Gabor Torok's Forum Nokia Blog
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog
<p>Software architect working in Symbian/S60 area since 2000 and still being enthusiastic about mobility. Please visit my introduction page on Forum Nokia Champions web page.</p>
tote_b52009-11-23T22:37:52ZEnterprise Mobility Development
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/10/28/enterprise-mobility-development
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #333333"><p>Some of you might have read one of my previous posts in which I wrote that I had <a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/change-from-mobile.html">had to choose between mobile and enterprise development</a> mostly for personal reasons. I was sorry to realize this because mobile is my passion, but I thought the change was inevitable. Now I don't.</p><div><br /></div><div>It's a cliche that the job market is much bigger for enterprise developers than for mobile devs. That was one of the main reasons why I had to change area, too - not as if I didn't enjoy enterprise as well. The interesting thing I've just come to realize that there's a gap between the boundaries of the two areas: it's for people with knowledge on both (otherwise huge) areas. The opportunity is great for both kinds of developers coming from either direction, because it offers a way to reach out even more people.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now you understand why I read an article the other day with great interest: it described the <a href="http://ianthain.ulitzer.com/node/1141850">required skill set for an enterprise mobility developer</a>. First, it just confirmed that my theory was right: there's a need for such people. Second, let me add some more points to the list provided. I could have extended the list on the original blog post, however, for that I should have had an account on that site which I was reluctant to create. Here's the list:</div><div><br /></div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Bandwidth:</strong> I think it was <em>network</em> what the author really meant. Bandwidth really <strong>is one of the characteristics</strong> that one needs to pay attention to, but it's also worth mentioning different types of networks (from 2G to 3.5G, WiFi, VPN, etc.), their main characteristics (e,g IP address re-assignments, frequent network outage), roaming, etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Options for development:</strong> today's popular web development (very important to note that it's mostly applicable for <strong>smartphones only</strong>, thus not an option for the vast majority of mobile phones) vs native vs any other environments.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Testing:</strong> never-ever forget that emulator/simulator is not the same as the real hardware. Peculiarities of various networks also count (quality, reliability, QoS, etc.).</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Option for cross-platform development:</strong> one company may target one platform at a time, however, it's also wise to plan ahead and build the foundation with the future in mind.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Deployment, maintenance:</strong> app stores vs downloadable install packages from own site. Keeping enterprise service and mobile client versions in sync so that they're always fully inter-operable. Auto-update. Etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><strong>Monetization, marketing:</strong> what I really mean here is making use of app stores as efficiently as possible. It's today's trend for mobile manufacturers to have their own stores and compete with carriers who would also like to monetize on this opportunity (by having their own stores). Sort of a war between vertical (manufacturers) and horizontal (carriers).</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>And I'm sure we've still missed a lot from the list. In any case, that was my two cents. :)</div><div><br /></div>Cheers,<div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/enterprise-mobility-development.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </div></span>EnterpriseMobile OSDevelopmentMarket2009-10-28T23:06:40Ztote_b5Fate of Symbian C++
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/10/09/fate-of-symbian-c
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #333333"><p>Historically, Symbian OS has evolved from EPOC, a mobile operating system written originally by Psion. The foundations were laid down in the 80's and a lot of work had been done to it while it became EPOC32 in the late 90's, the direct predecessor of Symbian OS. Also for historical reasons, the developers of <strong>Symbian decided to deviate</strong> from standard C and not-yet-standard C++ and create their own flavour of programming language. They thought their own exception mechanism (aka <em>leaving</em>), string handling (alias <em>descriptors</em>), naming conventions (<em>C, M, R, T classes</em>), etc. are better than anything else and make it the most appropriate tool to write an entire operating system and related frameworks for resource constrained devices.</p><div><strong>They were probably right.</strong> But since it was a deviation from "normal" it was a question of time to turn out if people tolerate the difference. People, also known as developers. Through developers the whole market. Small and big players alike.</div><div><br /></div><div>When <a href="http://www.nokia.com/press/press-releases/showpressrelease?newsid=1185531">Nokia acquired Trolltech</a> speculation started. About Nokia's <strong><em>real</em></strong> reason, I mean. A lot of people didn't believe that it was "just" about making a common framework for smart- and feature phones + desktop computers. Personally, I thought it was a really valid reason alone, though naturally wondered how it would affect the future of Symbian.</div><div><br /></div><div>People also speculated if not only will Nokia replace Avkon (the UI framework for Symbian S60) with Qt, but change from Symbian to Linux, too. Time has proven that it was not the case. Symbian OS was - and it still is - so valuable that it wouldn't have made sense to throw it out. Nokia has achieved so much with this operating system, put so much money in the development of it and most importantly the system has proven that it DOES work so that it is reliable, secure, can be customized, etc. It simply made sense to keep it.</div><div><br /></div><div>The latest news about Qt vs Symbian C++ is that "<em>Qt will take over the application layer on Symbian devices, among others, reducing Symbian development to under-the-hood core programming at best</em>" (from <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/01/qt_future/">El Reg</a>). <strong><em>At best.