Xamarin has shipped its Mono development platform to enable .NET developers to create apps for the Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich release.
Xamarin has
announced the release of its Mono open-source .NET development platform for Android 4.0.
Xamarin, a
mobile application platform startup founded by Miguel de Icaza, Nat Friedman
and Joseph Hill, today announced the availability of Mono for Android
4.0, the first release from Xamarin that allows C# developers to
target Android tablet devices such as Kindle Fire, Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy
Tab.
With this
release, Xamarin provides access to all the new features introduced by Google
on their Android 4.0 operating system, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich.
The new Mono release
features a plug-in for Microsoft's Visual Studio that enables .NET developers
to develop applications for Android. The release also includes a new
incremental build technology that reduces debugging and development cycles, the
company said
"Thousands of
developers depend on Xamarin to build the newest applications for mobile
devices," Miguel de Icaza, CTO of Xamarin, said in a statement. "We bring C#
and .NET to Google's Android and Apple's iOS, but we bring it with style. We
provide developers with the power of the .NET frameworks that they are used to,
along with complete access to all of the native APIs and UI toolkits unique to
each operating system, allowing developers to create truly unique native
experiences on each operating system."
Mono for
Android complements Xamarin's existing MonoTouch platform, which allows
developers to create applications for the iPhone and iPad using C# and .NET
technologies. Combined with Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 SDK, C# developers-more
than 6 million worldwide-now have a unified framework and language across all
three major mobile platforms: Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7, Xamarin
officials said. Xamarin's MonoTouch and Mono for Android products enable .NET
developers to use their existing code, libraries and tools, including Visual
Studio, as well as skills in .NET and the C# programming language, to create
mobile applications for the industry's most widely used mobile devices running
iOS and Android.
With Mono for
Android 4.0, build times are 40 percent shorter while incremental deployment to
devices reduces the development cycle from minutes to seconds.
"Mono for
Android allows our many Fortune 500 clients to not only reuse existing C# .NET
code, but also future-proof their ongoing mobile investments," Nathan
Clevenger, chief software architect for mobile consulting and development firm
ITR Mobility, said in a statement. "With Mono for Android 4.0, Xamarin has
introduced a new, simple installer, which takes the pain out of setting up an
Android development environment, by combining all the required components into
a single, unified installation experience, as opposed to the myriad of installs
required for Java-based Android development.
"Our mission
is to provide the world's best mobile development experience," Nat Friedman,
CEO of Xamarin, said in a statement. "This release demonstrates that mission.
Mono for Android 4.0 is a faster and smoother way of developing mobile
applications for Android."
With this
release, Xamarin has also published a set of "Getting
Started" tutorials that allow developers to quickly come up to speed
on Android development.
For more
information and to download Mono for Android 4.0, click here.
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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