Voyager 8: More Sucess Combating Fragmentation (Part 1)
(Author’s Note: the original post has been broken up into 3 segments to adjust for length. Part 2 and Part 3 to follow.)
At CTIA this week, Recursion Software is showcasing an anticipated new Voyager release centering around three new features:
- Network Address Translation Support (NAT)– Enables Voyager applications to securely span multiple networks and associated firewalls without unnecessarily exposing public IP addresses or ports
- Dynamic Discovery – Enables Voyager applications and services running on devices to automatically discover each other within a LAN to share information
- Distributed BONDI – Enables remote access via BONDI compliant interfaces to data resident from any device to any other device(s) on the network
The announcement has further fueled an ongoing argument over web vs. native apps as best for mobile development. The web app camp has long touted fragmentation as the overriding consideration above all others for why developers should go the browser route. This argument is based on the conclusion that developing for each OS is too expensive- a true statement- combined with the assumption that there is no other solution to the problem. Perhaps Java’s failed vision for “write once, run everywhere” has tainted pubic opinion that a single platform can accomplish this task.
Yet, Recursion has long maintained the assumption that no platform is truly pervasive is flawed. And as we announced this week at CTIA, we are continuing to enhance our Voyager platform as the best alternative to web app development, one that addresses fragmentation on the communications and software level through the most pervasive API set available today. Furthermore, Voyager-powered apps solve the major deal-breaker for always-on and mission-critical enterprise apps: bandwidth performance and offline capabilities.
Bandwidth consumption will continue to worsen as smartphone adoption increases and with new connected services, such as M2M and Emerging Devices initiatives that both AT&T and Sprint recently announced. Much to the public’s chagrin, the networks plan on offering access to these devices at an additional cost. And furthermore, they will be charging by the kb. An ever-increasing number of connected devices only increases the need for a low-bandwidth, pervasive mobile platform.
As the “Internet of Things” emerges, the important question arise: Why send data up to the cloud for processing, and back to the device again when you very well are standing next to the device with which you want to exchange content? Will your app continue to function when 1 Billion other uses do the same thing? Is the ease of development at the cost of performance worth trade-off? Ultimately, the needs of the end user- where these apps are eventually monetized in some fashion- should be a developer’s utmost concern. Whether it’s the app can’t scale, or it’s the network to blame, to the average user it doesn’t matter much why.
The solution benefiting both developers and networks alike is simply that devices need the ability to participate in real-time data sharing with other devices, systems and clouds regardless of the networks that the participating devices and systems are on. For most transactions, this is the most efficient use of bandwidth, with the cloud functioning as a back-up and archiving system on an as-needed basis. As chips and RAM become smaller, cheaper, faster, the case for tapping into the processing power of the phone itself gains even more credibility over potential “cloud sprawl”.
Solving Bandwidth by Smart Network Use
Solving the growing challenges in mobile development is at the core benefit of the Voyager platform. Voyager removes the requirement to push all transactions and data to the cloud and pull data back to the device again with each transition or download. It allows devices to host services that can be discovered dynamically, providing an extremely powerful peer-2-peer, peer-2-group architectural option to further reduce network traffic. This is also possible in part because Voyager works on various wireless networks in addition to Telco networks.
The Voyager platform has provided these ad hoc capabilities for most major platforms- iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, Windows, etc.- for some time now. However, Voyager’s latest release offers 3 enhancements to these capabilities, which I briefly outlined at the start of this post. (Look to subsequent posts that discuss these enhancements in detail.) With the case made for the important role need established for a platform , the Voyager 8 release is yet another proof point that native apps have an important role in the future of our connected world.
If you are a forward-thinking developer or product manager who enjoys edge technology, apply to be a private release candidate tester at recursionsw.com/Voyager8.
-Vicky
