Database Develop

job in mobile industry

Hi all, I’d like to hear from the members in the biz. I am working on a Computer Information Systems degree and would like to know what kind of job I could look into relating to the things we all love, mobile software, mobile devices and mobile networks.
The CIS degree is a 4 year degree with an emphasis in business but a fair amount of involvement with coding and system design. Im trying to make sure I’m going in the right direction with my major and hope that I could work in a position not to far removed from our beloved obsession. I’d hate to be tucked in an office working in a job relating to everything mobile doing work so obscure that it might as well relate to Insurance.
Thanks

jamespaulritter said:
Hi all, I’d like to hear from the members in the biz. I am working on a Computer Information Systems degree and would like to know what kind of job I could look into relating to the things we all love, mobile software, mobile devices and mobile networks.
The CIS degree is a 4 year degree with an emphasis in business but a fair amount of involvement with coding and system design. Im trying to make sure I’m going in the right direction with my major and hope that I could work in a position not to far removed from our beloved obsession. I’d hate to be tucked in an office working in a job relating to everything mobile doing work so obscure that it might as well relate to Insurance.
Thanks
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I'm sorry to say something like this, but if you're interest is in writing software for mobile devices, you've got an uphill battle in front of you. CIS degrees aren't, in my experience, going to get you a coding job. The reason most colleges have coding/design courses in both the CIS and MIS degrees is to (a) fill out their 4 year course schedule, and (b) to give you some insight into the technical hurdles faced by the developers that you're expected to be working with (but not developing next to).
Of course, I'm basing that on the MIS/CIS degrees at the colleges I've had an interaction with and obviously yours may not be the same. However, if there is a CES/SES/CSET/SET/(whatever other shorthand for software development) degree at your college....then you can assume you're college training is leading you more in the direction of management (MIS) or networking/management/administration (CIS). Note, I differentiate MIS and CIS as I know them, your college could also infer a different meaning.
While that's been said, the good news is that your degree sounds like you're being trained to possibly manage a team of programmers at a given company that's developing for mobile devices.
Also, it's worth pointing out....Just because your degree might point you in the direction of one role, doesn't mean you have to end up there (or that you will end up there even if you try...you are in America, degrees are very arbitrary here). I got a degree that was heavily focused towards Databases, Algorithms, Low Level programming, several programming languages (7 as I recall), and a bit of OS programming. My first major job was ASP.Net programming and design. The developer who was a step above me (in terms of seniority and "power") had a degree in accounting and sort of stumbled his way into being a programmer (albeit, he was pretty bad at it, but that was the way he was, not for lack of training)
Short version to all of that above....You probably aren't getting the very best training in the field, but it isn't likely to hurt your chances of getting into the field....and it may help you if played correctly.
Disclaimer: I do not actually work for a company developing software for the mobile industry....but I tend to think the software development side of things is similar enough across the board.

[Q]Mobile Industry Degree?

Hey everyone, I was hoping to get some direction about this. I currently go to Penn State and my major is IST but I'm not really sure this is really what I need to be going to school for. I really don't enjoy the general education stuff, I'd rather just dive right in to programming and design classes. I was taking a look on HTCs career site and I found my perfect job
http://www.htc.com/us/about/careers/developer-engagement-specialist-htc-developer-program/177
Granted, there are no crazy qualifications for that but if I looked for something a little bit more intense like...
http://www.htc.com/us/about/careers/software-quality-assurance-engineer/211
Qualifications:
•Familiar with CDMA network specification, theory and applications.
•Familiar with test equipment, Spirent and Anritsu, would be a plus.
•Familiar with GSM/UMTS network specifications, theory, and applications.
•Familiar with Qualcomm test/diagnostic tools (such as QXDM).
•Ability to follow through test cases and develop test cases when needed.
•Strong analytical skills.
•Solid problem solving skills.
•Good communication (verbal and writing) skills.
•Be able to work well in cross team function and be able to work with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
•Ability to travel up to 40% of the time.
•Able to work overtime upon necessity.
•Understanding of handset architecture.
•Familiarity with Windows Phone, Android and BREW platforms is a big plus.
•Degree in Engineering related filed (preferably Electrical Engineering, Telecommunication, Information System) or in Physics.
•Ability and willingness to multi-task, manage, and work hard in a fast paced, TEAM environment.
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All the things that are bolded, where would one go about getting a degree for the mobile industry? I worked for a few carriers in the past and I know the theory of GSM and CDMA networks, so is this stuff just on the job training? I don't know anything about the test equiptment listed, but I know QXDM fairly well.
The only thing I have really seen is Pace University with their NACTEL program...
http://support.csis.pace.edu/nactel/
I really want to work in the wireless industry and make a career of it, more so on the technical side of things like programming and design. I just have no idea where else I could look for a telecommunications degree that is focused on the mobile industry. Does anyone have any suggestions or places to look into? Pace didn't seem to be too highly regarded, but those reviews weren't too recent. Any info on this would be really helpful! Thanks!

