Category: Reviews

CeBIT 2012: A Summary

March 21, 2012

CeBIT is a mega technology and gadget symposium hosted annually in Hanover, Germany. With more than 300,000 visitors and thousands of vendors from all around the world CeBIT 2012 was of of interest to designers, manufacturers, developers and consumers. Below is the summary of the important highlights of the event. Gesture and Face Recognition Technologies Kinect 3D motion-sensing cameras, which make use of Microsoft’s gesture recognition technology, are mostly used in certain video games played on the Xbox. The Kinect cameras resurfaced at the CeBit 2012, where 4 such cameras were placed alongside eight MultiTaction Cell 55in modular multi-touch displays to create the first 3D motion sensing multi-touch wall. It was put together by MultiTouch and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) ICT Labs again stressing on the importance of gesture recognition in the months to come by. Unlimited number of participants could use the display for interactive features that make use of each of their gestures. Talking about Kinect, Microsoft announced a few video games that support Kinect-based game-play at the CeBIT 2012. One of them was the Kinect Star Wars, which certainly attracted quite a lot of attention. On the other hand, robotic technology and hybrid devices that work on facial recognition and gestures helped to foresee a future that would make interfaces more sensory in nature. For instance, Audi’s new gesture-based entertainment system helps drivers to focus on the road and helps in navigating the car at the same time. Talking about gestures, the “Imaginary Interfaces” was revealed by Hasso-Plattner Institute at the CeBIT 2012. It allows users to make hand movements to switch on or off, wherever the switches might have been in place. It can be used to control lights, music or even the TV. It uses depth-sensing cameras to recognize movements on any surface. British artist Giles Walker designed Tobit’s pole dancing robots which dance and gyrate to music. Fraunhofer Institute’s Dr Phil Lutz Stobbe revealed ‘Shore’, which is a software that would use algorithms to guess people/s age, sex and mood they might be in. Such a technology might change the way we perceive mobile devices. Managing Trust, Managing Big Data and the Cloud The major thrust this year has been towards “managing trust”, which is the official theme of CEBIT 2012. Without a doubt, managing and protecting data has been at the forefront of technological advances. Vendors, keynote speakers and insiders spoke about how to protect big data, especially with each company accumulating social media and mobile device generated content. On that note, companies like Software AG have begun to upgrade their existing database products. Software AG announced that it would combine BigMemory with its WebMethods Business Events, which is a complex event processing (CEP) engine. Microsoft on the other hand would use System Center management software and Windows Server to approach the big data. With big data grabbing the headlines, cloud technology can’t be left far behind. Much of the data, both enterprise and consumer, would now be saved on the cloud. Without a doubt, cloud offerings were uniquely represented in the exhibition. Mobile Devices Get More Advanced Apart from managing big data and using cloud technology, mobile technologies too topped the list of keynote trends. Mobile Internet inspired devices and technologies included the first LTE smartphones from Samsung and HTC. These devices can download data more than 10 times faster than existing 3G devices. Multimedia streaming is going to get faster, and better. Samsung, Motorola and Huawei announced quad-core processors and multi-touch displays. With mobile Internet in mind, it is noteworthy to mention the proliferation of HTML5 apps. This might mean that app developers would soon become independent of Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Social Media and Mobile Technology Code_n competition attracted many developers and budding technocrats from 42 countries. The contestants presented their business models and how they would use contemporary tools to tackle communication in a global social media setting. This also leads us to another interesting development, which is that of ecommerce options. Social media and networks have thrown open doors to social business. Many developers spoke about a user-friendly Webshop for mobile devices and how one could add an emotional dimension to online buying experience. Much like the Mobile World Conference 2012 in Barcelona, CeBIT featured machine to machine communication, especially on a mobile front. Mobile health was a major trend just like it was in MWC 2012. Moreover, gestures, movements and environmental conditions can now be easily understood by mobile devices, and would help in what is being termed as intelligent IT. Mobile technology would not only help in providing and accessing mobile healthcare, but would also help in increased communication between citizens and governments. Other Products and Technologies that Grabbed Attention at CeBIT 2012 Technology seemed to become even more accessible than ever. For instance, Archos’ Childpad comes with child protection, so that they remain safe while surfing the web. It even comes with a parental control function and runs on Android 4.0. Talking about hybrid devices, Motorola’s Atrix allows one to take the desktop wherever they want to. The smartphone is kept in the lapdock notebook docking station, turning it into an 11-inch laptop. Other technical advances include Samsung Smart Hub, which allows seamless wireless communication between smartphones, tablets and new burners so that CDs and DVDs can be burned in a frictionless manner. Thus, data management, using the cloud, social business, LTE high speed networks and HTML5 are themes that have been popular in most technological exhibitions and events. Even at the CeBIT, the themes seemed to be consistent with other events such as the CES 2012 and MWC 2012.