</em></strong> So finally it seems the <strong>market</strong> (again, through developers) <strong>didn't tolerate</strong> the afore-mentioned <strong>deviation</strong>. Not as if developers didn't have a bunch of alternatives to develop for Symbian devices: Flash, web run-time, Java, Python, .NET, etc. Still, the programming language that offered the most freedom to developers has apparently failed to attract and keep the masses. <strong>It is now time to retreat in the wings.</strong></div><div><br /></div><div>In the closing words, let me chew upon how much marketing could have supported this programming language to become more popular. Take, for example, the "official" language of iPhone development: objective C. Is it a deviation from standard C? Yes. It's not even C++, if that counts at all. Is it easy to learn? Personally I didn't have the chance to study it, but my ex-colleagues did and they told me that it wasn't that difficult as they had anticipated. Admit that they had a decade of experience in mobile sw development that most people don't. What I'd like to point out, though, is that there are languages that are much easier to learn and use in practice, such as Java, Python and the likes. All in all, I think Obj-C is at least as much deviated from the standard as Symbian C++.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then why is it so popular in contrast with Symbian C++? Perhaps it's because of the tools - compare the two emulators, for example. Or is it the processes - there are pros and cons on both sides: Symbian Signed has received much criticism, but Apple approval process is not much better, either. Or is it the hype that surrounds iPhone devices and related development environment that made developers to forget about the imperfection of this language? I think it's pretty much that case. What made the hype? <strong>Innovation and marketing</strong>, i.e. that Apple could find out something new and they could sell it, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Symbian C++ could have been saved with a bit more selling power, in my opinion. It is not going to disappear, just less apparent. And I don't cry for it, because I know it's called <strong><em>evolution</em></strong>. <em>I just wonder what those years will be worth of that I had spent with it.</em></div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/10/fate-of-symbian-c.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </div></span>iPhoneSymbianDevelopmentQt2009-10-09T20:53:52Ztote_b5The $1 business model
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/03/23/the-1-business-model
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><div>There are two kinds of developers: those who want to sell their programs and those who write software for fun and/or for fame. The latter type is happy with writing freeware, most probably open source software. This article is about the former.</div><div><br /></div>Of course, most developers want to get paid for their programs. As much as possible. The wiser usually analyses the market first:<div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Would people be <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">interested</span> in the program?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Would they be willing to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">pay</span> for it?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">How much</span> will they think the program is worth?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">What about competition, would our program <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">fill a gap</span> or it would just be <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">one of the many</span>?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">How can I sell my program, what <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">distribution channels</span> are available, what is the revenue share, etc?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">How much do I need to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline">invest</span> in writing the program financially, in terms of effort, etc.?</li></ul><div>And the list is not over yet. But it contains the most important question from this article's point of view: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">how much is a program worth, how much can we ask for it?</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Note:</span> the answers to these questions are not necessarily the same.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">It is very difficult to foretell how much a program is worth</span> for the users. The answer depends on so many factors, such as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">target group</span>, their <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">spending habits</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">type of software</span> (e.g. leisure vs professional), <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">what other programs</span> with similar feature-set <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">cost</span>, etc. Naturally, price calculation is so often affected by that how much a developer appreciates his/her own software ("<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">I put so many hours in creating it that it can't be cheap!</span>") - and the expectations and the reality are not always in balance.</div><div><br /></div><div>The available <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">distribution channels also influence</span> the final price: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">what they demand</span> from the developer, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">what they offer</span> to him, their <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">revenue sharing model</span>, etc. As to the latter, for example, although the 70-30 revenue share wasn't typical 1-2 years ago it is now becoming a standard. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Apple's App Store, OHA's Android Market, Nokia's</span></span> soon-to-be-opened <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Ovi Store</span></span> all offer 70% off the revenue to the developer. