Provider of tools and services that support mobile app development and deployment using HTML5, appMobi (News – Alert), recently announced a free cloud service that allows developers to compile HTML5 code into a distributable ‘hybrid’ app: openBuild.

Hybrid apps are actually widely deployed by such high-profile services and websites as Netflix, the New York Times and Facebook (News – Alert). Developed with HTML5 and deployed in a native wrapper, hybrid apps can be distributed in various app stores. In fact, according to a recent Strategy Analytics report, hybrid apps’ mix of scalability and power will make them the next big thing in mobile.

openBuild will likely help the popularity of the hybrid app as it is capable of creating ready-to-sell binary apps for a number of app stores, including the Apple (News – Alert) App Store, Google Play, Amazon and Barnes & Noble NOOK. It also supports desktop app stores like the Facebook App Center, Chrome Web Store and Mozilla Market.

openBuild also demonstrates appMobi’s support for Heroku, the popular cloud application platform as it uses its own packaged Ruby library, called a gem. This allows developers to created completely scripted cross platform app builds from within Ruby-based environments such as Heroku and EngineYard. AppMobi also plans to release a fully featured add-on which integrates its Web services into Heroku’s platform. It is absolutely free, with no limit to the number of apps developers can build or publish.

Lastly, openBuild supports all HTML5 and JavaScript frameworks, allowing developers to use any mobile-ready framework — jQuery, jqMobi, Enyo, Meteor, Sencha Touch, to name a few —with openBuild for compiling and packaging their HTML5 code into store-ready hybrid apps.

Also recently, appMobi announced a new cloud-based reporting service, called storeView, for PhoneGap and hybrid HTML5 app developers, which displays detailed app analytics across all popular app stores in a single dashboard.

Want to learn more about HTML5? Then be sure to attend HTML5 Summit- a DEVCON5 Event, collocated with ITEXPO West 2012 taking place Oct. 2-5, in Austin, TX. HTML5 has the potential to revolutionize user interfaces, challenge the status quo and change the future of both desktop and mobile web experiences. Join fellow web developers, designers, and architects, as well as technology leaders and business strategists who will gather in Austin to learn strategies and tactics to implement and execute HTML5. For more information on registering for the HTML5 Summit click here.

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