Saturday, October 26, 2013

Fifth generation iPad air gives more processing muscles to iPhone app developers

ImageCredit: apple.com
The fifth generation iPad air is here and it has again given enough reasons to iOS app development companies to make apps for it. The 5th generation iPad is bundled with a lot of great features packaged in a rectangle weighing just a pound. There are so many other tablets in android including the high-end Xperia but an iPad’s utility and magic is simply unmatched and the fifth generation iPad air takes it further.

Retina display-

iPad app development experts will now work with a cluster of 3.1m pixels spread across a resolution of 2048by1536 compared to a standard 1024by768 of its predecessors. The retina display makes the fonts, graphics and other detail life like and stands out valuable for app makers.

More processing power and M7 co processing-

The new iPad air is packed with a powerful a7 chip as compared to an a5 that its predecessor carried. But the 5th generation iPad is also installed with an m7 co processing unit for separate buffering and processing of graphic details. Game developers are going to love the M7 as it will allow them to add advanced graphic details which will be executed with fluidity and zero lag.

The light weight advantage for people-

The iPad air is just a pound heavy which means all that power and performance is packed in a 9.7 inch glass and aluminum plate that is not even half a kilogram in weight. It leverages the accessorial likeliness of the device and makes is sellable to the common crowd.

Upto 300mbps wifi with many utility apps preinstalled-

The new iPad boasts wifi speed upto 300 mbps with multi location LTE connectivity. It also comes with some essential iPad application that makes it ready to use from the first moment itself.

The iOS 7 advantage and iCloud-

iPad air lets user manage their files over iCloud and makes it extremely easy to manage and access their files irrespective of their location of access. The iOS7 interface is undoubtedly the best Apple users have ever used for multitasking and experience.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Essential 5 tips on last minute usability testing (testing)



Usability Testing serves as a major phenomenon in the field of Quality Assurance. When your software is about to be launched online or if it already has its presence online, it literally requires to fulfill the requirements of its expected clients or its existing customers respectively; to establish its presence in the market. Every aspect of usability testing is strictly client centric and it makes sure that the features are accurate from the user’s point of view.

Similar to the other tests, Usability Testing requires to be conducted early in the development process, before the launch and post launch, that too on frequent basis. Particularly when the software is undergoing some changes it becomes essential to keep a tab on the alterations and rectify them to assure that they fit in the user friendly criteria.


Mobile App Usability Testing
For instance, Mobile App Usability Testing and mobile app performance testing especially of an iPhone or Android applications is must. The launching moment for the applications can be associated with a do or die situation for any company.  At this very moment the testers have to be sure that the basic as well as major functioning are fixed and hence a last minute testing becomes must and holds a vital place in the entire QA process.Hence, these five tips ensure the efficiency of the software when carried out at the crucial moment before releasing the software.


Create consistent Testing environment: A reliable environment for testing lets the testers conduct the tests at a faster pace of three to four tests in a row which works in the favor of last minute testing. Rather than having to coordinate in-person usability testing, which takes days to plan and conduct, a focus on remote testing comes in handy because it speeds things up considerably.  

Definable Actions: Any application that is new to the user requires being logical and easy on browsing. If the user lands on the application but finds no upright instructions to move ahead then there are chances of them leaving the application promptly or they might just keep wandering uselessly.

Logical Layout: The testers need to ensure at the final moment that the layout of the pages of software is according to the predicted layout during development stage. Before making it live, it becomes vital to place the related links together. Hence, these factors should be sorted out at the moment.

Have best users on your side: To obtain a genuine feedback on your software it is an excellent idea to keep authentic users on your side. These customers in usability testing database are ready to help at a moment’s notice, so the process is quick and painless. By creating a database of the best, easily-accessible users the QA team can cut off lots of time from the testing process.

Togetherness of the team: A last minute testing requires the entire team to come together and make a successful usability testing possible. The team consists of product managers, interface designers and front-end developers. While the testers make necessary changes at the last moment, these professionals can guide them accurately at various stages which consequently increases the efficiency of the usability testing.  
However the area of testing is so vast that there is always a room for improvising the process of Usability testing. Having a successful process in place and knowing how to manipulate it when under pressure becomes the key to grant the customers a better user experience. The QA professionals at Openxcell Technolabs with an immense of experience have unlocked the key and are providing the foremost testing services.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Time for Unity3D to lead the race, Integrates 2D native tools & Windows Store!