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Revenue share is not everything</span>, though: for example, App Store is such a place where it's not uncommon to hear success stories and big earnings, whereas Android Market's community prefers free software. If you follow the news, you might have heard of the coming <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">BlackBerry App World</span></span>. I found it very interesting that they set the <a href="http://na.blackberry.com/eng/developers/appworld/faq.jsp">minimum price for a paid-for application</a> to be $3. They said any software that is not worth this amount shall be freeware. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">I think it's ridiculous</span>: these guys are not aware of how many developer they will alienate from themselves with this approach. Do they really want developers to sell BB apps or not?</div><div><div><br /></div><div>The typical revenue models for developers are as follows:</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Release <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">free application first</span> with limited features and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">make it paid</span> when it really gets traction (thousands, tens of thousand downloads per month). The application is available either for free or as paid-for (exclusive OR). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Question:</span></span> won't people turn away from your application once they have to pay for it?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Write an <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">always paid program</span>, which means that your application must be really cool and advertised so well that despite the price (i.e. that it costs money) people buy it. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Question:</span></span> can you compete with free programs with similar features?</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Make a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Lite and Pro</span> version of your program, Lite being free and Pro paid. The free version supports a subset of Pro's features making it compelling enough to purchase the paid version. It is a very typical approach among developers. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Notes:</span></span> increased maintenance efforts + separation of free and paid-for features must be well thought-out.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Free program with ads</span>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Notes:</span></span> <ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/mobile-advertising-experience.html">Not all people like ads</a></li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">You need to find a good ad provider</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">It is challenging to implement a good advertising solution on mobile devices, and there is no good framework available.</li> </ul> </li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Change model dynamically on an experimental basis</span>: see if you can make it with paid version, if not then make it free, then make it paid again when it becomes popular (this is the path <a href="http://rockcottageindustries.com/2009/03/the-istrip-free-experiment-part-i/">iStrip followed</a>, actually). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">Question:</span></span> when will people get bored with this behavior?</li></ul></div><div>Please note that I did not include that model in the above list, where the client program is free, but it is essentially a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">light-weight interface to a server solution</span>, which is exactly what your customers are paying for. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Opera Mini</span>'s business model is based on this, for example: Opera Mini, the application, is available for anyone as a free download, however, it's Opera's customers (i.e network operators), who pay the price. This article is simply not about this model.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's also worth noting how important user ratings have become recently. Some developers faced that <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">ratings can kill</span>: unhappy-uneducated users gave low ratings just because "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">game was too short</span>", they "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">expected more</span>", "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">it was free not too long ago</span>", etc. Perhaps these users are not aware of how much power they have in their hands when they rate. Applications written for Android platform and distributed on <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Android Market are especially vulnerable</span> to this effect. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, getting closer to the point: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">how much can we ask for a program?</span> Even though this habit is changing, it's still quite typical from people that they think that "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">cheap cannot be good</span>" or "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">if it's good it can't be cheap</span>". However, App Store's success stories have proven right the opposite: developers claimed that their revenue had become much higher when they lowered the price to $0.99. You know, this is such a low price that basically anyone can afford around the world even for the <a href="http://www.edibleapple.com/ifart-developer-makes-40000-in-2-days/">silliest program</a>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold">Developers are now facing the fact that unless they sell their software at the lowest price there will be others who ask less than them.</span> This basically forces them to sell their apps for $1 from the beginning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is it the final price, though?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"> Can a $1 hit be sold for $2</span>, too? No-one knows.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"> It's all about making experiments.</span> If I were to sell my app that I think is worth more than being distributed as a freeware, I would ask $1 for it. If people don't buy it at this low price, then I saved the hassle of price calibration. If it gets successful and my program is (one of) the best(s) in its category, then I would increase the price gradually until the download rate gets stabilized and I couldn't expect more revenue from making it even more expensive.</div><div><br /></div><div>And actually this is what I call <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic">the $1 business model</span></span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Looking forwad to your comments,</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a> </div></div></div></span>Business Opportunities/ServicesiPhoneSymbianDevelopmentAndroidMarket2009-03-23T02:08:53Ztote_b5Mobile Monday Budapest - Mobile Software Development
