Hello guys,
As a .net developer mainly c#, I want to know what would be the best approach for me to develop Phone application that runs on major phones.
Just to let you know Iphone is out of the question because of the costs that are involved, not ready to buy Mac book.
I want something I can develop within Windows operating system, Android could have been the best option but it does not integrated well with .net.
Any idea please ?
Terry Amusa [www.helpfulmove.co.uk]
If you are restricting yourself to .Net, then you dont have many options. .Net CF runs only on Windows Mobile based phones. But If you just want to develop for free, and on windows, You can go for Symbian S60 using C or Python; or J2ME.
And I believe Android has a perfectly fine SDK, Which needs not be integrated with .Net FW
Using .NET you can target Windows Mobile which is soon to be replaced by Windows Phone 7. So has a short shelf life.
The SDK for Windows Phone 7 is available now, but the phones won't hit the stores until October. You could get a head start on that platform though.
Also the MonoTouch team have started work on MonoDroid which will allow you to develop .NET applications for Android phones. It isn't available yet, but will hopefully be out around August.
So, basically, right now, Java will give you far more options for mobile development; allowing you to cover the Symbian, Blackberry and Android systems. But, by the end of the year there will be a lot more opportunities for .NET developers in this sector.
If you want to develop in .NET, you have androidmono for android phones.
Here is a blog with info regarding android mono: My Brain Hurts: Android Mono
.NET for iPhone you have MonoTouch, you still have to develop on a Mac though.