PyS60 1.9.0- What is new? PyS60 2.0- Expectations?

croozeus — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 10:17:52 +0200

It has been a wonderful X'mas morning today, and the new PyS60 version 1.9.0 released on Forum Nokia Discussion Boards.

This post summarizes new features of PyS60 1.9.0 and PyS60 2.0 expectations.

So whats new with this major release? Below is the list,

Python 2.5.1 core, with much better compliance to the standard Python than before. Most of the modules in the standard library are included - basically almost all that make sense on this platform and even some that don't (for regression testing purposes). This includes such goodies as the Expat XML parser, ftplib, smtplib, urllib2, xmlrpclib, SimpleHTTPServer, cPickle, asyncore and especially the much more compliant socket module. Garbage collection is enabled, so there is no need to dismantle reference cycles anymore.

Packaging Python applications to SIS files is much easier. The user-friendly Ensymble tool is now the official packaging tool, and we've made a GUI for it so packaging your application is now just a button press away.

The environment for SIS packaged applications is closer to the script shell environment, since the script shell is no longer a special case but just a regular application packaged using the Ensymble tool. This should make testing your application easier.

SIS packaged applications are now more robust:

If the runtime is missing and you try to launch the application, a human readable error message is displayed instead of the application just failing to start, like before.

If the application raises an exception on start-up, the traceback is printed on the screen instead of the application quitting silently.

The applications have a default text console just like in the script shell environment, so printing text using the print statement works the same way in SIS packaged apps and the script shell.

On S60 3rd Ed FP2 devices, access GPS out of the box without signing hassle! Since S60 3rd Ed FP2 devices now permit the Location capability for self-signed applications, that capability is now enabled by default in the S60 3rd Ed FP2 binaries.

Almost all of the old 1.4.x Python APIs are included. The rest should be added during the 1.9.x series.

The interpreter start-up time is considerably longer than in 1.4.x. We'll optimize this.

The runtime package is much bigger than with 1.4.x. This'll get smaller once we have the modified packaging model working - estimate is that the final base runtime would be less than 1MB.

There is an additional dependency to the OpenC libraries, which must be installed for the runtime to work.

Sadly, S60 2.x devices are not supported by the new code-base, and never will be. This is because OpenC libraries aren't available for S60 2.x.

This initial release is aimed at script developers, not extension developers, thus no plug-in to the C++ SDK is included. The C++ SDK plug-in should follow soon.

Binary compatibility between 1.9.x versions isn't guaranteed until 2.0. We won't break it without good reason, but it can happen.

Bogdan summarized them as follows,

Pros:

Python 2.5.1 core. Yes, that means more modules and improved versions of the already existing ones will be available. This is very good when it comes to stability.

Official packaging method. This is my personal favorite. The very useful Ensymble has been given a rather nice GUI which makes it easier to use.

Better error handling. If the application raises an exception on start-up it doesn't just terminate silently but prints the traceback on the screen.

Cons:

Much longer installation and start-up time. Really, you'll notice the difference. But like the thread says, this will be fixed.

No support for S60 2nd Edition. Sadly, this part of the S60 family will no longer be supported now or in the future, because there are dependencies on OpenC libraries, which aren't available for 2nd Edition.

Notes:

This release works on S60 5th Edition like the previous ones did, but it doesn't explicitly have any special features for it (like support for touch events).

In a strange yet understandable way, the runtime isn't signed by Nokia with all capabilities like before. We only get the user-grantable set this time.

Apparently PyS60 has moved from sourceforge and has a new home: https://garage.maemo.org/projects/pys60/

The documentation no longer comes as a pdf file (at least this time it didn't) but as a much more comprehensive collection of HTML documents. I think this is better in pretty much every aspect.

This is not a stable release, but just one of the first in series of 1.9 to make a solid and a satisfying PyS60 2.0 !

The PyS60 team has the following targets for PyS60 2.0:

Better usability for the developer and the end user

Easier runtime deployment. It must be possible for a developer to package their application in a way that the end user doesn't need to think about the runtime installation. Note that we're not saying the end user doesn't have to _install_ the runtime, we're just sayingthey don't need to _think_ about it.

