Corona (software development kit)

Corona SDK is a software development kit created by Walter Luh, co-founder of Ansca Mobile. It allows software programmers to build mobile applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Corona lets developers use integrated Lua, layered on top of Objective-C, to build graphically rich applications that are also lightweight in size and quick in development time. The SDK does not charge per-app royalty or impose any branding requirement, and has a subscription-based purchase model that allows new features to be rolled out immediately to users.^[1][2]

History

Co-founders Carlos Icaza and Walter Luh started Ansca Mobile after departing from Adobe in 2007. At Adobe, they were both mobile engineers who worked on Flash Lite; Icaza was the senior mobile engineering manager who led the Flash Lite team while Luh was the lead architect. In June 2009, they released the first Corona SDK beta free for early adopters.^[2][3][4]

In December 2009, Ansca launched Corona SDK 1.0 for the iPhone. Plans for additional platforms were also announced at this time. The following February, the Corona SDK 1.1 was released with additional features.^[1][5]

In April 2010, the Corona SDK 2.0 beta was released. Corona 2.0's definitive new feature was cross-platform support for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices; additional 2.0 features are expected to be rolled out gradually per Corona's subscription-based purchase model. Later that month, Ansca announced a beta for Corona Game Edition, which will include a physics engine and other advanced features aimed specifically at game development.^[6][7] This engine was used by a young eighth grader, who developed a physics puzzle game called Bubble Ball, which reached the top spot on the list of free games on Apple iTunes within the first two weeks after its release on December 22, 2010.^[8][9][10]

In January 2011, Corona SDK was released for Windows XP and newer, giving developers the opportunity to build Android apps on PC.^[11]

Later, in April, Corona's platforms were expanded to include Barnes & Noble's NOOK Color as Ansca Mobile forged a partnership with Barnes & Noble to bring select Corona-made apps to the newly revamped tablet. Since then, apps created by Corona developers have been among the NOOK Color's most downloaded, breaking into its top 20 and top 10 charts on a regular basis.^[12][13][14]

In August 2011, Ansca Mobile unveiled LaunchPad, a combination of partnerships and cloud-based analytics aimed at helping Corona SDK developers better publicize and fine-tune marketing efforts for their apps. LaunchPad's partnerships include mobile advertising network InMobi, social gaming platform PapayaMobile, and several app review sites -- all of whom will further spotlight Corona-made apps through their respective channels. Ansca said the move is aimed at helping their developers' apps be more successful once they've been shipped to the Apple App Store and/or various Android app stores (Google's official Android Market, Amazon Appstore, etc.).^[15][16][17]

Features

• Proprietary OpenGL-ES rendering engine allows for full hardware acceleration of graphics, including sprites that animate at full GPU speed.^[18]
• Transition library enables tweening of Corona-powered sprites' position, rotation, alpha, or any other property.^[19]
• Supports native iPhone and Android UI. Developers can access the iPhone's native text features including all fonts, multi-line fields, and keyboard input.^[19]
• Apps built with Corona start at under 400KB in size.^[1]
• Subscription-based purchase model allows users to have new updates as soon as they are rolled out.^[20]
• Full feature integration with device camera, accelerometer, magnetometer, video player, compass, and/or GPS.^[18]

References

External links

• Ansca Mobile website
• CoronaForums.org website