How Developers Can Prepare Apps Under GDPR Regulation

GDPR Regulations or General Data Protection Regulation is on the floor for mobile app users in European nations, is a sort of gift. Of course; your privacy is your privacy, no intruder allow getting in. The best mobile app development companies in the US were also talking about the implementation of GDPR in their app development process.

Before you judge me with this statement, let me remind you that the app development process is not limited with geographical boundaries. So, an app, which is getting developed in the US might be used in Canada or maybe some other European country. This increases the responsibility of mobile app developers to prepare apps under GDPR regulation keeping the safety and regulation norms in mind. The experts have to come on a single platform and use these concerns to prepare apps under this new regulation.

Users' choice to opt-in or opt-out with consent



When a user installs an app in own device, it won't take permission rather it just ask for the need to accept the terms to go ahead in the installation process. At least, Android users don't have a choice here to opt-out for sharing of personal information and data.

Mind you, the Android users are 79% in the Smartphone market segment; yes, there is a need for user consent. Mobile app developers should ask users to opt-in at the right time, and this be implemented with the consent toolkit for developers. Here is the catch, most of the apps ask for consent at the wrong timing. And, they should know that they are in control. It would be great for users, if they can choose what to share and what not.

Managing consent across devices



When your user switches from one device to another device, it would be easier to get the same Android account on the new device. But, does that work for other apps too, Why there is a need to discuss it, because if a user does this many of times or even once; this would be difficult to identify that whether to update those privacy settings and opt-in/opt-out consent once again. The user settings synchronization should be there else continue using the same account without the update will be against of user's interest.

Organizing the user's opt-out request with respect



Mobile app developers should understand that user's choice should be on the priority, why we need to take care of that, because when an app allows the user to choose "opt-out" for some of the permission or all; it won't change the user experience. This has been to be there with all the fully functioning features of any app. Let's say a cab booking app wants to use your pictures from the device, if you deny then it shouldn't stop you to use all the features. Developers should incorporate all such features with the consent toolkit.

Integration of user consent preference with other third party apps/tools



The Smartphone we use is not the just the single component, it has a club of various hardware components, software, and applications. This is the basic need when it has to integrate the "opt-out/opt-in" consent with all available third-party apps and tools. While developing the app, it should be there to have sync with all such third-party apps, tools, and hardware so there would be no case of losing data by any mean. When a user agreed to share contact list with one app should be limited to that particular one only. It shouldn't be shared with anyone, else it will be a loss of user's privacy consent.

Wrapping up



Developers can't ignore or deny this regulation; this is also in favor of users so they need to keep it in mind. And, the internet world has no limit, so when going for any further development, mobile app developers have to follow GDPR.

Wilt Chamberlain - Track and Field at the University of Kansas (KU) In Addition to Basketball

Wilt Chamberlain is best known by sports fans as one of the most dominant basketball players of all time. To people less familiar with sports and basketball specifically the name Wilt Chamberlain might have a familiar sound because of his much publicized personal life. What many people do not realize is that before basketball became the focus of his life the first sport that Wilt fell in love with was track and field.

Chamberlain was born on August 21, 1936 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he had eight brothers and sisters that all came from the same parents of father William and mother Olivia. As a youth growing up in eastern Pennsylvania Wilt famously stated that his first reaction to the game of basketball was that he considered it to be "a game for sissies." The sport that the young Wilt Chamberlain was exponentially more passionate about was track and field.

Before even reaching high school age the freakishly athletic Wilt Chamberlain is reported to have high jumped 6'6 "which is a mark that would win most high school varsity track meets. are understood to be as far as 22 feet. For comparison purposes almost all high school track athletes can not reach 22 feet in a running long jump and Wit is reported to have reached that length from a stationary standing amplitude jump position. broad jumping talents are perhaps to be expected considering what the public now knows about his success on the basketball court, however the track and field prowess that Wilt showed was not limited to jumping events.

