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  • Become an Apple software developer

    24 May 2013

    In the last blog we talked about Apple hardware and how you can become an Apple certified Macintosh Technician. This week we will focus on the other side of the coin, Apple software and app development. Whether you’re looking to develop mobile apps or full-blown Mac applications, the average IT professional will need to be trained in the right skills.

    There are many courses available for those who want to train in Apple software, ranging from getting to grips with the very basics, to advanced Apple security training. The basic courses will cover, as you would expect, the basics you need to know about Apple software before getting started. Their aim is to cover every area briefly, so that when you want to develop your Apple knowledge, you will know which area you wish to specialise in.

    Other courses will be more specialised and will appeal to those who already have a level of expertise in Apple software. Just as with the hardware courses, you can become certified in Apple software in the Lion and Mountain Lion operating systems, along with creative certifications in the world of app development. While it is true that you don’t necessarily need any training whatsoever in app development, all you need is a Mac and the Software Development Kit (SDK), having a certification will seriously boost your CV and help you to compete in a tough job market. Furthermore, training courses will help you to build better optimised, more efficient apps .

    So, if you’re looking to get started as an Apple software developer, or even if you’re looking for a certification to prove that you already have those skills, Total Training Solutions has a vast range of Apple software courses and App Development courses and has partnered up with Europe’s number one Apple authorised training company, Amsys, to bring those courses to you. So, take a look at our course list and call on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Become an Apple certified Macintosh technician

    20 May 2013

    By becoming an Apple certified Macintosh technician (ACMT), you gain the ability to perform basic troubleshooting and repair tasks on both desktop Macs and portable Macbooks and iMacs. As talked about in last week’s blog, skills with Apple technology are becoming increasingly important for IT technicians and this is not limited to software. Hardware skills are of equal importance and becoming an ACMT will help you to solve basic problems with Mac OS X and repair hardware.

    While the ACMT is intended for employees of Apple, it can be useful for many who are not employed by Apple. The skills are important for somebody who is perhaps, employed by an Apple reseller. If that company offers their own troubleshooting service, then being trained in how to use Apple hardware is a very useful skill. Furthermore, the qualification is useful for somebody who maintains an in-house Apple IT system. For example, a school or university IT technician. However, it must be noted that this qualification alone does not allow you to perform repairs on Apple products without voiding the warranty.

    In order to pass this certification, you must take two exams. One of the exams will be based on Apple software, the other will be hardware-based. The ACMT certification is valid for one year only. So if you are to keep up-to-date with this qualification and all the updates that Apple add to it, you must take an exam once a year. However if you are simply looking to develop the skills involved, there is no obligation to re-sit the exam every year.

    If you are looking to become trained in Apple hardware, Total Training Solutions offer several courses including the ACMT certification and the ACMT fast track. Take a look at our course list and call today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Become fully trained in Apple technology

    10 May 2013

    PC had been the dominant format for a very long time for IT professionals, but with the meteoric rise of Apple in the last decade or so, it has become more important than ever for the IT professional to be capable of hardware and app development on the Mac platform. So this week we are looking at how you can develop these skills.

    Apple’s mantra behind their IT training is, ‘master the technology. Explore the possibilities.’ Stating in a very simple way that if you can become an expert in Apple technology, you can maximise your own potential and the potential of the technology itself. Training in Apple technology would include developing expertise in Mac OS X, Mountain Lion and Lion software, as well as working with Mac OS X servers and Apple security and support.

    Courses can often be completed in just a few days and most of them involve an examination at the end. So in exchange for 1 to 3 days of your time, you can develop all the skills you need to become a fully-fledged, certified professional in Apple technology. Many of the courses that Apple offer will require prior training in information technology and most are aimed towards those who are already IT professionals.

    Total Training Solutions have partnered with Amsys, the number one Apple authorised training company in the UK, to offer Apple training courses in Manchester and London. This means that Total Training Solutions is able to provide the widest possible range of Apple courses on both the desktop and mobile platforms.

    if you are looking to train in Apple’s hardware or software technology, take a look at our Apple training courses for IT Professionals and our Apple Hardware courses and call today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Start your career in mobile application development today

    02 May 2013

    With the growth of the mobile platform and the surge in demand for mobile applications, the job market for mobile app developers is growing at a very fast pace. What’s more, the supply of people with these skills is very low, making the prospects for careers in this area very high.

    It is no longer the tech companies alone that are looking for mobile developers, mobile apps are becoming increasingly popular amongst all businesses worldwide as they attempt to engage their customers and provide better, more streamlined services. So, while there are more and more companies wanting to use mobile apps every day, the number of people with the skills to build these apps is not increasing at a rate that can cope with the demand.

