Embarcadero Releases Major Updates for Its RAD Studio XE8 Connected App Platform

Embarcadero Technologies has released a major update to its RAD Studio XE8  connected app platform. Included in this new release is the ability for Delphi/Object Pascal and C++ developers to leverage their Windows VCL applications and build expanded, innovative solutions for mobile, cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT).

RAD Studio XE8 delivers connectivity and mobile-platform support for developing distributed, connected apps for Windows, Android, iOS, OS X, IoT gadgets and devices, middleware, cloud, and enterprise services. Featuring new iOS 64-bit and Universal App support, RAD Studio XE8 enables development teams to add IoT features like proximity awareness with beacons, improve app performance and developer productivity, and better understand user app behavior. The new GetIt Package Manager provides easy discovery of source code libraries, components, and more from within the IDE.

“Our customers are developing and maintaining millions of business-critical Windows applications across a wide spectrum of industries. Today, they are driving to extend those applications with mobile extensions, cloud services, and IoT enhanced user experiences. RAD Studio XE8 delivers the features teams need to expand and enhance their customer experience,” says Michael Swindell, Senior Vice President of Products at Embarcadero. “The Internet of Things, in particular, can revolutionize customer experience, yet IoT has been complex and out of reach for most developers. With XE8, Embarcadero is at the forefront of enabling developers to easily integrate IoT in 2015 and beyond.”

- iOS 64-bit and Universal App Support: To deliver new apps to the Apple App Store, the XE8 version of RAD Studio features new iOS 64-bit Object Pascal and C++ compilers, including linkers and tools to build an iOS 64-bit target. RAD Studio XE8 supports Apple Universal apps, offering both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries in a single package as well as a wide range of iOS platform native controls to deliver a highly specialized iOS user experience.

- Multi-Device Form Factor Preview: Developers can build connected apps faster with the Multi-Device Preview in RAD Studio XE8, a visual tool that allows developers to see their user interface on all target form factors at once, from which they easily identify which form factors need additional optimization. The Multi-Device Preview features live previews of any number of target form factors and orientations including desktop, tablets, phones, and smart watches.

- Proximity Awareness with Beacons: New component-level beacon support in RAD Studio XE8 makes it easy to add proximity and location-awareness to existing Windows and mobile apps.

- AppAnalytics: To better understand user behavior, AppAnalytics captures anonymous usage statistics on how users are using applications built with RAD Studio XE8. AppAnalytics is a hosted, pay-per-use service that offers VCL and FireMonkey support to embed into existing Windows applications as well as OS X, Android and iOS apps.

- GetIt Package Manager: Hosting both VCL and multi-device libraries and components, the GetIt Package Manager provides easy discovery, download and update of source code libraries, components, and other features from Embarcadero GetIt servers – with one-click installation. It includes all TurboPack projects.

- Upgraded Enterprise Mobility Services (EMS): EMS is a turnkey, on-premise solution for mobilizing distributed, connected apps, and is now equipped with Push notification server support for iOS and Android. Based on open standards and technologies, EMS offers an easy-to deploy middleware server that delivers user authentication, custom REST APIs management with analytics, an embedded and server side secure database, and data access to major Enterprise databases like Oracle, SQL Server, Informix, DB2, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and much more.

Other enhancements in the XE8 version of RAD Studio include: major developer productivity boosters from the integrated Castalia plug-in with Object Pascal refactoring; Project Statistics; Code Analysis; and time-saving code editor shortcuts. The new configuration settings migration tool assists in migrating configurations of older versions of the product to a newer version or between different installations of the same version.

The new RAD Studio XE8, Delphi XE8 and C++Builder XE8 are available now from Embarcadero and from Embarcadero partners.