The iPad has officially moved from a home use, consumer device to an enterprise-ready, business platform. Corporate adoption continues to outpace analyst estimates and their use in LOB applications continues to rise. The iPad’s share in the enterprise notebook market has increased from 7 percent in 2010 to 19 percent in 2011, and from 4 percent to 11 percent in the total PC market. And, analysts estimate that Apple’s shares in both markets will increase to 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively, by 2013. One other trend driving business adoption of iOS devices is the rise of BYOD (bring your own device) in the enterprise. The new reality is users want to carry a single smartphone and a single tablet, so much so that many are bringing their personal hardware to work. This shift suggests that IT departments must adjust to the reality that corporate hardware standards may not control adoption timelines. To learn more about the DevExpress position on iOS, click here.
One broadly accepted assumption is that developers building applications for the iPad must build those applications on a Mac using XCode in order to create native iOS applications. Only recently have developers realized that there is a much more viable alternative that provides most of the benefits of native applications without the need to invest in Apple hardware and learning the Objective-C programming language. By building solutions using web implementations, developers now have access to the underlying hardware to create very robust applications. PLUS with the proper user interface controls, the application will look and behave as though it is a native iOS application. And that’s where DevExpress comes in. In DXperience 12.1 we have created user interface functionality that helps you build iPad applications that look native to the device.
DevExpress is committed to radically improving the developer workflow. We know that our controls save hundreds of hours of development and testing time. And we know that our customers then spent many hours wiring our controls together. In the DXperience 12.1 release we’re pushing forward the evolution in tools: : our knowledge of our controls coupled built with the input from our world class graphic designers to reduce the amount of time required to build stunning applications. So with this release we introduce a collection of application templates designed to help you get up and running faster than ever before. One of the best places to get started is with our Application Samples. While most developers will find that the templates included in DXperience 12.1 provide a dramatic improvement in getting their first iPad application out the door, it’s helpful to have inspiration. Sometimes just looking at other apps helps you see what’s possible. It’s with this spirit of inspiration that we set out to create two stunning applications for the iPad.
With MoneyMonkey we demonstrate how to build a web application and a companion iPad solution, showing you how to contemplate the design decisions involved in user interface design across the two platforms. This personal financial management 
application provides a great user experience that requires focusing on design principles. Discover DevExpress best practices for building cross platform with this solution.
With TouchBoard, we demonstrate how to implement the new touch support in our Dock Panel to create touch solutions that enable your end users to customize their application at runtime using tiles. This dynamic aggregator application looks stunning and responds with a simple gesture. The sample application and its source code are provided with the DXperience 12.1 release to help you quickly build similar solutions.
DevExpress is focused on building bridges from your current skills to the relevant technologies in the market. Today, the iPad is an industry mandate and while we’re excited about the technologies in DXperience 12.1, we’ve got something even bigger planned for our next release later this year. We can’t wait to show you what’s next.
Let’s see what develops!