Rich Internet Applications - if you can imagine it, we can build it!

Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are the "next generation" of internet applications. Collectively known as Web 2.0, these are apps that are no longer restricted by the limitations of browsers and HTML. At Sabukat Technologies we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of new tech, and we can see that RIAs present some unique opportunities for our customers. That's why, when Microsoft released their Silverlight product we were one of the first companies in Australia to write and deploy an application based around this exciting new technology.

So what is Silverlight and why do we use it? According to Microsoft,  

Silverlight is a powerful development platform for creating engaging, interactive applications for many screens across the Web, desktop, and mobile devices.

Great. So what does that mean?

Silverlight started out as a browser plugin (similar to Adobe's Flash), which was built to leverage Microsoft’s powerful .Net programming platform, on the web.  Over the last couple of years, Silverlight has evolved from a run-of-the-mill browser plugin into something far more powerful. You can still use it to create highly interactive and user friendly experiences on the web, but we can now do "out of browser" (or desktop) applications, as well as provide web cam and print support, features that were absent in earlier versions.

You can now take a Silverlight applet and, with some fairly minor adjustments, use it across a number of platforms including the web, the desktop (for PC or Mac), the upcoming Windows Phone 7 and even some set-top boxes. The open source community is in on the act as well, creating the Moonlight project which is essentially "Silverlight for Linux".

So, using Silverlight we can now build anything from a glitzy, media rich web application that streams full High Definition videos over the web to exceptionally user friendly business applications which can interact with “Office” programs such as Excel or Outlook, and mobile phone applications as well as typical web applications. It really is a case of "if you can imagine it, we can build it".

People are getting more and more used to highly interactive and aesthetically pleasing applications on the web, and are coming to expect that same high level of experience no matter whether they are looking at a website for their kids' school, the website for their gym or in the business applications they use every day in their work.

Using Silverlight we can easily create these great experiences and that is why we use it and are excited about it! Interested? Contact us for more information!