Continue the Conversation

Mobile services can make a major difference in the lives of users in emerging markets, but developers need to understand how to design for these markets. For example, Africa has more languages in use than any other continent, so user-generated localization allows a developer to put the power of language in the hands of a community. When designing for emerging markets, forget about 3G, not all mobile users in emerging markets will even have access to GPRS-level data services. You can design a fall-back mechanism that uses GPRS when available (it's least cost) but SMS when necessary (it's more available).

These techniques are part of a seven-facet framework to help design mobile services for consumers in emerging markets. The framework was designed and implemented by

• Gergely Herenyi, Sr. Software Engineer, Nokia
• JD Moore, UX Manager, Emerging Market Services, Nokia
• Daniel Orwa Ochieng, ICT Consultant and Researcher, University of Nairobi

Here is the SMS bearer code snippet.

Here is the full source code.

We are scheduling an online discussion with the developers. Check back here for time and URL, or make sure you subscribe to Forum Nokia Developer News and we will let you know when the event will take place.

Check out this video where the developers behind the framework show how mobile applications can make a difference in the lives of users in emerging markets.

If you are continuing this conversation from our YouTube channel, welcome to Forum Nokia. We hope you enjoy this conversation and become active on our blogs, discussion boards, and wiki. Learn all you want, then when you are ready to post something all you need to do is register.

This conversation is part of our Talk to the Guru series, this month hosted by Forum Nokia Champion Sittiphol Phanvilai. Sittiphol is an award winning developer of S60 on Symbian applications, and he is doing some fascinating research into hardware and software extensions for the popular Nokia N95 multimedia computer.

Talk to Sittiphol in his blog.

For those who did not come here from YouTube, here is the video we posted. It shows his NeuScreen project, which allows the user to manipulate 3D images using an N95 and light pens. Cool stuff. You will find more video demos from Sittiphol here.

The webinar will be presented on July 10 at 9AM California (Pacific) time.

Translate to time zone in your location.

Speakers:
Eero Kukko, Head of S60 Platform Marketing, Nokia
Mike Welham, co-founder & CTO, Red Five Labs

Join Forum Nokia 4-5 June in Amsterdam to learn the latest technologies and opportunities for Location Based Services on Nokia Platforms during the Navigation and Location Europe 2008. 

• 4 June 12:15 PM PANEL: Mobile navigation: The shift from guiding to exploring
  Jure Sustersic, Business Development Manager, Forum Nokia, joins industry colleagues to discuss technology, economics, distribution, and the role of network operators in LBS success.
• 4 June 16:15 Workshop
  Petro Soininen, Senior Technical Consultant, Forum Nokia, will cover the location enabling technologies in Nokia platforms, including the Location Framework, runtime options, and how to integrate location information in mobile services and applications. Petro will also discuss new positioning support coming to Nokia maps.
• 5 June 9:30 AM PANEL: Perfect Partners wanted: How to ensure your navigation and LBS applications go mass market
  Christof Hellmis, Director of Navigation, Nokia, joins industry colleagues to discuss how to find the right partners to ensure your product reaches the widest audience possible.

If you have any questions about the presentations, before or after the event, please comment to this article.

Attending a great conference or training session is a lot like trying to drink from a fire hose. There is way more information available than you can possibly absorb during the event, and you meet more people than you can possibly remember. Over the years I have learned some tricks so when I return to my office I can associate the stack of business cards with specific people and conversations, but I am almost always left with at least one card I can not identify, and at least one discussion that I can not quite figure out how to pursue.

That is where this blog comes in: it will will help you continue the conversations you start with Forum Nokia at conferences, trade shows, and even webinars. We made it easy for you:

• We established an easy-to-remember URL www.forum.nokia.com/continue so the blog is easy to find. 
• The title of the articles will be the same as the event you attended. (That is unless the official event name is really long, then we will have to shorten it.)

If you have a comment or want to follow up on a topic you discussed at an event, find the article associated with your event. Some articles will direct you to one or more ongoing discussions in the Discussion Boards, others will invite you to post comments directly to the blog article. If you are trying to contact a Forum Nokia person you met at the event, let us know and we will try to connect you.

Forum Nokia sponsors and participates in more events that we could possibly blog about here. If you do not see your event listed, go ahead and post a comment to any article in this blog. Please let us know the name, date, and location of the event you attended, and what conversation you want to resume. We will connect you with the right resource.

--Kevin

Recently...

• Design for Africa
• Expand S60 on Symbian
• Windows Mobile .NET on S60/Symbian
• Navigation and Location Europe 2008
• New Blog Links Events and Online Community

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