Mobile Application Design Fall 2007
H79.2580 - Thursday 6:30-9:00
Instructor: Michael Sharon
Administrivia
Course Mailing List - http://forums.nyu.edu/cgi-bin/nyu.pl?enter=mobappdesign Course Wiki (for homework uploads) - http://uberthings.com/teaching/wiki/ Office Hours signup - http://uberthings.com/teaching/wiki/(mail me first)
Tags: mobileappdesign del.icio.us<img src="/i/g/d.gif" /> flickr <img src="/i/g/f.gif" />
Description
Mobile phones are the electronic devices that we keep closest to our bodies, minds and social lives. These minute multimedia production studios contain within their narrow plastic shells contact numbers, pictures, messages and videos of people that we hold dearest, communicate with daily and are most closely connected to. This class will focus on teaching students the fundamentals of developing applications for a number of mobile phones. Students are free to to use the tools and techniques learned as a means of expression in conjunction with other projects as well as to develop standalone projects.
The class will be taught mainly using the Java (J2ME) language although students are able to choose from other languages/platforms such as Flash Lite, BREW and Python. I will try to provide examples in as many languages as possible. Topics covered include an overview of the mobile industry, mobile user experience, mobile hardware platforms, development languages, cross-platform graphical user interfaces, network communication, optimisation techniques, versioning systems, and common development pitfalls. Weekly assignments will develop familiarity with the devices and techniques and students will be allowed to work independently or in groups to develop midterm and final projects.<a name="admin" id="admin ]
Objectives
The goal of this course is for students to develop an understanding of how to develop applications for mobile devices and explore the possibilities for realizing their ideas on the platform. Readings, discussion and hands-on development will provide students with insights and experience in developing mobile applications. Mobile application design and development is a huge field that is constantly evolving. We're only going to be able to scratch the surface, so this course aims to achieve three things: 1. Teach students the basics of developing applications for mobile devices including creating wireframes, graphics and software as well as packaging and provisioning. 2. Familiarize students with the global mobile industry including the leading thinkers, sites, technologies and applications.
3. Learn some of the conventions of mobile user experience and think about ways of improving upon existing experiences.
Assignments
There will be weekly programming assignments for nearly every class in the first half of the semester. These assignments are short, simple tasks which reinforce the concepts and techniques that have been taught in class. They are generally basic examples which give you a feel for the technologies or concepts being illustrated, and should be taken as starting points which you can use to generate your own applications. Assignments are required and turning in an assignment late will adversely affect your grade.
Participation & Attendance
Attendance is mandatory and desirable if you'd like to maintain your grades and/or remain in the class. Please inform me via email if you are going to miss a class. Habitually showing up late for class or an excessive number of absences will adversely affect your grade.
Laptop & Mobile Etiquette
Unless we're working on code in class, I will be sticking with the laptops closed rule. Although they may be invaluable for note taking and the Wikipedia is your special friend, the desire to answer emails, ping your friends and google obscure acronyms is far too strong. Since we're all going to be working on mobile phones, please turn your phone to silent before class begins so that we're not constantly interrupted by ring tones.
Grading
Participation and Attendance 30% Weekly Research Assignments 20% Midterm 25% Final 25%
Books/Blogs/Readings
Try to read a few of these blogs every day to stay on top of developments in the mobile space. Check out http://del.icio.us/tag/mobileappdesign for more sites.
There are no recommended readings for this course, although you may find these books useful and thought provoking.(full disclosure - I'm playing around with Amazon affiliate links, let me know if they bother you)
<p class="book <img border="0" src="i/books/0321384016.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ubertinc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0321384016" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing (Paperback) by Adam Greenfield ISBN: 0321384016 <p class="book <img border="0" src="i/books/1590594797.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ubertinc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1590594797" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Beginning J2ME: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition (Novice to Professional) by Jonathan Knudsen
ISBN: 1590594797 <p class="book <img border="0" src="i/books/0596009615.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg <img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ubertinc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0596009615" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Nokia Smartphone Hacks by Michael Yuan ISBN: 0596009615 <p class="book <img border="0" src="i/books/0071385142.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg" /><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ubertinc-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0071385142" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />Mobile Usability: How Nokia Changed the Face of the Mobile Phone (Paperback)by Christian Lindholm, Turkka Keinonen
ISBN: 0071385142