Read More »

Our Experience at Mobile World Congress – 2012, Barcelona

March 12, 2012

The 2012 Mobile World Conference must be one of the most important events this year to happen in the world of technology, perhaps even more than CES 2012. The event saw technology enthusiasts from around the world land in Barcelona in order to witness some of the hottest devices in the world of mobile technology. It is difficult to summarize everything that took place at the MWC 29012, but one could say that the event was all about super cameras, larger screens, NFC, 4G LTE and hybrid devices that blur the line between smartphones and tablets. Emergence of Near Field Communication-enabled Devices What certainly caught our attention was the importance that manufacturers are giving to Near Field Communication (NFC). Mobile payments are going to get a lot easier with NFC and consumers shall be able to make complete purchases within apps or with the help of their network operators. The MWC 2012 didn’t just reveal NFC-enabled cellphones but it also become clearer how best to make use of this nascent technology. While making purchases is NFC’s prime function, it might become easier to navigate one’s way, check in for Foursquare or even secure gadgets and vehicles with the help of NFC. In fact, the possibilities with NFC could be endless. Carriers are still in control of NFC but things shall surely change in 2012, with almost every new smartphone being NFC-enabled. Apart from this, we also saw mobile devices being a lot more secure in order to carry out mobile payments and make banking transactions. Changing Technologies and Changing Roles of the Operators Mobile operators, who have been bogged down by reduced coverage at home, enterprises and dense urban areas will now be able to function better thanks to smaller cells. Femtocells are the smallest ones being deployed for home use where as picocells, metrocells, and microcells are being used for enterprises and high-capacity public areas. At the conference, it was rather clear that small cells will replace macrocells in the coming years. Meanwhile, mobile operators will also benefit from Wi-Fi as data traffic is expected to reach 10.8 Exabytes per month by the time it is 2016. Operators are looking towards ways in which they can combine cellular data (3G, LTE) and Wi-Fi with the help of multi-mode small cells. Operators may also begin to offer differentiated services and collaborate with players and offer Rich Communication Services. This might include video calling and content sharing which might help them to compete with Over-the-top players. Transportation, Home and Healthcare to be Connected to Mobile Devices Mobile devices are also going to be increasingly connected to each other. When Ford unveiled B-max at MWC 2012, one should realize that mobile connectivity is going to be very different. Bill Ford described the car as a “rolling collection of sensors”, which would help in avoiding accidents. The idea is apparently is to connect vehicles and people so that there can be a synced communication network with different safety and networking possibilities. While connected houses are no longer something new, AT&T revealed an impressive digital in-home service delivery platform in which various sensors would help people to use devices and controls to virtually run the entire house. Mobile operators from various parts of the world announced mobile health initiatives that would connect people to hospitals, doctor’s offices, community services and other such entities. In 2012, transportation, home and health may begin to be connected through mobile devices, sensors and operators’ special initiatives. Android Rules, Mozilla Enters with Boot to Gecko Project While large screens ruled the roost, every major vendor seemed to be offering Android-powered handsets and tablets. Windows Phone 7 didn’t really create as much buzz as it should have but the year is still stretched ahead of us, and there might be a few sparks left here and there. While Android and iOS still rule the market, Mozilla may soon enter the mobile industry with its Boot to Gecko project. The OS is expected to make smartphones run Web apps. This could be interesting as many app developers have revealed lately that they wouldn’t mind developing web apps for their existing mobile apps. However, such a smartphone would always need to be connected to the Internet in order to function well. Speed, Power, Augmented Reality and HTML 5 •    With LTE 4G networks looming around the corner, almost all the devices seem to have 4G capabilities. These devices average speeds of 50 to 100Mbps. Perhaps it is finally time to watch those HD videos without any interruptions. •    Augmented Reality was yet another draw on most devices. This might perhaps please the video game fans the most. •    Another trend that was popular at the MWC 2012 was re fact that almost every phone had a dual or quad-core processor, which means that smartphones this year are going to be power-horses. •    HTML 5 is turning out to be the new common standard, and developers were seen rallying around it. Devices that Caught Our Attention Some of the devices that were launched at the MWC 2012 were 10.1 inch tablet Samsung Galaxy Note which comes with a 1.4GHz dual-core CPU. Samsung also unveiled 7″ and 10″ models of Galaxy Tab 2 and the Galaxy Beam, which comes with a build-in Pico projector. Nokia unveiled its entry-level Asha 202, 203, and 302 and a scaled down version of its Lumia 900, the Lumia 610. It features Xbox integration and Windows Phone Tango OS. Nokia 808 Pureview, like discussed earlier features a 41 MP camera. ZHTC unveiled its HTC ImageSense, an enhanced camera and imaging offering, part of the HTC One series. Asus unveiled its Padfone, which can be inserted into an Asus Padstation that doubles up as a tablet. Huawei unveiled what it claims to be the world’s first quad-core tablet, the MediaPad 10. Sony Ericsson’s Sony Xperia P and the Sony Xperia U come with NFC and dual-core CPUs. LG’s Optimus Vu is a ‘phablet’ too, doubling up as a cellphone

