LabVIEW module for Android and iOS

[javiucsd]

Add a module to LabVIEW to use it on Android OS or Apple iOS. 

People have already been getting smartphones for awhile.  And now in 2011, there are so many manufacturers that make tablets with Android OS or even Windows.  Apple iOS is considered to be the cool thing but Android OS is more open and used by more manufacturers (since only Apple for it's iOS).  Since the Andorid Tablet is so new, yes there are more Apple tablets out there than Android tablets but if it's like the smartphone market, Android OS will overtake the iOS market.  It's just a matter of time. 

I don't know whether one is easier to code than another, but if you had the time I think a module for both the Android OS and the Apple iOS would be extremely powerful.  Wouldn't it be great if we could run an instrument from our phones or tablets?!?! 

But I would just be careful to make sure the module was robust and not too many key features were missing from the full LabVIEW version.  In the past, we tried the PDA Module and Touch Panel Module for an instrument and it didn't work out.  The module was very buggy and missing a lot of features from LabVIEW that we though were important key ones.  We ended up abandoning the PDA module idea and went with an advantech touch panel computer with Windows XP and just kept writing with regular LabVIEW.

[tst]

This has already been suggested - http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/LabVIEW-for-Android-systems/idi-p/1281680

[AristosQueue (NI)]

But I wouldn't close this one as duplicate because it also cites iOS.

[AgentG]

Looking back nearly 25 years in this marketspace, my perspective and

experience tells me that major shifts in the computing marketplace are

ahead.  I started out with LabVIEW 1 on the Mac, transitioned to

Windows, lived through PC commoditization era, and am now back squarely

in the Apple camp gaining serious momentum in iOS, Objective-C, and

Cocoa.

I love graphical programming, but the reality of smart phones and

tablets is simply too large and powerful to ignore.  And for those who

predict Apple getting sidelined by Android, the iPad sales numbers are

showing that they have the market in a serious headlock.

What I have learned is that, while we all get swept away by the market

quantity figures, and indeed our bread and butter is tied to them, in

the long run it is really software quality that stands out and makes for

winners and losers. And by any measure, the quality of the Apple

software frameworks, both for Mac OS X and iOS, are simply light years

ahead of anything I have seen from anywhere else.  That is the

fundamental reason behind Apple's great success that is difficult for

most analyists and managers to understand.  Are you aware that many

fundamental classes in the Apple OS still carry the prefix "NS" for

NextStep, showing their long heritage and continuity and the long term

commitment to excellence and value in the software.  The Apple class

libraries are truly the best software products ever made and that is why

the company has done so well--they represent the pinnacle in software

quality.

Coming back to NI, surely their success is also rooted in a

software-based market stance and they are really a great software

company.  But the mobile device market space is a major disruption in

the hardware platform market.  This also represents a major growth

opportunity.

Therefore, I would love to see NI Measurement Studio become the vehicle

for providing tools and software libraries to the mobile market.  I

think this is also a great way to reduce dependency on .NET and the PC

framework and also provides an opening for a wireless form factor, such

as BlueTooth, for DAQ hardware embodiments.  There are so many kinds

of applications that are well suited to today's mobile devices, it really

is a major frontier waiting for exploitation.

But NI should lead with an iOS library for grahical and analytical tools

in NI Measurement Studio that can be integrated into Xcode in

Objective-C.  NI could become the leader in advanced touch-based

graphical tools.  All they have to do is get over their obsession with

the mouse under Windows and its high-level interrupts!
Seriously, Apple software has become the leader because it is intuitive

and provides excellent user interfaces, which NI rules and which the

market is demanding...urgently!  Obviously, an Android version would

also be demanded.

My point is that it is the powerful user interfaces that NI provides can

be used to leverage into the mobile device space, which is clearly the

future of computing hardware as we know it.  I don't necessarily think

that LabVIEW is the best suited development environment and certainly

will not work with iOS or Android (though I would love to demo a LabVIEW touch

system on the iPad).

[PaulG.]

Having had my Droid for over a year I can say this: there is a lot of Garbage software for Android. Open source = yougetwhatyoupayfor

That said I would love to see LV applications of Android, if for any other reason than to show off how well software can be written in LabVIEW to the non-LV software community.

The Android customer base is huge. NI should try to leverage that.

[vitoi]

Well said AgentG. LabVIEW users know what they want and know what NI should work on if NI wants to be successful. For some strange reason, NI does not appear to be listening. Maybe NI shareholders are demanding lower earnings!???

[sfrosty]

We need the IOS and Android platforms to be LabVIEW selectable targets.

I have at least 6 apps created in LabVIEW and targeted on a PDA.

I would like to see apps for the the IOS and Android platforms being able to be programmed in LabVIEW and targeted as well.

We need the IOS and Android platforms to be LabVIEW selectable targets! Please!

~ Skip

[fuzwuz]

Spoiler

I agree! fuzwuz

[fuzwuz]

I agree! fuzwuz