How to Become a Mobile App Developer - Because... it’s the way forward

Software development is going mobile, bringing applications to phones, laptops and tablets everywhere. Gartner predicts that by 2015 mobile app development projects will outnumber PC application projects by 4 to 1.Mobile app developers are reaping the benefits of 45 percent year over year employment growth, according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Dice.com reported a 100 percent increase in job posting for mobile app developers between 2010 and 2011. Developers with the right mix of skills can find boundless opportunity in the multibillion-dollar mobile app industry. Learn what it takes to become a mobile software developer.

Mobile app developers hail from different walks of life—A software engineer, a tech-savvy business entrepreneur or a web designer may have what it takes to create the next top-selling app. The common piece of the puzzle is some sort of computer programming training, whether it’s a certificate in a specific language like HTML5 or a bachelor’s degree in software development. With the rapid growth of the mobile medium, some colleges and universities are adding specialized undergraduate degree programs in mobile app development.

Mobile Payment Apps Pose Massive Security Concerns

I am personally a big fan of Mobile Payments applications, well I like the idea of them. I am also pretty certain it is the way forward. Who wants to carry around a mobile and a wallet, what’s the point? It is currently going from Coins -> Cash -> Cards -> Mobile?. That seems like the logical path but what is the security behind it and is it really safe...

Your wallet is something you never want to lose. However, many people are now using mobile wallet applications for making purchases and money transactions. Opposed to your physical wallet, it is hard to control the security of your mobile wallet. Security breaches happen unexpectedly and quietly. A security attack to your mobile wallet can go unnoticed for quite some time.



According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek who refers to Mobile Payments as the new frontier for criminals:
“Nearly 70 percent of mobile phones aren’t password-protected, according to Sophos, a mobile security vendor. Parents allow children to play with their phones without considering that they may download some bit of malware, says Shirley Inscoe, a senior analyst at Aite Group: ‘They don’t realize the risk they may entail given the data stored on their mobile device.’

Criminals can access a mobile wallet by stealing the handset or by tricking its owner into downloading a piece of malicious code. Malware attacks on U.S. smartphones have risen 18 percent since 2011 and now add up to 15.3 percent of the world total, says mobile security vendor NQ Mobile…

…Banks and mobile-payment providers are scrambling to build—or buy—better defenses.”
15.3% of the world – that number shows that attacks are growing rapidly. Mobile payment apps collect the most private personal data, therefore they need to be security tested inside and out. However, they can’t just be tested in the lab, because it’s real world situations that hackers will try to work around. White hat security experts that can find and simulate risks are a developers best option for identifying security threats. Catching any issues before the app’s users do is the ultimate goal.

But how long do you think it will be until the average user ditches there wallet and uses there phone as a primary payment method?