Open Source Enterprise MBaaS platform: Get Started Guide

These are exciting times in the MBaaS (Mobile Backend As a Service) marketplace. The last few weeks have seen a couple of very strategic acquisitions that validate this new category of software in the mobile space.

At OpenMobster we are gearing up to become a major provider in the Enterprise space. While other MBaaS players are trying to figure out their niche (Consumer Apps, Enterprise Apps, or both), we at OpenMobster are primarily focused on mobilizing Enterprise backend data. Keeping that in mind, we constantly work on our Sync and Push services. Our next avenue is going to be creating a free and open source SDK for the SalesForce.com Cloud Service. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide a free and open source solution for Enterprises looking to build strategic mobile apps.

With that in mind, I would like to present a very simple Step-by-Step guide on how to get started with the OpenMobster MBaaS platform.


Step 1: Prepare the JBoss AS5 server with the OpenMobster Cloud Server
Download OpenMobster 2.4-M2 binaries. Extract the zip file. You should see a cloudServer folder among the list of folders in the binary distribution.
Download JBoss 5.1.0 server from here. Extract the zip file.
Now install the OpenMobster Cloud Server into the JBoss AS. You can do that by copying cloudServer/hsqldb/openmobster to the JBOSS_HOME/server directory

cp -r cloudServer/hsqldb/openmobster $JBOSS_HOME/server/openmobster

Step 2: Run the OpenMobster Cloud Server
Go to $JBOSS_HOME/bin directory. Inside there type in:

./run.sh -c openmobster

On Mac OSX and some flavors of Linux, you will find that you need Admin rights to run a web server on port 80. Hence, if you get an error binding to port 80, the above command needs to be:

sudo ./run.sh -c openmobster

Step 3: Run an Android Emulator or connect an actual device to the computer via USB

Step 4: Install the CRUD Sync App
Download the CRUD Android Sync App. Install this App onto the emulator or the device using the following command:

adb install -r crud-1.0-zipped.apk

Step 5: Activate the CRUD App with the Cloud Server
When the CRUD App is launched you will be presented with the Activation Workflow. It will collect 4 values:

Server: The IP or FQDN address where the Cloud Server is running. In case of an emulator connecting to localhost, you can use the value: 10.0.2.2

Port: Port where the Cloud Server is running. The default value is 1502 and is pre-filled

Email: A valid Email Address

Password: Password to be associated with this user/device

Thats it. In 5 easy steps you should be able to get up and running with an End-to-End Sync App with Push notifications.

I value community feedback very much. If you run into any unexpected issues with these steps, please report them in the Comments section. It will be of great benefit to the OpenMobster Community in general.

Next: Creating an Enterprise App using the OpenMobster MBaaS Platform

Thanks
Sohil
CEO, OpenMobster, Open Source MBaaS Platform

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Building an Enterprise Mobile Backend As a Service (MBaaS) stack

MBaaS, Mobile Backend As a Service platforms have come a long way in the last couple of years. What started off as a movement for helping Consumer App developers quickly build apps has now reached a specialization point. The MBaaS stack is now being specialized into a few verticals. Just last week OpenKit, Open Source MBaaS platform for Game Developers went live. Similarly, the Enterprise space is shaping up to be one such big vertical in this category. OpenMobster has always focused on the Enterprise space and catered its services towards mobilizing Enterprise data. With the Enterprise in mind, I would like to discuss in details what goes into building an Enterprise stack in mobile.

I stay up late at night wondering what services are relevant for the Enterprise mobile stack. So far I have come up with 4 services.

Data Synchronization 

In my opinion, data synchronization is the most important service for mobilizing Enterprise data. Apps have a local database to store Enterprise data in and work in both offline as well as online mode. However, data sync is the component that makes this a successful strategy to make sure the data integrity is always maintained between the local database and the remote database. A typical data synchronization service should provide the following features:

• Enterprise App Integration : A developer framework to integrate the backend Enterprise data with the Sync Engine. A good framework would provide a CRUD framework and not expose any Sync details to this component. This framework will also have provision to check data updates to the backend and communicate changes to the Sync Engine for pushing data updates to the devices. 

• Data Security: The data sync service should always provide the option to secure the local data by optionally allowing storage in an encrypted format. You should be able to access both encrypted or unencrypted data via the same API as a developer. Besides, data security at rest, it should also provide encryption of data in transit between the device and the Cloud. 