Thanks to the long strides and powerful running style that Chamberlain employed he was a miraculous middle distance runner as his preteen times of 49 seconds in the 440 yard race (once around a standard track) and under two minutes in the 880 yard distance (twice around a standard track) are exceptional numbers for even a college athlete. Chamberlain excelled at every aspect of track and field including running, jumping, and throwing. He is reported to have tossed a shot put over 53 feet in his youth.

Chamberlain matured very quickly and continued to grow at a rapid pace. At the age of 10 the young man was already 6 'tall and when he started high school he was an astounding 6'11 ".a as 7'2" college freshmen playing basketball at the University of Kansas (commonly referred to as KU) the 240 pound Chamberlain could reach 9'6 "into the air just standing flat footed (no tip toes).

Wilt took up his first love of track and field at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas while also playing basketball there. The 7'2 "goliath ran a sub 11 second 100 yard dash and also thread the shot put 56 feet. and successfully won the Big 8 Conference high jumping competition three years in a row. In the world of track and field it is an extraordinarily rare athlete that can compete at the highest level in the shortest sprints, all the dumping events, and the throwing events This dynamic collection of talents is so rare in fact that Wilt might be the only man ever to possess this unique skill set.

Five Principles of Effective Communication

The problem with communication is the illusion that it has occurred . George Bernard Shaw

I'm sure this has happened to you: a college has just done the exact opposite of what you wanted him to do. How can that be, you ask yourself. I told him exactly what I wanted. Yes, maybe you told him but did you check that he was listening, that he understood, that he agreed and that he would carry out the required action? Obviously not. The first principle of effective communication is to get appropriate feedback.

The second principle of effective communications is to really connect with your audience. It is a fallacy that the the sending out of information is a communicative act. It is not, especially in the current climate where everyone is drowning in information that overwhelms on us all fronts. To connect with your audience you need to address their different needs as partners because communication is a two-way process. You have to decide what you want the outcome of your communication to: are you trying to inform, persuade, shock, praise, criticize, shame, please, inspire? Whatever your aim you need to plan your message, and the medium for the message, to trigger the emotional and cognitive responses that will ensure you engage your audience. And how do you know you've done that? By getting the appropriate feedback of course.

I learned this the hard way. As part of the induction for new staff, I used to produce a manual containing all the operational information that they needed. As time was always short, I would go through the headings with them and tell them to study it at their leisure. But nobody ever did. I was constantly bombarded with simple questions that were addressed in the manual. But it was my own fault. I should have set up a properly interactive session and followed that up with subsequent opportunities to study and discuss the information.

The third principle of effective communications is to listen and understand first. Do not send out a message until you know what your audience needs. If you are concerned about the quality of someone's work, for example, do not jump in and issue an official warning. First find out what the employee's perception is. Use active listening skills to really probe the situation. Reformulate the employee's words, for example, echo the last words of their sentences, invite them to say a little more if they are hesitant. That way, if you discover the family has a seriously sick child or a big financial problem, you will start to understand what is behind the poor performance. You can then decide on the appropriate action.

The fourth principle is to understand that communication is more than the surface meaning of words. You need to be able to interpret other people's messages. This is just another form of feedback. Let's say you make an announcement and your group is discussing the information with you. They may feel inhibited about disagreeing openly, but read the signs because you do not have to be openly aggressive to show disagreement: note the body language, the kinds of words they use, the tone of voice. Somebody who is receptive will give you eye contact, will lean forward and will participate by asking questions, or offering to assist in some way. Those who are not in favor will look elsewhere, maybe fold their arms, use vague language instead of precise terms.

The fifth principle is respect. I do not want to go over the top here because you may well ask who is she to question the behavior of the world's leaders? But it seems to me that many of the international political problems we experience are the result of lack of respect for the other party. Sure, it would be great if other nations did not want to develop nuclear weapons, if they had democratic governments, if they were not religious fanatics. But we do not produce good results by taking the view that western leaders know best. To communicate with those we want to persuade, we need to respect them. Just because they do not agree with us, does not make them inferior or wrong. They have cultural backgrounds and histories that have led them to a particular course of action. Only by respecting that hinterland can we expect to make progress towards cooperation. To translate that to the workplace, you will only gain the cooperation of employees if they know you respect them. If you base your communications on lies, if you try to mislead people, if you ignore their needs and rights, they will see that you do not respect them and they will lose respect for you.