Read More »

Explainer Videos: A Potent Internet Marketing Tool

March 7, 2012

Once companies manage to get a slick website to entice customers or clients, they tend to believe they are all set to make their foray into the Internet. However, marketing oneself or one’s company isn’t all that simple and one needs to tap into the consumer’s psychology. Psychological theories of learning emphasize on the importance of sensory inputs. For instance, a website that only has text is the least appealing. When it offers images and colourful pictures, a visitor stays on a page for a longer time. Similarly, when the website appeals to the auditory sensors, depending on the situation the visitor to the page may lurk around a little much longer. Also, having text, images, audio and video would be a complete sensory experience and this is perhaps why one should consider uploading and publishing explainer videos that grab the attention of the visitor, provide information and also allow for interactive sharing through social media. Most importantly, explainer videos are viral, if they are good enough. What Are Explainer Videos and What Are Their Benefits? Animated explainers or promotional videos are a great addition to one’s marketing plan as they add a little bit of fun to one’s business and effectively explain one’s services and products. First off, explainer videos grab the attention of the viewer and also help in sustaining it. This means, the page visits last for a longer duration and helps in increasing web traffic. This automatically helps in increasing page views, brand awareness, ad exposure and finally helps in memorizing one’s company’s information and reach a wider target audience through social media or otherwise. What Are the Key Features of a Good Explainer Video? If one were to ask what must be included in an explainer video, it is rather simple and clear. The explainer video needs to be simple and non-intrusive. Much as a video is sensually stimulating, it must not prove to be intrusive and annoying. The information and the video must be clutter-free and must avoid unnecessary information. An explainer video must also not be very lengthy and should not last for more than 2 minutes. The idea is to grab the viewers’ attention for a few seconds more than usual, and not make them get distracted from the actual content. Explainer videos must be interactive and fun. This means that one must make use of rich animation, graphics, visual effects and an attractive voice over in order to convey the message effectively in a non-intrusive manner. It is a good idea to approach a video production company or speak to web designers themselves if they could play around with animation and make an attractive video. It is rather simple to create an explainer video and is more affordable than getting actors to play their roles. How Can One Make a Good Explainer Video? A good explainer video must have a plan. The plan must describe the content, tone and medium. Once the plan is written, the next step is to visualize it on a storyboard. Storyboards help in visualizing the video and also in editing once the video has been shot. Voice-overs are very important and a soothing background music with or without voice-overs can be a great tool in maintaining the visitor’s attention. Once the video has been shot, edited and completed, it is time to share it on as many websites as possible. Social media websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ always come to one’s rescue. How Can Explainer Videos Help in Marketing? Explainer videos are particularly useful in a web marketing campaign as videos can go viral. They can drive traffic from YouTube and social networking sites. Visitors spend 45% longer on a website which has explainer videos. Research also reveals that people tend to buy products or service twice as likely when videos are present. They help in driving a sales pitch without being too intrusive and eventually help in creating valuable online brands. Which are some popular companies creating explainer videos? Oomphbox provides a cost-effective solution for creating compelling explainer videos that can easily grab attention of your prospects and explain your innovative business model, products or services for higher conversion rates. Some of the other companies that make professional videos are Common Craft, Demo Duck, My Promo Videos, Grumo Media, Epipheo Studios, Explania.

