Here is an interesting post on API from Guardian The  application programming interfaces (API)  economy has arrived and is booming thanks to the role it plays in  cloud computing . But what are APIs and why do they matter for businesses today? Put simply, APIs facilitate communication between applications. Previously, APIs fuelled the growth of consumer-oriented applications such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For example, Twitter's popularity is largely because users can interact with the network through multiple channels and devices, made possible by APIs. But these interfaces are no longer the preserve of the consumer world. As a result of trends such as bring your own device (BYOD), employees, partners and customers alike want to connect to corporate services and data. Moreover, they expect to do this via the  cloud  and a host of mobile applications. Defining APIs Lets explore APIs a little more. In a business context, they can be thought of as Lego blocks,

New APIs Birdseye Mail Birdseye Mail is an email application built specifically for tablets. Birdseye Mail includes features that are easy to use with fingers instead of a keyboard, visual overviews of the inbox, and actions conducive to working on a tablet. The Birdseye Mail API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality with other applications. The main API method is creating custom actions for emails. RegCheck.org.uk RegCheck.org.uk , a project from software developer Open Merchant Account Ltd, offers a suite of apps supporting the lookup of UK and Irish vehicle registration plate numbers. The RegCheck.org.uk API allows developers to integrate the site's registration lookup into websites and applications. This SOAP API provides access to the following data: ABI code, description, registration year, manufacture date range, make/model, current value, body style, engine size, number of doors, tra

Here are two interesting articles related to emerging importance and debate on cloud API's  The Great Cloud API Debate  Cloud service Architecture will power New Era of Intelligent, Automated Applications