ASP.Net - Powering Mobile Apps With Responsive Design

Each and every modern business, irrespective of whether it is of small, medium or large scale, would require a dedicated portal that is specifically designed to promote the products or service that the business delivers. Today, for any company, it is highly imperative that it does not stick to any static site for promoting its business.

Instead, they venture out over other avenues of marketing for effective promotion of product and services. In the era of Internet based technology and social media, it is a ‘must’ for every company to reach out to the modern tech savvy clients who very much expect businesses to offer the latest as well as the best portfolio online, in every possible way over every possible device that is compatible to an internet connection. Therefore, the need of the hour is to provide information over phones, tablets, as well as other devices which have higher resolution than the screens of the conventional PCs and laptops.

Now the question is – how that can be done? Before we get into the technical nitty-gritty of responsive web design and ASP.NET, let us at first know what responsive web design actually is. It is actually a specific type or concept of web design that can help the site to fit into any type of device irrespective of its screen size. For example, a web site that is responsive can be displayed on a PC as well as an iPhone in spite of the fact that the screen of the iPhone is much smaller than that of the PC. Yet, none of the contents of the website will be lost in either of the versions.

In other words, responsive web design is a series of mechanisms that will allow a particular web page to adapt to the capabilities of a client which may include a human as well as an electronic consumer.

RWD techniques respond to:

- The capabilities of browsers (HTML5, plugins, native audio and video, CSS3)
- Device capabilities (geo-location, input methods, resolution)
- User Capabilities (vision and hearing)
- Viewport (media type, orientation, resolution, density)

When it comes to responding to these techniques, ASP.NET is the answer. When a user requests a web server to carry out any task, the command passes along the information regarding the client who is making that request. ASP.NET, by using that information can make certain determination regarding the nature or the type of device that is being used to make the request. This web application framework comes up with a unique httpRequest.Browser.IsMobileDevice property, which helps it to detect the device and take actions accordingly.

The browser object also comes up with certain other properties - MobileDeviceManufacturer or MobileDeviceModel that help in detecting critical information regarding that device. ASP. NET is designed to provide certain additional properties that help it to detect specific details regarding a particular device. However, it does not have any complete list of all the standard properties that a device comes up with. However, the .NET community has come up with certain extremely useful projects that negate this shortcoming and help a website to accurately pick up any mobile device.

One of the projects, known as Wireless Universal Resource File (WURFL), is actually a database of various mobile devices. The database includes the name of the device, information about the user agent, the height as well as the width of the device screen, whether it is a mobile or tab. If it is a mobile, the mobile browser type and version it uses and so on. The database is regularly updated at short intervals. This makes ASP. NET one of the best ways to design and develop websites that are responsive.

Responsive web design has been here for quite a few years. With its popularity increasing by leaps and bounds, the concept is continually gathering steam from every quarter. Hence, careful evaluation backed by a clinical approach with the help of platforms like ASP.NET will further sharpen responsiveness of the sites.

You can hire developers from top .net application development companies in India who can help you build dynamic web portals within allocated budget and time schedules.

We provide asp.net application development services. If you would like to hire asp.net developers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Will Mobile Technology End Healthcare Disparities?

The introduction of mobile technology has brought in revolutionary changes in every realm of our lives. How can health care be left behind? Indeed, this new technology resulted in various innovations that have decreased and in some cases, even ended a lot of disparities that have previously plagued this particular industry.

Statistics have categorically pinpointed that with the advent of mobile technology, access to various types of health care services have vastly improved. Besides, the cost involved has decreased substantially though there are still a lot of things that can be done to fully utilize this technology for bringing various health care disparities.

Introduction of this particular type of knowhow already has benefited the rural as well as underserved populations of various countries, especially the developing ones. Thanks to this knowledge, this particular sect of the population can now have access to urban specialists in case of a medical emergency at any time of day or night and this helps immensely in saving life. Moreover, this know how is further likely to reduce inefficiencies as well as errors in prescribing drugs and conduction of various medical tests.

