment reality apps that will truly accentuate the user experience.

Xtify, Inc., a company that provides user engagement technology to mobile app developers, has announced the release of its’ new configuration API, that allows iPhone developers configure push notifications for their applications. The latest API allows iPhone developers to create push notifications that will drive user interaction with their apps. The Notification Configuration API is available for free.

An iPhone developer can use the API-
• To create both simple and rich push notifications.
• To determine when push notifications should be sent to mobile users and to manage existing notification configurations.
• To keep users engaged, notifications can be delivered to mobile users at specified dates and times. Mobile users can also be targeted on location basis using the API.

The API can also be used to synchronize data from CRM or CMS systems and third-party data providers with Xtify’s push notification platform in order to trigger highly appropriate and targeted messages to mobile users. It will also allow an iPhone developer to build customized user interfaces API for their specific notification management requirements.

“Xtify’s Notification Configuration API allows developers to access all of Xtify’s user engagement, messaging and location marketing services from a single API. By providing a robust API, developers can now programmatically create as many dynamic push notifications as they wish,” said Josh Rochlin, CEO of Xtify.

“This API allows developers to better engage application users at the right times and places, with the right messages on the devices they always have on them. It’s a great way to easily build targeted customer engagement,” he added.

If you are an iPhone developer and want to add voice capabilities to your app then Nuance mobile developer program is the way to go. The Program has attracted over 2500 app developers in its first 90 days and has successfully launched many voice-enabled apps for iOS and Android platform in less than 30 days. The Mobile Developer Program offers Android and iOS developers with easy access to the popular and powerful Dragon Mobile SDK that allows them to completely voice-enable any app. The SDK also helps in speedier app development.

Some of the popular apps built through this mobile developer program includes AirYell from Avantar, iTranslate from Sonico, and Taskmind from Catalyst.

“AirYell is a free iPhone and iPad application that brings the power of the local search right to your mobile device, in an easy-to-use and intuitive way. It gives consumers access to hyper-local, and GPS-enabled business information right at their fingertips. And, with the new voice recognition feature powered by Dragon, we’re now able to make the iPhone experience even faster and easier, allowing consumers to simply speak anything from a business name to a category, and even a city or state, and instantly see results. Once you use it, you wonder how you ever got along without it,” said Michael Taylor Alvarez, CEO, Avantar.

“The tremendous global response to the Nuance Mobile Developer Program showcases the intense demand for voice interfaces,” said Michael Thompson, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Mobile.

“A large part of that success is the program’s design that lets developers bring their voice-enabled apps to market quickly and easily across iOS, Android and others,” he added.

Interested iPhone developer can know more about the program here.

Microsoft has announced the release of Azure, a new toolkit, which will help iPhone developers create apps faster using cloud. The kit helps an iPhone developer to integrate Windows Azure into apps at a very low level. The toolkit will work on both, iPhone and the iPad.

iPhone developers can download the toolkit and can quickly start building iPhone applications on the Windows Azure platform without having to have comprehensive knowledge of Microsoft tools. The toolkit includes compiled iPhone code libraries, a sample iOS application, documentation, and a “Cloud Ready” Windows Azure deployment package.

“Today, it’s not just about how quickly a developer can create an experience, but how quickly that developer can build apps that work with unique devices across a dozen platforms,” wrote Jamin Spitzer, the senior director of platform strategy for Microsoft, in a TechNet post.

“Using the toolkits, developers can use the cloud to accelerate the creation of applications on the major mobile platforms. Companies, including Groupon, are taking advantage to create a unified approach to cloud-to-mobile user experience,” Spitzer said.

Via- cnet

Mu Dynamics, Inc. has announced the release of Blitz, the first API-friendly cloud-based load and scale testing solution for iPhone developers. Blitz is specifically built for iPhone developers who access content through APIs and help them in optimizing the performance and scalability of their apps.

“Blitz provides us with the testing solution we need to support our ever-growing line-up of mobile applications,” said Calvin Carter, president of Bottle Rocket Apps.

“Our projects are mission- critical apps for major brands with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of users. We need to quickly determine if they can scale to support heavy usage. Blitz removes the guesswork of predicting performance issues and helps ensure scalability” he added.