Read More »

Logo Design: What Goes in Making a Good Logo?

March 6, 2012

Most designers encounter clients who need logos to be designed for them. Though a logo is a tiny piece of art, it carries more weight than reams of pages. What Is a Logo? A logo defines and describes what a company stands for. A logo helps people recognize the company as a different entity from its competitors. It inspires trust, familiarity, loyalty and a certain sense of superiority. It helps define a company as a separate commercial, legal and economic identity which has a place of its own in the world. The shapes, colors and fonts used to create a logo are always different from every other logo that has been designed. Thus it is no surprise than many companies sue each other when their logos appear similar. While a logo does not directly market or sell, it identifies the company as a commercial entity and its products as being separate from others in the market. One could say, that a logo is a signature of a company. What Makes a Good Logo? There are several ways to make sure that a logo is exceptionally good. A good logo has to be graphical in nature, and minimalist. A simple design always attracts and holds more attention than an intricate design that requires greater span of attention. A good logo has to be appropriate for the audience of the company’s products and services. It also has to be distinctive and practical. Logos may have to be printed on a number of merchandize and thus they have to be simple, accurate and easy to recognize. Any logo that is good has an implicit meaning or a message that is conveyed in a unique unstated manner. Even without colour, a logo should be able to stand on its own just because of its shape. It should be designed in such a manner that it can be replicated in any size that the company wants to. Thus, a good logo comes with a good concept and good execution. The Process of Logo Designing Designing a logo cannot take place haphazardly. It requires a certain discipline and the ability to stick to a process. The process involves a design brief, which involves interviewing the client and asking them to answer questions. This may include such elements as what meaning they try to convey through their logo, what the company’s goals, beliefs and ethics are all about. Once the brief is ready, it is time to do the research. A research must include deep insight into the industry that the client belongs to, and the company’s history and also its competitors. Having a reference, which is usually cultural in nature, is always good. Logos should be consistent with contemporary themes and beliefs. It should be recognizable as defining a certain quality. Once all this is done, designers could begin with the actual process of sketching and conceptualizing. Once a logo has been conceptualized, it can be sketched and created on the computer. In between the logo designing process, one needs to wait and reflect on what has been done so far. It allows the designer to think, introspect and come up with newer ideas or ameliorate what has been done already. This step leads one towards revisions and positioning. This helps in explaining the logo to the client, and also building lasting relationships with them. The best logos can then be presented to the client in PDF format or in any manner that may be convenient. Logo Designing Principles While this process is common to all kinds of logos, a logo designer must also bear in mind that the profession of designing logos stands upon certain principles. These principles can be understood in the following manner: Simple: A logo must always be simple, and should have minimalist sub-themes. It should not cause cognitive dissonance among the target audience and should be clutter free. Memorable: A logo should be remembered easily. It should have geometric and recognizable patterns so that the company can be easily associated with the logo and remembered as well. Timeless: Though a logo should be contemporary in nature, it must also be timeless. This only means that shapes and patterns that are chosen must be consistent across classic and contemporary periods. It always helps to be a little conservative when it comes to logo shapes. Versatile: A logo has to be adaptable, and should be able to fit in any place it is printed on. Appropriate: It goes without being said that logos should not be profane or provocative. They should not hurt anyone’s sentiments and should be neutral in nature. It should also be appropriate for all sections of the society. BTW, If you have a logo to be designed, feel free to drop us a line and we will be happy to connect you with our Logo Design team.

