- Rhodes is a mobile application development framework that allows developers to write once and deploy applications to multiple smartphone platforms like iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Symbian using HTML, CSS, and Ruby.
- It provides components like Rhodes for building native apps and RhoSync for syncing local and cloud data across devices.
- The company is working on expanding device capabilities, improving sync performance, and hosting development and application runtime on their RhoHub platform.
2. Future of Mobile Programming
Declarative and tag-based development is
unbeatably productive
“Occasional disconnectedness” will always be there
When you need procedural code languages like Ruby
are good
Leverage web standards & ubiquity of browsers
wherever possible
But …exposing rapidly changing capabilities by
waiting for standards bodies (e.g. W3C) doesn’t work
But where it does that’s good
3. What’s Going On Now
Smartphone sales are exploding
Five major smartphone operating systems: iPhone,
BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android
Growth leaders are installed base laggards
“native apps” have won the day
1 billion iPhone app downloads on a platform with great
browser installed (as of April 23, 2009)
But …how do you write an app for all popular
devices?
4. So What is Rhodes?
Build the app quickly in HTML and Ruby
Write it once and it runs on all smartphones:
iPhone, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry,
Android, Symbian
Work with synchronized local data
Exploit device capabilities (GPS, PIM data,
camera, push/SMS)
http://www.github.com/rhomobile
5. The Rhomobile Components
Rhodes
“microframework” for building locally executing natively
optimized mobile apps
Developers run app generator for their objects of interest and
then edit HTML templates
Contains first mobile Ruby implementation
RhoSync
Sync focused on web service data (needed in the age of SaaS)
Handles keeping your data local and currenton the device
First mobile sync server to leverage current native smartphone
push (iPhone, BES)
6. Rhodes Architecture
You
write:
Rhodes app
model model
HTML source
controller Backend
rhogen templates adapter app
model model
HTML
controller source Backend
templates
adapter app
RhoSync
Rhodes runtime Server
Ruby
ORM (Rhom)
executor
We provide:
RhoSync
client
mobile device
7. What We Spend Time Doing
Sync (server and client)
Ruby on device
Device capabilities
Via Ruby calls
Via tags
RhoHub
All this could be potentially be used
alongside/simultaneously with other frameworks
8. Write An App
Rhogen app
Rhogen model
(all your models)
Edit your HTML templates
Rake –T
Rake run:iphone:app
9. RhoHub
First “Development as a Service for mobile” (DaaSM?)
Public beta announced May 20th
950 developers signed up since then
Production release in August
Hosted development
IDE to integrate command line tools (client/server generation
simultaneously)
Build for all smartphones online
Hosted runtime
OTA provisioning (user downloading from URL)
Sync server
Others? (advertising, analytics, you tell us)
Register at http://rhohub.com
10. Roadmap and Pricing
1.2 (current master) – next week
BlackBerry and iPhone push
Much faster database/sync
1.4
Audio/video capture
Pricing
GPL your app – free (send us the URL for your source)
commercial ISV license
Was 5% of revenue (will still be available by application)
Rhodes only - $500 per app
RhoSync server – scaled based on numbers of users
RhoHub – per month charge
sales@rhomobile.com
11. Call to Action
Write an app today!
Gem install rhodes
Rhogen app
Rake build:iphone:app - submit to iPhone appstore
Repeat: Rake build:bb:app
Let us help you!
Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/rhomobile
IRC: #rhomobile
Tell us about it!
We have lots of queued up referrals for demonstrated Rhodes
developers: adam@rhomobile.com