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/02/16/mobile-monday-budapest-mobile-software-development
<span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>It's time for the 2<sup>nd</sup> Mobile Monday Budapest event! This time the topic is mobile software development and we selected the three hottest platforms: <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">iPhone, Android and Symbian</span></span>. I wrote 'we', because I'm among the organizers as well as one of the presenters: my presentation will cover <span style="font-style: italic">Symbian-based development</span>.</p><div><br /></div><div>Some information on the event:</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="white-space: pre"> </span>Date: <span style="white-space: pre"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold">Feb 23, 2009</span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="white-space: pre"> </span>Time: <span style="white-space: pre"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold">18:00 - 21:00</span></div><div><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="white-space: pre"> </span>Venue: <span style="white-space: pre"> </span></span><a href="http://portal.bme.hu/langs/en/default.aspx">BUTE</a>, <a href="http://www.it2.bme.hu/institute/Find%20us/">Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2</a>, <span style="font-weight: bold">Room 019</span></div><div><br /></div><div>For more information, please refer to Nokia's new web service, <a href="http://bantora.com/main/show_event/19">Bantora</a>, or <a href="http://mobilemondayhungary.com/2009/02/16/feb-23-mobile-development-platforms-%E2%80%93-major-opportunity-in-software-business/">Mobile Monday Hungary</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Everybody is welcome!</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div></span>iPhoneSymbianDevelopmentAndroidMobile Monday2009-02-16T22:36:42Ztote_b5MicroWeather for S60 goes Open Source
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2009/01/22/microweather-for-s60-goes-open-source
<p><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">I usually don't write about specific mobile software, but this time it's a bit different. You know, it's one thing that one of my colleagues, <a href="http://jouni.miettunen.googlepages.com/">Jouni Miettunen</a>, became a <span style="font-weight: bold">Forum Nokia Champion</span>last time thanks to his active participation in <span style="font-weight: bold">Python for S60</span>community. I'm really proud of him, he really deserved the honour.<br /><br />But it seems that the spirit of open source software has "infected" another colleague of mine. <a href="http://gabor.fetter.googlepages.com/">Gabor Fetter</a>, author of <span style="font-weight: bold">MicroPool </span>(a bestseller in its category), <span style="font-weight: bold">MicroPinball </span>and <span style="font-weight: bold">MicroWeather </span>has now decided to make his last piece of software open source. I'm not going into praising <span style="font-weight: bold">MicroWeather</span>, let it be enough that I use it daily. For more information, you can check out the official page at <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/microweathers60/">http://sourceforge.net/projects/microweathers60/</a>. But you can do more than being in read-only mode: why not contribute to it? Any ideas, contribution are welcome!</span></p><p style="text-align: center"> <img src="http://blogs.forum.nokia.com//data/blogs/resources/43602/MicroWeather%20-%20City%20List.jpg" alt="MicroWeather - City List" /> <span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><span style="line-height: normal; color: #000000"><img src="http://blogs.forum.nokia.com//data/blogs/resources/43602/MicroWeather%20-%20City%20details.jpg" alt="MicroWeather - City details" /></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><span style="line-height: normal; color: #000000"><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">I'm happy to see that we're that <span style="font-style: italic">agile</span>! ;-)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333">Tote<span style="line-height: normal; color: #000000"> </span></span><br /><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a></p>S60DevelopmentPalmOpen Source2009-01-22T10:23:18Ztote_b5The diversity of Symbian development
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/12/06/the-diversity-of-symbian-development
<span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>When talking about mobile software development lots of people forget about the fact that it's <span style="font-weight: bold">not only the native programming language</span> that can be used on a given platform. I've read a lot of comparisons between <span style="font-style: italic">Symbian/C++, Win32/MFC/.NET of Windows Mobile, Objective-C on iPhone, Android</span>, etc. lately discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these options, maturity and popularity of the underlying platforms, probability of writing successful programs, etc.</p><div><br /></div><div>The problem with these comparisons (in which Symbian/C++ is typically at the end of the list with its peculiarities and steep learning curve) is that they discuss only <span style="font-weight: bold">half of the picture</span>. The more advanced a mobile platform the more you can do on it - which applies to software development, too. I strongly believe that one of the strengths of software development on <span style="font-weight: bold">Symbian </span>platform is that <span style="font-weight: bold">it's not bound to a single programming language</span>, SDK, etc. A lot of you might not know that for Symbian-powered devices you can write software in</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Java </span>- Mobile Java (JME) has been available since the early days,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Flash Lite</span> - Adobe's Flash has been added to S60 phones 1-2 years ago,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Python </span>- <a href="http://opensource.nokia.com/projects/pythonfors60/">Python for S60</a> is an open source initiative enabling rapid application development,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Ruby </span>- <a href="http://ruby-symbian.rubyforge.org/">Ruby for Symbian</a> is one of the newest additions to S60,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">.NET</span> - <span style="font-style: italic">Red Five Labs</span>'s <a href="http://www.redfivelabs.