Old user but life is whore

Old user since the begining of xda but due to bad decisions in life had to remake all my accounts to be safe.
I hope I can help in someway, I have not much programming skills but I have been in the Android scene since my first purchase a HTC Magic, what a memories the first android versions compared with now, and I have seen how the scene has grow up, the legal problems from some developers, others moving indside the industry (cyanogemod) , but I will never regret the decission of goving a chance to Android and left the symbian plataform alone (in that moment maybe it was better than android).
Big up the comunity, big up to the developers who spends hours and hours of his free time looking inside the code and looking inside the many modifications done by companies to improve them (MIUI, and can't remember more names now..)
Mantain the hard work, some day you will be inside some top company developing for them.

aciidtekno said:
Old user since the begining of xda but due to bad decisions in life had to remake all my accounts to be safe.
I hope I can help in someway, I have not much programming skills but I have been in the Android scene since my first purchase a HTC Magic, what a memories the first android versions compared with now, and I have seen how the scene has grow up, the legal problems from some developers, others moving indside the industry (cyanogemod) , but I will never regret the decission of goving a chance to Android and left the symbian plataform alone (in that moment maybe it was better than android).
Big up the comunity, big up to the developers who spends hours and hours of his free time looking inside the code and looking inside the many modifications done by companies to improve them (MIUI, and can't remember more names now..)
Mantain the hard work, some day you will be inside some top company developing for them.
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Glad to see an old timer back!
Cheers

Greetings to all!

Hello fellow XDA'ers. I am an 'experienced' IT nerd, ie I can remember when mobile phones were the size of a suitcase. My background is mainly front end systems - HP/Tandem, a little mainframe, and a lot of PC building and some lower level electronics builds. I have always loved tech, especially when it can have a tangible benefit, and detest planned obsolescence, to the point of recapping monitors before replacing them! I was drawn here by the Android debugging discussions that mentioned the ADB utility, which was not something I had ever toyed with. The knowledge on display here has been invaluable to me, assisting to resolve a major headache on the lead-in to Christmas - MrsCs HTC10 screen problems! I have joined here to throw in my solution to an ancient discussion forum, a cunning workaround that doesnt involve bricking the phone, as I'm sure we are not the only ones in possession of an HTC10.
Cheers,
MrC

Technology for all

The purpose behind this thread is to discuss what would be the best way to adapt technological so that it benefits all. By all, I mean old people, young people especially people who are not technologically savvy. People who are not experts at flashing ROMs and debugging ADB logcats.
We see examples of this problem almost every day. Ever tried helping someone over the phone, especially an older person, and get them to install an app using Google PlayStore? I have tried it and found the experience an eye-opener. Simple actions like swiping down to show the notifications or getting into the Settings to change some feature can be difficult for a person who does not essential spend the whole day playing around with the smartphone.
A simple user interface with almost no learning curve would be a great start.
Another factor could be screens with information in the local language, or may be screens that read out options that users touch. The Alexas and Siri's of the world also help to a great extent.
Don't you think a lot more can be done to make technology accessible and understandable to all?

Hi @ManojNairOnline! This is a great initiative. I personally live in a 27-unit cohousing and there are quite a few seniors living there. I'm their go-to-guy for all their Windows/Android perils. The average member of this forum can hardly imagine this but the digital world and its many interfaces can be quite scary to them. They hear about all these phishing/malware/etc horror stories in the news and when they see a popup on their device asking "Allow [app name] to make and manage phone calls?" they freak out. While that notification is usually just there for an app to "know" when to pause itself because a phone call is coming in, for people that do not understand this context it is very alarming.
Another major difference is that roughly the eldest 2 generations didn't grow up surrounded by electronic devices. My dad really struggles to get anything done on a smartphone while my 7yo plays with them. It's taken for granted by the younger generations as they haven't experienced it any other way. Even the current 35-45yo population can hardly remember how on earth we managed to get places and how we handled not being able to contact anyone at any given time about 20-25 years ago, let alone stay up to date with the entire world!
Let's first address the elephant in the room: Apple does this better. iOS is much more limited and simplified and thus more user friendly. Then again, Android has made major advancements in this respect as well. And with an app like BIG Launcher (featured on the portal, I have no experience with it) the user interface can become so much simpler. Taking a glance at 'Accessibility' (which should be its own menu and not hidden under 'System', OnePlus!) does hold a plethora of features to make our devices more accessible to people with a variety of disabilities. So yes, it could always be more understandable, but I think we're already working on that.
I haven't looked around yet but I'm sure there are some interesting projects to be found on XDA as well.

Agree with the comments @Timmmmaaahh! There would already be some threads on XDA with projects around this