• Data Replication: Part and parcel of keeping data in sync with the backend is also replication, where data is kept in sync with other devices that are synchronizing their data with the backend. For instance, you could have multiple devices registered with the system for synchronization. If the data on one device changes, the same change needs to be replicated across the other devices. The data replication should be device platform agnostic.

• Offline Mode: With Data Sync you should be able to develop Apps that function 100% whether they are offline or online. When offline, the CRUD operations performed should be queued for synchronization when the network returns. The synchronization should be seamless and automatic when the device goes back into online mode. 

Data Storage

The backend provides a storage mechanism in the Cloud for data originating on the device. Unlike data sync, this service is typically functional only in the online mode in order to access the data stored in the Cloud.

• Enterprise App Integration: Provide a developer framework to integrate the backend Enterprise data with the Storage Engine. A good framework will provide a CRUD framework for the components. There would also be provision for searching through the stored data so as to download only a subset of data at a time.

• Data Security: In this service, only the data in transit between the device and the Cloud need to be encrypted. On the device side it is not stored in local storage so there is no need for encryption. Typically SSL provides the most efficient way to encrypt the data in transit

• RESTful API: The cleanest way to interface with this Storage Engine from the device side is by using a RESTful API. The Enterprise App integration framework automatically generates a RESTful API for its data. This RESTful API is then accessed by the device via HTTPS and JSON object representation. A good system will not expose the REST stuff to the App developers. App developers would just provide App Integration components. From the components, a RESTful API will be auto generated.

In the OpenMobster MBaaS platform, Data Storage will be implemented and called the LiveBeans Framework. This framework is currently in the prototyping phase. 

Push Notifications

A way for the backend to push information originating in the Cloud to the device in realtime. 

• Cross Platform API: This service should provide an API for sending push notifications to devices in the system. This API should be cross-platform in the sense that the same API should be able to Push content to different types of platforms. As far as the client code making the API-call goes, they should be sending the notification to a user and his device and not to a particular platform. Behind the scenes of course the engine detects the platform that is targeted and routes the notification accordingly.

• Sync Engine Integration: The Push Engine should be tightly integrated with the Sync Engine. In this way, any new data originating in the Cloud is automatically pushed to the respective device in realtime. This saves a lot of battery life as the App does not have to poll the  server for data updates. Updates are pushed down when they are ready.

Security

The security service is important as it deals with securing the Enterprise data that is being mobilized

• Secure data at rest:  This makes sure that optionally the data stored on the device is encrypted. It integrates with the Sync Engine to provide this service.

• Secure data in transit:  This makes sure that all data traveling between the device and the Cloud is encrypted. The SSL technology is by far the most efficient and standardized to handle this aspect of security.

• User Management: Maintains a database of users allowed to access the Cloud and its data. Provides proper activation from the App using proper credentials. Provides a plugin framework to integrate with 3rd party directory services like LDAP, and Active Directory.

I am sure as the Enteprise Stack matures, there will be more services added to the fold. In fact I am sure I could have missed a service or two in this analysis itself. Being an Open Source product, part of our job is to listen to the Community for new feature requests. I would like to get your valuable feedback on what services should make the cut in an Enterprise MBaaS stack.

Thanks

Sohil

CEO, OpenMobster, Open Source MBaaS platform

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Mobile-Backend-as-a-Service: Open Source MBaaS vs Cloud-based MBaaS

MBaaS, short for Mobile Backend As a Service, is a mobile architecture component used for easily integrating mobile apps with backend data and services. A typical MBaaS platform provides the following services:

• Data Synchronization: Bi-directional data sync between the mobile database and the backend database. This allows apps to be fully functional even when offline. Later when they come online a bi-directional sync synchronizes the data in both the databases.

•  Data Storage: The backend provides a storage mechanism in the Cloud for data originating on the device. Unlike data sync, this service is typically functional only in the online mode in order to access the data stored in the Cloud.

• Push Notifications: A way for the backend to push information originating in the Cloud to the device. 

• Security: This service makes sure the data exchange between the App and the Cloud is always secure and encrypted. It also links to the backend user directory to identify/authenticate users that are connecting from the mobile app.

For anyone trying to use an MBaaS service, they should know that MBaaS platform comes in two flavors. A hosted Cloud based MBaaS, or an on-premise offering which is typically Free and Open Source in nature.

