

Ask HN: Developing for WinMobile vs Symbian vs iPhone - joeblubaugh

I'm getting ready to start a project developing a mobile phone application utilizing the phone's camera and whatever other environment sensors are available on the device. Based on some code I'll be inheriting, it would be an advantage to be able to use C++ as part (though not necessarily all) of the project. I've spent some time looking at the development environments for the three platforms mentioned above, but I'm looking for some practical experience from hackers here. On which platforms is it easiest to interact with the camera viewfinder and other sensor data (GPS, gyros, accelerometers)? What's your preference?
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jmonegro
In the iPhone, you can only use Objective-C, so unless you're willing to use
it, cross it out. But mind that making apps for iPhone is a gamble.

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joeblubaugh
I'd rather not port code, but honestly, 80% of the project will be new code
from me, not old stuff, and I think ObjC is a nice language. I'm most
concerned about the speed of access to and ease of use of the camera and
sensor interfaces.

~~~
jmonegro
It might be a good idea for you to look at currently open-source iPhone apps
and check out the source code. Specially those that interact with the camera
and sensors. Here's a few links I found for you:

<http://opensourceiphonesoftware.com/>

[http://sunsetlakesoftware.com/2008/10/02/molecules-source-
co...](http://sunsetlakesoftware.com/2008/10/02/molecules-source-code-now-
available)

<http://petersteinberger.com/2009/05/open-source-iphone-apps/>

And one that interacts with the camera:

<http://code.google.com/p/zxing/>

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medianama
It might be a good idea to decide based on your target market..

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joeblubaugh
My target market is the scholastic community, as part of a graduate school
project.

