Cloud computing has changed mobile development by allowing mobile applications to offload processing and data storage to cloud services. This reduces the load on mobile devices and allows applications to scale easily. The document discusses how Newstex moved its applications to AWS cloud services, improving scalability and enabling features like syncing user data across devices. It also describes strategies for designing cloud-enabled mobile APIs, like using different adapters tailored for specific clients.

1. How CloudComputing
changed Mobile
Development
Chris Moyer
VP of Technology @ Newstex, LLC
Monday, October 1, 12

2. Who am I?
✦ Author
✦ Building
Applications in
the Cloud
✦ Not just about
AWS, but cloud
computing
“patterns” in
general
Monday, October 1, 12

3. Author
✦ Now available in
multiple
languages
✦ Available through
Amazon.com
Monday, October 1, 12

4. Newstex VP
✦ VP of Technology:
Newstex, LLC
✦ Took Newstex from
a datacenter to
AWS
✦ All applications
run entirely
within AWS
Monday, October 1, 12

5. Mobile + Cloud
Monday, October 1, 12

6. What is a cloud
service?
Monday, October 1, 12

7. Do you have a
smartphone or
tablet?
Monday, October 1, 12

8. The original Mobile
Phone
Radio Common Carrier
1960s by AT&T
Voice only
Monday, October 1, 12

9. Smartphones - Business
only
Blackberry introduces
a phone with Email
Lets you keep in
contact with the
office outside the
office
Allows you to be
mobile
Monday, October 1, 12

10. Smartphones for
everyone!
Smartphones for
normal people
“Apps” become more
useful then the phone
Usage shifts
“Mobile” doesn’t just
mean “phone”
anymore
Monday, October 1, 12

11. What do you use your
mobile for?
Monday, October 1, 12

12. Data usage increasing
Monday, October 1, 12

13. Faster processors use
more battery
Small - Not a desktop
Use less power
Produce less heat
Don’t process:
Background Tasks
Expensive Tasks
Monday, October 1, 12

14. Selling a service, not an
application
Applications have
short lifespan
Services give you
paying customers
forever
Think “World of
Warcraft” vs
“Warcraft 3”
Monday, October 1, 12

15. But where do I run
these tasks?
Traditional DCs don’t
scale
Users may jump from
500 to 5 million
overnight
Users may drop, need
to be flexible
Monday, October 1, 12

16. Offloading data/
processing to a Cloud
Elastic back-end
Scale when you get
more users
Net work accessible
Allow localized access
Monday, October 1, 12

17. Lets put everything on
the backend!
HTML5 Only apps
HTML5 is slow
Not everything is
“standard”
Not all devices deser ve
the same layout
Transmitting data +
layout over high-
latency net works
Monday, October 1, 12

18. How often are you
on-the-go with your
mobile?
Monday, October 1, 12

19. Speed is everything
Monday, October 1, 12

20. LTE “Speed”
Monday, October 1, 12

21. Mobile net works
Latency is much
higher
Users pay for data
usage
Net works are
unreliable
Minimal offline
functionality
Monday, October 1, 12

22. Big Data, Big
analytics
Monday, October 1, 12

23. Tracking: Device or API?
Track on Device:
Interactions
User Workflow
Track in API:
API Calls
Usage statistics
Monday, October 1, 12

24. What about the
User?
Monday, October 1, 12

25. Mobile devices are
disposable
Phones get lost,
destroyed, or stolen
Enterprise:
Prevent
unauthorized
access on stolen
devices
Protect your data
Monday, October 1, 12

26. Sync everywhere
One login, any device
Makes you mobile
Use ser vices, not apps
“My data is in the
cloud”
Monday, October 1, 12

27. External Ser vices
Newstex
Real Time updates
System
Push notifications
Email notifications
Social Sharing
Twitter
Facebook
Monday, October 1, 12

28. Newstex’s Solution
Monday, October 1, 12

29. One API to rule them
all?
Not all devices have
the same “workflow”
Not all devices
authenticate the
same
API developer and
client developer
disconnect
Monday, October 1, 12

30. Taking a cue from
Netflix
Different APIs for
different clients
One underlying API
with different
adapters
Client Adapter
written specifically
for each development
team
Monday, October 1, 12

31. Adapters
Plug in Cloud Ser vices CloudSearch DynamoDB SimpleDB S3
to Centralized API
Build adapters on top of Newstex API
this API for individual Web Device
use-cases Adapter Adapter
Web adapter - HTTP/
REST + JSON
Mobile devices: Socket
+ XDR
Monday, October 1, 12

32. REST is not always best
Version 1:
REST + JSON
Slow
Lots of overhead
Not Bandwidth
efficient
No Sessions
Text parsing is
expensive on mobile
Monday, October 1, 12

33. Custom APIs
Version 2:
Custom “Socket” API
Simple XDR based
output
Compact data
representation
Fast - Session based
Cheap to decode
Monday, October 1, 12

34. Request Routing
Location-based DNS
us-west
Takes you to the
closest ser vers
DNS us-east
Reduce latency
eu-west
Synchronize
databases
Monday, October 1, 12

35. We’re hiring!
newstex.com/about/jobs
Web Developers
Mobile Developers
Python Developers
Monday, October 1, 12