This article is about comparing and contrasting these two flavors so as to simplify the decision making between the two.

Enterprise Integration

Open Source MBaaS is a more natural fit for Enterprise integration since it will usually come with out-of-the-box integration framework that is technology-agnostic. You can write your connectors based on your Enterprise Integration platform and drop the components into the MBaaS runtime. The MBaaS platform adapts to your Enterprise system as opposed to the other way round. Also, the Enterprise data never leaves the system onto a third-party Cloud so the integration is much more secure.

In the case of a hosted Cloud MBaaS, Enterprise integration is not that natural. This is because of being provisioned in a Black Box stored in the Cloud, it is not easy to extend the system and mold it to fit into whatever your Enterprise Integration platform is. In majority of the offerings, Enterprise integration is not an option. The rest that do provide the option, the integration feels more like a round peg and square hole. It typically involves adapting some form of your Enterprise system to the integration framework laid out by the Black Box in question. This relates to the protocol and programming languages used to perform this integration. You cannot adapt the Black Box to talk to your system like in the OSS model. Instead you have to adapt your system to talk to the Black Box. Also from a security standpoint, you have to poke a hole in your firewall and expose your valuable data to a third-party Cloud system. A system you have no control over. 

In a nutshell, for Enterprise Integration, the Open Source MBaaS solution is a much natural fit compared to the hosted Cloud based MBaaS solution.

Ease of Use

The Cloud MBaaS platform wins in the Ease of Use category. This is both from a Getting Started standpoint as well as Deployment standpoint. Following a simple registration process you can typically get up and running following their instructions. From a deployment standpoint, you do not have to wait on your IT folks to provision the infrastructure needed to run the MBaaS system in house. The system is provisioned and scaled automatically by the Cloud.

The Ease of Use is not so bad for the Open Source MBaaS either. Depending on the quality of documentation of the project, you can get up and running fairly quickly. Most packages come with a quick "Hello World" guide that you can read to get up and running in a few minutes. As far as deployment goes, the OSS software can be run locally on the developer machine without having to wait on the infrastructure provisioned. As the development progresses you can setup multiple MBaaS instances, say one for testing and another for production, etc. 

Pricing Structure

The Cloud MBaaS system uses a usage per month based pricing. This is typical of any Cloud based system and there are no surprises here. Some vendors also provide a freemium model where usage of resources up to a certain limit is free. Depending on the services provided by the platform the pricing is based on the following resources:

• Number of API calls per month

• Number of Push Notifications per month

• Number of Sync Sessions per month

In the case of Open Source MBaaS, the same Open Source model applies. The software is Free and Open Source for use. For organizations that are looking for Technical Support, you can get Professional Services from the company sponsoring the Open Source project. Not all projects will have a company backing the project. This is something you must evaluate when looking at the Open Source MBaaS solution. In case of the OpenMobster MBaaS solution, there is a well funded software company called OpenMobster backing the solution. 

At OpenMobster, we provide a wide array of Professional Services including Consulting, Training, and Production Support.

MBaaS is a growing market in the mobile space. This was my attempt at making some sense out of what to expect from different types of MBaaS solutions in the marketplace. At this point I would like to open a discussion with the Community related to this topic.

Thanks

Sohil

CEO, OpenMobster, Open Source MBaaS solution

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OpenMobster 2.4-M2 released

Hi,

Santa has been working overtime. As a result, I would like to announce the release of 2.4-M2 (Milestone 2) of the OpenMobster Mobile Backend As a Service (MBaaS) platform, way before Christmas ;) 

Highlights

• Clustering Support. You can now run OpenMobster Cloud as a highly available Clustered system. You can add as many nodes as you like. We used to JGroups library to facilitate the communication between the Cluster nodes. For more on Clustering, you can read this chapter: http://openmobster.googlecode.com/svn/wiki/content/app-developer-guide/html/clustering.html

• A significant Performance Enhancement by upgrading the MINA framework from 1.1.5 to 2.0.7. The dataService code had to be changed for the upgrade because the two versions are not API compatible. We prototyped Netty as a candidate for replacement, but got some very bad CPU usage which we couldn't work around. 

