Thursday, October 19, 2017

So, you want to build a website like Agoda/Trivago?

Q.
How to create a website like Trivago?

A.
Extract from Mark112, here is what he said:

Well, I always believe that everything is possible. So, I won't discourage you or tell you that you can't do it! Where there is a will there is a way. But you must really judge your motive for doing this.

Find out why you want to do this and what difference you want to make that they are not already making.

It is hard! But not impossible! so here are the only two options you have!

1. You must really be darn good at programming to achieve your goal if you want to do it yourself. You can devout this year to learning programming, take courses from Code.org, code academy, Udemy, CS50 etc. respectively.

While doing this, keep working on it! You can look for partner or Co-founder if you really believe in
this project

2. You can find a good programmer to code it up for you! or software firm. Or you can just start small and like someone suggested above, target your local community!

One thing you must know is you should start small and know that there will definitely be failures.

Ref:
Extract from forum,
https://www.warriorforum.com/programming/1150934-how-create-site-like-trivago.html

Saturday, September 23, 2017

IBS - Initial Benefit Statement a total solution?

Q. (Also published in justLetak!)
What is IBS - initial benefit statement? Give some examples of your own. Is it a total solution?

A.
Initial Benefit Statement: An explanation of what you are offering, what it means and why anyone should care - in the exact opposite order.

Why is it 'exact opposite order'?

Your product has some features and benefits. The usual logical manner in a feature and benefit analysis is the features give the product its benefits. For example, a new model of handphone which is equipped with the high resolution camera.

Product feature - high resolution camera.
Product benefit - high resolution image capture.

To further illustrate what it means for the benefits, emotions are being incorporated into the selling.

===============> ===========> ========> ======> =====>

Product benefit - high resolution image capture - good quality pictures - ability to freeze important moments in life.

The exact opposite order means:

====> =====> =======> ===========> ===================>

Freeze important moments in life - good quality pictures - high resolution images - product benefit

Hence, the IBS for this new product - A HAND PHONE would be, for example:

Salesperson: Sir, I have something amazing for you. 

Customer: Yes,...

Salesperson: There is this Hand Phone which could capture the best moments of your life! 


Total Solution to a Sales Approach?


The issue with this IBS is that it says about benefits - capture the best moments. However, if your customer is a blind man, is that a benefit?

This is the biggest question of a selling process. And, in fact, most people have forgotten this part.

The most important step in a selling process is to ask for a problem. If there is no problem, there is no need of a solution!

If the customer is a blind man, he has no problem with image. He cannot see anything. You put the best image in front of him, he cannot appreciate it!

So, before you go to your IBS, ask for a problem.

It sounds very risky to ask for a problem!? Right?

IF THE PROBLEM CANNOT BE SOLVED? How?

Well, that is a gamble, and a good approach is to identify if there is any gap in satisfying a customer.

The sales pitch below may illustrate the message.

Salesperson: Sir, could you think of a shortcoming of your hand phone?

Customer: Ya, I guess I would do better with its camera!

Salesperson: Could I take 5 minutes of your time to show you how you could capture the best moments of your life with our product XYZ?

Therefore, an IBS is used in such manner as to zoom down to the 'problem' of the customer. After all, selling is identifying the needs and fulfill that need!

Ref:
Shamus Brown. Why I Hate (Most) Sales Benefit Statements. Available at,
http://sales-tips.industrialego.com/sales-articles/090804.htm



Friday, February 12, 2016

Why develop an Android App?

Q.
What do people choose to develop App in Android?

A.

Read more 'Why developers choose Android' here.

Read more on why innovative developers choose Android over iOS here.

Read about 10 reasons why developers choose Android over iOS here.

For any developer looking to maximize their potential users, regardless of language or country, Android is an obvious choice. It is evident that developers have been making that choice too. As its market share has steadily risen since being introduced in 2008, so have the number of available apps. While actual numbers vary widely by source, Android and iOS seem to be neck and neck in total number of apps available-just around 900,000 each.

We can also expect an impressive (however inflated) update from Google in the coming weeks with the impending announcement of a new Nexus device or devices in conjunction with Android 4.4 KitKat. Those who may want to jump ahead a little and fact check are free to reference AppBrain’s daily statistics, which have the Google Play store measured at 875,462 apps as of this writing. In early 2016, it was reported close to 1.5 million Android App had been deployed in Google Play Store.

