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Feature sets are optimized to streamline common use cases Use typography to show hierarchy and importance Features are progressively displayed Large buttons are used to make interactions actionable

Designing with awareness to context will yield a more atomic design that instead of introducing users to a proverbial blank canvas, will guide them toward accomplishing important tasks. Having to deal with slow data speeds, high network latency, smaller screens, and an unpredictable mode of use only reinforce the need to isolate an application’s essential features and offer access to them when contextually appropriate. Next time you design an interface for a mobile device, remember to consider context of use and context of the medium as part of your design strategy.

Dealing with phone numbers and other mobile friendly data Displaying information on a smaller screen Not using a cursor Device speed and network latency

Context of the medium

To design an experience that can gracefully coexist with others tools, one needs to understand what kind of media can be processed by specific mobile internet browsers, and when onboard applications are launched.

Using traditional web development techniques of creating fluid designs that scale horizontally is the fastest way to deploy a single design to many different mobile devices.

hybrid apps, frameworks such as the open source PhoneGap library make it possible for JavaScript code to query the compass, take pictures, find or create contacts and appointments, and tap many other device features that mobile web apps are barred from accessing

Access to device features is not the only difference between hybrid apps and mobile web apps. Another important difference is that hybrid apps are mostly distributed through app stores: You don’t browse to a hybrid app

the leading smartphones and tablets have very powerful HTML rendering engines, which already support most of the upcoming HTML5 and CSS3 standards

Other organizations are developing hybrid apps, while planning to turn them into HTML5 web apps in the future without having to rewrite them from scratch

From a strategic point of view, development organizations should seriously consider adopting HTML for mobile app development sooner rather than later. The hybrid app model, although not suitable for all app development needs, provides a cost-effective solution for a very wide range of downloadable app types and allows gradual entry into the new world of HTML5 while future-proofing your investment.

enable magazine publishers... to deliver groundbreaking experiences across tablets, smartphones and other devices

The technology enables publishers to create digital publications featuring interactive content, such as videos, which can then be distributed across different tablet and smartphone platforms and adapted for other devices in the mobile market

The suite, which was unveiled at the Adobe MAX conference today, is expected to be publicly available in the second quarter of 2011

Table 11. Timers support compatibility tableBrowser/platformTimers availableTimers in backgroundSafariYesStopped. From iOS 4.0: continue working while in other browser's window.Android browserYesStopped.Symbian/S60YesStopped. From 2.2: continue working while in other browser's window.Nokia Series 40No webOSYesContinue working.BlackBerryNo NetFrontYesNo multitasking.Internet ExplorerYesStopped.Motorola Internet BrowserNo Opera MobileYesContinue working.Opera MiniNo Note:The Gmail for Mobile team discovered some issues with timer behavior on mobile Safari and Android devices, and made the results public in the team blog at http://www.mobilexweb.com/go/timers. The conclusions are: for low-frequency timers (1 second or more), there are no performance issues, and you can add as many as you want; for high-frequency timers (for example, 100 ms), though, every new timer created makes the UI more sluggish. The preferred solution is to use only one high-frequency timer.

if student satisfaction, engagement, and metacognitive awareness are all part of your definition of a successful course, then introducing Twitter in your classroom may be an option for you.

Twitter is not static. Rather, it is an interactive tool under learner control. Further, Maria Bannert refers to a metacognitive support device that “focuses students’ attention on their own thoughts and on understanding the activities they are engaged in during the course of learning.” When used explicitly as a tool to improve self-regulation through metacognitive support, Twitter becomes very effective.

Flash has not performed well on mobile devices

To achieve long battery life when playing video, mobile devices must decode the video in hardware; decoding it in software uses too much power.

The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.

Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover.

letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform.

Our motivation is simple – we want to provide the most advanced and innovative platform to our developers, and we want them to stand directly on the shoulders of this platform and create the best apps the world has ever seen. We want to continually enhance the platform so developers can create even more amazing, powerful, fun and useful applications.

But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

Publishing to Android Market incurs a one-off registration fee (US $25 at the time of writing) and, unlike Apple’s App Store which famously reviews each submission, makes your application available for customers to download and buy after a quick review process