

Ask HN: Application Development on Physical Devices? - KarlFreeman

I'm looking in to starting a service in the UK based around the problem that application development for mobiles is costly if you want to test on a broad set of devices before you launch.<p>The thought behind the concept is that the mobile Android market is diversifying a lot with phones coming in all shapes and sizes. The iOS market has big performance differences between product updates. Various other Android tablets each having their own quirks and heck, The Playbook even having its own OS.<p>The concept I'm looking to propose would be subsidized device rentals for bundles or individual devices at a price point which Developers would pay to be able to test their projects and products at say, the last 2 weeks of development. ( eg, you've built an Android app on your personal Nexus S but want to make sure it still looks good on the Desire HD and still works on the Nexus One )<p>2ish Questions for you?<p>Would a service like this solve a 'real' problem?<p>- Having built a very small game I know that the simulator vs the real device is very different, but does everyone struggle with this?<p>Would you use a service like this?<p>- The devices would come pre-wiped, dev ready with all wires and passwords<p>- The cost would be for around £35 pw for a bundle ( 2-3 devices )<p>- How comfortable would you be in renting devices knowing that you would be financially liable for losing the devices or excessive damage?
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pedalpete
In Vancouver their is an organization called wavefront
<http://www.wavefrontac.com/> which provides this service to members along
with other services.

you might want to contact them and get their feedback on how their program is
going, what they'd change, etc. etc.

Sorry I don't have a direct contact for you, i'm not actually a member.

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KarlFreeman
Thanks for the link, I'll get in touch! Appreciate it