Going Forward: Immediate focus

• Prototyping BlackBerry Support. We want to add our next development platform to the mix. BlackBerry 10 will be supported before Windows Phone 8 (Customer requests)

• Prototype Mobilizing Enterprise data using REST/JSON. I really need a one word name for this functionality. To elaborate, Sync is still king and uses locally stored data automatically synchronized with the Enterprise backend. This service is about mobilizing the data in an online only setup using a REST API and JSON transport representation. The developers only have to plugin to this engine using a simple interface and all the details about supporting a REST API and JSON handling would be taken care of by the engine. The data will not be stored locally and each request would invoke the network service. This is a complementary service to the Sync Engine giving the developer more choice about how to mobilize their Enterprise backend. I will have more on this service as the prototype progresses. Stay tuned!!!!!

We would like to know your requests as this is the start of a new development cycle. Your input will help us prioritize our tasks.

The software is now available here: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/downloads/list

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Sohil

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OpenMobster 2.4-M1 released

Hi,

I would like to announce the release of 2.4-M1 (Milestone 1) of the OpenMobster Mobile Backend As a Service (MBaaS) platform. 

Highlights

•   Re-architected the Android SDK such that the CloudManager App is no longer necessary to be installed on the device. The Apps now contain a fully functional Cloud runtime without delegating to an outside App. 

•   This greatly simplifies the distribution/provisioning of individual Apps.

•   The CloudManager App still serves a purpose. It is used to enable Device Management functions like Remote Wipe and Remote Lock in. However, it is not mandatory to install the CloudManager App like before.

•   The CloudManager App also provides the Corporate App Store functionality to install Apps installed in the JBoss AS

•   The system is Production Quality. Fully Load Tested

Going Forward: Immediate focus

•   Performance Enhancement by upgrading the NIO Framework from Apache MINA to JBoss Netty. This will have to pass some prototyping before this move is made.

•   Prototyping Clustering Support. We want to reach new heights in scalability by supporting a Clustered version of the Cloud Server in 2.4

•   Prototyping BlackBerry Support. We want to add our next development platform to the mix. BlackBerry will be supported before Windows Phone 7 (Customer requests)

We would like to know your requests as this is the start of a new development cycle. Your input will help us prioritize our tasks.

The software is now available here: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/downloads/list

Enjoy!!!

Sohil

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OpenMobster Mobile Enterprise Backend (MBaaS) version 2.2-RC1 released

Hello OpenMobster Community,

I would like to announce the release of 2.2-RC1 (Release Candidate) of the OpenMobster Mobile Enterprise Backend (MBaaS). 

Platforms Supported

• Android

• iOS

• PhoneGap

Backend Services

• Enterprise Data Sync and Replication

• Push Notifications

• Location-Oriented Apps

• Support for Offline Apps

Release Highlights

•  iOS Sync Plugin for developing PhoneGap based offline/sync web apps on the iOS platform. Android was already supported in the previous release (2.2-M8)

• Push Infrastructure Performance Enhancements

• Internal Messaging Bus Infrastructure Performance Enhancements

• Sample App bug fixes. Sample Apps are the best way to learn to develop Apps on this platform

• Bug Fixes and other Enhancements: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/issues/list?can=1&q=2.2-RC1&colspec=ID+Type+Status+Priority+Milestone+Owner+Summary&cells=tiles

• Making the system Production Quality. Fully Load Tested

Going Forward: Immediate focus

• The 2.2 branch is now feature complete. Only bug fixes will be added to this branch.

• The next branch 2.4 will now go into active development and innovation. Roadmap: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/roadmap

• Prototyping Clustering Support. We want to reach new heights in scalability by supporting a Clustered version of the Cloud Server in 2.4

• Prototyping BlackBerry Support. We want to add our next development platform to the mix. BlackBerry will be supported before Windows Phone 7 (Customer requests)

We would like to know your requests as this is the start of a new development cycle. Your input will help us prioritize our tasks.

The software is now available here: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/downloads/list

Enjoy!!!

Sohil

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OpenMobster Professional Services Launched

Hello OpenMobster Community,

Just wanted to shout out and let everyone know that OpenMobster Professional Services are now available through www.openmobster.com.

The Community forums will always remain the place for asking questions and getting answers. 

The Professional Services are an enhancement to that workflow for individuals and companies requiring a little extra attention. For details about services offered please see the following:

http://www.openmobster.com/service.html

Thanks

Sohil

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Developing Synchronized Offline Apps using the PhoneGap Sync Plugin

This tutorial covers how to develop an offline sync app using the OpenMobster Sync Plugin for the PhoneGap framework. You can develop your App using HTML5 and Javascript instead of the native programming language.