Unity 3d has remained as one of the most popular cross platform game development platform. There is a large brigade of unity 3d game developers out there and they are aggressively making the next cross platform apps. After making games like bad piggies and others; the company has announced that the platform will not limit itself to the 3d game genre only. The company will also expand into 2d game development. Looking into that the popular gaming engine has integrated 2d native tools. Unity 3d game development experts can also enjoy the windows store integration that gives them a new platform to work on and deploy apps.

The update comes with the version4.2 where the company has taken utmost care to take the gaming engine to the next level. Unity 3d developers can now enjoy richer graphics from the engine including anti-aliased render textures and a new batch of brand new image effects upon various graphic APIs. The basic compatibility match that used to be the platform’s strength, has remained the same, however a lot of improvisation has been done to the rendering speeds of the game engine. Integrating 2d native tools on the other hand will increase the number of unity 3d game developers. A 3d game engine with an ability to create 2d games too is a great choice for a game developer.

Unity 3d game development is a successful game development platform already. However an integration of these features would only act as a catalyzing factor for unity 3d game engine.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Android app developers need to see android from an exclusive POV

Fragmentation is a necessary evil that is faced by android app developers everyday when they make apps for the platform. Is that so bad to have fragmentation? Many experts from the industry look at the android fragmentation as a challenge for Google that makes the android experience inferior to iOS. Top it up with 3rd party apps created by android app developers and you are multiplying the magnitude of problems. Why tech experts are apprehensive about android’s fragmentation and how did it originate?

Looking through the lens of Apple-
The industry still looks at the iPhone as the standalone device that must be used as a verifying tool for app performance. Call it a practice that generated from the legacy of the iPhone or its consistency, developing the android app after iPhone can only harm the android app. Having said that, android app development companies should understand that, comparing the fragmented android market against the iPhone is not wise. Infact android app developers should dodge that line of thinking and conceptualize their apps by segregating their apps into 3-4 major clusters.

Targeting and segmentation in android-
Android app developers who understand the dynamics of the play store tend to strategically conceptualize and create apps. Revenue generation in android is little tricky and it definitely needs more work than iPhone but it comes with a lot of revenue potential as well.Android app development can target specific segments with respect to hardware configuration, hence income demography as well. If free version apps optimized for these devices are coupled with in app purchases or followed by paid apps then android can easily be utilized for potential revenues.

In addition to it, lesser people are willing to pay for an iOS app now as they were before. More and more people are seeking free apps and that is something which would entice android app developer for future.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Mobile app development remains strong with touch screens while Blackberry seeks to avoid oblivion!

Around a year ago, mobile app development companies were in a fix when it came to making apps for blackberry. No one was willing to develop blackberry apps as they consumed too much of time and demanded customization across devices. Blackberry downplayed the touch screens and now in the midst of iOS and android race it is in a situation to face oblivion. iPhone app development and android app development experts opine that in an ecosystem driven by apps and touch screen experience, it is extremely difficult to sell BB handsets with physical keyboards. You might be probably thinking about the Z10 but again we have to stress on the idea of an ecosystem which it could not build as it arrive very late to the competition.

So what can Blackberry go from here?

Sell off to some company-

But it’s easier said than getting it done. Many experts say that acquiring blackberry feels like necrophilia. Now that state of mind sounds horrendous. But it is quite normal to think so. There is no utility that one can think out of blackberry devices at this moment. At the same time mobile app developers tend to avoid the BB OS while developing their apps. Infact Microsoft did pass by BB but decided to avoid it. Mobile app developers for windows are already facing a challenging time and bringing in BB will be simply suicidal. There is absolutely no sync at all. While MS is trying hard to master the touch screens and bank on its legacy software, BB hardware and software does not add value to the existing position of MS.

Tone down its workforce and concentrate on niche corporate market-

Thinking from a mobile app development company’s perspective, The central motive for blackberry is to bounce back to profitability. But it’s easier said than done. Blackberry tried its luck with the BB10 but it seems people do not want it. And that’s not all. According to a report published by Gartner, there is a latent encouragement from corporate to follow the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) model. According to Gartner companies which have ditched the BB infrastructure and encouraged their employees to bring their own device, have saved more than $50/month/employee. On the other hand mobile app developers are trying hard to come closer and fill up the voids in corporate computing by developing more enterprise apps.

At this juncture BB can only focus upon the niche corporate segment where its hardware and infrastructure might still be relevant and strategize accordingly.

The hope for Blackberry becoming relevant to the generic consumer is narrow. While the company might bounce back to profitability, the scale of operations will definitely be much smaller.