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/11/10/net60-beta-1-released.aspx">add-on</a> to S60 platform is tempting Windows Mobile developers to use their skills on another platform,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">NS Basic</span> - Powerful development environment and run-time framework for programs written in BASIC (<a href="http://www.nsbasic.com/symbian/">link</a>),</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">HTML using other web technologies like CSS, Javascript</span> - Apple's WebKit rendering engine is becoming the de facto standard for mobile browsers making them capable of showing full web pages (i.e. not only WAP or mobile web). This enables widgets development for a range of smartphones like S60-phones, iPhone, Android, etc.</li></ul><div>You can see from the list above that <span style="font-style: italic">Symbian development is much more than native application programming</span>. On the contrary, I dare to claim that <u>native programming is becoming less and less relevant over time</u>. Of course, each option has its strengths and weaknesses (as well as native programming) the point is <span style="font-weight: bold">diversity</span>, the <span style="font-weight: bold">possibility to choose</span>. This (among others) makes Symbian OS's position stronger than its competitors': <span style="font-weight: bold">if you can develop for one mobile platform it's almost sure that you can use <u>THAT</u> knowledge for Symbian development, too</span>. One exception for this might be <span style="font-style: italic">Objective-C on iPhone</span>, but I wouldn't be surprised if that became a reality on Symbian in the near future, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the way, <span style="font-weight: bold">Simon Judge</span> made a quick <a href="http://mobilephonedevelopment.com/archives/710">comparison</a> between different platform development options - it's worth a read. As well as <span style="font-weight: bold">Andreas Constantinou</span>'s <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2008/10/who-will-win-the-race-of-mobile-application-runtimes/">post</a> at <span style="font-style: italic">Vision Mobile</span> - a well-written article about mobile application runtimes for better understanding this world.</div><div><br /></div><div>Any comments are welcome,</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote</div><div><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a></div></div></span>iPhoneWindows MobileSymbianDevelopmentAndroidMobile Monday2008-12-06T23:49:35Ztote_b5Transforming mobile industry
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/10/16/transforming-mobile-industry
<span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><div>I read the following quote from Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO, in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/interviews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210605168">InformationWeek</a>:</div><span style="font-style: italic"><div><br /></div>"The industry as whole is in the middle of a transformation, and it's a very exciting time," said Kallasvuo. "It's moving from a device industry to an experience industry, and we're making a conscious long-term effort to capitalize on that."</span><br /><div><br /></div><div>It is so true that it inspired me to write a summary on how things have changed in the "smarter" segment of mobile sector (read:<span style="font-style: italic">smartphones</span>) lately. Let me recap what was the situation in the near past and then talk about how things are changing recently.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the classic <span style="font-weight: bold">device manufacturer - network operator - user </span>triangle the roles were as follows (simplified version): user purchases mobile phone from network operator (or elsewhere) and uses those services that are primarily provided by the network operator. The <span style="font-weight: bold">manufacturer never gets any money after purchase</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold">user is often unhappy</span> with the content/quality of provided (value-added) services.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is now about to change. The two most important changes (as I see it) are that 1: the above triangle is "<span style="font-style: italic">rectangularized</span>" by an old/new member of the value chain, a separate <span style="font-weight: bold">content/service provider </span>and 2: that device manufacturers such as Nokia and Apple OR operating system vendors such as Microsoft and Google want to get money after sales, too: <span style="font-weight: bold">they'd like to enter services business</span>. As to point #1, not as if <span style="font-style: italic">content providers </span>hadn't been present so far, however, the means to access content and the capabilities of devices have not been ideal so far to say the least. As for point #2, there are two reasons why manufacturers would like to enter services business (take it over from operators?): <span style="font-style: italic">first</span>, there's a great demand from users to consume content that operators have not been good at providing and <span style="font-style: italic">second</span>, there's great money in it. Apple and Google are very good at providing services now they'd like to be involved in adding new means (i.e. phones) to accessing their services. Whereas Nokia and Microsoft are both in a strong position in smartphone market and naturally they'd like to get more money out of the whole business.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another aspect in the new business model is whether or not shall <span style="font-weight: bold">mobile OS</span> vendors require <span style="font-weight: bold">license fee</span> for their software to be included in shipping devices. I'm talking about free and open-source mobile OSes, like mobile Linux. Although <span style="font-style: italic">mobile Linux</span> stacks have not gained so much popularity in the past years, they still do attract manufacturers wishing to lower their bill-of-materials (BOM). Google <span style="font-style: italic">Android </span>and the new <span style="font-style: italic">Symbian (Foundation) OS</span> are another two good examples for "<span style="font-weight: bold">license-fee-free software stacks</span>" and Windows Mobile is for <span style="font-weight: bold">fee-based.