So where does all this lead us? Simply to the point that if you are having communications problems, you can now start analyzing where you are going wrong. What sort of feedback do you allow for? Do you understand how to appeal to people's emotions, their reasoning powers? Do you understand what makes your audience tick? Have you tried to find out about their real lives and what is important to them? And are you showing lack of respect by trying to hoodwink them? By addressing these questions as fully as possible you will go a long way towards improving the outcomes of your communications.

10 Advantages Of Field Data Collection With Mobile Devices

Field Data Collection can be a very difficult and time-consuming process. Collecting field data manually requires a great supply of money, materials, staff and other resources. With such an investment comes the great responsibility of collecting the right data in the short amount of time, as the data collected on the field affects the productivity of the company.

All thanks to the ever-evolving technology, with the help of mobile devices seems to be the only solution to the challenges faced by the field data collection teams. This not only replaces the age-old obsolete Pen-Paper method of data collection but also provides new ways of utilizing the time of the workforce available on the field. The field data collection app is built suitable for all devices be it data collection app for Android or be it data collection app for iOS.

The mobile device based tools have been established in almost all developed as well as developing countries. It is but obvious that the companies which adopt this online method prosper more than the ones who are still stuck in the age-old methodologies.

Let's take a look at the advantages to executives and workers who have specialization in this area.

1. Supercharged Productivity



Mobile forms based platforms allow systematic and efficient organization of the data collected thanks to its real-time indicators. This allows a lot of time to be saved in collecting data and reporting it back to the head office. All the employee has to do is simply fill the form on his/her mobile device and submit them instantly for analysis.

2. Never Lose Data



Data, mostly old data is always required to verify or sometimes even to compare with the new data allowing a company to set new benchmarks and define long-term goals. The data collected on the mobile form is saved directly to the cloud. This helps in enabling the user to access the data whenever and wherever the user wants without the fear of ever losing the data.

3. Allows Collection Of Rich Data



Collection of just numbers and text is just like some other methods. But the collection of rich data is now possible all because of mobile data collection forms. Rich data includes things like images, location, audio, video and also scanning a barcode. This enables one to determine authenticities of the collected product or information.

4. Huge Cost Savings



Saving idle time and resources lead to the savings of huge amounts of money. Mobile forms do the same thing and cut costs in the processes like transportation or even cutting the use of paper and many more such things. As it also saves data to the cloud the losses occurring due to loss of data is also eliminated.

5. Works Even Offline



Mobile forms can be filled both online and in offline mode. This works very well as there are a lot of areas in the world which still do not have mobile network coverage. All the worker needs to do is fill in the form and save it to upload later whenever the device gets internet access.

6. Comparing With Other Data



It is very easy to compare data on field apps rather than comparing it manually. Data collected on the App can be easily compared with the already existing data. This allows the management to take important decisions that can further add to the productivity of the company in near future.

7. High Service Quality



Mobile forms do the evaluation of work in a faster and efficient way with great accuracy, This adds to the satisfaction of both the service provider and the customer.

8. Workflow Automation



Zero or minimum human interference minimizes the time required to do work and also eliminates errors made by humans. The workflow is made smooth as it is being automated and hence follow every step as set by the form builder at the start and is followed again and again without the actual involvement of the user.

9. Accelerated Process



Instant email of collected data is sent to the customers, colleagues, and partners instantly. The dispatch feature allows to assign jobs quickly and handle approvals with mobile workflows.

10. The Ease Of Use



Perhaps the best advantage of field data collection is its Ease of use. Mobile forms are prepared easily using drag and drop method on their websites. These data collection mobile forms are then distributed on the mobile devices of the field worker to fill up and provide necessary details.

iPad or Android Tablets: What's the Difference?

Which are best: iPad or Android tablets? What's the difference between them, and which should you choose? We will first discuss the Android and Apple software platforms in general, and then discuss them in terms of tablet computers, specifically the iPad 2 and the Android Honeycomb operating system used in the Motorola Xoom tablet.

