REDWOOD CITY, Calif.: Sencha, the leading provider of HTML5 frameworks and tools for desktop and mobile application developers, is adding a new “digital” dimension to mobile information by giving users of smartphones and tablets the ability to explore and interact with data using gestures. Now in beta, Sencha Touch Charts enables mobile developers to build Web apps that let users dive into complex data, using gestures to explore data in a fun and exhilarating way. Until now, this level of data interaction has only been possible with native technologies; delivering this functionality within a mobile browser via HTML5 is an industry first.
“Sencha Touch Charts renders stunning charts at the same fidelity as native, which means developers can present complex data within their Web apps without having to rely on native drawing packages,” said Abe Elias, CTO of Sencha. “The result is a whole new set of user interactions with complex datasets – information comes alive at your fingertips. Customers are describing the interactivity of Sencha Touch Charts as eye-popping. Animations are smooth and entertaining, and features such as pinch-zoom, drag and drop to merge a data series, and tap to view details are among the favorites.”
Sencha Touch Charts lets Web app developers give their mobile users the charting and data visualization functionality that they’ve been waiting for. It uses HTML5 technologies to render charts, capture multi-touch inputs and drive interactivity – making it ideal for Web apps that present business, financial and scientific data. Simple gestures can be used to control data exploration. For example, a simple swipe will pan across a dataset, whereas a “reverse pinch” will zoom into detail. Richer interactions such as axis swaps, aggregation, filtering and more are all enabled by similarly simple gestures. Sencha Touch Charts uses HTML5 Canvas technology, which is fully supported by the latest WebKit browsers that ship with Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry OS6, and HP WebOS.
“Sencha Touch enabled us to build a state-of-the-art mobile app, and now Sencha Touch Charts allows us to deliver rich, professional and engaging visualizations of our customers’ financial data,” said Craig Walker, CTO of Xero. “Sencha Touch Charts makes it easy for our customers to get a snapshot of their financials and see how their business is doing. We can provide the kind of interactivity smartphone users have come to expect, allowing them to use their hands to manipulate data with gestures like pinch, zoom, and pan.”
“Sencha Touch Charts enables us to present data in our mobile apps and provides the best user experience we’ve seen in the browser,” said Rajesh Farkare, senior development engineer at Accept Corporation. “Using simple gestures, our users can explore rich data sets. With Sencha Touch Charts, we were able to quickly integrate data into our application, and our developers didn’t have to spend time learning a native drawing package.”
Sencha Touch: the most powerful way to build web apps for mobile devices
Sencha Touch is built from the ground up to leverage the latest HTML5 family technologies, including geolocation, localStorage and CSS3, supported by today’s most popular mobile devices. It has a flexible theming system that can change application appearance with just a few lines of code, and incorporates resolution-independence technology that ensures consistent display on devices with different pixel densities. In addition, Sencha Touch incorporates powerful data management classes and a comprehensive touch event system that allows developers to focus on their application, not on the eccentricities of mobile platforms.
With Sencha Touch:
- Companies can meet the expectations of customers who want high-quality application experiences on their mobile devices;
- Developers can rapidly create rich applications for mobile devices, cutting development time to a fraction of its current duration;
- Development groups can reduce costs – no need for separate teams with in-depth knowledge of Objective-C, Java and web technologies;
- Mobile phone users can experience an application that looks and feels like a native application, with no need to download application updates.
Pricing and availability
Sencha Touch Charts is available for download during the beta period. The released version will be available as an add-on to Sencha Touch, and will be dual-licensed, available either for $99 (commercial license), or for free under the GPLv3.