Thus, medical practitioners get immense help, especially while remotely monitoring patients who are suffering from different types of chronic illnesses. The know-how also helps them to remind their patients of appointments and taking medicines as prescribed. Thus, it can well be stated at this juncture that with the introduction of mobile technology, people access to various technologies dramatically has eased, thereby narrowing down the so called “digital divide”, which has prevailed for so many years and in years to come, it is likely to be pushed to the brink of elimination.

As people’s access to the Internet along with web-enhanced tools has expanded, governments of countries all around the world are working in sync with various communities to enhance the use of health–related IT services for improvement of overall health.

Experts who are associated with research on how mobile technology can improve the patient outcome by ending the disparities, have expressed hope that though there are miles to go, still the start is already looking a lot promising.

Increased and a systematic use of this technology has also helped the policy makers in taking better and more stable decisions regarding health care – a fact that is already helping in a drastic reduction of cost related to medical treatment. An exhilarating amount of opportunities that this technology had brought in, is improving the patient experience by controlling the costs involved.

The technology has also helped to do a lot of elaborate research and data analysis, for answering basic questions, regarding health care, thereby reducing the disparities by a significant extent. It is also likely to further increase the use of various offshore resources in order to meet the specific needs of each and every individual. This, in turn, would eliminate any disparity whatsoever that exists mainly due to the location as well as access to the specialty medical service providers.

While this particular function is illustrated by the growing popularity of the telemedicine for increasing access to the medical practitioners from the remote areas, this also demonstrates the use of some other basic tools of communication like automated video, voice call center mechanisms. These tools ensure that a particular family has timely access to expert medical interpreters at a certain hospital or medical center at the earliest at the hour or need.

Besides, social networking that the modern mobile technology has come up with provides patients and their families all the relevant information that comes in handy when it comes to dealing with emergency situations.

So this can surely be said that the rural areas, which have fewer numbers of medical personnel per capita, are being benefitted immensely from modern mobile technology. This is because it allows patients from these rural areas, to have easy as well as quick access to doctors located in the urban areas, through various high tech means like video conferencing and other types of remote monitoring technologies. This has naturally resulted in the elimination of the disparities in the medical field to a large extent.

You can hire developers from top healthcare mobile app development companies in India who can help you build your healthcare applications within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide mobile health app development services. If you would like to know more about the expertise of our certified mobile medical app developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Netsuite as an ERP - Pros & Cons

ERP stands for Enterprise Resource Planning; through this software various functions necessary for the smooth functioning of a business like order as well as inventory management, human resources, accounting CRM or customer relationship management, etc can be integrated into a single complete system so that information and processes can be streamlined across the organization. All ERP systems have shared databases for supporting of multiple functions of various business units. This essentially means that employees of different divisions may rely on same information for their particular needs. Through this, a degree of synchronized automation as well as reporting is allowed.

NetSuite is a ERP software that is Cloud-based. This ecommerce and accounting solution offers multilevel support as well as partner collaboration for companies. Business efficiency may be increased through this software by its accounting, sales, billing as well as shipping functionality. These functions are offered from the same base records, which is unlike other solutions that require multiple database support as well as records for every process. Some other main functions offered by it are sales team tracking, fulfilment and shipping, revenue recognition, financial reporting, sales force automation, budgeting as well as ecommerce management.

To determine whether NetSuite is suited for your ERP needs or not, you have to go through the pros and cons of the software carefully.

Pros

Widely integrated software system- The wide integration of this single software system for business is meant for use throughout the enterprise. There is respectable balance between product depth and application breadth in it.

Ecommerce shopping cart- In the SaaS ERP market for SMB companies, the ecommerce shopping cart can be said to be the best integrated solution. The impressive ecommerce solution is provided by the virtue of advanced functionality like affiliate marketing, keyword marketing module, promotional URLs, eBay integration, basic SEO capabilities along with credit card processing in real-time.

PRM module- This system ensures that the PRM or Partner Relationship Management module remains thoroughly integrated as well as well designed, providing great lead distribution, partner performance metrics, commission management along with joint forecasting.

