As you may have heard Apples Object persistence framework "Core Data" will be available in the next version of the iPhone OS.

Interested in getting a good understanding of building an application
for the iPhone and iPod touch?

Want to get an overview of the iPhone SDK as quickly as possible? Then
immerse yourself in our intensive one day iPhone development overview
class and build The 8 hour app.

In The 8 hour app class we'll build a complete application from
start to finish. At the end of the day we will have an application
similar to popular applications in the app store and will have
learned about:

• Xcode, Interface Builder, Objective-C
• Cocoa Touch, and (MVC) Model, View, Controller and Delegate patterns
• iPhone tables and playing media
• Using web content
• Photos and touch event handling
• Timers and animation

This class is best suited for people with some programming experience
in a C like language with some basic familiarity with the SDK who are
looking for help getting started in this exciting technology.

Attendees must bring their own (or rented) laptop with the iPhone SDK installed.

Lunch will be provided.

Programming the SQL database on the iPhone, SQLite3, with the C interface can be tedious.

Some people recommend FMDB from Gus Mueller but even that is a bit too low level. It feels a lot like a JDBC if you know some Java.

A little while back, after looking at various persistence frameworks, I started using SQLitePersistentObjects. Its a great little project started by Jeff Lamarche of "Beginning iPhone Development" fame. He gave a presentation at 360iDev and put his slides online .

The best thing about SQLitePersistentObjects (SQLPO) is that it is super easy to get started. Just subclass you data object from "SQLitePersistentObject", declare your properties and you are ready to call save and find. You don't have to create the database or define the schema or anything else. It handles common data types right out of the box and you can extend it with your own data types if necessary.

Some things to think about:

• Memory management - SQLPO does not hide or solve memory issues for you. If you do a findAll on your database of images you are likely to run out of memory.
• Performance - SQLPO does a lot more for you than the C interface or FMDB so it can be a bit slower. They are working on improving this. It may not be an issue for you application though if you are smart about indexes, careful with your queries, learn to use paired arrays and remember it is a phone and not an enterprise DB server.
• Threading - I would like to have the user thread creating data and have another thread processing those records (perhaps uploading them). I don't known for sure if SQLPO is meant to be used like this and if it is safe for multiple threads to be accessing the framework concurrently.
• Advanced Features - SQLPO is awesome but it is not Hibernate (yet). Some advanced features (lazy loading) have not been implemented yet. Again, I find it a lot better than other frameworks but don't let your expectations get carried away.

If you are looking for a persistence framework for the iPhone I suggest you take a closer look at SQLitePersistentObjects

Last week I spoke at the awesome 3060iDev conference (I highly recommend it next time) in San Jose. I talked about my experiences with Android as compared to the iPhone and iPod Touch (more accurately Cocoa Touch). After my slides we we had a very interesting conversation and many people in the audience were knowledgeable on the subject and had a lot to contribute.

The thrust of my presentation was that though I admired the openness, flexibility and what has been accomplished with Android I don't feel it is a viable competitor in the mass consumer market at least in the near term.

Its openness does bring up some interesting possibilities especially in vertical business segments. And in particular if/when Android is ported to a tablet based computer there will be many many exciting applications based around in the field data collection and presentation. Think guided tours, meter reading, opinion poll taking, mobile point of sale, etc.

Many people have been proposing tablets for a long time (grid, palm, etc) but I think now maybe we are finally close. And with the possibility of running Cocoa Touch and/or Android is really exciting.

I've attached the slides from the talk.

Last week Greg Yardley of Pinch Media gave a very interesting talk to the NY iPhone developers meetup. He outline many trends in retention and use for both free and paid apps and sparked a lot of interesting discussion. I belive someone from Pinch will be speaking again at 360iDev so you have another chance to hear more details and ask questions. I recommend you don't miss it if you are in the area. If you can make the next talk, Greg has graciously made the slide available at

Just came across a strange situation that I thought I would present here.

Interested in getting a good understanding of building an application
for the iPhone and iPod touch?

Want to get an overview of the iPhone SDK as quickly as possible? Then
immerse yourself in our intensive one day iPhone development overview
class and build The 8 hour app.

In The 8 hour app class we'll build a complete application from
start to finish. At the end of the day we will have an application
similar to popular applications in the app store and will have
learned about:

• Xcode, Interface Builder, Objective-C
• Cocoa Touch, and (MVC) Model, View, Controller and Delegate patterns
• iPhone tables and playing media
• Using web content
• Photos and touch event handling
• Timers and animation

This class is best suited for people with some programming experience
in a C like language with some basic familiarity with the SDK who are
looking for help getting started in this exciting technology.

If you prefer a more in depth class we also offer a 3 day kick start
class.

Attendees must bring their own (or rented) laptop with the iPhone SDK installed.

Lunch will be provided.

Class will run 9:30-5 Friday February 20th at SL Conference Centers at
352 7th Ave (& 30h st) 16th floor.

The class is only $500. We can invoice you or you can pay through PayPal

Registration for this class is now closed. Please let us know if you are interested in another class or custom training. Thanks.

A lot of people have questions about creating custom UITableViewCells and after showing this technique to a friend of mine, Ian, he asked me to write it up so that he and others could refer to it.

I wanted to let you know that I'll be speaking at 360iDev . My topic is iPhone and Android, a comparison of the two platforms for anyone interested in building mobile applications.

360|iDev is 3-day event, March 2 to 4, at eBay's Headquaters in San Jose, CA. Tracks include:

• Game Development
• Non-game Application Development
• The Business of iPhone development
• Hands-on Training

Addmission is affordable and should be fun and informative. Come share your stories, ideas and experience.

... and let me know if you have any tips or questions before the conference.

On Saturday January 17, 2009 1:30pm - 3:30 pm. I'm leading a free iPhone development workshop focusing on UITableView and related classes at Tekserve in NYC.

The workshop is aimed at new developers and anyone interested in getting oriented to iPhone development.

We only have a few hours but we will cover as much information as possible and afterward you will have a clear understanding of the process and what is involved in developing table based applications for the iPhone and iPod touch.

If you are interested in attending please sign up through The meetup group or through this website E-String so that we can keep you informed of any changes. Attendance is limited due to space restrictions at Tekserve.

If you know of anyone who could benefit please pass this information along.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Thanks.