Xamarin links mobile apps with Microsoft cloud services

Xamarin, the mobile app dev company founded by the creators of the open source Mono project, have partnered with Microsoft to bring support for Windows Azure Mobile Services to apps that are running on Android and iOS devices. Redmond announced its Mobile Services offering in August as a quick and easy way for mobile app …

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this better than downloading the free version of Unity (www.unity3d.com), which is also portable and uses the same Mono libraries? (OK, Xamarin isn't bundled with 3D graphics and a physics engine, so it will be smaller, but free is still free.)

[PM.]

Since when ...

Since when is unity free for mobile platforms , hmm ?

( true, they have free Windows desktop version )

[jasper45]

Buy Xamarin

Buy Xamarin. The best cross-platform app devlopment tools, the best OO language. No more Microsoft lock-in, no more Eclipse junk, and you get to use C# generics, tools, C# async.

[allenbeme]

This explains it.

Now I know why De Icaza wrote the "What Killed the Linux Desktop" article. He was severing his ties to Linux and casting his lot with Microsoft.

[jowlymonster]

I saw a couple of talks by the Xamarin guys earlier this year - it does look good, but for a "bedroom coder" like me knocking out a free app, I can't justify the cost, so i'll stick with Eclipse and the android sdk for now... icky as it is.

The cloudy stuff is an interesting development though.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Since then, Xamarin has focused mainly on using the Mono technology as a means to enable cross-platform mobile app development."

There are better alternatives than using Mono.

I'm sure Apple will find a way to make sure iOS is not compatible though; thats right, all iOS apps need to use the Apple SDK.

[james the l]

"There are better alternatives than using Mono."

Such as? We're using Mono and are pretty happy with it. I'm always interested in other solutions though.