We are quite blessed in the new year at SiteToolSet.com.  We have some fantastic projects in the pipeline.  2012 is definitely going to be a year of tablet and mobile development.  Nearly every client we have is now looking for their existing systems to be extended to a tablet or mobile platform.  ParentPow.com just launched on all three platforms, mobile, tablet and desktop.

What we see is that in the business community in particular tablets and phones will be come even more integrated into the business process.  If your thinking about how these platforms can help to improve your business - consider the following:

• Go Native or Go with HTML 5 - Thats a key question.  A native app is one that is coded specifically for the IOS (iPhone/iPad) or Android platforms and downloaded onto the device.  Native apps take a specific set of skills to build and have to be maintained.  HTML5 apps run in a browser and can be more dynamically updated.  If built properly HTML5 apps can look the same as native apps and can work off-line.  HTML 5 is an evolving technology that will continue to get stronger.  There are some limitations of HTML5 in terms of device access that will need to be considered.
• What functions are needed on-the-go?  Most likely all features and functions of existing applications do not need to be extended to the tablet/mobile platform.  And even functions that do need to be extended may need to be done with a different approach and functionality.  
• Touch Friendly - Your development team needs to be very comfortable with touch friendly development.  They should be regular tablet and mobile users so that they have an understanding of the touch experience.  Consider hiring a UI expert to assist with building the proper interfaces.

These are just three considerations when thinking of a move to the tablet and mobile space - careful planning can help lead to significant improvement in how business applications are utilized.

2012 looks to be a very exciting year ahead for SiteToolSet.  We are quite thankful for all our great clients in 2011 and some of the great projects we as a team have been able to deliver.  We are also looking forward to continued growth in our ZAP Web Agency division which focuses on web marketing.  

2012 is going to be off to a great start with several exciting projects including several iPad and Android based projects, a great mobile solution based on Windows Phone and learning a lot more about Sharp OSA technology for their multi function printers.  We have multiple exciting DotNetNuke based projects and are moving strongly into version 6.

It will be a busy year indeed.  A good one for geeks and nerds everywhere - we are strong and proud!

We just fired up our first Kindle Fire.  Interesting - it does support Flash but not really well.  Its not very fast either.  Amazon says they are coming out with an update to fix a number of issues.  

Our take - this is clearly where tablets are headed - smaller and importantly less expensive.  Apple is rumored to be coming out with a mini-iPad in 2012.  The fire will force them to in our opinion.  For kids the Fire is great - its purse and backpack size, it has all your books in a great format. 

Couple all this with Amazon’s Prime service for your video needs and its a powerful package for the price.

The Kindle Fire will likely lead the Android charge against the dominant iPad.  For our part we are actively developing several Android applications for our clients.

We specialize in custom application development, web design, SEO, DotNetNuke, Joomla and mobile development. We have been developing web and software solutions for nearly 10 years now.  

You can find out a lot more about us at http://www.sitetoolset.com

New site we have just developed - check it out.  Much more great stuff to come!