Brightcove's App Cloud, which has been in beta since May, is now generally available, the company said today, making it easier for developers to build, deliver and manage custom content apps across devices.
The App Cloud allows developers to build and operate native apps for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) iOS and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android smartphones and tablets by combining an open HTML5 Web development model with intelligent cloud services to accelerate app development. The platform will optimize performance, measure effectiveness and enable dynamic updates to installed apps.
Brightcove's dive into app development is a big step and one that adds an additional product line alongside its online video platform. The move, said Brightcove, comes as companies like Facebook, Netflix and Microsoft have all begun to adopt a hybrid approach to app building, in part because of a shortage of developers and because developing for specific platforms can be expensive.
"It is instructive that Facebook, a company with virtually unlimited resources, is strategically shifting the way that they build apps because of a shortage of skilled native developers," he said. "If Facebook can't find enough Objective-C and Java developers, why would any company with smaller resources think it can do so?"
Brightcove said it has beta tested App Cloud with 1,200 users, adding that several App Cloud-powered apps are currently available through the Apple iTunes App Store and the Google Android Market from customers including AMC Networks, the U.S. Department of State, and Lifetime Networks.
The company is making a free edition of the platform available, which allows single users to develop and test an unlimited number of apps. Subscriptions to its enterprise edition, which allow teams of developers and business users to develop, deploy and operate live apps in production, start at $15,000.
For more:
- see this blog
- see this release
Related articles:
Brightcove files IPO, seeks $50 million
Captioning company partners with Brightcove
Brightcove rolls out App Cloud