The fundamental difference between the Apple and Android operating systems for tablet computers is that the Apple system is a closed system, specific only to apple devices, while Android is open source. That means that Android is free for developers to use, both in terms of designing apps to run with it, and in the hardware using it as a platform.

Android now belongs to Google, who purchased it form the developers Android Inc. in 2005. Google made it open source, under the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). It is available as part of the Apache free software license. In 2010, it was listed by Canalys as the best-selling software platform for smartphones worldwide.

A Common Platform

That's the background for Android, which is now being used in tablets in competition to Apple's iPad. Because the iPad uses a proprietary software platform, it is by nature more restrictive than Android devices, and there before does not have the same breadth of communication between devices as Android tablets would theoretically have. However, because Android tablets are in their infancy, this degree of platform commonality has yet to be used to any advantage.

In fact, it is highly likely that individual Android users will be protective of their own devices, and that the full benefits of a common platform are unilaterally to be developed. Because of this common platform, it is highly likely in the future that apps and other forms of software will tend to focus on Android rather than Apple. For now, however, there is still a larger choice of apps available for Apple devices than for Android tablets - but this is expected to be only a temporary situation due to development of Android apps is now continuous.

iPad 2 Vs Android Tablets

So how does all this translate into the hardware using each of the two operating systems? It is fundamentally now a comparison of the iPad 2 with the top Android tablets. There are several tablets that fail to match iPad let alone iPad 2, but there have been some good tablets developed using Android by top firms such as Acer, Samsung and Motorola, and is the latter that we should consider here.

The Motorola Zoom Tablet uses the Android Honeycomb OS, and is thicker and heavier than the iPad 2 (0.34 v 0.5 inches). Both have dual-core 1GHz processors, but the Zoom has 1GB RAM against the 512MB believed to be offered by the iPad 2.

One excellent feature of the Xoom is that you can plug it into your PC and access your files. You can transfer files or download from one the other. With the iPad 2 this is a ponderous process that has to be made through iTunes. No need you use iTunes to download music: you can easily download music to the Xoom tablet by drag and drop without requiring a massive ponderous iTunes file to stay on your memory.

Multitasking Comparison

Another advantage of the Android tablet is that it is true multitasking which the iPad is not. The iPad is more a matter of changing between tasks, with a small amount of processing in the background, but not true multitasking. There are many other benefits that the Android tablets can offer over the iPad 2, including more flexibility in file handling, and icon presentation. You are not restricted to Apple formats because you can use any that uses the Android open source software.

However, the iPad does have some advantages in addition to being thinner and lighter, and one of these is the number of available apps as suggested earlier. This is likely because most tablet apps are based on the iPad, and are generally developments of the apps developed for the iPhone. Now, however, an increasing number are being created on the Android platform, and it will not be long before they overtake the iPad apps.

Apple Fan or Android Fan

Ultimately, the choice between the iPad and an Android tablet, exemplified here by the Motorola Xoom, will probably come down to wherever or not you are an Apple fan. Apple fans will likely stick to the Apple product, while there currently appears to be no compelling reason why PC fans should go with the iPad rather than the Xoom - though there are more excellent Android tablets on the market.

The Android software platform has been slowly but gradually eating into the Apple market, and, as more firms offer their own versions of Android tablets, this competition against the iPad 2 will increase. Before long, the tablet market will be very similar to the current situation in the laptop market where we have those that go with the Apple way of doing things and those that prefer Windows. Except it is now Apple Vs Android. Who will win - you will decide that.

Comments: Time to Wake Up Because in 2007 Trading it is a Much Different Financial Market

Comparing the Widows Mobile and Android Develpment Platform

Mobile Development Platforms Comparison

Introduction

Software giants, like Google are disabling the other safe and established players in the mobile application development business. Newcomers like Android have led to significant structural changes on the future of mobile application development by imposing their rules. This changed environment not only brings additional opportunities, but also adds certain constraints. Developers today, need to assess their options and find out how they can benefit from this changed environment.

