Wednesday 9 December 2009

Mobile Platforms & Diversification - how ~they~ are killing mobile developer productivity & profits

Samsung recently announced Bada OS with much fanfare & a competition - Yay!

This got me thinking yet again as to why any developer should support / build for it? What is the killer feature which will make me want to invest in building apps for this platform? Apart from the fact that it has a large market share - nothing. I am not trying to second guess Samsung's intentions in bringing Bada to life - I mean rather than choosing from choice list of OpenSource OS choices these days (Android, Symbian & Maemo ...) - they probably know what they are doing. As long as a mobile manufacturer provide ways to port our existing apps using a standards compliant platform we are game.

Diversification of Mobile Platforms today is killer of mobile developer's productivity (& profit). We are forced to choose a platform and stick with it - I guess this will start becoming a common place & the best platform will eventually win. Many developers will only focus their efforts on one platform. Btw: It already started happening.

I am more than happy to support any platform which comes to play. So long as I can find developers for the given language needed for the platform, the platform is standardised (eg. Java) & deploying/porting the app to a platform does not involve rewriting it from scratch. 

Between guys, Qt is one amazing platform - played around quite a bit and I have to say I am impressed. Hope iPhone would one day be fully supported along with SymbianMaemo. Also fingers crossed as to whether Bada would be on the list of supported platforms for Qt.