Since its release in March 2010, the iPad has taken the world by storm. Each new iPad release has launched the device further and further into our lives. Here are some interesting facts that we have seen over the past few years along with some market share analysis:
- The school that my teenagers attend here in Knoxville, Tennessee, was the first school in the United States to integrate the iPad into its teaching program and its curriculum. Many schools have since followed suit.
- There are a healthy number of applications in a variety of market segments. In fact, there is a market for iPad point-of-sale systems.
- The iPad is a popular device and growing more so each day. comScore states that one in four smartphone owners also owns a tablet. We also know that the iPad comprises 68 percent of the tablet market.
- eMarketer recently issued a report stating that the number of iPad users is expected to grow by 90 percent in the US in 2012.
No matter how you slice the data, tablet usage is growing, and the iPad is currently leading the pack. The question for .NET developers is "How can I get me some of that?" Xamarin's MonoTouch offers help, by providing the means for .NET developers to leverage their C# and .NET coding skills to develop iPad applications. MonoTouch has supported the iPad since the initial release of the iOS 3.2 beta SDK all the way up to the most recent iOS SDK, which supports the iPad. In this article, we'll look at targeting the iPad and how we can take advantage of iPad-specific features in our iOS applications written with MonoTouch.
I hope you enjoy the article and you find it helpful.
