Want to program SMS on the Android? Download this sample chapter from my book!

Want to program SMS on your Android phone? Download this sample chapter from my Android book and have fun!

My new book "Beginning Android Application Development" is released (in US for now)

Source: http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/wrox/~kJGj2. Thanks, Jim!

Coming to Singapore real soon!

New batch of Advanced iOS Programming graduates

Here is the latest batch of the graduating attendees from my Advanced iOS Programming course on the 24-25 March 2011!

Check out the next run of the iPhone series of courses here.

Course Schedule for 2Q 2011

Here is the schedule for the various courses in 2Q 2011

April

* Foundation of iPhone Programming - 7-8 April

* Programming iPhone USer Interface - 13 April

* Advanced iOS Programming - 14-15 April

* Android Programming - 28-29 April

May

* Foundation of iPhone Programming - 9-10 May

* Advanced iOS Programming - 12-13 May

* Android Programming - 18-19 May

* Windows Phone 7 Programming - 26-27 May

NEW WEEKEND CLASS

* Foundation of iPhone Programming - 21-22 May

June

* Foundation of iPhone Programming - 13-14 June

* Advanced iOS Programming - 16-17 June

* Android Programming - 20-21 June

* Windows Phone 7 Programming - 23-24 June

Some of our satisfied customers!

Foundation of iPhone Programming - 21-22 March 2011

A big thank you to those of you who attended the Foundation of iPhone Programming course on the 21-22 March 2011. It was indeed a fun 2 days of intense iPhone programming. I hope that with this course you are now equipped with the knowledge to develop your first killer iPhone application!

Check out the next run of the series of iPhone courses here.

* As my book - Beginning iOS 4 Application Development, is currently out of stock in Singapore, participants will only get a copy when the new stocks arrive in mid-April. My sincere apologies for this.

Speaking at DevTeach 2011

I am very excited and honored that I have been invited to speak at DevTeach 2011, to be held in Montreal, Canada., on May 30-June 2011. I will be speaking on two sessions on iPhone development. One topic will be on location-based services, and another will be on iPhone Bluetooth programming using the GameKit. If you are around during that time, be sure to say hi! See you in Canada!

Check out the speaker list if you want to know who else will be there.

Courses in April 2011

Backed by popular demand, here is the schedule for the various courses in April:

* Foundation of iPhone Programming - 7-8 April 2011 (was 11-12 April 2011) *updated

* Programming iPhone UI - 13 April 2011

* Advanced iOS - 14-15 April 2011

* Android Programming - 28-29 April 2011

Download the course brochures and application form here.

How the Nokia and Microsoft collaboration will affect mobile developers

By now, you should have heard of the announcement of Nokia's collaboration with Microsoft to put their Windows Phone OS onto their devices. The following are some of my thoughts on how this collaboration will affect mobile developers.

This is definitely a win for Microsoft. Having a partner strong in hardware is definitely going to drive up the reachability of the platform. And Nokia has always been good in their hardware, hence Microsoft will get a lot of additional exposure, apart from the usual hardware partners like Samsung, HTC, LG, and others.

I am not sure if Nokia will win in the long run. In the short term, this may drive up the sales for it's hardware, but Nokia's pace will likely be dictated by the timeline of the Windows Phone OS. Whatever hardware innovations they have will be subjected to the support of the OS. We do not know the detailed arrangements, but I doubt Microsoft will customize the OS too much to suit each device manufacturer's request as other device manufacturers will also want the same treatment. Also, by this collaboration Nokia is directly jumping into the boxing ring together with the other devices manufacturers, and will now face the other very stiff competitors such as HTC, Samsung, LG, etc, who already have a head start in supporting the Windows Phone OS.

I think the overall success factor affecting Microsoft (and Nokia and other device manufacturers) is their ability to build a successful ecosystem. Having a good ecosystem will get people to buy your devices, and when people buy your devices, developers will come. This is very much a chicken-and-egg problem - there are no users if there are no apps, and if there are no users, there are no apps.

Personally, I would think that Nokia is buying time to get their MeeGo OS ready. This is very much like the early day of Steve Jobs' return to Apple, where he collaborated with Microsoft by bundling Internet Explorer with the Mac OS. In return, Microsoft agreed to invest in Apple and committed to continue writing apps for the platform.

Obviously, if you are a Symbian developer, this is really bad news. I don't think there is much you can do now, except to learn a new platform as soon as you can. The good news is that the Windows Phone platform is very easy to pick up. Experienced C++ and Java developers should have no problem in learning the .NET Compact Framework, which supports languages such as VB.NET and C#.

If you are a Windows Phone developer, this news could not be better - you now have a wider customer base to reach out for. If you have been hesitating to get onto this platform, there is no better time than now.

If you are an Android developer, there is little impact for you, as Android devices are already flooding the market today. And there is no certainty that Nokia might not look to Google for another partnership. Look at Motorola, their devices run on all sorts of platforms, such as Windows Mobile, Android, etc. Moreover, 2011 is the year of tablets, with the Motorola Xoom stealing the limelight at this moment.

What about iPhone developers? This is not going to change your world as you have enough devices to keep yourself busy for a while - iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad. And oh yes, the new iPad 2 will make things even more exciting, not to mention the up-and-coming iPhone 5.

In short, this year is going to be a very exciting time for mobile developers, only if you choose the right platforms to hedge your bets. For me, I am putting all my money on Windows Phone, Android, and iOS.

Learn Windows Phone 7 Programming today!

For those of you sitting on the fence, think no further. With the collaboration of Microsoft and Nokia, Windows Phone 7 is set to be the next mobile platform that you cannot simply ignore.

Here is the series of articles on Windows Phone 7 programming that I have written to get you started:

* Introduction to Windows Phone 7 Development

* Building Location Service Apps in Windows Phone 7

* Web Access in Windows Phone 7 Apps

When you are ready to learn more, come join me in the upcoming course on Windows Phone 7 programming on the 28-29 March 2011.

Download the course brochures and application form here.

Learn Android Programming Today!

According to the ComScore report released on Monday, Android has overtaken BlackBerry as the most popular smartphone platform in the US. Going forward, Android is definitely going to eat into the market share of other smartphone vendors, such as Apple's iPhone and Nokia's Symbian.

Now is the perfect time to start learning about Android programming. And what's more, get a head start today so that when Android 3.0 is released, you would be well equipped to tackle Android tablet programming!

Download the course brochures and application form here.

Register for the Android Programming course on the 17-18th March 2011 today!