binary code is just compiled source code. Compiling takes the programming language code like C and makes it more directly machine readable.

Of course the closest code to the actual machine will almost always be the manufacturer provided sdk

airplane is somewhat better than the other multiplatform systems out there in that it does compile native code whereas the others like phonegap, rhodes, nokia wrt, are basically local web pages using embedded website engine with some type of higher level binding to the underlying sdk or hardware

Sorry, airplay. Predictive text gone awry

Sounds interesting.

Kind of what Fathammer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fathammer) was doing a while back (maybe still, I haven't followed for a while), except for Ideaworks providing the SDK to 3rd parties. And I guess that's the major separating factor here. Good business plan.

But the basic technical idea looks like it is to provide a set of libraries for each platform and the cross compilation tools to compile native binaries and link against the platform specific libraries.
And you have a toolkit that will do certain things on a number of platforms. Certain, as in those things that your libraries make possible. Apparently games in this case.

Hopefully I can clear a few things up...

Jeremiah, you are right in that the Airplay SDK APIs will not be as wide as the Maemo SDK APIs, or indeed any one OS SDK's APIs. Instead, Ideaworks Labs has made a choice of APIs that we think are the essential ones for 90% of apps developers. By making these choices, we are able to create a solution that compiles your app once, then allows it to run identically on all platforms.

I don't believe it's meaningful to make a generalisation about which of the Maemo SDK, Qt or Airplay SDK are "best". Different developers, and even different apps, are better suited to different SDKs.

I think the only sensible generalisation is that choice is a good thing - Airplay SDK is increasing choice for developers. For developers who need to use some of the features of Maemo SDK that are not present in any other OS SDKs, then Maemo SDK will be the best choice for them. Others may choose Qt, and others will choose Airplay SDK.

Jeremiah, I'm not sure why you describe our licensing model as a "non-starter". There is no secrecy here - what you get for free, and what you get from a paid licence, are all described in plain view on the website:
http://www.airplaysdk.com/download.php
http://www.airplaysdk.com/pricing.php

I think $99 per year is pretty good value for money, to allow indie developers to compile once to native ARM code, then deploy (with a single click) builds that will run on (currently) over 300 devices, within 5 OS platforms! Of course Maemo SDK is free, as is Symbian SDK, Windows Mobile SDK etc... but all of these allow deployment to only one device family. In the case of Maemo SDK, that's currently one device (albeit a very nice one, the Nokia N900).

tekojo, one could draw some similarities between Fathammer's X-Forge game engine (now owned by Acrodea) and Airplay SDK; however there are far more differences. X-Forge is a monolithic game engine; Airplay SDK is a "platform" that is used for any type of applications (but happens to also be excellent for games, hence it's been used to create some great AAA games for iPhone and mobile, including two #1 App Store games over the past few months). X-Forge provides source-code portability, Airplay SDK provides binary portability (which has huge advantages that we don't have time for here!). Airplay SDK provides full support for all C/C++ language features and standard libraries, allowing you to compile pretty much any existing C/C++ codebase (Open Source or proprietary) within your app (e.g. SQLite, libxml, Lua, etc).

Anyway, I don't want to hijack a Maemo forum to wax lyrical about Airplay SDK, which today doesn't even officially support Maemo (although it will do early next year). The Airplay SDK public forums are now open, so for those interested, please head over and start contributing to the community:
http://www.airplaysdk.com/devnet.php

Thanks!

Thanks Tim, I think there are lots of developers and perhaps potential developers who will find your post here interesting. We are an open community so any relevant info for developers is welcomed.

What I meant by "non-starter" should be clarified. I meant that only as my personal view. I am pretty "religious" as they say, I believe in the GPL and the freedoms it brings, so if software is kept behind a pay wall it is difficult for me to justify its purchase to myself.

That said, I firmly believe in the market's ability to provide good solutions to many problems and see no reason why any developer wouldn't find your software excellent value for money.

Thanks again for your posts!

Jeremiah

I wouldn't consider it hijacking, especially since I started the thread and asked exactly for an explanation on that particular subject. I really wish you'd explain those supposed advantages instead of sending me to another site. I could've looked that up myself, but since I'm just a writer and blogger, and not a developer, I was looking for a generalized explanation I could possibly put in a future blog post, but its taken so long to get that information out of someone so far. I find some developer speak hard to decipher sometimes.

And could you name these apps that were top selling iPhone apps that have used the Airplay SDK? Or ANY at all? I want to see for myself what type of apps are possible with it. Are you forbidden to mention them, or are you not recognizing the requests we've set before you? Tell me some examples of the Airplay SDK in action, and explain the benefits of binary compatibility over source code compatibility, please. Pretty please??

Hello, newbie here, not a developer either Christexaport, but fan of mobile coolness that goes beyond just iphone - it's out there somewhere, probably in yur guys hands; ) Anyway it started for me with original Ngage, so know Ideaworks products first hand. Prwoling their newsite linked above, I found: this:
http://ideaworkslabs.com/games/games_list.html
which has this (if you don like links??)
METAL GEAR SOLID MOBILE
MILE HIGH PINBALL
SYSTEM RUSH™ :EVOLUTION
PANDEMONIUM
PROJECT GOTHAM RACING !
DIRGE OF CERBERUS™ LOST EPISODE™ -FINAL FANTASY®VII (
THE SIMS™ 2 MOBILE
NEED FOR SPEED™ MOST WANTED
SYSTEM RUSH™ (
V-RALLY
NEED FOR SPEED™ UNDERGROUND 2
TOMB RAIDER STARRING LARA CROFT™
TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER®:3D MOBILE EDITION

then there's this from:
http://www.airplaysdk.com/#iphonegames
Back Breaker (Natural Motion) and
Resident Evil from Capcom

this is pretty good track record, and looks like it's been used for a long time

source code and binary code question- hmm someone else pls, but something like source code is what gets written and binary is what gets run, so they run one application on all devices not lots of slightly different ones on eeach.

Pfzazz, that's the exact info I was looking for. Good looking out, my friend. Airplay has its merits.

Are you saying that source code is made of binary code, vice versa, or something altogether different? I'm shocked with all of these developers here that I'm still waiting for an answer that layman can understand.

If someone only provides a binary package then
a.) it's proprietary
b.) can't be easily modified
c.) it's all 0's and 1's

If someone provides only source code then
a.) it can be easily modified
b.) it's human readable
c.) it needs* to be compiled to run on a machine

If someone provides the original source AND a pre-compiled binary package then they are full of WIN! It allows people to just install it as well as gives others the chance to build upon the code.

You can not and will not fully understand the difference unless you compile from source. Sorry.

*= exceptions are script-based languages such as Python and RUBY.

EDIT: I'd also like to add that pre-compiled/binary packages will only run on architectures that they have been compiled for. So if you have a x86 binary (nearly all desktops and laptops) it will not run on ARM (most "embedded" devices like the NITs; also there are many different versions of ARM).

Companies fight to keep their software as only binary. and the Open Source movement wants to see the source for everything.

An example: Adobe has not released the source code for Flash player. They only create a few binary packages for a few different architectures + platforms (OSes). This means that even though Flash 10 is currently available for Linux x86, we can't compile it for the N900 and must wait until/if they compile it for the N900.