Looking to take your app idea off the ground? Don’t stroll in the precarious path without working out a proper strategy for application developed. First and foremost, try to sketch a draft. The earlier the better, as it would allow you to overlap the development of the application with the development of the design. If you are not good at programming, then try to outsource app development. You can hire an app developer from number of good places such as elance.com, odesk or skill pages and other vocation facilitating websites. Once you have a list of developers, short listing and finalizing the best one is a perplexing activity.

Nevertheless, here are few tips and tricks to help you outsource app development.

Try to get as much bids you can: Always collect a handful of bids as it will provide an edge to bargain with the developer. Yes! Quality should always precede price, yet, to have a couple of choices in hand is always good.

Shortlist developers who have hands-on experience in similar applications to the one you desire. They must have worked on common programming applications. Do cross check their work uploaded on their portfolios. Steer away from developers without any portfolio.

Connect with more than an email with your developer. Try to have a face-to-face interview session. In case, it’s a distant possibility, try to create visual connection for better interaction quotient. Prepare some questions beforehand so that you can focus on the answers of the developer rather than thinking of which question to ask next. Moreover, virtual or in-person interview facilitates trust building and compatibility.

Set Milestones: In case, you hire an app developer who has worked for hot-shot companies such as Sony, Century Fox, Pixar to name a few, then there are high chances that your work might shift to lowest priority whenever these companies have a new application to be developed by the concerned developer. It is imperative to set milestones and deadlines before signing a contract with any developer.

Always go for proper documentation. Studies have revealed that many people overlook the importance of documentation in application development. Documentation specifies the deliverables and ascertains that the final output will have all prescribed features and codes. It facilitates the developer to have a better understanding of your requirements and provides you with a benchmark to check the developed application.

Maintain regular communication with the developer and demand for a reporting timeframe which can be in hours, days or weeks. Don’t assume that it’s the sole responsibility of the developer to develop the application. Your inputs and suggestion will not only keep the developer in check but would also ensure that any defect in the development process is identified and rectified beforehand, thus, saving your time as well as that of the developer. One must evaluate aspects like interface, testing, bugs as soon as the initial framework is developed.

With these aforementioned tips one can effectively decide to outsource an app developer without any fears of this decision backfiring on you. This might be not the only way but it for sure “highly effective”.

Contact us for any assistance with your application development requirement or to hire dedicated apps developer on flexible hiring plans.

For More Details, Call us Toll free on +1.855.55XICOM and +91.11.25502616 or mail your queries and requirements to service@xicom.biz

Over the past one year or so, we all have been ears to numerous speculations about Microsoft Office making ‘the big launch’ on Android and iOS platforms. And if you are one of those avid Office suite users, you must be keeping pace all this while with any updates relating this news. Why not? After all, aplenty users are hungry to have a bite of the accessible and workable mobile version of Microsoft’s Word processor. But it seems that it will take Microsoft another year to serve your appetite.

According to a recent report, the iOS and Android versions of Microsoft Office, may not surface until the fall of 2014. According to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, who’s got a chance to sneak peek into the actual roadmap devised by Microsoft, Outlook for Windows RT as well as Office for iOS and Android will surface in the mobile marketplace during the fall of 2014. This happens to be a year and a half away, by the way, farther away from what anyone could expect or hope. As noted by Mary, this roadmap which is codenamed as ‘Gemini’ indicates the following:

Gemini Wave 1.0, Scheduled for October 2013: In this phase, Windows Blue App will get updated

Gemini Wave 1.5, Scheduled for April 2014: Windows phone support refresh, Office RT refresh, Office for Mac and Perceptive Pixel support

Gemini Wave 2.0, Scheduled for October 2014: Release of Office for iOS and Android, Outlook RT scheduled

Windows official refrained from commenting on this roadmap, but Mary’s sources reveal that this roadmap was devised as recently as the beginning of 2013.

Amidst all this, it is essential to make a mention of one thing- very recently, i.e. in last October, a Czech subsidiary of Microsoft made an alleged promise that the launch of Office for iOS and Android devices will take place in 2013. However, Microsoft backed off from this promise. In an official statement the company accepted that the information shared by its representative in Czech Republic wasn’t accurate. It also refrained from making any further comments on the matter.

Disappointed? Don’t Be!

The news isn’t that good after all. It might have caused a wave of worry and disappointment amongst users and Android and iOS developers alike. But according to Ms. Foley, there isn’t any point in giving up on hope so soon. After all, release calendars and roadmaps are extremely flexible and subject to change. She notes that even after shipping targets in roadmaps, things can change and do change quite often.

