Open source mobile cloud player Funambol has laid down the foundations for a new open source framework aligned specifically for the development of "sync-centric" apps for smartphones. The company's CAPRI (Cross-platform App Programming Rich Interface) is intended to let developers build a single web app that runs on all smartphones with a Qt WebKit browser, including iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia formats.
Funambol says that CAPRI is based on AJAX and XML to build interactive web applications in an environment already familiar to developers.
Built to include functions that enable smartphone apps to sync with ‘cloud-based services' and the native address book on handsets, CAPRI aims to ease the creation of mobile apps that sync diverse data and media with the cloud.
Funambol highlights the fact that currently, developers often have to rewrite and re-test apps for different mobile devices and re-deploy them on multiple app stores. CAPRI is intended to eliminate the need for separate native apps by providing a cross-platform framework to write a single app that runs across smartphones.
"Developing separate native apps for major smartphone platforms is expensive and time consuming as it requires multiple programming models, specialized skillsets and extensive testing," said Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO. "CAPRI uses AJAX to build cross-platform sync apps for smartphones. Its basis on open source helps address the device fragmentation issue facing the industry."
From an end user perspective, CAPRI apps are no different than native apps -- the open source software for CAPRI will be available shortly, while the project itself remains open to developer community enhancements and contributions.