Solutions- Several vertical market or industry specific solutions can be achieved through this software. In case of internet delivery on-demand, a thin-client native solution can be designed as well.

Market leadership- NetSuite being a marketing powerhouse, the leadership is quite strong.

Application security along with navigation- The functions are role-based and through this structure a distinguishable difference is provided from the other ERP systems. This may prove to be a disadvantage for some cases, but in cases where security is of prime importance, this is a definite advantage.

Digital dashboards- These flexible pieces look really impressive.

Cons

Difficulty in using- The system may be difficult to use in case of some people. The intuitiveness of the product must be improved. The customization tools may prove to be difficult as well. Some complimentary product tools are provided but they are non-intuitive as well as limited in function.

Customer support- The customer support is troublesome; the operation has been shifted to Manila which is seemingly unresolved as well as problematic.

Cost of customer support- The costs are quite high when compared to other hosted ERP systems.

Product upgrades- Upgrading can prove to be really troublesome. The old-fashioned and unusual phased release of upgrade is used by NetSuite as opposed to the approach used and supported by major SaaS companies which is all at the same time.

The system is quite balanced with its pros and cons; the ultimate choice is dependent on the individual along with the requirements. A mid-sized company can reap a lot of advantages from the affordable solutions offered by the software. It may result in increased efficiency but adequate research must be done to ensure that the end solution meets the needs of the users.

You can hire developers from top NetSuite website development companies in India who can help you accomplish your projects within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide Netsuite services. If you would like to hire NetSuite experts from us or would just like to speak to one of our developers, please reach out to us at Mindfire Solutions.

iPhone & iPad Development - Are Both the Same or Differ?

Apple has completely revamped the look and feel of iOS7. So developers, nowadays, find it a daunting challenge to fit their iPhone and iPad apps with Apple’s new design guidelines. Many developers are further starting from the scratch to avail fresh features and functionalities like Maps, AirPlay and Siri. At the same time, each iOS programmer also needs understand the similarity and differences between iPhone and iPad application development.

Both iPod and iPhone apps use the same mobile operating system, i.e., iOS. These apps are also developed using the same iOS SDK and development language. So at the surface level, you may not note any significant difference between building apps for these two Apple devices. But a close observation will make you notice a number of differences in terms of components and functionality.

Significant Differences between iPhone and iPad App Development

Difference in User Interface
The wide difference in the screen sizes of iPhone and iPad makes it essential for programmers to create different user interfaces. When the user interface complements the screen size of the mobile device, the application can deliver richer user experience. The developers also need to use distinct techniques to maintain the user interface properly. While creating the user interface, the developers can use synchronization tools as per the designing guidelines provided by Apple under the Human Interface Guidelines (HIGs). Also, they can use cross-platform tools to create different user interfaces for iPad and iPhone.

Quality of Resolution
Most iOS applications are compatible with both iPhone and iPad. But the larger screen size of iPad allows the apps to take advantage of additional screen space. But the quality of the resolution is affected as the application is stretched to fill the screen. So the developer must remember that an iPhone app may not run on iPad with high resolution. Further, the tablet users expect the screen to be split into separate panes for content and navigation.

Sense of Immediacy
Unlike tablets, smartphones can be carried by users in a flexible and hassle-free way. So the smartphones often create a sense of immediacy among the users. Each user expects the smartphone apps to fetch information or perform certain tasks in a time-driven and spontaneous manner. The sense of immediacy makes it essential for the iPhone apps to deliver user experience that is both time-driven and spontaneous. The requirement further makes iPhone app development different for iPod development.

Required Mobile Bandwidth
The larger screen size of iPad enables programmers to create robust and dynamic user interfaces with streaming rich media content. Many users even rely on Internet cloud to access data at their own pace. But functioning of dynamic interface varies based on the available mobile bandwidth. As many reports have highlighted, iPhone users can access and use more mobile bandwidth in comparison to the iPad users. Often iPad users access internet through Wi-Fi. So they have to compete with other users to get more bandwidth. That is why; the developers must design iPad apps that perform smoothly without consuming additional mobile bandwidth.

