Mobile conference Experience

I got an opportunity to attend the Mobile Developers Conference held in Bangalore on 22^nd Janurary organized by silicon India (http://www.siliconindia.com/events/siliconindia_events/index.php?eid=MDC_Ban2011).

Despite a Karnataka Bandh called by the political parties it was almost a houseful!!!

Lot of well- known technologists in the Mobile domain was invited as the speakers in the conference.

I have always found such conferences as a great source of understanding the market trends and to do a reality check on where I stand as an individual. I don’t feel that a person can learn a new technology by attending these conferences but he can get awareness of what is happening in the industry and what are the current buzz words which he should be aware of.

Some of the key points that came up were:

1. The Platform war is on. Every platform (Symbina, Android, Iphone OS , Blackberry) is today trying to capture the market

2. There are 5 main drivers that will guide the future of Mobile:

a. Connectivity: Broadband. 3G, GPRS, Wifi

b. OS: Symbian, Android, Iphone OS

c. Smartphones ( todays smartphones are equipped with the fast processors, high end cameras, GPS , sensors)

d. Mobile Apps: The key differentiator for the success of the mobile platform

e. Developer Community who is producing the Apps

3. The Mobile Apps are as important for Mobiles as the websites are for the internet. Just like without the websites the internet is of very less use for the people similarly without the mobile apps there is very less that can be achieved from the high speed mobile networks.

4. Mobile apps are also very important from the fact that in smaller cities in India where internet is still restricted to cyber café, the people can be connected by using the mobile versions of the social networking sites, news sites, emails , cricket scores etc.

5. The ease of development on a particular Mobile platform is the key determinant for the growth of the mobile apps on that platform

6. There has been a change in the CTQs of the consumer. Few years back the main criteria was music, camera , colors. Today the customer asks about Mobile OS (Platforms), Services (3G, wifi) Mobile Applications. The phone retailers have also changed their marketing strategies and advocating that buy android since you will be able to download 300000 mobile apps and don’t buy Nokia because the number of apps is less. Nobody talks about music player or camera resolutions

7. Nokia, the key OEM player is now focusing a lot on the mobile apps and is taking steps to make it very easy for the developers to submit the apps (ovistore). Nokia is trying hard to keep up the pace with the Android popularity.

8. The Developer community is getting respected from the OEMs a lot since the popularity of the platform is largely dependent on the mobile apps that the developers are producing and if the developers are developing the appications for the platforms they are supporting then they are at the advantage

9. The UI/UX plays a very important role in the popularity of an application

10. The shelf life or the time frame for which the user is going to use the application is important yardstick for the app

11. People are globally downloading the apps. Today a developer can look for huge monetary benefit if the people are downloading his app. There are millions of users for a particular platform. Even if the cost of the app is just 1$ then millions are at stake

12. Some of the key factors that will help in success of mobile app

a. UI/UX is the primary. If the application is not appealing the people are not going to download it

b. Distribution channel. Basically the app stores. How easy it is to search an application and download on the mobile is very important since the demographic of users is very wide.

c. Consumer Awareness. Is the user aware of the existence of the app stores?

13. Operator Integrated Billing: The user generally has to shell out 30-100 RS to buy a mobile app, which makes it very affordable. But the payment mode is little challenging. Credit card which is the most popular payment mechanism on internet is not that attractive when it comes to the mobile. The simple reason is the user demographics is different. The internet users are who are buying the stuff online are mostly from a middle to upper income group while the mobile application buyers can be from any income group and from various age groups. Also not everyone has got the credit card to buy (specially the college students which are among the main target for the mobile apps will not have a credit card). Even the credit card holders are sometimes reluctant to provide the credit card details online. The more preferred way is to buy it through the service provider. So I can tell Airtel to charge the amount in the bill depending on the application I have downloaded. Nokia is trying to tie up with various operators to allow users to pay through the operators on the Ovistore. Similar model is very popular when it comes to download a caller tune.

