appMobi Optimizes HTML5 for Mobile Game Development

LOS ANGELES, Calif. and LANCASTER, Pa., June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- E3 Expo -- appMobi (www.appmobi.com) today unveiled several game creation enhancements to its HTML5 mobile app development platform.  With today's announcement, appMobi has addressed the biggest question facing developers considering HTML5 for mobile game development – is HTML5 fast enough to create quality games?

appMobi is introducing DirectCanvas™, a new technology that accelerates the HTML5 canvas element, speeding graphic rendering by up to an astounding 500 percent, making HTML5 suitable for programming any type of mobile game.  Other appMobi enhancements include a JavaScript achievements engine, in-game payments functionality and multimedia-capable push messaging – all designed to make development of  boundless mobile games fast and easy through the use of HTML5.

"Games are the most complex of all applications to conceive and build and game developers take full advantage of all available resources of the devices they program for: processor, memory and storage," said Sam Abadir, chief technology officer of appMobi.  "Game development is not for the faint of heart; games must run quickly, include fluid movement and tightly synch the visual and sound elements.  If we can build a framework for easily developing cross platform mobile games, we can create a framework for developing any application.  And we've done it. Boom! There goes the neighborhood."

Engagement is a key element in the success of mobile games, and appMobi recognized the need to offer engagement modules as part of its HTML5 game development feature set. In May, the company acquired all the assets and personnel of TapJS, a leading provider of social engagement services for HTML5 and JavaScript-based games.  The TapJS technology will augment appMobi's existing HTML5 mobile development environment by adding proven engagement enhancements like leaderboards, badges, FaceBook/Twitter integration, and player challenges. appMobi does not expect any changes for existing game developers using the TapJS services.  

"The appMobi mobile app platform now offers HTML5 game developers a compelling one-stop-shop to create, build, deploy, monetize, and update their game apps across iOS and Android devices," said appMobi CEO David Kennedy. "With the addition of social interfaces and virality-enhancing features from TapJS, the appMobi platform has everything a game developer could possibly want in order to profit from the smartphone market's impending shift to HTML5."

To prove both the ease at which games can be developed as well as the functionality of the appMobi XDK, the company challenged some local developers to create a mobile game which could be developed and then submitted to both the Apple app store and the Android Market within a 24 hour window.  When the mobile game "FUBAR – Kilroy was Here" made its debut in both the Apple App Store and Android Market, it marked the first commercial release of an app from the company's "24 Hour HTML5 Game Challenge."

"We're not sure if less than 24 hours is a world record for mobile app development, but there's no question that building an app from concept to completion in less than a day is extremely fast," added Abadir.  "I've seen canned demonstrations that quickly produced very simple puzzle games, but never have any of us seen a third-person shooter game with rich multimedia and complex mazes produced in less than a day."

Most commercial game apps take months and teams of programmers and graphic artists to complete. appMobi challenged a small group  of its employees  and a team from the animation firm Postage Inc. (www.postagevfx.com) to create a high quality, commercially viable mobile game within 24 hours that runs perfectly on both Apple iOS and Google Android platforms.  The teams began from scratch at 5:00 PM on a Friday and spent the next 24 hours creating graphics and programming the game.  The game was completed before 5:00 PM on Saturday.

Details on the development of "FUBAR – Kilroy was Here" as well as a short video documenting the 24 hour challenge are available at the appMobi website (http://www.appmobi.com/fubar).  The game can be downloaded for free at the Apple App Store and the Android Market.

Visit appMobi at E3 in booth 2958.  Visit http://www.appmobi.com/ to get the appMobi XDK.

About appMobi

appMobi® provides highly integrated cloud-based tools and services for supporting large-scale developer communities and creating and operating complete mobile application ecosystems.  By leveraging the commonly used Web programming languages of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and the open Web, appMobi's development tools allow app developers to "write once" and publish anywhere, either native app stores or via the Web.  appMobi's turnkey, white label platform-as-a-service offering enables carriers, device manufacturers, and brands to create mobile app ecosystems under their own brand.  For more information visit http://www.appmobi.com.

SOURCE appMobi