    Learning mobile application development skills is not only great for you as an individual looking to take a step towards a great career, but if your company is looking into mobile app development, it could be very cost effective to train one of your existing employees. For the last few weeks we have reiterated the importance of mobile applications and it is important to understand that PC-based development skills are not enough to operate in the mobile arena.

    However, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to transfer PC-based skills across to the mobile platform and with the right commitment to learning the constraints of mobile devices (weaker processors, less memory).

    There has never been a better time to get into mobile app development and learning the right skills is the first step on the ladder. So, if you’re looking to get yourself into a job market that is growing at double the rate of the worldwide job market, take a look at our mobile development courses and call Total Training Solutions today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Make the most of your company’s investment in the BlackBerry® Enterprise

    25 April 2013

    Blackberry Enterprise is designed to meet the needs of organisations that have on-premise email servers and require a high level of IT control. It is geared towards meeting the needs of a mobile workforce and works with: IBM, Lotus, Domino, Microsoft, Exchange, Novell and GroupWise email platforms. It also supports third party apps from Scaliz, Zarafa, Zimbra and Google Apps.

    As a company looking to invest in this system, you must be sure that you are capable of maximising the benefits it can bring. There are two types of Blackberry Enterprise, the full version and the express version. The full version is dedicated to those with a more advanced knowledge of IT and gives users more options and flexibility, while the express version caters for more basic use. However, these can be run side-by-side. So, if there is only a small subset of your organisation with more advanced IT needs, they can use the full version while the rest of the company uses express.

    In order to maximise the benefits of Blackberry Enterprise, it is always worth having at least a handful of people capable of operating the full version. This will help your company to manage the system and tailor it to your specific needs. Having somebody who is trained in business systems management can reduce your firm’s reliance on RIM’s troubleshooting as you can solve any issues you may have in-house.

    Making the most of Blackberry Enterprise is not just about having the system in place for all your day-to-day needs, but also about having people with the right skills who can use and manage the system properly.

    So, if you’re looking to invest in Blackberry Enterprise but you don’t feel you have people with the right skills to operate the system effectively, call Total Training Solutions today on 0800 612 1299, email us at: info@tts-uk.com or contact us via the website.

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  • Learn how to build iPhone and other mobile apps

    19 April 2013

    Building mobile apps is largely overlooked by small and medium size businesses as they believe they do not have the skills or the time to undertake such a project. Furthermore, many smaller businesses see mobile apps as something for larger companies to use. However, research has shown that 49% of mobile device owners use apps to search for local information.

    So, mobile app development is definitely something for smaller businesses to consider. You don't have to be an expert in coding to develop a mobile app. There is even software out there to help you develop apps without any coding knowledge whatsoever. However, these can be very expensive and by learning certain skills for developing apps yourself you can greatly diminish these costs. Learning to develop apps with your own code also increases the freedom you have to create the exact app that you want.

    Development software such as Buzztouch is a cost-effective way to develop apps if you have the knowledge to use it. Many people are put off by coding and don't even know where to begin with learning it. But one course in mobile development can give you the skills and the knowledge to operate such software.

    While you may think learning how to code just for the sake of a mobile app is a lot of effort, there are many uses for apps these days and these do not necessarily have to be for customers. People are also finding them a helpful business tool. Tools which could give small businesses the edge over their competitors.

    So, think twice before ruling out mobile app development as a thing for bigger companies, it could just be the thing that sets you apart from the rest.

    If you're interested in learning how to develop mobile apps but don’t know where to start, take a look at our iOS App Developer, Android, jQuery and Phonegap mobile development courses. Call today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • jQuery Mobile...the new project!

    11 April 2013

    Continuing our look at mobile web app development, this week we are interested in jQuery Mobile. Version 1.3.0 of this software was released on 20th February this year, but how can it help you and your company’s mobile development projects?

    jQuery Mobile is an HTML5-based user interface system for building apps on all the popular mobile platforms like: iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android. Much like the Nitobi PhoneGap system, jQuery enables the user to develop apps that will work across all operating systems rather than designing apps specific to each. While this does provide a great level of ease for developing mobile apps and getting them available to a wider audience, it has the same drawbacks as PhoneGap in that the apps are not optimised for any particular platform. As some might say, a jack of all trades but a master of none.

    The mobile app development tool is just one part of the jQuery foundation which is a not-for-profit organisation focused on developing software to help web and mobile developers all over the world. With that in mind, just like PhoneGap, jQuery Mobile is free and is therefore an excellent tool for all businesses, large or small and should be considered by any company for any mobile development project.

    jQuery Mobile prides itself on being incredibly simple to use and has a “write less, do more” mantra (the write less is in reference to code writing). However, if you want to create an app with jQuery that gets a 5-star rating on the app store, it is important to be fluent in the use of the software and the code that goes along with it.

