Which Phone To Develop For?

Rob MacKenzie writes "I have to decide on a mobile phone to develop for. We're building a house with some automation built in, and we want the mobile phone to be able to control certain aspects of it, and retrieve information on what's going on in the house. Our choices are the usual suspects: Apple's IPhone, RIM's Blackberry, Nokia's line (Symbian), any Android phone we can get in Canada, J2ME generic app, or a Web-based UI we would interact with in the phone's browser. What would you choose if you had to go with one? Which exact model? We will be buying a few to develop for, so price is a bit of an issue."

Comments

I'd go iPhone:

[nweaver]

You can target the iPod touch as well as the iPhone, and can develop on the iPod touch as well as the iPhone ($220 development platforms with no per-month cost).

You have some very interesting features (accelerometer, GPS, camera) which make for some particularly interesting ideas

You have a large installed base thats still growing rapidly.

And apple takes only a 30% cut of revenue, in exchange for a nice distribution mechanism.

Re:I'd go iPhone:

[geekoid]

"And apple takes only a 30"

Only?

Re:I'd go iPhone:

[SanityInAnarchy]

You're practically self-parodying here...

You can target the iPod touch as well as the iPhone, and can develop on the iPod touch as well as the iPhone ($220 development platforms with no per-month cost).

Excluding, of course, the per-month AT&T contract.

You have some very interesting features (accelerometer, GPS, camera) which make for some particularly interesting ideas

All of which exist on other phones.

You have a large installed base thats still growing rapidly.

vs, say, J2ME, which has a huge install base that shows no signs of collapsing.

And apple takes only a 30% cut of revenue, in exchange for a nice distribution mechanism.

"Only" 30%? And they can pull the plug on your app any time they want.

All you've managed to do so far is to show that it could work, not why it's better than anything else.

Re:I'd go iPhone:

[bjackson1]

You're practically self-parodying here...

You can target the iPod touch as well as the iPhone, and can develop on the iPod touch as well as the iPhone ($220 development platforms with no per-month cost).

Excluding, of course, the per-month AT&T contract.

You have some very interesting features (accelerometer, GPS, camera) which make for some particularly interesting ideas

All of which exist on other phones.

You have a large installed base thats still growing rapidly.

vs, say, J2ME, which has a huge install base that shows no signs of collapsing.

And apple takes only a 30% cut of revenue, in exchange for a nice distribution mechanism.

"Only" 30%? And they can pull the plug on your app any time they want.

All you've managed to do so far is to show that it could work, not why it's better than anything else.

Excluding, of course, the per-month AT&T contract.

Yep, last time I used my iPod Touch I had to pay AT&T. Learn to read, please. You have some good points about J2ME, but spouting off non-sense doesn't help.

web based

[thetoadwarrior]

That way you can control things with or without the phone. Give it a simple interface and then you can use any phone or device with the web page.

YOu've missed the point

[geekoid]

Technology is becoming agnostic.
Build a 'phone' ready web page and stop worrying which device will connect to it.

You'll live in the house for decades...

[swb]

...but how long will any mobile phone technology last? Will you find yourself having to re-do it all every 5 years as phone/carrier makers obsolete what you developed for?

Web based makes sense since you could possibly transition to some other technology, or, more likely, a mobile device's web access will only get better making it in-place upgradable for a long time.

Building your software to target a specific phone technology just seems terribly shortsighted for something like a house.

(IMHO, the real answer is "none" -- home automation is of limited value past a programmable thermostat and ultimately an albatross of shit that doesn't work and is expensive and time-consuming to fix. Its frightfully expensive to maintain ordinary systems like windows, gutters, and roofs, let alone a whole complex automation system).

iPhone: low hanging fruit...

[AliasMarlowe]

>

You have a large installed base thats still growing rapidly.

A good fraction of said installed base has money to spend. All of them have a track record of being separated from their money with only moderate effort.

And separating other people from their money is the primary motivation for going into any business.