In the latest release of ARO (version 2.2) we have added several new great features.  Read on and watch the video for all the details!

Think you’ve made a smart app? Today is your last chance to optimize your app using the Application Resource Optimizer (ARO) and enter the Smarter App Challenge. In this mobile app challenge, the GSMA has partnered with AT&T and other carriers to offer a fantastic prize to three developers that make apps that aren’t just innovative, but efficient as well.

The AT&T Developer Program is constantly looking for new ways to help developers improve their apps. Today we wanted to let you know about a set of guidelines recently created by GSMA that documents some possible improvements that can increase an app’s efficiency and ultimately improve user experience.

Simply share your challenges and victories on our forum and you’ll be entered to win a device! We would also like to hear from you if you have feedback and/or suggestions about how we can make the tool better.

First time hearing about the Application Resource Optimizer (ARO)? ARO is a free diagnostic tool for all members of the AT&T Developer Program (sign in or join now). It analyzes the performance of your mobile applications and can help your app run faster and smarter by providing recommendations to help optimize your mobile application's performance, speed, network impact and ultimately battery utilization.

New Scientist recently reported that up to 75% of the energy used by free versions of Android apps is spent serving up ads or tracking and uploading user data. Popular apps like Angry Birds, Free Chess and NYTimes are using only 10 to 30% of the total energy consumed to power the app's core function.

Angry Birds for example was found to use only 20% of the energy it consumed to display and run the game, while 45% was spent finding and uploading the user's location with GPS then downloading location-appropriate ads over a 3G connection. Researcher Abhinav Pathak blames the energy leakage on inefficiencies in the third-party code that developers use to generate profit on free apps.

In order to track down these types of inefficiencies, AT&T provides a free diagnostic tool called the Application Resource Optimizer (ARO) that analyzes the performance of your mobile applications. It can help your app run faster and smarter by providing recommendations to help optimize your mobile application's performance, speed, network impact and ultimately battery utilization.

In our study of applications using ARO, we often discuss the different connections that a mobile phone makes with a network. Sometimes there has been initial confusion understanding the difference between radio (phone -> tower) and TCP (data connection from the phone to the server) connections.  This blog post is an attempt to explain these two types of connections, and describe how they interact.