All you need to know about RhoMobile

 Rhomobile, selected Best Startup at Interop 2009, lets developers use HTML and Ruby to create native iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Android applications.  

       

Rhodes is a free and open source MVC-based framework written in Ruby under the MIT license for building native cross-platform mobile development applications. Rhodes enables developers to harness their traditional web skills such as HTML, HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, instead of in Objective-C or other complex native device OS language, to create a native app, and porting the app in cross operating systems such as Android, Apple’s iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and HP/Palm's Linux-based WebOS.

These native device applications leverage device capabilities such as GPS, accelerometer, Multimedia, PIM(Personal Information Management) data, Bluetooth, geolocation, camera, native mapping, push notifications, alerts, calendar, barcode reading, jQTouch and signature capture in app.

RhoSync is the fastest and most scalable sync server produced by Rhomobile that enables access and edit data irrespective of connectivity. RhoSync is useful for mobile apps dealing with data from a web app that requires a two-way sync with offline activity support. RhoSync 2.0 is optimized to automatic synchronization of backend enterprise app data to the mobile device.

RhoHub is a Rhomobile service for mobile applications that integrates Rhodes platform and RhoSync, a standalone sync server for enterprise data. RhoHub is the first development-as-a-service offering that allows developers to deploy mobile application apps, builds, and sync servers to the cloud across multiple smartphone operating systems. RhoSync server provides faster access to synced local data and optimized native styling for all smartphones. It also offers easy access to offline and disconnected data for the users of applications.  iPhone developers can leverage the RhoHub RhoSync server to test and deploy sync-enabled Rhodes applications.

RhoGallery is Rhomobile’s Enterprise App Store that offers enterprise mobile app management solution. RhoGallery provides easy access for employees to provision mobile apps on their smartphones and easily manage it with updates.

Rhodes developer 

Rhomobile allows Rhodes developers to leverage their existing web skills using HTML to create powerful native Rhodes mobile apps that work across all major smartphones, Leveraging the latest technology, standards and best practices in Rhodes development, our proficient Rhodes developers are highly committed and proficient in Rhodes programming language to build mobile applications that have a native look and feel.  

Rhodes framework allows developers to build mobile applications with HTML and Ruby rather than Objective C across cross-platform OS such as iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Android. Our team of dedicated Rhodes developers can build and deploy mobile apps in multiple operating systems. Our skilled Rhodes mobile developers can develop native applications that access and create events in its native device calendar, with Bluetooth connectivity to their apps.


Features of Rhomobile:

1.  Portability-  write once, deploy on all major devices.
2.  Enterprise Security Compliance- Use Rhomobile’s secure model to secure your mobile solutions from end to end.
3. Dead Simple App Integration- Easily extend your backend web services to native clients.
4.  Synced offline Data- Give end users the ability to use apps with or without a connection through their own local copy of data.
5. Native Access-  Exploit the native device capabilities such as: GPS, PIM Contacts, Camera, etc.
6. App and Data Management: Easily provision and manage apps and data to your end users, including an ability to remotely wipe apps and data.


My Opinion:
Building an application using rhoMobile can be done easily using HTML and javascript, But to support the MVC architecture Ruby to be used.
RhoMobile is very good for the application that are Data Centric. 
RhoMobile has a great support for all major mobile platforms. The only problem is here learning Ruby, well but that can be resolved too, As learning a new language is always fun.
The other problem is that the cost issue as mentioned above creating a simple app is of no charge, but for enterprise based application will cost Commercial Licenses of Rhodes, which includes updates and commercial grade support for one year, is available for $1,000 per app for an unlimited number of users.