Tor-Morten Grønli

Android vs Windows Mobile vs Java ME: a comparative study of mobile development environments

In this paper we look at three mobile development environments: Windows Mobile, Java ME and Android. Through platform comparison, the different environments are examined closely and strengths and weaknesses are brought to life. In all three environments example applications are written to compare the environments in action on respective devices. Environment specific deployment files are created to illustrate amount of boilerplate code and overhead during deployment. Different key areas such as implementation aspects, performance aspects and quality assurance are compared to give an in depth overview of the status of the different platforms. Our results show that although the three environments are similar in some aspects they still represent three distinctive fields each with their respective characteristics. Through our code examples and platform comparison we come to the conclusion that the Windows Mobile and Android platform provides a better development environment, whereas Java ME still struggles with poor emulator support and incompatible implementations. The main features they have in common are also seen in trends directly visible in the programming languages such as unit testing, language features and end user distribution strategies. Big differences are highlighted when inspecting community environments, hardware abilities and platform maturity. This will have large influence on the choice of development platform for creating novel assistive environment applications.

Mobile Application Platform Heterogeneity: Android vs Windows Phone vs iOS vs Firefox OS

Modern smartphones have a rich spectrum of increasingly sophisticated features, opening opportunities for software-led innovation. Of the large number of platforms to develop new software on, in this paper we look closely at three platforms identified as market leaders for the smartphone market by Gartner Group in 2013 and one platform, Firefox OS, representing a new paradigm for operating systems based on web technologies. We compare the platforms in several different categories, such as software architecture, application development, platform capabilities and constraints, and, finally, developer support. Using the implementation of a mobile version of the tic-tac-toe game on all the four platforms, we seek to investigate strengths, weaknesses and challenges of mobile application development on these platforms. Big differences are highlighted when inspecting community environments, hardware abilities and platform maturity. These inevitably impact upon developer choices when deciding on mobile platform development strategies.

Cloud to Device Push Messaging on Android: A Case Study

In this paper we do a case study of the state of the art of push messaging for Android. We examine a technology called C2DM (Cloud to Device Messaging) and how well it integrates with cloud computing. In our investigation we look at the performance of the library, integration with Google App Engine and also the development tools including the API. We create an application using C2DM and do initial performance tests. In an attempt at making development of applications for push messaging on the Android platform simpler, and C2DM in particular, we introduce a new open source library we call Simple-C2DM.

Context-aware and automatic configuration of mobile devices in cloud-enabled ubiquitous computing

Abstract Context-sensitive (or aware) applications have, in recent years, moved from the realm of possibilities to that of ubiquity. One exciting research area that is still very much in the realm of possibilities is that of cloud computing, and in this paper, we present our work, which explores the overlap of these two research areas. Accordingly, this paper explores the notion of cross-source integration of cloud-based, context-aware information in ubiquitous computing through a developed prototypical solution. Moreover, the described solution incorporates remote and automatic configuration of Android smartphones and advances the research area of context-aware information by harvesting information from several sources to build a rich foundation on which algorithms for context-aware computation can be based. Evaluation results show the viability of integrating and tailoring contextual information to provide users with timely, relevant and adapted application behaviour and content.

PainDroid: an android-based virtual reality application for pain assessment

Earlier studies in the field of pain research suggest that little efficient intervention currently exists in response to the exponential increase in the prevalence of pain. In this paper, we present an Android application (PainDroid) with multimodal functionality that could be enhanced with Virtual Reality (VR) technology, which has been designed for the purpose of improving the assessment of this notoriously difficult medical concern. PainDroid has been evaluated for its usability and acceptability with a pilot group of potential users and clinicians, with initial results suggesting that it can be an effective and usable tool for improving the assessment of pain. Participant experiences indicated that the application was easy to use and the potential of the application was similarly appreciated by the clinicians involved in the evaluation. Our findings may be of considerable interest to healthcare providers, policy makers, and other parties that might be actively involved in the area of pain and VR research.

Integrated context-aware and cloud-based adaptive home screens for android phones

The home screen in Android phones is a highly customizable user interface where the users can add and remove widgets and icons for launching applications. This customization is currently done on the mobile device itself and will only create static content. Our work takes the concept of Android home screen [3] one step further and adds flexibility to the user interface by making it context-aware and integrated with the cloud. Overall results indicated that the users have a strong positive bias towards the application and that the adaptation helped them to tailor the device to their needs by using the different context aware mechanisms.

A Lightweight Architecture for the Web-of-Things

The past few years have marked a shift in Web development as users have become accustomed to Web applications with dynamic content and enhanced user experience. New emerging protocols and standards seek to provide increased flexibility by making available new models of interaction to Web applications. One such application is the Web of Things. In this paper, we propose a new lightweight architecture for the Web of Things, based on RESTful approaches. We further show, through a proof of concept application, taking a smart city as its context, how new technologies can be combined to support our proposed architecture and application development for the Web of Things. We argue that the use of protocols and standards such as WebSocket, WebSocket API, Server-Sent Events and JSON, the JavaScript Object Notation, can make the vision of the Web of Things a reality.

Towards end-user development of REST client applications on smartphones

HTML5 can be used to develop client applications by composing REST web services within the context of Web 2.0. However, the possibility of implementing cross-platform smartphone applications with REST services needs to be studied. Accordingly, we developed a REST-based cross-platform application with PhoneGap. The application was deployed on the Android, Windows Phone, and iOS platforms; subsequently we evaluated its usability. We observed that REST-based cross-platform smartphone applications can be implemented with HTML5 and PhoneGap, which can be scaled-up into a REST service composition tool. Moreover, the applications usability remains unaffected on the native platforms and adaptation required only minimal effort. We explore the implications of implementing cross-platform smartphone applications with REST services.A REST-based cross-platform application was developd with PhoneGap.The application was deployed on the Android, Windows Phone, and iOS platforms;.Usability of the application remains unaffected on the native platformsAdaptation required only minimal effort, mainly for SDK configuration

Evaluating the usability of a Virtual Reality-based Android application in managing the pain experience of wheelchair users

Pain constitutes an important medical concern that can have severe implications to a wheelchair users quality of life. Results from studies indicate that pain is a common problem in this group of individuals, having a reported frequency of always (12%) and everyday (33%). This incidence signifies the need for more applicable and effective pain management clinical tools. As a result, in this paper we present an Android application (PainDroid) that has been enhanced with Virtual Reality (VR) technology for the purpose of improving the management of pain. Our evaluation with a group of wheelchair users revealed that PainDroid demonstrated high usability among this population, and is foreseen that it can make an important contribution in research on the assessment and management of pain.

Progressive Web Apps: The Possible Web-native Unifier for Mobile Development.

A recent advancement of the mobile web has enabled features previously only found in natively developed apps. Thus, arduous development for several platforms or using cross-platform approaches was required. The novel approach, coined Progressive Web Apps, can be implemented through a set of concepts and technologies on any web site that meets certain requirements. In this paper, we argue for progressive web apps as a possibly unifying technology for web apps and native apps. After an introduction of features, we scrutinize the performance. Two cross-platform mobile apps and one Progressive Web App have been developed for comparison purposes, and provided in an open source repository for results’ validity verification. We aim to spark interest in the academic community, as a lack of academic involvement was identified as part of the literature search.