Another reason to choose to develop applications in Android is the cost of entry to be listed in Google Play Store is much cheaper than that of Apple App Store! This is ease of access.

For the novice, the entry point for development on Android is simple and welcoming. Those who are familiar with iOS and have likely paid the $99 annual enrolment fee, might be surprised at the $25 one-time registration fee for Google Play. From there, developers have have complete control over distribution with options that allow them to target specific devices, carriers, languages and countries.

Newly published apps on Google Play are also available almost instantly, due primarily to Google’s automated approval process. There is of course still a bit of the honor system in play here in regards to publishing content that is or is not allowed, but for stability and security, Google is able scan an application and approve it within a matter of hours rather than weeks as with iOS. However, algorithms aren’t the only line of defense in protecting users from “bad” applications, as Google has been known to regularly remove apps that violate Play Store terms and conditions.

As you can see from the above Ease of Access chart, most continents uses Android in more than half of the devices.

One of the key advantage of publishing App in Android is because it is by Google! Why?

Because Google has its supports like Google Maps, which provides location specific for Apps which require integration of locality to its functions. Google’s own apps and services are another great example of where Android really shines. Google Location Services for example, can allow applications to display and find maps, navigation and other data that can be deeply integrated into your own apps.

Android also allows for a greater level of integration, both between separate applications and with the OS itself. Consider tapping a camera icon within one app to add a photo and being presented with all the camera apps on your device to take a picture, or having the ability to browse a third party file manager when adding attachments to Gmail. This is a headache in Apple devices because it is not convenient to utilize Apps which are not compatible to iOS, and causes difficulties in sharing materials between different Apps. You cannot crop a picture and paste on another picture like that in PC or Android devices.

And, to compare files transfer. There is no way your iPhone or iPad would allow you to cut and paste your movies and transfer back to iTune! There is no USB port for your transfer to the computer. Only some picture files in DCIM, that is it! This is not a problem with Android or Window based OS.

Ref:
http://www.androidauthority.com/why-developers-choose-android-285774/

Android limitations?

Q.
What are the limitations of Android OS?

A.
All that we hear is about how well Android took over the mobile OS market. How much more we expect from Android mobile computing. How good it is free!

Behind too goods is always a big ? - what is the catch, right!?

Same is for Android. There must be some limitation some where. It cannot be 100% true that it is so great and yet free!

Below is some comments researched from various technical experts on limitations of Android.

Mobile Boy, 16 Apr, 2013.
Ref: http://www.techulator.com/experts/823-What-limitations-drawbacks-Android-operating-system.aspx

Limitations of Android OS:
Below limitations are based on comparing a single mobile from each OS. I posted only the drawback I frequently read about Android and my practical experience.

Little lag
Still an Android OS with quad-core processor has a little lag. I tried opening Temple Run game in iOS (iPhone), Windows 8 (Nokia Lumia 920) and Android OS (Samsung Galaxy Grand). Once I clicked the game icon Windows 8 and iOS responded immediately and showed 'Play' button, but I found there is a little lag in Android and it showed 'Play' button nearly after 30 seconds. In Windows 8 and iOS the game opened just like a 1 KB text file. This is unsolved problem in Android OS and many tech experts commented about this. This is the only reason iPhone tops every time.

Awkward design
Android mobile design is always awkward. When I have that above mentioned mobiles in my hand, Lumia 920 was eye-catchy. It looks very professional and impressed me a lot. We still love Android mobile only for its free apps.

Heat
If you use Wi-Fi connectivity for about a hour you can feel the heat in fuselage (back panel). I didn't notice this either Windows and iOS.

Most of the complaints were made for app crashes and lags. But Android is the only OS that provides you unlimited free apps. In Windows or iOS you need to buy each and every app.

You see, the limitation of one is relative to the ability of another. For example, she is short (hence cannot be model) and that is her limitation. In this context, height is a requirement to be a model, and there are actually taller girls who are made models.

So, in the case of Android OS, it is much in comparison to other OS, especially iOS.

Read about the difference between Android and iOS here.

Another issue with Android limitation actually routed to 'Fragmentation'. Below is extracted from news reporting by Simon Hill, in Yahoo News, February 11, 2016 - 'Android is losing its battle with fragmentation, and you’re paying the price'.