14. The number of applications that are already created are so many that its difficult for an individual developer to get noticed on the app stores. You give a problem statement and there is a app for it”. Its important that the application should have something new in it and should not be just copy paste

15. Some of the trends that have been seen in the popularity of the apps

a. Social Networking apps like facebook, twitter are popular since they provide one more level of connectivity.

b. Content Based Apps: The search apps like burp, trip advisors, just dial

c. Utility Apps: Banking applications (SBI is encouraging the account holders to use the Nokia mobile apps for the banking services)

d. Games

16. Just like web 2.0 changed the face of the internet. For the website to sustain it became important that it gives user to participate in adding/modifying the content of the website similarly in the mobile world there has been a shift in the ownership of the mobile apps. Previously it was the OEMs responsibility to provide some apps and the user was only the consumer of it (Nokia’s Snake game). But now user/developer wants to develop their own apps or download some others app and use them on the phone. The phones have become platform (just Like Web had become a platform)

17. A new set of companies have come up who are just developing the Mobile Apps for various platforms. (Similar to web development companies who are involved in creating the web sites). Today every popular business wants its Apps and guess what its again the Indian companies who are taking such assignments. There are lot of start-ups who are developing apps for some of the leading brands like Levis, IBN, Star News etc. Just like businesses advertise for more details log on to www.xyz.com they are now saying download the app that will help you to browse the latest and greatest stuff on mobile.

18. There are 4 major drivers which are guiding the mobile App economy (To monetize the apps)

a. The Developer who is developing the App on its own or for a company

b. Content Provider (News channels, Sports Channels are trying to provide their content on the mobile)

c. Content Delivery Mechanism (3G, GPRS, Wifi. With the 3G connections ist possible to stream the videos on mobile. Expect IPL season 4 on the Mobile soon!!!)

d. Market place: The app stores where you can sell your applications. The App stores owners (Nokia’s ovistore, Apple Store) they are trying to come up with the Amazon like experience where the user can get recommendation for a app and based on the purchase history the apps are shown etc. It’s all about the experience.

e. Stay updated on the technology. You cant expect to sell a J2ME app now. People want the apps that are based on QT, Objective-C or Android

19. Cross platform compatibility is very important when it comes to apps. The same app should be available to run on iPhone , Android phone, and Symbian phone. The user can switch the platform but still want to use the same app. I want to use the same twitter app on my Iphone as well as on my Nokia C7. Its similar to the websites that should be compatible for all major browsers.

20. Customization in Apps will make that App stand out. If it is a cricket app I should be able to choose the stadiums, day match or day-night match etc.

21. Some of the factors that have helped in the popularity of the mobile apps:

a. Proliferation of smartphones: Now they are everywhere. There are some 50 odd OEM who are making smart phones. They are available for a wide price range (6000-36000 Rs)

b. Enhanced Lifestyle Quotient: People want to be connected. The facebook mobile app is helping them to be connected even when they are not at home/workplace

c. User Experience

d. High Utility Quotient: People find the mobile applications providing solutions to some of their daily needs like emails, local search, travels, news.

Just like integration of Digital Camera, FM radio became an integral part of the mobile hardware similarly the mobile apps will become an integral part of mobile usage.

22. Since there are millions of applications already developed from wide variety of domains for a new developer it’s very important to take care of few key things before getting started on a new app:

a. Is it solving genuine real life problem. For e.g. Banking app which help you to monitor yoru account, Stock trading apps are some of the applications that have simplified the real life workflows and are therefore very popular

b. Check for the existence of similar application. Do not waste time in reinventing the wheel

c. In case of the existing application try to collaborate with the developer and help in creating a higher utility quotient for it. Try to add more customization options etc

d. App should be easy to download and install. There should be 0 user manuals

e. You should be able to rapidly prototype the app and launch

f. Healthcare, telemedicine are some of the areas with huge potential for innovative ideas.

g. Education sector is very promising given the fact that today almost every college student has an access to mobile.

h. Real estate businesses can be another good choice to explore

23. Why is that people are running after Android?

a. There are many players in the market who are launching the phones on Android so as a consumer I get a variety of choice for phone and as a developer I have more potential customers to download my application

b. Developer Friendly: The Android Applications are Java based. If I know java learning the Android application development is quite simple (smooth learning curve). There is a huge java developer base who can start writing the applications.

c. There are many android markets unlike Ovistore and Apple app store. There are many local android markets which makes improves the chances for my application to be noticed . Also with the local markets(Indian Android market) I can get the apps that are more suitable for the local needs.

d. Most important that Android platform is not only restricted to the phones. Google TV is based on Android, Huawei is making set top box that are based on Android, GM is using android in Cars. So the scope of writing the applications is very wide.

e. With Google supporting the platform there is a trust that the platform is there to stay.

