HTML 5 & Web Apps. The new app development tools for mobile.

HTML 5 in combination with CSS3 and JavaScript have emerged as the new tools of choice to build web applications for mobile devices.  Web Apps is the new term being used and companies such as Financial Post and Boston Globe have switched from developing native applications for iPhone and Android devices and instead using standard web technology to build the mobile presence.

5 months ago you could have had a list of pros and cons to  go either native or the web app route.  The main difference at the time was access to the phone hardware like the camera and accelerometer.  However in comes Phonegap and now you have access to all the native hardware you can dream of.

Phonegap is a tool that will take your HTML, CSS and JavaScript and use it to create a native application experience that you can then use to push to the Apple Store or Android Market. Yes you heard right, build native apps with just common web technologies.  No Objective C here.

Big Advantage you can see with Web Apps is the build once deploy everywhere philosophy.  And with JQuery Mobile being supported on a whole bunch of devices, it makes it almost a no brainer to seriously consider Web Apps as your direction when building mobile.