Read More »

Cool Deals for Designers

March 1, 2012

Being a designer has its share of incentives too. Many web hosting companies, software resellers and internet companies offer discounts, deals and even cool freebies to discerning web designers. There are several deals at the moment for people who are interested in web designing and related activities. CSS-Tricks CSS-Tricks has a number of deals for designers. They have listed quite a lot of deals that could catch anybody’s attention, and some of them are a steal: 20% off on  CSSIgniter, UpThemes, Themify, ThemesKingdom and ThemeShift AND, 30% on WPCrown AND 25% on VivaThemes – all sites that sells WordPress themes. All in all, you should not buy a WordPress theme (or theme site membership) without checking out this deal page! 50% off on Ultimate Designer toolkit. The toolkit comes with patterns, brushes, gradients, vector illustrations, textures and photos. If you need some interesting icons for your web or mobile application, you might like to get it from WebIconSet, which is offering 20% discount. Last, but not the least, you can also get the stock photos at a 15% discount from DepositPhotos Remember: To get these deals, you must go to http://css-tricks.com/deals/ and then follow the link. You may not get any discount, if you go directly. Mighty Deals On MightyDeals.com, you could sign up and receive a number of deals right in your email. At the moment, they offer a 50% discount on Aurora 3D Animation Maker. At just $35, this cool tool is a great help when it comes to designing feature and graphics rich websites for clients. The tool comes with more than 3000 symbols and one could import SVG files. With 60 plus professional project templates and more than 80 object styles, no web designer would ever feel lost when he or she is trying to design professional websites. In fact, it is pretty simple to create animated videos, Flash SWF, animated GIF or just as a sequence of images. All that you would need to do is download and install Aurora 3D Animation Maker. It hardly takes a few minutes. The software comes with special features such as capability to emulate smoke, fireworks and even emptiness of space! The software requires Mac OS 10.6 or later or Windows XP/Vista/7. Inspired Mag Deals InspiredMag is yet another place where you can land up in many deals! Some of the cooler deals that we thought were superb include the 300 PICAS vector Icons, which cost $50, but with a heavy discount, one could get it for just $15. These are royalty free vector icons that are specially designed for web, mobile and GUI interfaces. If you thought market research was a tough job, you could go ahead and buy AYTM’s new tool for market research. It comes with tools to write surveys and mail them to your target audience. Responses are delivered within a few hours and you would even get clear description of your data. At $89, it is a real steal. Designer Daily Deals Similarly, Designer Daily has deals that are offered everyday for web designers. Design Delight Offers DesignDelight offers discounts and deals too and one of the interesting deal is that of PSD to HTML conversion tool, which costs only $68 after discount. It is pretty clear that these days most people prefer HTML based websites, than heavy PSD files. This tool could prove to be a lifesaver. Conclusion With deals becoming increasingly popular, and with the high prevalence of social media to market these deals, it is now well accepted in the web design community as well. Also, since most of the products required by designers are info-products, i.e. things that can be replicated without extra cost, discounts can be steep. Hence, this segment is going to stay – even if the popular deal sites offering discounts on food, health and travel struggles! So, keep hunting – and may be share some of the current deals with readers of this blog.  

Read More »

Photoshop: To Skip or Not to Skip?