Let’s hope that being hopeful helps and the iOS and Android versions of the Office Suite are released soon. After all, a year and a half is a long way to go!

ASP.NET MVC Development

The software development is becoming more and more complex with the passage of time. With increasing number of developers working on a single large project, it is required that the solution is split into various modules so that it easier to manage the project as a whole. The MVC architecture is one of the most effective techniques to do so. A web development company could create highly scalable and reliable business solutions for its clients by using this model for developing web solutions. MVC stands for Model View Controller and the meaning & significance of each of its word is explained below.

Model: Objects that are present in the RAM memory collectively form the Model. This data has been retrieved from the database and brought into the RAM memory for further processing.

View: The way data is presented on the screen is known as view. For static web pages the view comprises of objects stored on the server whereas for RIA (Rich Internet Application) it can reside on the machine at client’s end through various native data structures or JavaScript objects.

Controller: The controller refers to the requests and manages the responses for the application.

The MVC pattern allows developers to separately conduct the development of business logic and the GUI of the software. Thus, both designers and developers can work simultaneously on the project without disturbing the part concerned with the other one. An experienced .Net MVC development company can effectively use it for developing robust solutions that provide flawless performance. Further, it also facilitates quick development of solutions which provides better opportunities for both client and the service provider.

All of us who use Facebook (and I don’t think there would be many who could say they don’t have an account) would be familiar with concept of adding friends on it. However, there is a new app now that allows users to identify and show people, food, things, food or anything else as “enemies”. The “EnemyGraph” is a newly launched Facebook app that is not developed by any organization or web development company but by a professor and two students from the University of Texas at Dallas.

The app was released on 15^th march and allows users to share anything having a Facebook presence as an enemy. People, organizations and institutions with liberal views and thinking have shown special interest in this app and the list includes some famous names such as Rick Santorum, Fox News and Westboro Baptist Church. Dean Terry, who is a professor and the person who conceptualized the application, says that the story coverage of their app by media has played a major role in popularizing the app and initiating the much awaited and usually not discussed things about the nature of social networks and Facebook in particular.

Terry says “One thing that has always struck me is the enforced niceness culture. We wanted to give people a chance to express dissonance as well. We’re using the word enemy about as accurately as Facebook uses the word friend.”

Further he adds that the application has much wider and effective implementation. He explains that organization and business are always looking to collect information about social media users and base their finding on the things that they like or support. However, The EnemyGraph would now help them in collecting data regarding the things, situations or anything else that users don’t like and could base their future products and services on the findings.

Currently, organizations hire an offshore software development company and acquire solutions that would help them in gaining as much information about user’s behavior and likes. Now this app will help them in understanding exactly what things users don’t like and formulate their products accordingly to get maximum benefits for their business.

Their main attempt is to provide users with a chance to express dissonance rather than the long held presence of enforced niceness over social media. This is not the first attempt by Terry to do something really innovative for the social media users and give more choices to them. Previously he had teamed up with Griffith last year and created a Twitter service called Undetweetable which allowed twitter users to uncover their deleted tweets posthumously. The project was shut down by twitter as it started gaining popularity. Terry expresses his concern that the EnemyGraph application may also have similar fate.

Facebook is, without any doubt, one of the most heavily visited social platform over the internet. The huge traffic brings loads of new and exciting opportunities for all businesses. Businesses and organizations can easily acquire attractive and effective Facebook applications that can enhance and boost their business.

Let us see how Facebook application development can impact a business:

Branding Benefits: Give your business exposure to a platform where soon 1 billion users will be navigating. Yes, Facebook has estimated 1 billion users by august this year.

Client Engagement and Awareness: Facebook application development provides a highly effective tool through which businesses can keep their clients informed of all the latest and relevant information about their services. New products and services can be easily conveyed to them over a place where they are most likely to hangout on a regular basis. This helps in creating loyalty in your costumers towards your brand.

Lead Generation: If you can effectively convey your message to such a wide audience then chances of generating business leads are greatly increased. Including some entertainment and attractive features on the app would further help in lead generation.

Customer Feedback: Clients and customers can leave their comments and suggestions about your services and products via your Facebook app. These suggestions will be very helpful in formulating your future business strategies. Make sure that feedbacks could be easily given by clients over your application.

