Rhomobile debuts open source mobile dev framework

Fledgling platform provider Rhomobile announced the release of Rhodes 1.0, an open source mobile application development framework spanning all major smartphone operating systems. According to Rhomobile, Rhodes enables programmers to simultaneously write HTML-based native applications for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android devices, promising an 80 percent reduction in mobile app development effort and slashing development costs by up to five times.

Rhomobile adds that applications created within the Rhodes framework can exploit smartphone capabilities like GPS, PIM contacts and camera. The platform is also optimized for apps that require interaction with hosted enterprise application backends like CRM and ERP, allowing the user to work offline with synchronized local data. Rhodes is available under flexible pricing options to suit a range of smartphone application efforts; Rhomobile offers dual licensing under GPLv3 for open source apps and commercial licensing options for enterprises and ISVs. The Rhodes framework is available here.

For more on Rhodes 1.0:
- read this release