February 28, 2012

Web designers can be roughly classified into two groups: The first group chooses to translate ideas and sketches into Photoshop, and then design the website in HTML and CSS. The second group directly dives into HTML and CSS by skipping the option of working with Photoshop. There are arguments to support both the choices and it is difficult to conclude which could be a better way to design websites. In truth, each client must be considered individually and depending on the kind of project that the designer has to tackle, an appropriate method can be chosen. Why Skipping Photoshop May Be Necessary Web designers who choose to directly work with HTML and CSS after initial sketches do so successfully, and have several arguments to back their decision. Photoshop Is Static A Photoshop mock-up is static, and can’t easily be edited, updated and changed as and when it may be required. One would have to make changes to the original Photoshop file, and then upload the file through FTP servers in order to make the changes available real time. A website that has been designed entirely in HTML and CSS can be edited and changed very easily. In a content-rich world where one uses a lot of text, using HTML and CSS could be a better way to design websites than diving into the complex world that Photoshop presents us with. Working with typography is always easier on an HTML website. Photoshop Is Complex HTML and CSS based websites are minimalistic in nature and are best suited for those websites that are text-heavy and dynamic. Websites that use only HTML and CS allow more interactivity and team-work. It is easy for coders and web designers to maintain sites that make use of only HTML as codes can be written, rewritten or altered in a matter of seconds to minutes. HTML websites also allow for more accurate feedback instantly. Using Photoshop Always May Not Be Economical Content-driven websites rely heavily upon linking, and it is not possible to link Photoshop mock-ups as easily as HTML-based websites can be. Photoshop gives prominence to details and production of a website, and can be very important when designing feature-rich websites that incorporate layers, textures, colours and designs. However, much time and effort, and valuable money is spent unnecessarily when web designers choose to work with Photoshop and then use HTML and CSS. HTML and CSS Are Simple, Interactive and Easy to Edit Thus, by skipping Photoshop web designers can make sure that the websites are more interactive in nature and that they are text-friendly. Making changes to the layout, editing, and reformatting websites can be extremely easy when one chooses to work with HTML and CSS. HTML and CSS websites provide the simplicity that many clients have begun to love, and there is nothing wrong with websites that are not complex to handle. Sometimes, Photoshop Can’t Be Skipped At the same time, one cannot dismiss Photoshop. It offers the most complex and most detailed tools to design static pages, and layouts which are simply not possible with HTML and CSS. The minimalism and simplicity that HTML and CSS offer may not be well-suited for websites that require rich-graphics, colors and images. Thus, Photoshop-based websites are better suited when clients specifically require feature-rich websites that are eye-candy. Using Photoshop is very important while designing websites for fashion, luxury, entertainment and art. Though web designers stand to save time and effort when they choose to use only HTML and CSS, but such websites are best suited for clients who need webpage that are text-driven, and seek minimalist and simplistic layouts. Skipping or Not Skipping Photoshop Depends on the Context At the end of the day, skipping Photoshop or relying heavily upon it are not mutually exclusive. Regardless of what web designers prefer using, it is important to be at ease with designing websites that do not need Photoshop, and also that which need this wonderful tool. It is as simple as assuming that certain kinds of websites do better with Photoshop and certain kinds of websites just do not need it. Depending on the context, content, target audience and maintenance goals of a website, the choice of skipping or not skipping Photoshop must be made. This article has been contributed by the Indus Net Technologies Web Design team, based on experience of few team members, while they produced websites for our numerous clients.