</span> iPhone's Mac OS X cannot be mentioned here, since <span style="font-weight: bold">Apple doesn't allow anyone to license</span> their software stack, but make everything on their own.</div><div><br /></div><div>How do mobile OS vendors pamper their developers?</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Of course, with a <span style="font-weight: bold">free SDK</span> to develop on. Most of them can be used only on <span style="font-style: italic">Windows </span>(except iPhone on Mac OS X), <span style="font-style: italic">true emulation</span> is available on Windows Mobile and iPhone, where development is done on the same platform as the target platform,</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Free tools for development</span>. Unfortunately not everything can be done with these tools, but you have to pay for their fee-based version should you need to use more advanced features (e.g. <span style="font-style: italic">on-device debugging in Carbide.C++</span>),</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Signing </span>your own installation package is <span style="font-weight: bold">mandatory </span>for both iPhone and Nokia S60 phones, but not on Windows Mobile and Android. Latter advocates that the user is always capable of making proper decisions on security-related questions and it does not restrict the availability of 3rd-party applications by requiring signature. As Symbian's <a href="http://www.dw2-0.com/2008/09/google-says-oha-operators-must-agree-to.html">David Wood put it</a>: let's see what operators will say on it.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">As to <span style="font-weight: bold">developer support</span>, old players are in the best position here: there's a great community support for Windows Mobile developers as well as materials to train themselves. The same is true for people who are developing for Nokia phones. Whereas the first non-beta Android SDK has just been introduced (you can imagine the level of support Google provides at such an early stage), not to mention Apple who wanted developers to sign an NDA that essentially prevents free information flow, writing books on development, etc. This has changed recently, since Apple finally <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/apple_kills_iphone_nda">scrapped their iPhone NDA</a> and promised a new contract with less restrictions. <span style="font-style: italic">Note:</span> if Apple hadn't made this step they would have lost the majority of their developers.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Developers reward programs (<a href="http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/">MVP</a> from Microsoft, <a href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/forum_nokia_champion/">Forum Nokia Champion</a> program from Nokia), <span style="font-weight: bold">fee-based support</span> for ISVs willing to pay for advanced services, <span style="font-weight: bold">webinars, trainings, books</span>, etc.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px"><span style="font-weight: bold">Stores to capitalize</span> on applications, themes, etc.</li></ul></div><div>As to the stores mentioned above,</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Apple's (in)famous <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/appstore.html">App Store</a> acts as a central distribution channel for 3rd-party applications. Unfortunately, Apple keeps this place under such a strict control that bitters lots of developers' life who simply don't understand why their programs can't be sold just because they're similar to the built-in applications. On the other hand, Apple keeps only 30% of revenue making <span style="font-weight: bold">App Store</span> more compelling than lots of rival portals, such as Handango.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Having introduced <a href="http://www.t-mobileg1.com/">T-Mobile G1</a> a few weeks ago, Google has also thought that it was a wise idea to create their own <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/28/google-talks-android-market-app-store/">Android Market</a>, a market place for downloading Android applications. What is surprising, though, is that Google is <a href="http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2008/09/android_-_iphon.html">not planning to capitalize</a> on sold applications, but expects mainly <span style="font-style: italic">freebies</span> to populate this place. It wouldn't be Handango if they didn't <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/handango_android/">make the best out of this</a> situation: why not use Handango to get some money for your Android app? It's also worth noting that Google, similarly to Apple, will be able to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/152338">remove any 3rd-party applications</a> (downloaded from Android Market) from Android-powered handsets if those applications turn out to violate developer distribution agreement.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Nokia already has their <a href="http://www.softwaremarket.nokia.com/">Software Market</a>, however, things might change with the start of Symbian Foundation next year: as Antony Edwards from Symbian <a href="http://www.symbianone.com/content/view/5776/">put it</a> <span style="font-style: italic">"[they're] pushing hard for a ensuring a zero, or a close as possible to zero, cost to the software vendor: so no cut of revenue for the Foundation"</span>.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Finally, Microsoft hasn't maintained their own single portal that ISVs could use for selling their 3rd-party applications, but people had to (and still have to!) use other providers. This <a href="http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080831/microsoft-launch-skymarket-applications-marketplace-windows-mobile-7/">article</a> shows what one can conclude from job postings: with the coming of new devices based on <span style="font-weight: bold">Windows Mobile 7</span> a new portal, <span style="font-weight: bold">SkyMarket </span>will also come in Q1 2009.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Nokia is very keen on transforming from being a device manufacturer to an "<span style="font-style: italic">internet company</span>". Their Ovi and Mosh are two examples of already launched services, which they just want to further improve with Instant Messaging (by <a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8187_Nokia_To_Buy_Oz_Communications.php">buying OZ Communications</a>) and <a href="http://sachendra.