    So, if you are looking into the possibility of starting a new mobile development project, give one of our jQuery courses a try. If you would like to use jQuery but don’t know where to start, take a look at our Total Training Solutions course list for our mobile development courses. Call today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Nitobi’s PhoneGap is an Open Source Solution, but how does it work?

    05 April 2013

    According to their website, PhoneGap enables users to ‘easily create apps using the web technologies you know and love: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.’ As open source technology, it allows users to contribute to the overall experience of the software and is also free. But today we are asking, how does it do what it does?

    The significance of being able to develop mobile apps with HTML, CSS and Javascript is that it means you don’t have to worry about using different code for each of the different mobile operating systems. You can develop the same app for iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones using the three standard codes that many of us are used to.

    What’s more, PhoneGap enables the user to develop apps that can access several of the mobile phone’s hardware features. The software’s capabilities differ between devices and operating systems, but generally PhoneGap can access features such as the camera, geolocation and notification alerts. Normally when developing an app using HTML code, these device features would not be able to be accessed. However PhoneGap embeds the HTML code into a WebView on the device and uses what is known as a ‘Foreign Function Interface’ to access the native resources and capabilities of the device.

    There have been reservations over the speed and general look of apps developed with this tool and owner Adobe have warned that Apple can and do reject some apps for these reasons. However, as open source technology, PhoneGap is constantly improving and is probably the most important mobile development tool out there today.

    So basically PhoneGap works by making it possible for developers to use code that they are familiar with to develop apps that work on (and make the most of) mobile phone operating systems.

    Find out more about PhoneGap technology with our Building Mobile Apps with PhoneGap course. If you’re looking to train in more general mobile development, take a look at our mobile training courses. Call TTS today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Mobile web development - enabling you to develop your website so that it can support mobile platforms

    27 March 2013

    When developing a website for use on mobile devices, there is a lot more to think about than when developing one for laptops and PCs. The popularity of mobile markets means that it is populated with hundreds, if not thousands of different mobile devices. With this many devices on the market, the mobile website developer has to account for many different hardware specs.

    First of all, you have the problem of different screen sizes. Apple products alone have the iPad, iPad mini, each of the iPhones and the different generations of iPods. Add to this all the different models of tablets and mobile phones on the market and you have hundreds of different screens that your mobile website has to cater for.

    Another thing to cater for are devices whose screens switch their orientation from portrait to landscape when they are turned on their side. You must make sure your website performs well and looks good in both of these cases.

    Something that cannot be ignored is touchscreen technology. You may think that it is enough, these days, to build your mobile website for touchscreen devices only. While there are many of these devices out there, some do not have this capability. A well-known example of this is the Blackberry Curve. This is a very popular mobile device, yet it does not have a touchscreen. It is, therefore, important to make sure your mobile website can support mobile hardware that does not make use of touchscreen technology.

    Mobile devices also use many different kinds of web browser, so writing cross-browser code is vital to the development of your mobile site as is the optimization of images for smaller screens. Overall, mobile website development involves creating a website that is capable of working effectively across a vast array of hardware and software.

    If you or one of your colleagues would like to gain the skills to develop mobile websites, take a look at our Android, Apple iOS and JQuery Mobile development courses and call us on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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  • Mobile app development - helping you to develop your own corporate apps

    21 March 2013

    The majority of people using mobile apps today use them for either games or social media. However, retail and corporate apps have come to the front more recently and are very much on the rise. It’s therefore, becoming increasingly important for firms to engage in mobile app development. You don’t need to be a games developer or a social media tycoon to have a presence in the app store.

    Many business people argue that businesses need to develop apps that engage customers in some way. In many cases, apps can be used to provide a better service to customers. This makes it more simple when it comes to designing the app. The ebay app, for example, simply improves the ebay service for the mobile platform. The difficulty (or the art) of designing apps comes when there is no obvious way of putting your business into a mobile app.

    If your company provides a product or service that does not lend itself well to mobile apps, your mobile app development process will need to be more creative. For example, if you are an accounting firm, there may be very few aspects of your service that can be offered through a mobile application. What you could do, however, is develop a tax calculator app (or something along those lines) with your company’s brand name on it. This will engage potential customers by providing something that is useful to them, while also raising awareness of your company.

    In short, mobile app development should not be forgotten simply because you cannot develop an app to enhance your service. Mobile is a platform that cannot be ignored and apps can be an effective marketing tool as well as a genuine service.

    If you are looking to acquire the skills that will enable you, your colleagues or staff to develop apps, give Total Training Solutions a call today on 0800 612 1299 or contact us via the website.

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