Icenium: cross-platform cloud environment for creating mobile applications

Icenium is a completely new integrated cloud environment (integrated cloud environment - ice - Icenium) for developing mobile applications. The service, which is a product of the Telerik division, has just entered private beta testing and is looking for developers who want to try it out. Initially, Icenium focuses on creating iOS and Android applications, and later hopes to switch to other mobile platforms, and, eventually, to servers and desktops.



Doug Seven now heads the Icenium branch in Waltham, Telerik based in Massachusetts, and previously worked as Director of Product Management for Visual Studio and the .NET Framework at Microsoft. Telerik, for those who do not know, is creating tools for developers on .NET and other Microsoft technology platforms (for example, WPF, Silverlight, Windows Phone, etc.).
')
But what he works on sounds quite interesting. Together with Icenium, the company presents “ICE” - a platform that will allow web developers to use technologies already known to them, such as HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, in order to create applications that work as native on mobile devices, and which can be distribute through app stores. And because all this is in the cloud, you can develop applications from anywhere without worrying about the features of the native SDK. Plus, you will also have the opportunity to see your application in action, without having to install it on your mobile device, and you will be able to see the changes you make in real time. The end result will no doubt be the ability to iterate over the application much faster.

Icenium is similar to PhoneGap in that it uses the current toolkit of web developers to help them create mobile apps. It differs from PhoneGap in that it does not require an integrated development environment (and for creating applications for several platforms, several IDEs). Icenium’s work is platform independent, explains Seven. This gives developers the opportunity to "focus on their ideas, and not to manage in several development environments at once," he said.

At the moment, Icenium uses Apache Cordova (PhoneGap), and all of its applications right now are, in essence, Cordova applications, says Seven. However, "with Icenium, we avoid the difficulties that exist even when using Cordova." “No need to download and install xCode or Eclipse or Android SDK. The entire dependence of the developers on the platforms is canceled using a cloud service, which our customers will be able to use using Icenium Graphite and Icenium Mist. This makes it possible to develop cross-platform mobile applications from any platform. ”