Today we are excited to announce the release candidate of RhoMobile Suite 2.2 and RhoElements 2.2 (it should be announced as final early next week). RhoElements 2.2 continues to expand the JavaScript support that we offer. It also expands the exciting array of device capabilities that we offer access to. It offers formal support for our own push service: RhoConnect Push.  The RhoMobile Suite 2.2 release also provides the RhoConnect 3.4 release with several other improvements.    All of this comes only three months after the RhoElements 2.1 release, demonstrating that the RhoMobile Suite is maintaining its track record of industry leading innovation, only accelerated by its acquisition by Motorola Solutions.

JavaScript

On the JavaScript front we have added many new device capabilities in JavaScript. RhoElements had many capabilities available in JavaScript for Motorola devices with the Motorola WebKit browser that is included with the product.  This of course did not allow developers to use JavaScript on consumer devices such as iOS and Android.    We now have support for all of the historical Rhodes and RhoElements Ruby APIs in JavaScript.   Specifically you can call web services with AsyncHttp, take pictures with Camera, store information to the Database, determine your position with GeoLocation, and get information about the device and environment with System.

See the RhoElements API matrix for more details. 

This is what we have found more than sufficient for most consumer apps.  So now customers have the capability of writing entire apps with JavaScript only and not learn Ruby if they so choose.   This gives us the focus on JavaScript that some JavaScript only frameworks offer but with the additional major benfits that RhoElements offers over those frameworks: synchronization, scaffolding and app generation, an Object and an IDE.

In the next release we will offer the robust set of JavaScript APIs available for Motorola devices on all consumer devices.   We will also be adding support for JavaScript controllers (MVC with JavaScript) and JavaScript use of the Rhom Object Relational Mapper. 

Device Capabilities

We are also adding several exciting new device capabilities: audio capture and playback, video capture and playback, accelerometer and magnetometer.    As devices become more powerful and bandwidth increases, mobile devices to document events in the outside world through video and audio are exploding.    We now offer AudioCapture APIs via JavaScript and Ruby on all popular smartphone operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows Mobile and even Windows desktop apps) and Motorola devices.  We also have video capture for Motorola devices and will add for consumer devices in the near future.  

Mobile devices are becoming as sentient as human beings. Motorola Solutions and other mobile device makers are investing in a powerful array of sensor on devices.  Today that is location, position and direction (geolocation, magnetometer and accelerometer). In the near future Motorola plans to offer pressure sensors (for touch screens), light sensors and temperature sensors.   RhoElements will of course track all of these capabilities and provide a powerful programming model for all of them. Today that means we have added accelerometer for detecting device orientation and movement and magnetometer for determining the direction the device and user are facing. We provided those capabilities across all operating systems as the RawSensor API. 

RhoConnect Push

The RhoConnect Push service, introduced as a beta in RhoElements 2.1, now is formally supported.  We have also improved the configuration process for it.   RhoConnect Push allows you to send push alerts to users, just as iOS push and Android push (Google Cloud Messaging) services let you. RhoConnect Push lets you do this without using a service in the cloud or requiring a gmail account. Most enterprise customers cannot live with either the iOS push or Google Cloud Messaging and we now offer a compelling option for them.   Plus of course we offer it to provide push notification to Windows Mobile devices, who currently have no cloud based or device provided service for push notification.   All of this is provided at no additional charge as part of the RhoConnect server offering.  

Using the common RhoElements APIs for push customers can mix and match, using RhoConnect Push to reach Windows Mobile and Android devices, and iOS Push on iOS devices, all from one RhoElements app source code, running on all three operating systems. RhoConnect Push also enables push synchronization, which allows enterprise app data and other data from backend system to be delivered near real-time to user’s devices. 

RhoConnect 3.4

RhoConnect push synchronization capabilities insure its lead as the most powerful mobile synchronization server on the market.   RhoMobile Suite 2.2 includes the RhoConnect 3.4 release (in the future RhoMobile Suite 4.0 to be released next year will line up all the version numbers).   RhoConnect 3.4 includes major performance improvements.   We provide reports and analytics that demonstrate this performance.  And we offer recommendations for how to size your own RhoConnect server deployments for your app with our sizing calculator. 

RhoMobile Suite in the Future

We are very excited about RhoMobile Suite 2.2.  But we have even more exciting features in store.   We will be providing JavaScript for all capabilities of the framework including MVC, ORM, sync and everything offered by Ruby APIs today.  We will continue to track the exploding array of device capabilities with new sensor APIs for things like pressure, ambient light and temperature as they show up on devices. We will continue to lead in security capabilities by providing FIP 140-2 compliant encryption (no other mobile platform or framework does so).   In close partnership with Microsoft we will offer the most advanced framework for Windows Phone 8 development.   We will continue to expand the offering to new mobile and desktop operating systems.  

Come to Motorola LaunchPad

Please give RhoMobile Suite 2.2 a try by downloading here.  This is a great excuse to spend time on Motorola Launchpad.   We want to know how the framework works for you today and what features you would like to see.   But you will also get direct support from other RhoElements developers and even directly from the product developers.