Read More »
native-vs-webapp

Pros & Cons of Mobile Apps (aka Native Apps) vs Web Apps

February 7, 2012

Looking into the phenomenal growth of mobile browsing, businesses are shifting their focus to mobile web. Their overall web strategy is gradually leaning towards mobile web. However depending upon the business the mobile strategy will vary. For example a business related to selling products like Amazon or Ebay will have a different strategy then a business offering news to the readers. Whatever be the business, the bigger question while creating mobile strategy is whether to use open standards like HTML, CSS and JavaScript to build the Mobile site or build it as a native Mobile App for the device you are targeting. To start with both Mobile Web App and Native App have their pros and cons. So before you start building the application a thorough evaluation is essential. Difference between Web Apps and Native Apps Before we proceed, let’s understand what exactly is the difference between the 2 types. Native Apps are applications specifically designed to run on a particular platform. The whole application is installed in the device and can be executed. They are usually dependent on mobile firmware as well as the Operating System. So an app designed for Android will work only on Android devices and not on an iPhone. It needs to be ported or adapted to iOS to be used in iPhone. These Native Apps are mostly obtained through a marketplace. Web Apps are applications which are usually accessed through a web browser and the whole or part of it needs to be downloaded onto the device each time you access it. These are created using open web standard like HTML, CSS and JavaScript. These are usually platform independent. These web apps are loaded automatically in the mobile web browser through the use of sophisticated detection technology when the site is accessed through mobile. The image below depicts how US smartphone users use Mobile App and Browser for various tasks. Pros and Cons of Web Apps & Native Apps Both Native and Web Apps have their pros and cons. A clear understanding of the benefits and demerit of each along with your mobile web strategy will help in choosing one over the other and if requires choosing the both. Rich User Interface: Native Apps seamlessly integrate into the device features and provide a rich user experience. They integrate with phone in such a way that gives the feel of built-in functionality of the device. The improvement is mobile web technology is helping the Web Apps to gradually go through a phenomenal change in user interface. But the Native Apps clearly win here. Connectivity: Native Apps can be used to some extent even if there is no data connectivity however Web App requires connection to Internet to function. Native App is winner. Performance: As Web Apps require HTML and JavaScript rendering they are comparatively slower as compared to similar Native Apps. Native App is winner. Availability: The Native Apps are distributed through a marketplace like Android Market or iPhone Apps Store. And these are available subject to Approval. Even if an App is approved now, in future that may be rejected based upon the terms. This dependency of Native App for distribution is a hindrance for Enterprise to go for a Native App for their business application. On the other hand the web app can be accessed from any device without such restrictions. Web App is winner. Updates: The updates to Native Apps happen through the market place where as the web app update is instant. The moment you make any changes in the web app users will be able to see the updated features instantly. Web App is winner. Cost of development: The most notable advantage of mobile web app is that you build it once and it will be available to all devices irrespective of the configuration and platform with few changes. Native Apps being platform dependent, considerable amount of money has to be spent to develop same App for different platform like Android, iOS, Windows 7 and Blackberry. Web App is a winner here. Engagement and Branding: Because of the stronger integration with the mobile platform Native Apps provide a better engagement. Also they help in creating a stronger branding for your business as there will be a dedicated icon of your brand on the mobile device which is used to launch the Native Application. Native App is a winner here. For further elaborate learning on this Max Katz has created a table that shows various differences in various categories between Native App and mobile Web App. Conclusion: Thanks to HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery framework like jQuery Mobile and Sencha Touch the gap between a Native App and Mobile Web App is gradually reducing. With few exceptions most of the native apps could be written into Web Apps and can provide almost similar experience. Another form of the App called Hybrid App is also seen now a days which is a web app placed inside a native wrapper. According to Jeff Haydn the Native App and Mobile web are not mutually exclusive and need to co-exist for some time. Feel free to contact us at info@indusnet.co.in for our advice. We will be more than happy to help without any bias, as we have both capabilities and only suggest the right fit to our clients. You can also visit our mobile section.

Read More »

SEO Software Tools – An important element of your SEO strategy

September 22, 2010

Do you want your site to rank in the first page of top search engines and lure the best traffic in the online domain? Well, a competent Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) process can increase the chance of your site to achieve the top ranking. In simple terms, SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is a process which improves the visibility of a site in various search engines through organic and paid search results. It is a major part of Internet Marketing and targets various searches related to image, video, audio or local searches. There are number of steps involved like site analysis, strategy framing, its implementation, result tracking and measurement. Optimization can be onsite as well as offsite. Onsite optimization includes the content editing with respect to the targeted keywords whereas the offsite involves link building and submission of the site to various directories of different search engines. The entire process can be overwhelming at times! To make life simpler, SEO activities can also be outsourced to a competent agency. Keeping and maintaining track of the results is a bit time consuming and lengthy, but is necessary for framing the right strategies and sustaining your site rankings on a continuous phase. This measurement of the result is done through various tools such as Google analytics, Woorank tool or SiteReportCard tools. Lots of onsite, offsite and domain related parameters can be judged through them. Hence it takes lot of time for organizing such results. There are a number of SEO software tools that are available online and you have to make use of them accordingly. Some of the widely used tools are Ranking Checker Fiddler Web Debugging Tool SEO Analyzer SEO for Firefox XENU’s Link Sleuth, Keyword Density Tool Prominence Tool Google Ad-words tool Starting from site monitoring, competitor analysis, keyword research, finding link partners to offering handy SEO advice, you can get an array of features from these SEO tools. In addition, these tools also help in deciphering the most popular pages that are being searched and visited, the Text to HTML ratio, the image detail, site w3c validation, site compliance to different browsers and many more. Certain off-site analysis of the back links can also be analysed, along with the site load time. Based on your requirement, you have to make use of the features and benefits of the SEO software tools. The above mentioned tools can only serve a specific purpose at one time. Whereas if you are looking for a multi-dimensional tool that brings most of the things together and help you correlate things better, you need an integrated SEO software. We highly recommend AnalyticsSEO for this purpose. Once you are able to get through, there will be no looking back. Your chances of getting the best traffic and excellent ranking will be enhanced. Let us know how did you get along!

Read More »

Induna.com – Another successful venture blooms.

December 26, 2008

Indus Net Technologies has always taken pride in working with companies through their struggle till they succeed (and of course after that). Today, when I picked up the newspaper, I was thrilled to see that media has discovered another poster-boy of the Kolkata dotcom industry, for whom we have worked very closely for over one year. I am talking about Induna.com, a venture headed by Aadarsh Agarwal and his brother Siddhant Agarwal. Read the full story here: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081222/jsp/calcutta/story_10265245.jsp Indus Net Technologies is proud to be closely associated with the project as the technology provider. We have worked with Aadarsh through the blueprint of the website, leading to design and development of the website. Our relationship does not end here. We also do on-going maintenance and updates for the website to keep them at the cutting edge. On a personal front, Aadarsh is a good friend, with whom I share several intense discussion on business philosophy, strategy and ideology. The interesting part of the story is that he knew he will be successful. His confidence is contagious. He has very strong work ethics and he is never shy from helping another person! Things to learn from Aadarsh and Siddhant: Be persistent. Give your best shot. Never compromise on customer experience. I think Aadarsh has excellent thought leadership about online retailing and I am expecting him to start his own blog soon. Aadarsh – do you hear me?

Read More »

Online project management tools

January 25, 2008

Proper project management is key to a successful project. To manage multiple projects and teams which are geographically spread across the globe, you need a quality project management tool. As a web development company, we looked around for some quality software which serves the purpose and does not burn a hole in the pocket. Here is our pick! Basecamp HQ:- A nice, minimalist simple to use software true to the philosophy of 37signals, the company which built it. This software is only available in a SaS (software as service) model. IMO this software best suits small projects which are communication centric. It lacks version control, task management, project tracking along with cost-benefit analysis. Overall, very easy to easy and adapt, but reporting is not up to the mark. If you are a small business and you do most of your project management yourself, this can be a good choice for you. Intervals:- It seems to have picked up the baton where Basecamp HQ has left. It also works on a SaS (software as service) model. It has more features (specially in terms of reporting and role management) than Basecamp HQ, thus making it suitable to manage complex projects across a large organization. Overall, it is a good attempt to overcome the shortcomings of Basecamp HQ. However it needs to improve on its usability. It also needs to provide staged progression in terms of features and complexity so that small businesses can adapt the system. I am sure that this software will become popular as they keep improving and become old. For a SaS model company, time-tested reliability is more important than anything else. Ace Project:- A comprehensive project management software with user friendly interface and short learning curve. It has different licensing policies and therefore you can rent or buy off (with our without source code) the software to suit your organizational needs. This software is around for quite some time and therefore seems to be reliable. It has decent reporting capabilities, but not as good as what Intervals claim to have! Dot Project:- The best free open source project management software that I have come across. This software looks flexible and extendable. You can plug in various modules, including Mantis (for bug tracking). The usability and reporting leaves much to be desired. So if you are looking at free project management software with access to source code, Dot Project is a good choice. Conclusion: There is nothing called a perfect project management software. The usage, the users and the desired result determines the one which suits best for a given organization. So take your pick from the above mentioned toolset.  

Read More »

Services

Industries

Company

Resources

Press Kit

MENU
Book a free consultation
CONTACT US

Let’s connect!

    Privacy Policy.

    Book a free consultation
    Almost there!

    Download the report

      Privacy Policy.