For ordinary folks who own a phone, fragmentation means that many Android users don’t have access to the latest and greatest features in the platform, but it has also been consistently raised as a major threat to security. Tim Cook famously referenced an article on ZDNet, entitled “Android fragmentation turning devices into a toxic hellstew of vulnerabilities” on a slide at WWDC in 2014. He even added animated flames to the word “hellstew” for a greater incendiary impact, and it played into a common perception of Android as potentially insecure.

What’s cited most often is the slow pace of adoption for new Android versions. Only 1.2 percent of devices run the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow today, 34.1 percent run Lollipop (version 5.0 of the OS), 35.5 percent run KitKat, and the rest are still running older versions, according to the latest data from the official Android developer site. This is frequently compared to iOS, where Apple says 76 percent of users are on iOS 9, 17 percent on iOS 8, and just 7 percent on earlier versions.

[Hence, if you develop an App for the later version, it might not run well in the earlier versions of the same Android. And, this is an ongoing issue, older devices with older version of Android might not be able to switch to newer version of Android due to hardware compatibility. In fact, the bigger issue is manufacturers are not doing this updates because they want to sell more new machines which comes with later Android versions. Hence, these manufacturers refuse or ignore the need to periodically update the earlier devices by patches. This would render the older Android version becoming obsolete and vulnerable to security flaws.

That leaves many Android users with outdated firmware and potential security holes, despite the fact that the hardware they own is perfectly capable of running the latest Android releases.

Therefore, although you can reach the maximum number of mobile device, many of them just cannot run your App!

It is like you have the best sports car, but you do not have the racing track to run your engines!]

Ref:
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Android_vs_iOS
http://news.yahoo.com/android-losing-battle-fragmentation-paying-111542079.html;_ylt=A0SO8xzty71WCW4AsolXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Project vs Module

Q.
What is 'Project' and what is 'Module' in Android Studio?

A.
This question can be confusing as Project in Android Studio is about the App that is to be developed. For example, a project paper for the undergraduate Computer Science 101 paper. On the other hand, a module is like the chapters inside this project paper, where chapter 1 may be introduction, chapter 2 methods and chapter 3 findings, etc.

The answer on Google search returned with the below:

A project in Android Studio represents a complete Android app. Android Studio projects consist of one or more modules.

A module is a component of your app that you can build, test, or debug independently.

Modules contain the source code and resources for your app.

Ref:
Abdellah, http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17187080/android-studio-new-project-vs-new-module

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Market Share of Android

Q.
Why do you choose to develop your application through Android?

A.
[Because it has the world biggest Market Share in Mobile Computing! In some places, because of use of iPAD, Android devices still ranked second (it ranks first if exclude iPAD) in the recent years. Nevertheless, it is fast catching up to be market leader!

Very naturally, you develop your App because you want people to download and use it! So, developing an application on the most used mobile platform is surely the way to publish your application, right!?


ADAM SMITH OCTOBER 27, 2013
Android Authority

Below is extract from Wikipedia:]

According to a Statistica's estimate, Android smartphones had an installed base of 1.6 billion units in 2014, which was 75% of the estimated total number of smartphones worldwide.[243][244][c] Android has the largest installed base of any mobile operating system and, since 2013, the highest-selling operating system overall[234][237][246][247][248] with sales in 2012, 2013 and 2014[249] close to the installed base of all PCs.[250] In the third quarter of 2013, Android's share of the global smartphone shipment market was 81.3%, the highest ever,[251] and the Android share—​led by Samsung products—​was 81.3%.[251][252][253]

By August 2015, two continents have gone mobile-majority, judged by web use ("desktop" has 51.6–56.7% use worldwide, depending on week or weekend use[254]); because of Android (see usage share of operating systems), that has majority use on smartphones in virtually all countries (all continents have gone Android-majority, including North America[255][256] except for Oceania, because of Australia),[257] with few exceptions (all of which have iOS-majority); in the US Android is close to iOS, having exchanged majority position a few times,[258] Canada and the following are also exceptions: Japan, Philippines, Australia and the only exceptions in Europe are the UK, Switzerland, and the Nordic countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

By 2016, virtually all countries in the world, have gone Android-majority on smartphones;[259] excluding United States and Canada (while including North America continent as a whole[260]), Australia and Japan. A few countries loose Android-majority, such as the UK, if tablets are included.

