Mobile Applications....Go Android!

In the past six months, as Android has gained momentum and market share. Last week, comScore reportedthat in the three months ending in May, Android was the top smartphone platform in the U.S. with 38 percent of existing devices. It grew faster than iOS, which reached 26.6 percent, while Research In Motion's BlackBerry platform fell to 24.7 percent, comScore said.   Good News: aXes and LANSA Wams can deliver to both!


Footnote: Is it a just a coincidence that the Android is colored Green like LANSA?

Cross Browser Compatibility and LANSA aXes

With the new release of aXes version 2.1 (Beta version) all the major browser types are supported.  In prior versions, the aXes product suite only supported the Microsoft (MS) IE browser.  Now aXes supports the following browsers: MS-IE, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari.  All of these browsers combined represent a huge user base.  Opening up aXes to all of these types of browsers vastly broadens the user community for who can use aXes and thus, iSeries applications via the web.  The only browser not sanctioned currently is Opera.  It’s officially unsupported but it executes with this new version.  Opera is a Java based browser so it’s very popular on mobile devices.

For more information or to download a free 30 day evaluation copy of aXes, please visit our website.  For further questions on aXes or other LANSA products, contact us at 1-800-887-1834 or request information by clicking here.

Most Popular Browsers

I can remember when it was assumed that you were using Internet Explorer.  That is certainly not the case anymore.  Look at the latest trends and you will notice that it's use has dropped significantly.  Also note how fast Google Chrome is being adopted as the default browser.

Can't wait to see what the landscape looks like next year!

Mixed message in the 2010 iPulse Survery conducted by LANSA

The 2010 iPulse Survery conducted by LANSA reminds me of the current economy.  The steep decline has stopped, but has no steam in the engine to rebound.  I am curious what other vendors are doing to address this issue.   Your opinion to the survey is appreciated.  I will publish the results in this blog.  Thanks!

No LANSA is not a Cabinet Pull (Handle)

Allow me to vent.  Over the years I have been mildly irritated by my search results when they directed me to sites like IKEA, REMODELISTA and even LANSA Flight 502 on Wikipedia.

The other evening I decided to turn my irritation around and see what the products have in common.  My Aha moment resulted in Modernization!  Continue to indulge my ramblings:

Background:  Old, yet functional kitchen.  Here is my version of some marketing copy for a site like IKEA:

With the new LANSA pulls you can transform dingy cupboards into something more contemporary and infinitely more livable.  

Background:  Old, yet functional 5250 legacy application.  Potential marketing copy from LANSA: With LANSA you can transform dingy hard to use legacy applications into something more contemporary and infinitely more usable.

I just had to vent!

NO...LANSA is not a Cabinet Pull

Allow me to vent:  Over the years I have been mildly irritated by my search efforts when they directed me to sites like IKEA ,  REMODELISTA and even LANSA Flight 502 on Wikipedia.
The other evening I decided to spend a little time and look at it from a different perspective:  What do they have in common?  The modernization theme jumped out at me!                                        
Background:  Old, yet functional kitchen.  Here is some potential marketing copy from a site like IKEA: With new LANSA pulls you can transform dingy cupboards into something more contemporary and infinitely more livable.   These easy to use products are also reasonably priced.  
Background:  Old, yet functional 5250 legacy application.
Now the same message from LANSA:  With LANSA you can transform dingy hard to use legacy systems into something more contemporary and infinitely more useable.   These easy to use tools from LANSA are also reasonably priced.

New Version of aXes released

Probably the most exciting part of this release is the support for Mobile applications.  Below is a quick recap:


From LANSA, RPG, COBOL or CL applications running on your IBM i (AS/400, iSeries, System i), you can now deliver your business information and data direct to mobile devices — such as iPhones, iPads, Android devices and the latest technology from Blackberry and with Windows Mobile 7 — with Zero Deployment on the mobile devices.

aXes Mobile lets you leverage the growing power of HTML 5 and the emerging industry standard WebKit browser family to provide ubiquitous access to IBM i server based applications.


Design the new RPG, COBOL or CL application with the following in mind:

• Mobile devices have limited screen size available
• Use of GUI controls should replace more traditional 5250 screen interactions
• AJAX Web 2.0 capabilities can be added to any screen to maximize appearance and functionality
• Send and receive only the data required to minimize the traffic
• Create RPG, COBOL or CL program(s) to send and receive the information to each mobile screen
• Layout each mobile screen using aXes eXtensions to:
• Add controls like drop downs, group boxes, hyperlinks, images, text labels, checkboxes, and calendars
• Add buttons with scripts that control what happens when they are clicked
• Alter the position of fields on the screen
• Insert bars, stripes, colors and color gradients to enhance the appearance
• aXes handles the rest

Reuse Existing Applications — Let aXes Mobile do the work

You can use your existing RPG, COBOL and CL 5250 applications and access these applications via mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs without changing one line of the underlying programs.

Reuse Existing Applications - Let aXes Mobile do the work

aXes converts existing 5250 screens to Web pages on-the-fly without change to the underlying applications, and modernizes the screen to create rich Internet applications - all accessible from mobile devices.

Graphical user interface out-of-the-box

• No source code to change. Nothing to recompile. Works instantly, even on 5250 screens for which you do not have the source code (screens from OS/400, purchased packages, etc)
• Web enabled terminal emulation straight to the mobile device
• Automatically handled by aXes

Use the aXes eXtensions to enhance the GUI

• No need to change the underlying RPG, COBOL or CL code
• Layout each screen using aXes eXtensions:
• Add controls like drop downs, group boxes, hyperlinks, images, text labels, checkboxes, and calendars
• Add buttons with scripts that control what happens when they are clicked
• Alter the position of fields on the screen
• Insert bars, stripes, colors and color gradients to enhance the appearance
• aXes handles the rest

This is truly exciting and very timely!  Learn more about aXes and other LANSA products.