While mobile computing has addressed the attention of application developers, there has been very little work done to examine the programming ease of these technologies. Here we will take a look at two of the most widely available mobile development environments - Android and Windows Mobile and explore and assess these options from a developer's perspective.

Android

Android was released by Google in 2007, as an open source platform for mobile software development for smartphones. The Android platform was released as part of the Open Handset Alliance. The primary aim of this alliance was to set up open standards for smartphones. Android is basically a Linux based, open source operating system for mobiles. As a mobile operating system it allows developers to create managed codes in Java, by using Java libraries developed by Google. Not only does Android provide a mobile operating system including a development environment, it also offers a custom virtual machine known as the Dalvik Virtual Machine for running applications as well as acts as the middleware in between the operating system and the code. When it comes to application development, Android facilitates the usage of 2D as well as 3D graphical libraries, advanced network capabilities such as 3G, Edge and WLAN and a customized SQL engine for continuous storage.

Windows Mobile

Developed by Microsoft, the Window Mobile is an operating system for mobile devices. Based on the Microsoft Windows CE 5.0, Windows Mobile is used as an operating system on many smartphones, PDAs, and touch screen devices. Windows Mobile facilitates the creation of custom written applications in managed as well as native codes. The Application Programming Interface (API) in Windows Mobile is extensible and has rich features along with a programmable layer. Beside that Windows Mobile also takes advantage of the capabilities provided by Microsoft.Net environment.

We will compare these platforms and closely examine their strengths and weaknesses. The platforms will be compared on the basis of implementation and performance aspects as well as developer support. We have chosen these criteria for the comparison as they represent the most important aspects when it comes to mobile software developers.

Implementation

We will use persistent storage as the basis for comparing the implementation aspect. The technology used for persistent storage in mobile technology varies between various mobile development environments. Both Windows Mobile and Android have the ability to use an on-device database which facilitates easier manipulation as well as extraction of data. Also, as far as local file storage is concerned both environments support memory cards for additional storage space. However, the difference lies in the way the storage space is exploited. While Android can not install applications on memory cards, Windows Mobile allows it. Both Android and Windows mobile platforms have a relational database. Also, in both the platforms and the libraries have quite a few useful persistence features. Once the libraries have been initialized, access to database is available via an object oriented interface which can be easily accessed by developers.

Performance

Performance figures are important for both users as well as developers. The performance comparison of the two platforms will be transported out based on the file size. The basic purpose of measuring file size is to get a better idea of ​​the configuration as well as the run time dependencies that are included in packaged applications.

Android applications come packaged in apk (Android Package) files. The .APK file generally has a group of .DEX (Android program files), which operate like a single application file for use within the Android platform. The .APK file is basically the compressed version of the contents in the 'Androidmanifest.xml' file.

Windows Mobile applications make use of cab-files for application packaging and deployment. The first step while making a distributable file, involves packaging the application in a CAB (Cabinet) file. This CAB file can be deployed to other devices where it can be expanded and installed. A CAB file is basically an executable archive which contains the application, resources, dependencies like DLLs and other resource files.

A comparative study of mobile development environments was conducted by Tom Morten Gronli, Jarle Hansen and Gheorghita Ghinea, of Brunel University, London. In this comparative study, a demo example application was created in both the Windows Mobile and Android development platforms to better illustrate the deployment file size for each application. The demo example application was a simple program which printed a line of text on the screen. The result from the code example was as follows:

• The deployment size of the demo application in the Windows Mobile environment was 2.8 KB.
• The deployment size of the demo application in the Android environment was 9.3 KB.

The file sizes as denoted were without any obfuscator or shrinker software. This is the type of file that an end user would either download or get shipped and then installed on his / her device. As can be seen from above, the demo application in Windows Mobile had a file size of 2.8 KB while Android was approximately three times the size at 9.3 KB. This serves as an indication of the total amount of configuration files and runtime dependencies which must be bundled together with each of the client applications. When it comes to the number of lines of code, Windows Mobile required only 11 lines whereas Android needed 28.