Features:

• two way synchronization between the local sqlite database and the corporate backend in the Cloud

• Offline mode operation. All data changes are tracked and auto synchronized with the Cloud once the connection returns

• Use of Push notifications to push data changes from the Cloud to the device

• Support for replicating changes to multiple devices like iCloud does

• A Java based Channel Framework for integrating your backend with the Cloud

Tutorial: http://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/PhoneGapGetStarted

Thanks
Sohil

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Coming Soon: Offline Web Apps

Just wanted to inform the community whats cooking at OpenMobster. March is going to be an exciting month of development. The focus is going to be developing support for offline web apps.

To clarify: Web Apps are apps that are written using web technologies like HTML5, javascript and css. As such they are hybrid apps as they run as apps and not in the browser. This wrapping is provided by technologies like PhoneGap. So as a developer you pick web technologies like JQuery, Sencha Touch or straight up HTML5. Develop the web app and then deploy it as an app using PhoneGap.

Now, the Offline capability is then provided by the OpenMobster Sync service. You store the app data as MobileBeans in OpenMobster sync channels using the OpenMobster Javascript library. Once the channels are stored with Mobile Beans, they are automatically managed and synchronized with the Cloud. On the Cloud nothing changes except for developing your Java based Sync channels.

The OpenMobster Javascript library will be part of the development of the OpenMobster PhoneGap plugin.

This will be available in the next release 2.2-M8 on Android and 2.2-M9 on both Android and iOS.

Following this integration, developers will be able to take their web apps offline and leave the synchronization worries to OpenMobster.

Enjoy!!!
Sohil

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OpenMobser 2.2-M7 released

I would like to announce the release of version 2.2-M7 of the OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform. There were a couple of areas of focus, followed by bug fixes and enhancements. For a detailed report on the tasks please see here.

Highlights:

• Device Administation: Remote Wipe and Remote Lock functionality was added to the Management Console

• Device-To-Device Push Framework: A framework for communicating between devices was created. Using this you can develop interesting apps like chat and instant messaging. Give it a try!!!

Whats coming in 2.2-M8?

• Cloud integration with PhoneGap Apps

Download this release

Enjoy!!
Sohil

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OpenMobser 2.2-M6 released

I would like to announce the release of version 2.2-M6 of the OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform. There is one main area of focus in this release and a good number of enhancements and bug fixes. For the list of tasks see here.

Highlights:

• A Framework for developing Location Aware Apps. You can get started with the following instructions.

 
Download this release

Enjoy!!!
Sohil

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OpenMobster 2.2-M5 released

I would like to announce the release of version 2.2-M5 of the OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform. There were two main area of focus in this release and a good number of enhancements and bug fixes. For the list of tasks see here.

Highlights:

• Improved the Synchronization Engine to support iCloud like synchronization among multiple devices.  You can now make updates on one device and the changes are automatically pushed over to your other devices

• A new cleaner Push Framework for Android

What to expect in 2.2-M6:

•  Adding Support for Blobs in the Sync engine to store and stream such data locally

• Prototyping Location Oriented Cloud Programming

Download this release

Enjoy!!!
Sohil

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Tutorial: Writing an Android Location-Aware App

Integrating Location based functionality into your apps makes them more feature rich and robust. In this tutorial you will learn how to use Android's built-in Location service. The tutorial comes with a fully functional app that you can download and play around with. Enjoy!!!!

Tutorial: http://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/LocationApp

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OpenMobster 2.2-M4 released

I would like to announce the latest, 2.2-M4, release of the OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform. We are trying to stay on a new release every month schedule and this one came in just a bit later than the 2.2-M3 release.

