HTML5 development tool and services company appMobi has announced jQ.Mobi, an open-source "mobile-optimised, HTML5 rewrite of the ubiquitous jQuery framework which is used on over 50 per cent of all desktop websites". According to appMobi, similar JavaScript UI frameworks are often "hampered with their roots in desktop Web browsers and HTML4," with legacy components particularly affecting Android. Therefore, jQ.Mobi is over twice as fast as desktop jQuery, has a footprint a twelfth of the size, and has been created to deliver an "identically high quality user experience to both iOS and Android devices".
Paul Bakaus, Zynga Germany CTO and creator of jQuery UI, enthused about the new framework: "It's great to finally see a lightweight JavaScript library specifically tailored for smartphone performance and inspired by the popular APIs that made jQuery famous. To me, this is the hopeful prediction of the future of jQuery 2.0, today." According to Sam Abadir, appMobi CTO and founder, getting to such a stage today was of paramount importance. "The truth is, the single biggest issue facing mobile HTML5 developers is the lack of good user interfaces. There is nothing more critical to the success of mobile HTML5 in general," he said, adding that Apple set the bar high with Cocoa Touch, and web-based mobile devs haven't had tools to compete. "That is why we've put this project into play. We've started this project with high expectations, focused around delivering speed, size advantages, and cross platform uniformity, and we look forward to seeing where the open source development community takes it from here."
