1. Design, Implement and Evaluate a Mobile/Web based application using appropriate design methods and prototyping techniques;
2. Evaluate different Mobile/Web technologies and architectures;
3. Assess contextual issues associated Mobile/Web applications and propose and/or implement solutions to these problems;
4. Assess the impact of the latest Mobile/Web technologies on the Internet;
5. Interpret the broad range of business activities that are supported or enabled by Mobile/Web technologies and be able to advise organisations on the appropriate use of Mobile and Web Technologies.
Background: An investor who wishes to start branching out into delivering Mobile Applications for Media has approached you. You are encouraged to explore ideas on behalf of the investor for Online (Web) Services that their application can consume to provide a rich data based experience for their customers. They would like the mobile app idea to be centred around providing a mobile application that aids in the delivery of information in one of the various media areas they are involved in, for example (but not limited to):
• the organisation of (physical) music collections (CD, Records, etc) based on online Music data services (such as Discogs, LastFM, etc)
• the delivery of information about events and ‘gigs' that may be taking place at various searchable venues (using services such as Eventful, etc)
• the delivery of information about TV programming schedules, that may include some of the media activities they are involved in as a company (using services such as BBC's web services API)
• ...etc The core requirement is that the app should be able to clearly demonstrate:
1. A good quality, intuitive and robust User Interface, that makes full use of the platforms Mobile UI features - e.g touch, animation, navigation, etc.
2. Access to at least one Web Service endpoint, with at least 2 web method calls within that endpoint. Ideally, a good demonstration would provide access to multiple service endpoints - to provide a ‘mashup' type of behaviour incorporating data acquired from these multiple endpoints into one coherent application.
3. Data acquired from the Web should be persisted locally on the device. You will be introduced to several Data Persistence techniques and strategies - the best demonstration will use the most robust and flexible techniques.
4. Any additional features that are coherent with the purpose of the application - but require the use of new platform APIs (that may not have been formally introduced to you in class).
As the developer of the application, you should be able to explain in detail, your design decisions, implementation detail and limitations / future possibilities of your application during interview (Viva) For this second task of the Module, you are expected to build a prototype application that demonstrates the viability of this concept on Google's mobile Android platform. The App should be built to run on a variety of Android based mobile phone devices, however you may wish to explore the Android tablet platform as well, if time is available.
Ideally the investor would prefer a 'Universal' app (that spans a wide variety of hardware platforms) Assessment Criteria: Assessment marking criteria and submission details: Your work will be assessed through an individual demonstration and viva of the prototype program you produce. You will be given a date in advance of your Viva / Demonstration date, to submit the final application online via Moodle, so your tutors can assess the quality and functionality of you application prior to the individual Viva. The following criteria is for GUIDANCE ONLY (you will be notified, in good time, if any changes are necessary):
1. Quality and Intuitiveness of User Interface and general Robustness of prototype application
2. Quality of techniques deployed in accessing Web Services
3. Quality of techniques deployed for Data Persistence
4. Incorporation of any Additional features, over and above those required - and complementary to the application.
5. Justification of design and implementation decisions, to be assessed through final Viva
You will also be provided with further details of the marking criteria and breakdowns, as it becomes more appropriate (i.e. when the task is introduced to you formally in class) Resources:
For this assignment - you will engage in building a limited prototype program on the Android platform using the tools made available to you in the University labs - such as Netbeans and the Java programming language. Further resources for this task, such as details on accessing appropriate Web Services, will be made available on the ‘Mobile and Web Technology UG3' module website (on Moodle), and in class, as required. Please make sure you attend all future classroom sessions and visit these resources regularly as they will be used to provide additional information and updates on previously given information.