Every App developer has faced this dilemma at one time or other — whether to create native or web based apps. Native apps are created for specific platforms such as for iOS, Android or Windows Phone 7. The other option, of course, is to depend on Browser based apps, and in turn, on the browser’s capabilities.

In the mobile app market today, there are numerous platforms and developers find it difficult to write code for all of them because they have to start from scratch every time.

In the short term, it makes sense for apps to be native or be created for different platforms, but then there are benefits in being web based as well — the biggest of which is ‘write once and run everywhere’.

Web based apps don’t require approval from anyone either; users can run them in the browser itself, just like everything else on the net. However, browser based apps depend on connectivity, which is impossible to ensure in the real world. Besides, in attempting to work on the maximum number of platforms, browser based apps fail to achieve the level of specialization that platform specific apps are capable of.

Users might prefer web based apps for some things, and native apps for others. Accountants, for instance, say they haven’t found a web-based substitute for Tally, or Microsoft Excel for that matter. Now, however, Microsoft is developing a cloud based version of Excel, and it remains to be seen whether this software does justice to the original in capability.

Last week we reported that Research In Motion’s plan to use Dalvik virtual machine (VM) to enable Android apps enable Android apps to run on its Playbook tablet

Now, Myriad Group has taken a leaf out of this idea by creating an App that will make it possible to run Android applications on any operating system. Myriad Group, a mobile technology company, has announced Myriad Alien Dalvik, which enables Android apps to run on non-Android platforms.

Alien Dalvik applications can be installed on devices running on operating systems such as Nokia’s MeeGo and Symbian or Apple’s iOS. It will appear as a native or basic application, and all that the user will observe is a wider range of applications, contributed by the Android App Store.

The app will enable operators, OEMs and application store owners to access the Android ecosystem and deploy Android apps across various device operating systems, without compromising performance.

“The proliferation of Android has been staggering, but there is still room for growth. By extending Android to other platforms, we are opening up the market even further, creating new audiences and revenue opportunities,” said Simon Wilkinson, the chief executive officer of Myriad Group.

Myriad Alien Dalvik will be commercially available later this year on MeeGo. Support for other platforms will be announced in the coming months. Alien Dalvik will be demonstrated for the first time on Nokia N900 at this year’s Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, which will be held from February 14 to 17.

It has been quite a long speculation, and finally BBC has revealed how it intends to port its iPlayer to both Android and iPad tablets. The move was confirmed by Daniel Danker, general manager, Future Media and Technology, BBC.

The App will launch on 11 February, and through it the users would be able to access the complete catalogue of program on BBC.

BBC has, however, said it would not be able to support all the Android versions, in fact only Android version 2.2 having Adobe Flash 10.1 will be supported by the app.

The iPhone users would be disappointed with it, as only iPad is supported. Videos streamed on Flash require the use of powerful processor, which limits the use of BBC iPlayer for several devices. The users would be able to consume both TV and radio media through the app.

The new version of the app is a significant improvement over the previous iPad version, says Daniel Danker. The emphasis is on creating simple apps that use the core competence of BBC well.

When talking of Facebook it has become so popular among people that it has become a critical part of people’s life. Everyday millions of people post what is happening in their lives in the form of status updates. How good would it be if you could post your status in your own voice? You can now post Facebook status updates in your own voice with voice buzz.

Voice Buzz is a free application that allows users to leave status messages on Facebook in their own voice.

Also Voice Buzz is India’s first independent social networking voice application, that works across landline and cell phone service providers, making it easily and readily usable. So any Facebook user can register for this service from a landline or a cellphone and use this application without paying a single rupee as charges apart from the call charges.

To use Voice Buzz, users need to register at kookoo.in/voicebuzz and provide details of their Facebook account and a contact number which will be linked to that account. Then, to post the status, the user has to dial 040-30512834 and record the voice message, which will then instantly appear on Facebook feed as the status message.

Although this might be a great new way to use Facebook, the company has provided no information about the security of data even after contacting them, which is a big concern.