Target Audience for the App
The iOS developers also need to consider the target audience for the application, in addition to the technical aspects. The larger screen size of iPad makes it more suitable for apps that are designed mainly to display information. For instance, the kids love to see large graphics, while swiping and taping the device to change view. So iPad apps will be more appropriate for visually oriented tasks. Similarly, the iPod apps can also be use by retail stores to display and catalogue their products. On the other hand, the iPhone apps are more effective in targeting the professionals and business people. As they have to work on the go, the iPhone app will make it easier for the business people to access information anytime and anywhere.

The version of iOS will also have an impact on the differences between iPhone and iPad app development. But the developers can always build apps by targeting the most recent version of iOS to overcome these differences.

You can hire developers from top offshore iPhone development companies in Indiawho can help you build highly engaging and addictive iPhone apps within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide iPhone applications development services. Please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions if you would like to hire iPhone app developers India.

Is Automated Testing A Must For Successful Companies?

Automated testing is becoming more and more popular of late. Especially when it comes to the successful running of companies, this type of analysis has become all the more indispensable. With technology changing so fast, businesses need to keep pace with this drastic change in order to stay in the competition and excel. Automatic analysis is one of the best ways to do so and the tools that are constantly being innovated, help a lot in this.

There are a number of advantages that are associated with automatic evaluation as well as successful usage of the tools that are used therein. In fact, it is really a worthwhile investment for the companies that are into software development. The first and foremost advantage of this type of evaluation is that it negates any probability of human error. However, though these tests are fully automated, this does not mean that the use of these testing tools would render the mechanism of software development absolutely error-free whatsoever. Still, even if there is any error, they will be negligible and can be rectified with little or no effort at all.

The results that automatic evaluation of software comes up with are considered extremely reliable. As such these results help in the development of business activities in the most promising way. This can be attributed to the tools that are used for automated software evaluation. Consistency is another extremely important factor that makes automated testing an imperative, for a growth of a successful business. The tools are designed in such a way that they are not only programmable but are also repeatable. This provides a huge advantage to the software development businesses.

Here are some of the factors that make automatic analysis a must for development as well as the growth of a company.

Automated testing helps in time along with cost cut
For ensuring quality, software tests need to be repeated during the development cycles. Each time the source codes are modified, the tests are repeated for evaluation of the hardware configurations and the supporting OS. Repeating these tests manually will cost too much of time as well as costs. Thus, these automated tests can go on for hours, days or even for weeks with involvement of no extra costs whatsoever. Thus, these automated software testing reduces time and money as this time-saving ultimately converges into cost cut.

They increase the level of accuracy
When you go for manual testing, there is a high chance of the tester to commit mistakes, even if the best as well as the most experienced tester is appointed. On the other hand, automatic tests can perform the same steps in a much more precise way during each execution and the results that are arrived at, are more or less highly accurate.

Increase the coverage
This type of testing always increases the depth as well as the scope of tests and this helps the businesses to improve the quality of the software that is being developed. This is particularly important in the case of tests that take a lot of time to be completed. These lengthy evaluations that are generally avoided during manual testing can be run without the need of constant monitoring. This increases the coverage area in spite of the fact that it does not need too much of human intervention. Thus, the testers do not have to carry out repetitive analysis. Thus they can channelize the saved time to do some other activities, including creating new software.

This QA testing helps the testers and SW developers Software developers use the shared automated tests, for spotting various problems and follow it up by debugging them promptly before the software is sent for quality analysis. Tests can be run automatically whenever the changes in source code are checked. This feature immensely helps the developers as well as testers, decrease testing time and does a world of good to their confidence.

You can hire testers from top automation testing companies in India who can help you accomplish testing within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide test automation services. If you would like to hire automation test engineers from us or would just like to speak to one of our expert software testers, please reach out to us at Mindfire Solutions.