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/a-look-at-nokias-comes-with-music/">Comes with Music</a>. On the other hand, whilst strengthening their services portfolio they restructure their businesses so that they focus less on own product development (<a href="http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8176_Nokia_evolves_enterprise_strat.php">selling Nokia IntelliSync</a>). Sometimes lowering the prices raises the revenue - wonder how the recent <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/10/01/nokia-to-lower-mid-range-handset-prices-in-taiwan-rest-of-world-soon/">price cut</a> will work out. It's especially important that since more and more people own Nokia devices, it <span style="font-weight: bold">increases after-sales revenue</span>, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been already thinking on what Microsoft's reaction will be to open source and then found the answer: Steve Ballmer doesn't understand <a href="http://www.unwiredview.com/2008/09/30/microsoft-picks-on-android-and-symbian-windows-mobile-not-going-the-open-source-way/">what's good in open source</a> for Symbian and Google and anyway they won't get into handset business as long as they can make a lot of money from software only.<br /></div><div>What they've started to work on lately, which you might have already heard of in the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/151731/ballmer_os.html">news</a>, is '<span style="font-weight: bold">Windows Cloud</span>' OS. <span style="font-style: italic">This idea </span>is not new at all, however, it might affect the way how people use their mobile phones today: all you need is a portable device with a tiny display, some computing power and a good browser (you can call it '<span style="font-style: italic">smartphone</span>') plus a good connection to the "cloud". Data, business logic, resource intensive heavy computation - all done on remote server(s) and you get only the result to your handset. I wrote '<span style="font-style: italic">this idea</span>' was not new, however, what is new is Microsoft's patent on <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/09/30/microsoft-patent-application-has-future-devices-sharing-resources-battery-video-processor-sharing-coming-soon.html">sharing device resources</a>. Now this one is really new, but I don't know how much I can expect from it in real life - what it shows you, though, that it would be too early to write Microsoft off. <span style="font-style: italic">Side-note:</span> let me recommend you <a href="http://opengardensblog.futuretext.com/archives/2008/10/scws_sim_as_the.html">Ajit Jaokar's thought-provoking blog</a> on how network operators could make use of cloud computing.<br /></div><div>One more point to add to why M$ is not to enter the handset business today: HTC, designer & manufacturer of feature-rich phones, says that although they can see the potential in Android devices they do belive that Android and Windows Mobile <a href="http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/29/htc_android_wm_complementary/">complements each other</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>As to Android, it's amazing to read about the <span style="font-weight: bold">ambitious plan to reach 4%</span> US market share by the end of 2008. If that's so easy with a single device, a not perfect software and hardware AND suppose that they will achieve it - may I ask <span style="font-style: italic">how on Earth Nokia could not do the same?</span><br /></div><div>Anyway, I found a great analysis over at <a href="http://www.telco2.net/blog/2008/09/guest_post_nows_the_time_to_st.html">Telco 2.0</a> on the strategic impact of Google's first handset on the mobile industry. I especially liked the statements, such as "<span style="font-style: italic">increasingly intense competition with new entrants who are willing to change the rules</span>" and "<span style="font-style: italic">the world in which handset manufacturers crammed the latest technology into devices simply for the sake of having the best specification sheet and operators flogged them to consumers on the basis of megapixels and memory is changing</span>" and finally "<span style="font-style: italic">it has been fascinating to watch ‘old school’ industry commentators pick apart the technicalities of the G1 spec sheet and Android platform, all the while forgeting to look at this announcement through the customer’s eyes</span>".</div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, some words about other members of the mobile industry whom we don't hear much about (well, at least I haven't lately).</div><div><ul style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; margin-left: 10px; padding: 0px"> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Sony Ericsson has <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/30/sony_ericsson_reorg/">rationalised their R&D investment</a> recently. This move, however, didn't prevent them from announcing a new run-time environment, called <span style="font-style: italic">Capuchin</span>, <a href="http://www.visionmobile.com/blog/2008/09/capuchin-sony-ericsson-strikes-back-in-the-application-environmentis-it-a-strike-what-does-it-mean-for-the-development-platforms-fragmentation">mixing Java ME and Adobe Flash Lite</a> technologies. SE is eyed-up on Android, too, not only Windows Mobile (Xperia X1) and Symbian so this along with Capuchin will make their way to follow Nokia's approach by offering lots of alternatives for mobile software development.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Motorola is also interested in Android, so much that they are <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/">building-up a team</a> of 350 people to develop on Android.</li> <li style="list-style-type: none; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial; padding-left: 14px; margin-bottom: 3px; background-image: url('http://www.blogblog.com/tictac/tictac_orange.gif'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 6px">Samsung is not interested in <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/10/04/uk-samsung-says-we-are-not-doing-content-we-make-devices.html">anything else but manufacturing</a>. This will not make their position stronger in today's competing market.</li></ul></div><div>That's all for now about mobile industry news, thanks for reading so far!</div><div><br /></div><div>All comments are welcome,</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote<br /><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/10/transforming-mobile-industry.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div></span>BrowsingBusiness Opportunities/ServicesEnterpriseMobile OSiPhoneWindows MobileSymbianDevelopmentLinuxAndroidNokiaSymbian Foundation2008-10-16T16:44:30Ztote_b5Samsung Mobile Innovator - Yet another Symbian developer site