Allen Holub: A critic of every commonly accepted technology

Allen Holub has the balls to abuse and contradict every well known theory, technology and concept. It is good in a sense that you get some new perspective in contrast to the commonly published theory. Holub in his articles and writings has challenged some of the technologies like AJAX , XML which are like the defacto industry standards. Not only this he criticizes the classic compiler book by Aho, ullman sethi (http://www.sdtimes.com/content/article.aspx?ArticleID=29508&page=2) and call it a mistake to be taught in academics. In his book on Design pattern he has critisized Microsoft MFC technology openly to such an extent that now I myself have started thinking otherwise. I am actually enjoying his writings since some of his criticisms are very true and in line with my personal opinion (Only thing is I didn't have the courage to come out openly).
In case you want to have an encounter with Holub opinions do visit http://www.holub.com/publications/articles/index.html

Migrate wordpress site and database to different servers

The following steps will help you to migrate the current wordpress site to different server (domain). I am assuming that you want to migrate the database also from the
old database server to a new database server
1. make a backup of the current wordpress site in your local directory
2. export the database and save the exported file in your local directory
3. copy the wordpress installer to the new server
4. create a database in the new database server
5. open the wp-config file of the new wordpress installer and provide the correct database information
6. Now install the wordpress by going to the wp-admin/install

This will install a fresh copy of  wordpress and database
7. Now go to the database and delete all the tables that have been created
8. Import the old database file (created in step2).
9. go to the table wp_options and change the entry of siteurl and home to your new wordpress server (from htttp://oldwordpressserver/ to htttp://newwordpressserver)
this step is done so that when you migrate the old wordpress to the new server the links start pointing to the new wordpress server
10. Now you need to copy the old wordpress files that you had saved in step 1 to the new wordpress server. Just replace all the files with the new ones
11. If you now open the home page of the wordpress site from the new server you should see the old content. In case the links are broken or the pages are not opening then you
should open the admin page http://newserver/wp-admin and click edit on any post. click on the changepermalinks. select the default option and save. This will reset all the links for
the pages according to the newserver. You can later change the permalinks again to some other option.

Following the above steps should help in migrating the site.
Note: you can directly copy the old wordpress files and old database without installing a fresh copy of wordpress. I tried it but was getting some errors. So I would suggest follow the above steps.

"Big Bang Theory" and the technology

"Big Bang Theory" and the technology
The popular sitcom "Big Bang Theory" has become a means to promote the new technologies by making their characters talk about them. Some of the stuff that has been talked openly on the show is :

1. Google Earth
2. Google Street View
3. Gmail
4. Java applets
5. Twitter
6. Facebook
7. Second Life
8. MySpace
9. Tivo
10. iPod
11. blog
12. yelp
13. iPhone
14. twitter
15. Mobile apps
16. Android
17. Kinect
18. Siri

There has been an instance of the latest movie flick "Slumdog Millionaire" being discussed.
Feel free to add to the list if you find any thing that I am missing out

My experience of Sillicon valley culture in Bangalore

Since my childhood days I am hearing about the stories of how two guys in sillicon valley met over the lunch and they started a company. In the evening guys meet in the restaurant to discuss projects and sign million dollar deals and so on. I always wanted to be a part of the story (may be just a guy sitting on the next table!!!).
So here I am standing in the billing line of a grocery store in Bangalore (my wife kicked me out of the bed to get some vegetables). I am still cursing my wife for spoiling my weekend morning and then I hear some conversation between two guys which goes like this
Guy1: Good morning Vivek how are u? Seeing u after a long time.
Guy2: hey man...Ya I was travelling. Just returned from US
Guy1: Man do you know some symbian sofware developers for mobile phones...I have 2 openings in my company
---(Suddenly my ears turned to that guy)
Guy2: I might be knowing 1 person but not sure whether he is looking for a change
Guy1: Find out some good developers I can be very generous about the compensation....

And that conversation finally ended with the exchange of their new phone numbers and home addresses. Both of them were some HR managers in two very reputated companies (cant disclose the name...)
But  I got a  flavor of what it is to be in a Hi Tech city like Bangalore...there are opportunities waiting for u even in the grocery shop so always keep your eyes and ears open.

