WALTHAM, Mass., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Novell today
announced the availability of Mono® for Android, the first solution
for developing Microsoft* .NET applications for the Android*
platform using Microsoft Visual Studio*. With the addition of Mono
for Android to its existing Mono development tools, Novell is
enabling Microsoft .NET and C# developers using Visual Studio and
other environments to utilize a common code base to easily create
applications for the industry's most widely-used mobile devices,
including Android-based smartphones and tablets, Apple iPad*, Apple
iPhone* and Apple iPod* Touch.
According to statistics released by research firm Nielson,
Android has a 29 percent consumer market share, making it the most
popular smartphone platform. With Mono for Android, .NET developers
and independent software vendors (ISVs) can utilize Visual Studio
and their existing skills to build a vast array of Android-based
applications and sell their products into this massive market.
"Since the introduction of MonoTouch in 2009, developers have
experienced how Mono streamlines mobile application development,"
said Miguel de Icaza, Mono project
founder and vice president of Developer Platforms at Novell. "As a
result, many asked us to build a similar tool for Android. We
developed Mono for Android to give both individual developers and
businesses a way of sharing their code across multiple mobile
platforms, increasing efficiency and reuse of their C# and .NET
expertise across the board."
Mono for Android consists of the core Mono runtime, bindings for
native Android APIs, a Visual Studio 2010 plugin to develop Android
applications, and a software development kit that contains all the
tools needed to build, debug and deploy applications. Developers
trained in Microsoft Visual Studio can stay within their preferred
IDE, while using their existing skills and .NET code, libraries and
tools, as well as C# programming knowledge, to create mobile
applications for Android-based devices. With the Visual Studio 2010
plugin, engineers can develop, debug and deploy their applications
to an Android simulator, an Android device or the Android
Application Store.
Mono for Android complements MonoTouch, Novell's popular
solution for developing applications for the iPad, iPhone and iPod
Touch. Developers utilizing Mono for Android and MonoTouch can save
time and money by sharing common code between iPhone, iPad, iPod
Touch and Android phones and tablets, as well as Windows Phone 7,
Windows desktops and Windows Server. A Mono for Android add-in also
allows MonoDevelop users to develop on OS X.
"As a mobile software developer and middleware vendor, Resco
customers are enabled to use our products to develop MonoTouch, and
now Mono for Android applications for Android and Apple devices,"
said Michal Sartoris, senior
developer at Resco. "With more than 3,000 customers, our business
success depends on us delivering feature-rich, highly-quality
applications to the market before our competitors. Novell is
providing us with innovative, cross-platform development tools that
enable us to reduce the cost and resources required to create
mobile applications."
Pricing and availability
All editions of Mono for Android are available now through
http://shop.novell.com. Mono for Android Enterprise Edition
is available for US $999 per
developer for a one-year subscription, which includes maintenance
and updates. A five-developer Enterprise license supports five
concurrent developers and is available for US $3,999 per year. Mono for Android Professional
Edition is available for US $399 per
developer for a one-year subscription. For a limited time, existing
MonoTouch customers can receive a 50 percent discount off a similar
Mono for Android Edition by using their activation code as a
discount code.
For more information about Mono for Android, visit
http://mono-android.net. To learn more about the Mono Project visit
http://www.mono-project.com.
About Novell
Novell, Inc. (Nasdaq: NOVL), a leader in intelligent workload
management, helps organizations securely deliver and manage
computing services across physical, virtual and cloud computing
environments. We help customers reduce the cost, complexity and
risk associated with their IT systems through our solutions for
identity and security, systems management, collaboration and
Linux-based operating platforms. With our infrastructure software
and ecosystem of partnerships, Novell integrates mixed IT
environments, allowing people and technology to work as one. For
more information, visit www.novell.com.
Copyright © 2011 Novell, Inc. All rights reserved.
Novell, the Novell logo, the N logo, and Mono are registered
trademarks of Novell, Inc. in the United States and other
countries. *All third party trademarks are the property of
their respective owners.
SOURCE Novell