Developer Support Comparison

Developer support is a highly important aspect when it comes to gaining speed as well as quality during the development process. While both mobile development platforms do have similarities, there are some unique differences in developer support. The differences become clearer when we take the integrated developer environment (IDE) and the tooling into consideration.

The only choice for development in Windows Mobile is Visual Studio, which is again developed by Microsoft. With Visual Studio, Windows Mobile needs Microsoft backing before it can implement and ship new features in the IDE. The community can only make suggestions but does not have any direct influence. However, there is a positive side as consistency is assured. Also, the quality approval process implemented by Microsoft while shipping new products will assure quality.

On the other hand, there are several tooling options for Android, with quite a few IDEs. Android has open source communities who contribute to IDE development by providing as well as assuring quality of plugin functionalities for software. However, the multiple IDE environment can be quite a challenge for maintaining consistency and quality assurance. Consistency becomes a challenge as extension features may be available for only some of the competing IDEs. Quality assurance becomes a major challenge as development carried out by the community is not controlled by a common standard for quality required prior to making the new integrated developer environment feature available. Quality assurance of the delivered code is essential for delivering fully functional products. These two factors can potentially make code and application portability between environments impossible.

One of the differences between the Android and the Windows Mobile development platforms as far as developer support and quality assurance is concerned becomes more relevant in the testing environment. Let us take a closer look at this during unit testing of both development platforms.

Unit testing is basically a quality assurance and validation tool for testing small parts of a computer or mobile applications. The aim is to have each section isolated and tested separately. This will help to isolate and confirm the quality of the different units of the application.

Unit testing for Android is significantly straightforward as the API uses the JUnit test framework. The JUnit framework enforces hierarchical organization of the various test units which is a major advantage. Beside that, the JUnit pattern ensures independence of the test units as well as minimizes interference. This is done by first creating and then destroying the recently created test environment, before and after each test method is run. Android even takes JUnit a step further by allowing on device testing of the code. Here the test libraries are incorporated as part of the Android's standard libraries.

However, there's one challenge with Android's on device testing as compared to Windows Mobile is the results' readability. Android's on device tests do not have a user interface which can display the test's results. In order to view results of the test, a handler which deals with callbacks from Android's test runner has to be implemented.

Windows Mobile on the other hand exhibits a high degree of readability and visibility, while the Android platform is a bit hard to use when it comes to efficiency. The difficulty with Android is the lack of feedback, which is issued automatically through visual tools in the integrated development environment in Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile implements a version of the xUnit framework. The code for test classes is kept in a separate project, although it still exists inside one solution in the IDE. Like Android, Windows Mobile's xUnit testing also allows on device testing. The biggest difference here, as stated earlier, is its test feedback. Windows Mobile has a more comprehensive user interface which offers feedback based on each test run. This makes it easier for developers to better understand which test succeeded and why a particular test failed.

Debugging support is also important for application development as it is a real time step by step code execution, which can help find and fix bugs. The debugging process will be dependent on the integrated development environment to perform its task. Both Windows Mobile and Android platforms support step by step debugging. Beside that, both platforms also include an on device debugging feature that lets an application run on a mobile device while debugging runs in the IDE.

Conclusion

Both Android and Windows Mobile have the advantage of being closely integrated with the mobile phone's operating system. This is what results in great integration between the mobile device and the development environment. The primary strength of Windows Mobile is in its close connection with Microsoft, as a sole vendor. This ensures the stability of the development environment as well as high quality assurance when it comes to features enabled for application developers. Android on the other hand, has brought an interesting way of distributing apps through the Android market. As the Windows Mobile development platform is a product from Microsoft, it is Visual Studio based. Visual Studio also relates on the Windows operating system, so you do not have any choice here. For Android on the other hand, Google offers the Eclipse plugin. Developers are not locked into Eclipse as both IntelliJ IDEA and Netbeans provide developer support. This means that developers are free to choose the IDE and operating system they want. Development ease in various areas will have a major impact on the choice of the mobile development platform for creating assistive environment applications.