Few points on Blogging

Today's scenario:

Bloggers are affecting the election
newspapers,radio,tv are loosing their advertising revenues
2005 is known as the year when print journalism began to die
Blogging is new media journalism
podcasting is new media radio
video blogging is new media tv
all this is new media marketing

3 biggest problems of today
1. How to put the websites
2. how do i get the traffic(viewers)
3. building a list who trust you and love you.
It all depends on building the relationships

Why do you want audio and video blog
word press: it is a blogging platform
WordPress is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. What a mouthful.
WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.

Old media is very expensive compared to the internet media

Blog?
Web pages that instantly communicate, educate,sell,announce and have dialogue to the world in text, audio or video.

You become findable. other people can put your references and you become more popular.
The s/w is free
People can  instantly receive your updates by RSS
RSS can get you the content from where ever you want
You can put the audio content on i pod

Apple TV and Tivo can play your podcast and Videos in your subscriber's living room (http://www.apple.com/appletv/)

There are number of rss reader
1.Google
2.yahoo
3.feed reader

itunes has 1 click rss subscription for the podcast and video cast

the old media is a interrupting advertising. They are showing the ads which no body wants to see.
They are broadcasting spam. during cricket match who wants to know about fair and lovely ad

TV advertisers are now turning to online ads

What is new media marketing?
it is a conversational marketing rather than the interrupting marketing
like ad sense, rss based news
New marketing works on the viral behavior i.e. the word of mouth

podcast:audio blog There are software available for preparing an audio blog. sony has one

you should be able to make three types of content:mp3,flv,mp4
through the www.blogmediauploader.com you can upload your audio/video on to your blog
your setting should be 22.5-56k mp3

YahooMap Api for Flex 3 is Buggy

I have been using Yahoomap API for quite sometime. There are some annoying bugs which gave me a tough time.
Some of the bugs related to the marker manager are:

1. _yahooMap.markerManager.markers.splice(1,1);
    does nothing. Even though the markers is an array and  should allow the Splice operation to go through but nothing happens

2. _yahooMap.markerManager.removeAllMarkers()
    gives an annoying error.""Error# 1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference"


3. _yahooMap.markerManager.removeMarker(obj as Marker) is also buggy.
 The intended behavior its that it should just remove the particular marker that is passed in the call, instead it removes all the markers that are present after the specified marker. So assuming if the markers array is [1,2,3,4] where the numbers are the marker ids. The call _yahooMap.markerManager.removeMarker(2) will give [1] instead of [1,3,4]


4. _yahooMap.markerManager.pop(): doesnot remove the element from the markers array it just gives the reference to it. So even after the pop() operation the marker manager will contain the recent most marker.

Solution for removing the markers from the marker manager
I have used the a work around for removing the items from the marker manager. I exploited the current behavior(buggy one see point 3) of _yahooMap.markerManager.removeMarker(obj as Marker).

The function is removing all the elements that are present after the marker passed in the call. So I am passing the recent most marker so that it removes latest marker and the markers after that (which will be null). Let me give one example
say the marker manager contains markers #: 1,2,3,4
we will use the following code to remove the markers. so after every pass we get
pass 1: 1,2,3 (4 is removed and there was nothing after that so only 4)
pass 2: 1,2   
pass 3: 1
pass 4: null


    private function removeYahooMarkers():void
        {
            var len:int=_yahooMap.markerManager.markers.length;
            for(var i:int=0;i<len;i++)
                {
                var obj:Object= _yahooMap.markerManager.markers.pop();
           
                if(obj!=null)
                _yahooMap.markerManager.removeMarker(obj as Marker)
                if(obj==null)
                return;
                }
           
        }




Even the overlayManager is buggy.
There is some refresh problem. In case of removing any overlay, the overlay manager does not refreshes the overlays array.
So if you do
_yahooMap.overlayManager.removeAllOverlays(); it would have removed the overlays internally but the overlays array still contains the references (something like dangling pointers in C/C++)
one workaround is to just call the removeAllOverlays(0 again so
            _yahooMap.overlayManager.removeAllOverlays();
       _yahooMap.overlayManager.removeAllOverlays();