The latest version of Zend Framework, released during this week's Premier PHP Conference, includes the Simple Cloud API and adds support for mobile application development.

Release 1.11 of Zend Framework includes the Simple Cloud API and adds support for mobile application development.

The Simple Cloud API open source initiative was begun in 2009 by co-founding partners Zend, IBM, Microsoft, Nirvanix, RackSpace and Go-Grid to facilitate the development of cloud applications that can access services on all major cloud platforms.

With Zend Framework 1.11, developers have access to the first deliverables for the Simple Cloud API project.

• Document Service integration allows developers toutilize a variety of NoSQL cloud storage solutions including Amazon SimpleDB and Microsoft Windows Azure Table storage.
• Queue Service integration allows developers to perform asynchronous operations in order to offload heavy-lifting, pre-cache pages, and more. Queue Service integrations include Amazon Simple Queue System (SQS), Microsoft Windows Azure Queue service, and all adapters supported by the Zend Framework Zend_Queue component.
• Storage Service integration allows developers to push static resources such as images and archives to the cloud. Currently supported services include: Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Microsoft Windows Azure Blog storage, and Nirvanix.

The new mobile device support in Zend Framework 1.11 provides functionality for detecting mobile device types and their capabilities. Developers may choose from the publically-available WURFL database, TeraWurfl, or DeviceAtlas in order to retrieve device capabilities, or write their own classes to leverage additional device databases.

Additional Zend Framework 1.11 mobile support includes the Dojo Toolkit 1.5 update. Dojo 1.5 includes the dojox.mobile subproject, which delivers a flexible lightweight mobile application framework, including CSS3 and JavaScript widgets optimized for use on mobile devices and for mobile-specific contexts.

Zend Framework 1.11 can be downloaded here.