Organizations and businesses can always hire an experienced software development company having expertise in Facebook application development and procure business centric Facebook applications for their businesses.

iPhone applications are the most in-demand mobile application development solutions today. The attractive features, sleek design and high prices have made iPhone a status symbol that everyone wants to flash around. Xicom offers highly attractive and impeccable iPhone applications designed around the specific requirements of the client. These applications further enhance the capabilities of iPhone mobiles.

Xicom aims at providing futuristic iPhone & iPad application development services to its clients that are really effective in their business activities. Xicom utilizes latest cutting edge technologies to create highly innovative and robust applications for iPhones and iPads and thus actualizes client’s ideas into real world entities.

Various tools and technologies used expertly at Xicom technologies are:

• Xcode
• iPhone SDK (software development kit)
• Cocoa Touch
• Objective C
• Other normally used tools for designing and development

Xicom boosts of an impressive and awe inspiring presence of more than 10 years in the web development and mobile application development industry. Moreover, Xicom Elance profile clearly shows that it is the only web development company over Elance with 100% recommendation from clients and a 5 start rating. This makes Xicom the number one web development service provider with only a very few others that stand anywhere close to it.

Xicom Technologies, a world renowned web development and mobile application development company, has been serving highly interactive and business centric mobile applications to its esteemed clients. Xicom boasts of an impressive client list of more than 500 clients, including fortune 1000 companies. Our solutions bear the quality standards of CMMI level 3 and ISO 9001:2008 certification.

In the past ten years, Xicom has established itself among the top players of mobile application development industry. We believe in delivering total client satisfaction and leave no stone unturned in the process. Our project managers make sure that the client’s requirements and expectations are effectively communicated to the development team. The Development team makes sure that the client’s vision is transformed into a live application that is both user friendly and highly functional. The development team consists of 300+ highly skilled developers having extensive experience in different verticals of web and mobile application development.

Xicom provides Mobile Application development solutions in following categories:

• iPhone Application Development Services
• iPad Application Development Services
• Android Application Development Services
• Blackberry Application development services
• Windows Mobile Application Development services
• J2ME Application Development Services

At Xicom Technologies, we understand the importance of a mobile application for your business. It is a means of promoting your business to maximum users. Mobile application development allows you to reach your customers at anytime and anywhere. Your customers can access your services whenever they want. A simple application allows them to stay connected with your services as long as they are in the mobile service provider’s network. Apart from providing ease of access to the clients, a mobile application also provides you huge promotion.

Further, some individuals and organizations create applications that provide a certain service to the user. For example, a GPS route guidance application, an application for weather forecast etc. These applications are very handy for a mobile user. They will download and install them if they feel that they require it. The individuals or organizations that develop these applications earn money they get from each download of the application. Every time the application is downloaded a small fee is paid by the user. A part of this money is kept by the service provider whereas the rest goes to the developers. The individual or company developing the application can earn from their application without doing anything else. However, you require a completely new idea that can attract users.

We, at Xicom Technologies invite such visionaries, who have great ideas, to discuss their requirements with us. We have already developed various mobile applications that are doing very well. We wish to develop much more exciting mobile applications for our clients in the future.

Read more news on web application development, mobile appliaction, aps.net, php, java, ruby on rails, cakephp, drupal, magento, wordpress, content management, etc. from Xicom Technologies here:  http://www.xicom.biz/blog/

Magento is the best open source Web Development platform available for E-commerce development. The platform is supported by a very wide range of extensions that further enhance the capabilities of this platform. Mentioned below are top ten Magento extensions available for free on the internet. All of these extensions have been there for a while now therefore they have been adequately tested. Having them will be most beneficial while working on Magento.

Top 10 Free Magento Extensions:

1. Fontis WYSIWYG Editor: Magento does not have an inbuilt WYSIWYG editor therefore this extension is a must have for everyone. This extension allows developers to use either TinyMCE or FCKeditor but developers can upload images through FCK only.
2. Direct Resize: E-commerce websites usually have a lot of images to showcase their products and collections. A lot of working on images is required for this purpose. Fortunately, the direct resize extension allows the developers to handle this very easily. They can specify the height, width as well as the ratio value and mange their images very easily.
3. Delete Orders: Those who work on the Magento platform know very well that you cannot delete orders. It gets really frustrating sometimes. With this magical extension, Direct Orders you can now easily delete cancelled orders.
4. Invoicera Magento Extension: This Magento Extension has been developed to provide manual invoice sending functionality to online store owners who don’t have any other alternative. Invoices can be generated and sent in the real time when customers purchase anything on the Magento store. This extension is a big relief for online store owners as it makes the whole invoicing process much faster and easier.
5. Exploded Menu: Ecommerce websites generally have multiple categories. It becomes unmanageable in cases where the no of categories is very large. If you are a store owner then you will surely like to showcase all your categories and products in the best possible manner. This can be achieved by Exploded Menu extension. It allows the user to replace their website’s single column dropdown menu into multi column menu. This also includes functionality for 2^nd level and 3^rd level menu categories. This extension is very useful if you have a wide range of products and want to present them in the most simple and easy method.
6. Featured products: You can now manage your featured products with complete ease. The frontend has a separate interface where you can list all your products. The featured products are your most important products therefore it is very important that you properly place them on your website and present them to your visitors.
7. Magento Easylightbox: It is the best way to improve the appearance and functionality of your Magento site. Moreover, it is free therefore it is the best option. It takes only five minutes to install and configure Magento EasyLightbox and no coding is required to operate it.
8. Checkout Newsletter: This extension allows the website owners to add a “sign up for newsletter” option on the checkout page. With this option your customers can sign up for your company’s newsletter and be informed of any new products that you bring.
9. IW PayPal Standard Currencies: PayPal is the most commonly used online payment method. The IW PayPal standard currencies extension allows the store owners to choose the PayPal supported currency for transactions on their website. They can also add new currencies in their shop’s admin panel.
10. Ticketing System: This is a great application that can save your time by taking care of your workflow. It allows the store owners to keep track of their buyer service investigation.

Xicom Technologies is one of the most prominent IT solution provider with clients spread all over the globe. Customer satisfaction has always been our primary aim followed by honesty, integrity and hard work. Today we would like to tell you all about a project which went live.

Recently, we made live one of our largest projects that we started around 5 months ago. The project was a full fledged social networking platform where all the discussions and activities revolve around shoes. The website was hosted a few weeks ago with the URL www.shoemocracy.com. It is a social networking platform specifically designed for shoe lovers. The client, Patrick Seiler, picked us after researching for a long time over the internet. We started with the project by clearly understanding the unique idea that Patrick had conceived. After a result oriented discussions, worthy researches, debates and meetings we started with the project.

Soon Patrick himself came to India from Switzerland so that he can clearly explain us his idea. He stayed for around 20 days and visited our head office everyday to make sure that we were conceiving exactly what he desired for. For 20 days he visited our office, not as a client but more like an expert employee (he came and left according to the office timings), and worked with us on his project. He left after 20 days completely satisfied by our working methodology and our employees. We recently completed the project and launched the website around a month ago. Patrick asked us to develop an iPhone application for the same website just a few days after that. We had done development and testing for the website in the most professional manner therefore he considered us the most suitable candidate for the iPhone application development.

Recently, three weeks ago, Patrick again visited us for making some changes in the website and to see the progress of the iPhone application development project for his website. Currently we are working on the project Using Xcode and objective C to create the application. Patrick stayed here for another 15 days this time and before leaving for Switzerland he offered us the Android application development project for the same website. This time we did not ask him why, obviously he had clearly understood that we adhered very strictly to our principles.

A lot many clients have visited us from various different countries in the past but Patrick has an extreme passion for his vision. Our clients are most welcome, in-fact we insist them, to visit our head office in New Delhi and discuss their projects at lengths with our project managers, developers and programmers. The reason for our constantly increasing client base and repeat business is simply customer satisfaction. Everybody knows this but only a very few can achieve it. We are proud of our employees who constantly deliver the best to our clients.

Does Google’s new phone store for the Nexus One threaten the current wireless industry business model? Well, it’s certainly got potential to be a game changer — but whether it is or not is going to solely depend on the success of Android, and how successful they are at wooing manufacturers and carriers into buying into their plan.

What is happening here is that Google has basically opened up their own wireless store — just like thousands of other brick and mortar businesses that sell phones and plans for carriers on commission. Google is so big though that they have leverage over carriers that none of their competition could possibly have.

If executed well, they will basically become a “mega dealer” that will sell phones and plans from any carrier. Now, back to reality. Executing on a plan like this is going to be virtually impossible. A purely online store for mobile phones simply will not work because consumers (for the most part) want to touch and play with devices before they choose to make a big investment like this. At best, Google’s store will be only an option for consumers.