It definitely was a fun & educational weekend a couple weeks ago here in Boston for 2009’s Voices That Matter: iPhone Developers Conference. The hundred or so attendees all had their MacBooks out, taking notes, downloading presentations, and even coding as some of the speakers demonstrated the challenges of tomorrow and the best ways to tackle them. It was great to be in a building full of smart people — mostly developers, some designers, and some business folks — and be able to get different perspectives on where the iPhone and mobile in general is headed.

There were 20 presenters in total covering topics  ranging from app submission best-practices, to advanced accelerometer techniques, to hybrid app development, and more. I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of my favorite presentations and share some of the documentations (if available). Read more →

You’ll get a different response depending on who you ask, of course. The Google camp is definitely pushing the idea that browser-based applications will be the future of how people interact with and use the web, especially on mobile devices, but not everyone agrees. Seeing the incredible success of app stores (especially Apple’s) and the lukewarm excitement around web apps, it’s a tough position to take. Ultimately, I think Google’s predictions are correct but way premature.

There are many benefits of developing for the browser but also some big drawbacks. As the big picture of the mobile platform battles pans out, we’ll surely still a variety of options to develop for. Apple’s iPhone Google’s Android OS, and Blackberry will likely lead the pack with Win Mobile, Palm’s Web OS, Symbian, and others still fighting for a slice of the action. With such a fractured landscape, a browser solution would allow companies and individuals to develop a single application that’ll work across all platforms with powerful — most likely WebKit — browsers. This would not only ensure a consistent experience from device to device, but also greatly reduce the amount of time and money required for design, development, and maintenance. Although this sounds great, a lot still needs to happen before we’ll begin to see a browser-based app strategy really reach its potential.

I think two key things need to happen in the mobile ecosystem before the browser will be a real competitor to native apps:

1. The code needs to evolve. Although mobile browsers have made huge strides in the last couple of years, basic html, css, & javascript still wont be able to accomplish many of the more complex functions and visualizationsthat native apps currently support. With HTML 5 being right around the corner, that divide will still exist but it’ll be much less apparent.
2. Mobile data network connections need a boost. 3G networks are now fairly widespread across the planet, but downloads at around 1000kbps still wont cut it for most folks. The 4G speeds that WiMax and and other standards promise will be the boost many of us are looking for, but we’re still many years away from the painstaking roll-outs of these networks.

So is the future of mobile in the browser? Read more →