Easier tools installation and SIS packaging for Python applications. Especially packaging Python applications to SIS has proved to be pretty tough with all the dependencies you need to install. The 1.9.0 release improves things with the new all-in-one installer that gives you the packaging tool, the documentation and the SIS files you need for development in one package. The user-friendly Ensymble tool is now official, and there is a GUI for one-button package creation.

Easier and more robust ways to use and distribute 3rd party extension modules with your application. Free use of third party extensions isone of the main advantages of Python, and we want to enable and encourage that. We'll improve the Ensymble packaging tool to automatically bundle modules not included in the base runtime into your application SIS, as well as specify how a module author can distribute their module to other developers so that the module can be easily used.

Integrated HTML documentation: The S60 specific documentation is now a part of the full Python documentation so you no longer need to switch between them.

Reliability and compliance with the standard Python. We've put effort into automatic testing on multiple target platforms as well as fixing any noncompliance revealed by Python's own regrtest.py test suite. The compliance isn't perfect yet, but it's much better than with the old 1.4.x code-base.

Quicker start-up and smaller base runtime package size than with 1.9.0.

Selected API additions. Qt support is definitely on the roadmap. Schedule we can't give yet.

Support for non-Windows platforms for things other than C++ extension development. Already preliminary support is available in 1.9.0, which contains an all-in-one archive that gives you the packaging tool, the documentation and the SIS files.

The plan seems good, and the packaging process is getting simpler with the availability of GUI based Ensymble.

Just hoping that one day, PyS60 ships preinstalled with the Nokia devices. May be with PyS60 2.0 ?

Merry Christmas!

iPhone 3G goes on sale in India Tomorrow

croozeus — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:23:19 +0300

Following my previous post : Will iphone launch in India, affect Nokia ? below is some more follow up.

Two of India’s biggest mobile operators viz. Airtel and Vodafone have now officially announced the availability and pricing for the iPhone, ending over 2 months of rumors and speculations. The iPhone 3G goes on sale on August 22nd, 2008 throughout India.

A country with 350 million mobile subscribers has long waited for the launch of the iPhone 3G. However these eagerly anticipating people had a rude shock when the two operators announced the pricing of the iPhone. Every one was expecting the iPhone 3G to be priced at par with the price that was announced for the US market i.e $199. According to the official press releases the 8GB model of the iPhone 3G has been priced at Rs. 31,000 while the 16GB model have been priced at Rs. 36,100. (1$ approx. equals 40 Rs)

So how would the iPhone fare in the Indian Market?

Here are some of the reasons by smstextnews.com

1. The iPhone has been launched in a market where individuals think twice before spending anything over Rs. 15,000 (GBP 185) for their handsets. Again, he does not wish to be bound in a contract by the carrier, and is free to change carriers everyday if he wishes to. It is only the elite individuals that spend upwards of Rs. 15K on their phones, though they comprise only a small portion of the total population.

2. The market is predominantly ruled by Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones, with Samsung or Motorola not too far behind. These companies are known to add much of the high-end features into all their phone. Hence, features such as High-Megapixeled cameras, video recordings, ability to forward text messages, memory expansion slots are seen as a necessity by everyone, something that lacks in the iPhone.

3. Absence of 3G network. It may be hard to believe, but a country of 350 million mobile subscribers does not have 3G networks. This makes one of the best feature of the iPhone to be rendered useless in the country. Not just that, the GPRS and EDGE services offered my many operators are pathetic to say the least. This again makes browsing on iPhone a not-so-enjoyable task. Finding WiFi spots in the country is as easy as finding a water fountain in the desert.

4. No iTunes Store makes a lot less enjoyable. Yes, Apple did launch the iTunes Store for India and other surrounding countries, but the only things available there are the Apps from the App Store. This, again, requires the user to have a user account by signing up with a credit card, something which is not easy to find among a majority of the mobile subscribers. And the lack of media content via the iTunes Store is not acceptable either.

Airtel has decided to have a launch event at the stroke of midnight tonight, opening the gates to three of its many stores in the country. The phones will be provided on a first come-first serve basis. However, I feel there would be more news reporters than customers.

What do you think ?

Pankaj Nathani's Forum Nokia Blog

PyS60 1.9.0- What is new? PyS60 2.0- Expectations?

iPhone 3G goes on sale in India Tomorrow