[The only concern here is developing Android App under Google Play. As China is a country which does not allow Google, so reaching to Chinese Market might be impaired when your App is published in Google Play. However, as App is an Android App, and Chinese Mobile Phone market is dominated by Android Phones, so other channels can be a way out - Baidu App Store, for example.]

[Tablet Market

Traditionally, Smartphone market is the leading market in most Android deployed countries. Most people would have a smartphone before having a tablet. This is due to cost and also market leader iPad, which is marketed as premium priced product.

Launching an App in the Apple App Store would probably be as important consideration for iPad as well as iPhone. But this is not true for Android device. Most of the time, the market of Android is medium or low cost, and hence launching an App in Android would very much be for Smartphone only.]

Despite its success on smartphones, initially Android tablet adoption was slow.[261] One of the main causes was the chicken or the egg situation where consumers were hesitant to buy an Android tablet due to a lack of high quality tablet applications, but developers were hesitant to spend time and resources developing tablet applications until there was a significant market for them.[262][263] The content and app "ecosystem" proved more important than hardware specs as the selling point for tablets. Due to the lack of Android tablet-specific applications in 2011, early Android tablets had to make do with existing smartphone applications that were ill-suited to larger screen sizes, whereas the dominance of Apple's iPad was reinforced by the large number of tablet-specific iOS applications.[263][264]

Only in recent years (2014-2015) that Android for tablet has gain its dominance.

This began to change in 2012 with the release of the affordable Nexus 7 and a push by Google for developers to write better tablet applications.[268] According to International Data Corporation, shipments of Android-powered tablets surpassed iPads in Q3 2012.[269]

As of the end of 2013, over 191.6 million Android tablets had sold in three years since 2011.[270][271] This made Android tablets the most-sold type of tablet in 2013, surpassing iPads in the second quarter of 2013.[272]

According to the StatCounter's June 2015 web use statistics, Android tablets represent the majority of tablet devices used on the South American[273] (then lost majority) and African continents (60.23%),[274] while they have equaled with the iPad's market share in major countries on all continents (with the North America as an exception, though in El Salvador Android has the majority[275]), and getting close to representing the majority on the whole Asian continent[276] having done so already in India (65.9%),[277] Indonesia (62.22%),[278] and most Middle-Eastern countries.[279] In about half of the European countries, Android tablets have a majority market share.[280] China is an exception for the major developing countries, in which Android phablets (classified as smartphones while similar in size to tablets) are more popular than Android tablets or iPads.
In short, if there is a platform to market your application, it is no other than Android! You have the biggest user base, biggest growth and an open source platform. What more do you need?

Ref:
[X] Own account.
http://www.androidauthority.com/why-developers-choose-android-285774/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)

Application Programming Interface - API

Q.
What is API? How is its different from the other programming software?

A.
In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software and applications.

An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types, defining functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising the interface. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks, which are then put together by the programmer.

[Like using Android Studio - which is an Android API, to build an application, for example WhatsApp.]

An API may be for a web based system, operating system, or database system, and it provides facilities to develop applications for that system using a given programming language. As an example, a programmer who develops apps for Android may use an Android API to interact with hardware, like the front camera of an Android-based device.

In addition to accessing databases or computer hardware like hard disk drives or video cards, an API can ease the work of programming GUI components. For example, an API can facilitate integration of new features into existing applications (a so-called "plug-in API"). An API can also assist otherwise distinct applications with sharing data, which can help to integrate and enhance the functionalities of the applications.

APIs often come in the form of a library that includes specifications for routines, data structures, object classes, and variables. In other cases, notably SOAP andREST services, an API is simply a specification of remote calls exposed to the API consumers.[1]

An API specification can take many forms, including an International Standard, such as POSIX, vendor documentation, such as the Microsoft Windows API, or thelibraries of a programming language, e.g. the Standard Template Library in C++ or the Java APIs.

An API differs from an application binary interface (ABI) in that an API is source code-based while an ABI is a binary interface. For instance POSIX is an API, while the Linux Standard Base provides an ABI. [2] [3]

APIs are one of the most common ways technology companies integrate with each other. Those that provide and use APIs are considered as being members of a business ecosystem.[4]

Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application_programming_interface