Nextbook offers a free tool called NextScript, which enables interactive iOS applications to be developed without programming in Objective-C.
Until now, iOS application development had to be done using a programming language called Objective-C, in a development environment called Xcode, provided by Apple. But NextScript enables iOS applications to be developed easily, even by people whose only skills are in HTML and CSS.
"We've already released Version 1 as freeware, in September. It can be downloaded from our Web site. We plan to release Version 2 by the year-end, and this will be freeware as well. So anyone can use NextScript. Writing programs in Objective-C is a very high hurdle. But creators who have something they'd like to express in the form of an application, or people who develop applications as part of their everyday work, can do development more efficiently by incorporating NextScript, without doing everything in C. So we hope NextScript will be widely used by people whose work involves application development."
Nextbook currently sells iOS illustrated story-book applications developed using NextScript. Apps developed using NextScript also support multiple languages, so they can be localized into English, Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, and Portuguese as well as Japanese.
"So far, the script manual is only in Japanese and English, but of course, the script can be used in other language environments. Naturally, you can look at the English manual and use NextScript to develop Chinese applications. So in that sense, we think NextScript is a tool that can be used in any language."
Currently, nearly 80% of NextScript downloads take place in Japan, because NextScript is used mostly for development in Japanese. But from now on, Nextbook plans to provide the manual in other languages, to increase the percentage of downloads outside Japan.
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