Blitz offers unique capabilities that enable iPhone developers to:

• Multi-Location Load Testing for location-aware mobile apps.
• API Friendliness by integrating common app development tools to the cloud and thereby eliminating the expensive and time-consuming test creation process.
• Continuous Integration through a RubyGem, mobile app developers can incorporate Blitz into their continuous deployment process.

Apple app store has over 350,000 apps and is still counting. Needless to say that there is a huge potential in iPhone app development. With enormous opportunities in this industry, many people aspire to be iPhone developers.  Furthermore, the fast-changing app development industry requires constant updating of knowledge. So, here is our list of best iPhone developer books that will help you kick start your career as a developer and create rich and entertaining apps and games for the Apple App Store-

1. Beginning iPhone 4 Development: Exploring the iOS SDK by David Mark, Jack Nutting and Jeff  LaMarche

This book for iPhone developers provides comprehensive knowledge on everything you as an iPhone developer need to be familiar with, to develop best-selling iOS apps. The book also teaches you the best practices employed in app development for optimizing application code and user experiences.

2. Iphone in Action: Introduction to Web and SDK Development by Christopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline.

“If you’re new to iPhone development, this is your book!” That’s what Larry C. Whipple from Mobile Productivity, Inc. advises future iPhone developers. This book is a comprehensive tutorial on iPhone app development with special focus on iPhone programming. The book is presented in a lucid style and takes you through the entire web development, SDK, and hybrid coding process and consists of more than 60 web, Dashcode, and SDK examples for an iPhone developer to master the art.

3. Sams Teach Yourself iPhone Application Development in 24 Hours by John Ray.

If you already know the basics of iPhone app development and just need a crash-course to sharpen your knowledge then this book is for you. The book promises to equip any aspiring iPhone developer with adequate knowledge to build best-selling iOS apps in just 24 sessions or 24 hours. Read this book if you want to acquire step-by-step knowledge and solid foundation on app development- right from development environment to user interfaces to sensing motions.

4.iPhone Application Development For Dummies by Neal Goldstein

This book is for iPhone developers who wish to acquire the fundamentals of developing apps for the iPhone and covers the latest on iPad universal code and iPhone SDK. It also explores further to help you in submitting your apps in the App Store and marketing it to the target audience.

5. Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps by Josh Clark

Tapworthy deals with designing aspect in app development and aids you in optimizing user experience. The book covers the entire app designing process to help you build apps that are user-friendly and attractive. It also delves into the secrets of app designing for touch screens.

6. Beginning iPhone Games Development by PJ Cabrera, Peter Bakhirev, Ian Marsh and Ben Smith

If you wish to develop games for Apple devices then this book is the right way to start with. It covers methods for drawing 2D and 3D, animation techniques, Core Animation, OpenGL ES, gaming backgrounds, 3D audio and many more things.

7. iOS 4 Programming Cookbook: Solutions & Examples for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Apps by Vandad Nahavandipoor

With this book, you will learn to work with Objective-C classes, objects, properties, delegates, memory management, and build a user interface using gesture recognizers. The book also teaches an iPhone developer to build location-based apps using Map Kit and Core Location APIs. It also covers Core Motion framework for accelerometer and gyroscope.

8. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to iPad and iPhone App Development by Troy Brant

This book acts as a guide for aspiring iPhone developers using a step-by-step learning approach to introduce them with all aspects of iPhone app development. The book covers all the tools and important programming aspects with iPhone SDK to make you a professional iPhone developer. You will also learn about distributing apps on the App Store.

9. Beginning iPhone and iPad Web Apps: Scripting with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript by Chris Apers and Daniel Paterson

If you are a web programmer or developer then this book is for you. The book will teach you on deploying your web skills on iPad and iPhone. The book covers basics of user interface design, HTML5, WebKit, and Mobile Safari. In additions, it also covers features of CSS3 for graphics and Cocoa touch APIs.

10. iPhone SDK Development (The Pragmatic Programmers) by Bill Dudney and Chris Adamson

This book is a guide for an iPhone developer to learn developing iOS apps. It helps you to become skilled at using the XCode IDE to manage your source code, sounds, images, database files and other resources. You will also learn how to build your app, deploy it onto your device, and test it.