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/09/08/samsung-mobile-innovator-yet-another-symbian-developer-site
<span style="line-height: 19px; color: #333333"><p>You might have heard of that Samsung has just kicked-off their <a href="http://innovator.samsungmobile.com/">new portal</a> for mobile application developers. It's advertised as a great entry point for Symbian developers wishing to develop for Samsung devices based on this operating system. I'm not sure if other platforms will be covered by this site, too.</p><div><br /></div><div>What I'm asking now, however, is if it's really worth increasing the fragmentation of Symbian development portals that are already present today. You know, I recall when I was involved in a cross-platform mobile development project and it really frustrated me that I had to check <span style="font-weight: bold">Forum Nokia, Sony Ericsson Developer World, uiq.com </span>and<span style="font-weight: bold"> Symbian DevNet</span> to see what people said about nasty problems, their solutions and be sure that nothing has escaped my attention (well, I could never be sure about that).</div><div><br /></div><div>I can see that Samsung might come out with such great features and services that will be very useful to the developer community in general. What I don't understand, though, is with Symbian Foundation (SF) starting early next year why doesn't SF kicks-off their own developer portal into which Samsung could integrate its own services. In an ideal world Symbian developers would just remember a single URL where they could find answers for all their questions. A powerful search engine could do magic, you know. Symbian Foundation gives a good opportunity to unify existing resources into one and I can't see why Samsung didn't realize this.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tote<br /><a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/09/samsung-mobile-innovator-yet-another.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br /></div><div> </div></span>SymbianDevelopmentSymbian Foundation2008-09-08T17:06:10Ztote_b5Silicon Valley doesn't respect Nokia
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/08/20/silicon-valley-doesn-t-respect-nokia
<p>
In response to the article I found on <span style="font-weight: bold">Forbes.com</span>, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/technology/2008/08/18/nokia-iphone-symbian-tech-wire-cx_bc_0818nokia.html">Nokia Software Problem</a>,
let me collect my remarks on the statements in a single post. The list
of statements below simply follows the same order as they appeared in
the original article.<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-style: italic">Nokia sells close to half of all smart phones worldwide</span>"<br />
Well, around 70% would be more accurate, but then it couldn't have been said that "<span style="font-style: italic">close to half</span>".<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-style: italic">N95's only edge was in watching video</span>"<br />
Hmm,
let me smile at it. I think GPS, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi, etc. also
come in handy every now and then. These things were all new in a Nokia
device at the time when N95 was introduced and although Nokia might not
have been the first in introducing them, the point is that <span style="font-style: italic">video </span>was not the only thing users could enjoy.<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-style: italic">Symbian is not dead, but it has a limited amount of time to act to capture developer mind share before it is too late,</span>"<br />
I don't know how many times I wrote this on various forums: developing for a Symbian-based device does <span style="font-weight: bold">NOT </span>mean pure <span style="font-weight: bold">Symbian/C++</span> development. On the contrary, the range of possibilities is much wider: you can program in <span style="font-weight: bold">Flash (Lite), Java (Mobile), Python (for S60/UIQ), (Open) C, Widgets, .NET, NS Basic</span>,
etc. My question is not solely addressed to Apple: is there any other
manufacturer in the world who can compete with this at this very
moment? Is it the not-closed-but-not-too-open-either Apple who although
enables Objective-C development, but nothing else? For example, Java,
which is not only available on all <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic">other</span>
platforms, but also the primary language for 3d-party development on
Android? Not as if I had heard too many good things on iPhone developer
support, but are they really the ones who will save the world?<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-style: italic">Applications written for the iPhone, by contrast, will run on every iPhone.</span>"<br />
Ehh,
typically naive, beginner approach. I wouldn't write an article if I
were such a beginner, though. How many iPhone models can we talk about
at the moment? <span style="font-style: italic">Two</span>. There's a <a href="http://www.intomobile.com/2008/08/04/rumor-revisited-apple-iphone-nano-slated-for-q4-2008-launch.html">rumour</a> on Apple introducing <span style="font-weight: bold">iPhone Nano</span>
still this year and I bet that that device would introduce variation
both in hardware (e.g. screen size) and software. And having spent
almost a decade with mobile software development, I can tell you that
software development becomes exponentially more complex with the
introduction of variations. I think we should get back to this question
in 1-2 years time-frame and then we'll see how programs written for old
models will work on new ones and vice versa.<br />
<br />
"<span style="font-style: italic">Carriers here have been loath to give Nokia much love over the years</span>"<br />
Yeah, this one is a hit on the nail. I find it very <span style="font-style: italic">interesting</span>
how much North-American carriers favour US phone manufacturers (Palm,
Microsoft, Apple) and Canadians (RIM). It is one of the root causes (if
not THE) why Nokia has failed to successfully enter North-American
market.<br />
<br />
As to developing software for mobile platforms, it's
worth noting that it's becoming more and more popular to rely on a thin
client software responsible mainly for the User Interface, while
storing data and implementing heavy business logic on a remote server.
So often, the thin client is a browser or an application capable of
providing "browser-like" behavior. This is something iPhone, the latest
Nokia S60 phones, