Almost a year ago the rumor had, under the mysterious name "Spartan Project" by the development of a Facebook app store launched in HTML5 from the browser or mobile application (not just a way of accessing groomed the web version).
Over time eventually confirmed the rumors and the company has just officially announced the beta for its own App Developer Center so that we have seen and the resulting statistics and demographic data use may be associated with a very sweet dish for many developers.
But what is most important, and one of the true values of the App Center is not only facing the developer but for the user and the ecosystem where it has the bright idea of land. For example, in IOS is directly facilitating the arrival and enabling the use of applications that might otherwise be closed or limited by strict eligibility rules imposed by the company in his shop.
Thus, the Facebook App Center would make "app store app store inside." This being said, from within the App Center can establish links to an iPhone application or traditional Android, by pressing the "Install" button will open the corresponding window in the App Store or Google Play and after installation the user would perform the corresponding login with Facebook, which is a feature that every application present in the App Center should implement.
At the moment there are already some applications such as Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify or Viddy. The launch is expected within a few weeks, until then the developers have time to prepare your app to include the day of release in a section which can be accessed from the browser version but also from IOS and Android.
If you're diabetic, you'll know how frustrating it can be to check your blood glucose levels (even before you get your reading!). Plus, the method of
pricking your finger for a reading can lead to other nasty side effects, like possible infections. Fortunately, your iPhone's camera could be your way out of
the finger-pricking mess, with a gadget developed by a team of university researchers. researchers at Northwestern University created an iPhone case that
reads nanosensors used to measure ion and molecule concentrations. The sensors are made out of fluorescent polymer beads that take only seconds to make.
The sensor is then "tattooed" to an area of a patient's skin. With this in mind, a patient would be injected in the tattoo area with the nanomolecules-they
would then attach themselves to glucose in the patient and start releasing ions. Using a special reading case strapped to the iPhone, the patient's arm is
simply scanned by the phone's camera, and it gives a blood glucose measurement. The higher the glucose level, the more fluorescent the tattoo will appear on
the skin-remember the sensors on the tattoo are fluorescent so will be visable under certain light. The iPhone case contains a 9-volt battery, a filter that
fits over the phone's camera, and three different colored LEDs that produce the different levels of fluorescent light.
The LEDs and filter react to outside light and can fade the colors, so the gadget is placed onto the patient's skin at first to prouce a more accurate
reading. So, there may not be an app for that yet, but your iPhone certainly can be used for just about every aspect of your life.
Getting shot at by Taliban fighters and need to call an air strike? There's an app for that.
Tactical Nav can be downloaded to a smartphone to figure out where an enemy is firing from, and to call in an air strike or covering fire.
It was created by US army captain Jonathan Springer after two of his comrades were killed in a rocket attack.
He says it is as accurate as any technology currently in use for the same purpose, and far cheaper too.
Captain Springer is back in his Indiana home after a 12-month tour in Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne.
'Died instantly'
Over a beer, he remembers fallen comrades - and two in particular.
"Specialist Plunk and Specialist Thompson. We were in the Pesh River Valley. They took a rocket. Died instantly."
Those deaths, he said, got him thinking.
"What can I do to help prevent something like this in future?"
His answer was to create the Tactical Nav app, which troops can download to their smartphones.
"It combines three components," he said.
"A compass, a map, and a camera. It's pretty simple - but obviously it does a little more than that."
He said he's tested his app against everything currently in use in Afghanistan - and claimed it is just as accurate.
The app is designed to give soldiers exact co-ordinates for where enemy fire is coming from.
They can then send that information to their command centre, who will decide whether to call in an air strike, or send a rescue helicopter to help wounded troops.
"The first time I tried it for real," he said, "I sighed with relief.
"I could have got into trouble - but it worked.
"As a fire support officer, I take into battle a compass, binoculars, a map, a protractor, a GPS device - a secondary GPS device in case one fails - and batteries.
"What this does is, it combines all these components, and throws it into just the one app," he said.
'Soldier's lives'
But Captain Springer said he'd been disappointed that his US army bosses hadn't taken more of an interest in the idea.
He said he had spent about £20,000 (more than $30,000) of his own money - and that he asked the military for financial support.
"I emailed the army saying, 'I'm not looking for a pay-cheque, but are there any kind of grants or anything you can help me with?'
"They said, 'sorry, we don't have the funds right now'."
Captain Springer said he was "very frustrated" by that response. He called it "a slap in the face".
"It really hurts because I'm doing something for the troops. But it just motivates me to continue."
The US military didn't respond when Newsbeat asked them for a comment.
In the UK, the Ministry of Defence says it's "actively exploring" ways to use smartphones in recruitment and training, as well as on the battlefield.
Now, Captain Springer is selling his app to anyone that wants it - on the iPhone's app store.
Your next job: Mobile app developer? As market demand surges for apps to run on iOS, Android and whatever operating system will power the next wave of smart devices, companies are facing a dearth of mobile development talent. a website for freelancers, reports comparable demand: In the first quarter of 2011, there were 4,500 mobile developer jobs posted on the site an increase of 101 percent over the number of similar job postings in the same quarter last year. Market watchers say it's the ability to grasp mobile's new usage rules, and not simply the ability to master new programming skills, that separates those with an affinity for mobile development from those who just don't get it. All signs indicate there is a healthy demand for mobile app developers, but that demand isn't translating into widespread offers of full-time jobs on corporate IT teams just yet.
Since Aspen Skiing doesn't consider software development a core competency and can't accommodate a large IT staff, outsourcing mobile development seemed like the most efficient plan at least in the short run which is why the company turned to an outside consultancy to develop its mobile apps. The new hires have core development skills and some knowledge of mobile app development maybe not on a commercial scale, but they've done it in an academic environment as a project. Expertise in the specific APIs and user interface toolkits of major mobile platforms like Google's Android and Apple's iOS is a plus though a lack of such experience wouldn't necessarily mean you have no chance of becoming a successful mobile app developer, experts say. The way people interact with a laptop or a desktop is different than the way they interact with a smart device, says Hap Aziz, director of the Rasmussen College School of Technology and Design, which was among the first universities to launch a curriculum with a specific focus on mobile application design and programming. Learning by doing is the next best approach, and one likely favored by the bulk of existing IT professionals, according to Nick Dalton, owner of 360mind, an application development consultancy specializing in mobile apps.
That early training and exposure established him as a go-to resource once the Apple App Store was announced and the market for mobile app developers took off, enabling him to leave corporate IT and start 360mind. Today, 360mind employs nearly 20 mobile app developers and has moved away from building simple novelty apps to working on corporate initiatives that link both Apple iOS and Android apps to back-end enterprise systems. With no end in sight for the opportunities in mobile development, Dalton says this latest gold rush sends a clear message to fellow developers, system architects and Web designers: In today's global, outsourcing economy, you don't want to be stuck with outdated skills, he says. If you're coming from a multimillion-dollar enterprise server project where every decision takes forever, working on these small, self-contained projects around [mobile devices] is a lot of fun. Higher Ed adds mobile app development to the mix Against a backdrop of surging demand for mobile apps, Rasmussen College is one of the first higher ed institutes to launch a specialized curriculum in mobile App design and programming. Students first learn modern object-oriented programming languages such as Java and C++ and then dive into specific mobile development environments like Google's Android and Apple's iOS.