As far as significance goes, this release needed some Developer API cleanup. It needed to be made more user friendly and intuitive. In that regard, 2.2-M4 is not backward compatible with 2.2-M3. This evil had to be done so that we can move forward more smoothly with a more intuitive API. This also helps to introduce new APIs in the future that would all be backward compatible with the platform

Here are some highlights of this release:

• End-to-End Encryption for data stored locally on the device

• Added more ways to query the MobileBeans stored in a Channel

• Improved the performance of querying the MobileBeans

• Cleaned up the Developer API and made it more developer friendly. On the negative side this breaks backward compatibity of the components running on the platform

• Upgraded the build from Maven 2 to Maven 3 (3.0.3) to be precise

• Bugs and Enhancements

Things to look for in 2.2-M5:

• Adding Support for Blobs in the Sync engine to store and stream such data locally

•  Prototyping iCloud like experience across multiple devices. Today there is only one device per user supported. Idea was to reduce sync conflicts. Sync Conflict engine is now mature and can handle multiple devices per user

• Prototyping Location Oriented Cloud Programming

Enjoy!!!!
Sohil

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OpenMobster 2.2-M3 released

I would like to announce the release of version 2.2-M3 of OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform. This milestone release is particularly very strategic in its implications. I have ranted many times about the native apps vs browser apps on mobile. I still stick to my assertion that native apps are by far superior to their browser counterparts. But, native apps come at a cost. The cost of having to develop your app for multiple platforms. At OpenMobster our focus is on the Cloud. Services in the Cloud that are consumed by native apps on the device. All our innovation is in the Cloud. On the device, it runs as a system service in the form of a bundled library. But, this mobile fragmentation needed to be solved.

I in fact considered writing a write once run anywhere layer for OpenMobster. But being absolutely horrible with GUI development, I had to shelve that idea fast. I looked at several places for answers but I could not find anything modular. Then I ran into an open source framework called Titanium from Appcelerator. I had heard of Titanium a long time ago when they first started in the space of ajax frameworks. I didn't know they had a mobile product. After evaluating the product from an architecture standpoint, I was convinced this will be the write once run anywhere layer of OpenMobster.

There was more to evaluate but end of the day their product was super modular. They have a Module development framework such that you can expose your native service to the javascript layer. The JavaScript layer provides the unified codebase that gets compiled into code for multiple platforms. Another thing I liked is that the JavaScript codebase compiled into a native app and nothing hackish like running a web app in a WebView hacked into a native app.

Long story short, OpenMobster found its write once run anywhere layer. After some hardcore module development I finally had the OpenMobster Cloud Services being accessed via JavaScript. Another advantage of standardizing on Titanium is its license. They have a business friendly Apache license and nothing garbage like the GPL.

Highlights:

• Finalized the write once run anywhere layer by integration with Titanium

What to expect in 2.2-M4:

• Some re-architecting of the Android codebase (Inter-App communication, Ease of Use, etc)

• Experimenting with Channel Encryption

• Experimenting with Location Based Cloud Programming

Download this release

Enjoy!!!
Sohil

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Tutorial: Android Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a set of short-range wireless technologies, typically requiring a distance of 4cm or less.

In this tutorial you will learn how to process an NFC tag inside your Activity.
You will also learn how to simulate a tag discovery event since the emulator does not support NFC.
    
It includes full source code to play around with!!

Tutorial: https://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/NFC

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Tutorial: Android Inter-App Content Sharing

This tutorial covers how to use the ContentProvider component to expose your content to other Apps including the parent App.

It provides a detailed explanation of how to implement the ContentProvider backed by a SQLite database.

The tutorial comes with an App with full source code to take the concepts for a spin!!!

Tutorial Link: http://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/ContentProvider

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Tutorial: Android Inter-App Communication

The tutorial covers how a client in one process can bind to a service in another process. It shows how the Messenger component is used to make an invocation and return a response.

It comes with source code and two apps ready to install and play around with

Tutorial Link: http://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/InterAppCommunication

Enjoy!!!

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OpenMobster 2.2-M2 released

I would like to announce the official release of the 2.2-M2 version of the OpenMobster Mobile Cloud Platform.

Highlights

• iPhone Push using the Apple Push Notification Service

• A cross platform API for sending Push notifications. This API will evolve over time

What to expect in 2.2-M3?

• Experimenting with Sync Channel Encryption

• Integration with Appcelerator for writing cross platform Cloud apps

• Experimenting with integrating Location Based programming 

Download this release

Enjoy!!!!

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Tutorial: Android Notification Service

Notifications are messages that are pushed to users telling them that something has happened. E.g. When a user receives new email, the notification system is used to notify the user. In Android, these messages popup in the status bar and optionally make a sound or vibration to get the user's attention.

Tutorial: http://code.google.com/p/openmobster/wiki/AndroidNotifications

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