Well, there’s an app for that. The AppIncubator iPhone App from MEDL Mobile lets you submit your ideas which the company’s development team will then build into apps for you. Of course, as you probably imagined, they’re going to take a cut of the profits. But what better way to build an iPhone app without actually having to do any work!

The AppIncubator application is the first of its kind. With this app, anyone can be an iPhone “developer.” After downloading and installing the app, you use its simple interface to submit your ideas to MEDL Mobile. Alternately, you can upload ideas via the company’s web site. Once you receive your submission number, you can then use the storyboard tool found on the site to flesh out your thoughts even further.

After the app undergoes a series of tests and reviews which analyze the app’s potential for revenue as well as its “originality, functionality, simplicity, and fun,” the app will be built by the company’s in-house development team. When complete, MEDL Mobile will promote and market the application for you. All you had to do was have the original idea.

Since the company is doing all the hard work of app building and promotion, it makes sense that they plan on taking a cut. However, 25 percent of the app’s revenues is shared with the app’s “creator” (you). Considering how little effort there was put forth on your part, that actually seems rather generous. Still, if you want to keep more than 25 percent, you can just hire the company to build the app for you instead.

Source: Read Write Web, by Sarah Perez

1)    Different screen sizes. Web designers dealing with the challenges of different screen sizes for desktop monitors, however for mobile designers it’s much more complicated.  Since mobile technology is ever-changing, the screen sizes are changing too.

Even though the current trend right now is the bigger screens, it’s very fortunate for designers, however they still must take in consideration users with smaller screens.

Check out the following articles:  Mobile Screen Size Trends and More on Mobile Screen Size Trends

2)    Lack of knowledge. Of course, when dealing with something new you first hesitate and approach the situation with intimidation.  Designing a mobile site it is best to utilize resources and gather information to get a better understanding.  (Below I have listed some resources)

3)    Rapid change. In the digital age, the only thing consistent is change.  It is important for web designers to stay on top with the current trends and latest technology.

4)    Testing challenges. Even though there are a number of mobile devices and it’s difficult to check on every device how the site would appear.  There are several resources that can give useful features for testing a website for mobile users.

• Web Developer Toolbar
• Opera browser (Toolbar – go to “View” and select “Small screen”. It will display your website in a small screen, similar to what it may look like on a mobile device.
• W3C mobileOK Checker
• Emulator
• Opera Mini Simulator
• iPhoney

Smashing magazine did this and below is a picture of what there site looks like.

5)    Deciding on what is critical. Mobile websites need to contain only the most essential information, for that reason web designers and developers have to decide what content will be display and what will not.

Book Resources

• Mobile Web Design Book by Cameron Moll, a guide to publishing web content beyond the desktop.  Tips, methodology, and resources.
• CSS Mastery:  Advanced Web Standard Solutions.

*Note.  Understand the average mobile user is on the go and not looking at their device in a relax environment.  Take inconsideration of what the user is doing?  Why they are accessing the site?  What time of day do the access the site?

Source:   Smashing Magazine & Cameron Moll

The mobile world has created Augmented Reality application.  According to ikeafans.com, IKEA Spain has launched an official iPhone application (Free download at the iTunes store) for the IKEA Catalog.  Hopefully, by 2010 this will be available for the entire IKEA Catalog.

The application requires iPhone firmware release 3.1 or greater and is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch mobile devices.  Since this is the first application, it doesn’t have the full catalog to choose from so selections are limited.  However, the app has ability to create a shopping list, to keep a running total of items selected in the store, or to record aisle/bin numbers.

Part 2.  Augmented Reality

The application allows you to select a piece of IKEA furniture or accessory from the catalog and then using your iPhone camera, place the furniture in your own room, virtually.  You can’t rotate the product just yet, but you can resize it using the slider bar.

Resources:  Ikeafans.com

2)    White Spaces Please.  Design mobile it’s okay to have white space, let me clarify it’s Necessary to have white space.  If the user is looking at a website through the mobile device and it’s jumbled, more than likely the user will just leave the site all together.

3)    Images?  Proceed with caution. Yes, more users have mobile Internet connections starting to carry greater speed.  However, having a website that is image heavy can cause the Web browser to slowed down considerably.  So when designing for mobile try to use minimal images.

4)    Sub-domains instead of .mobi or separate domains. An example of a sub-domain is mobile.example.com, m.example.com, example.com/mobile, example.com/m.

This keeps everything on one domain, rather than spreading things out that could possibly confuse visitors.

Actual examples of sub-domains:

• m.twitter.com
• netflix.com/mobile

5)    Trim the fat. The content on a mobile website is typically the highest priority to the average mobile visitor, not the company.

So if I were presenting this information for a mobile website it would look like this:

If you forget any of these trends, just remember to keep the user in mind.

Or should I say:  Keep user in mind!

Look at companies mobile site for inspiration.

Source:  Smashing Magazine & Mobile Web Design

1. Don’t Mix Up Your Markup

For most websites, we can ignore WML and make use of the markup language with which we’re probably much more familiar: XHTML.

2. Know Your Phones

We must cater not only to different screen sizes and resolutions, but to different shapes. From short and long rectangles to tall and skinny ones to perfect squares, the mobile world contains a rich tapestry of variation that almost makes you want to pull your hair out!

3. Target the Right Customers

Traditional website customers are most likely sitting at a desk facing a large monitor that has a decent resolution. Visitors who are browsing your mobile website are unlikely to be in the same circumstances. They may be waiting in line, riding on the train or bus, running to the departure gate or lost in an unfamiliar town late at night and trying to get somewhere.

4. Publish the Bare Minimum

While the concept of having only one website, and simply styling it differently depending on the medium the visitor is using, is popular with many standardistas, a separate mobile website is required to deliver an optimized experience for mobile users.

5. Choose a Great Domain Name

When deciding on a domain name for a mobile website, the colleagues and companies I’ve worked with have always used a sub-domain. Creating a sub-domain is the easiest of the options to set up (you already own the domain), it’s the cheapest option (there’s no need to register the .mobi), and it means you avoid having to spend hours tweaking the server (and potentially messing up normal traffic).

6. Validate Your Markup

Mobile browsers are much less forgiving than desktop browsers. A browser running on a mobile device generally doesn’t have the luxury of a 2 GHz processor and 100 MB of disk space. Therefore, you must check, validate and recheck your markup, time and time again.

7. Test, Test, TEST!

Testing your website with a Web browser on a desktop computer can get you only so far in terms of simulating the mobile experience. There are many elements of mobile device usage that can’t be replicated accurately in this way.

Brian’s article is an excellent starting point for those who are new to designing for mobile devices, and it’s also a great resource to have handy down the road when you want to check your work to make sure you’re doing things the right way.

In the publication industry, many transitions have been made, where a journalist doesn’t just write but now they gather content to create a story for the print, web and sometimes-video platforms.  Some companies might even have the journalist take pictures when they’re covering a story.

Since the in the work arena people are wearing many hats to do one job, people place that expectation on technology.  Now there is an Adobe Photoshop application that is available for the Android, called Photoshop.com Mobile.  This gives the user access to basic photo editing features such as flip, crop, rotate, and colorization.

Check the video out!