May 6, 2010

 

Open-source mobile development company Rhomobile is adding customization features to its upcoming Rhodes 2 product.

 

Rhodes 2, announced in beta this week, has the ability to import existing back-end data fields into mobile applications. That means developers can sell generic versions of their software that will automatically adjust for customers' specific requirements, rather than manually altering the app each time.

 

"The apps on the [Apple iTunes] App Store are more like demoware. They're not really used by a lot of enterprises. We really wanted to enable ISVs to ship reusable apps," CEO Adam Blum explained.

 

Rhomobile also put streaming audio and video into Rhodes 2, which is useful for field technicians and for collaboration purposes. That was developed by a customer, Requestec, Blum said.

 

Other new features include styling libraries for Google Android and Microsoft Windows Mobile devices. In addition, the new version uses an M.I.T. license, which is completely open, versus the GPL in previous versions of Rhodes that required changes to be shared back with Rhomobile.

 

Rhodes 2 is due for official launch by the end of this month. Rhomobile has not yet finished its deal to resell application provisioning and device management tools from an unspecified major company, Blum added.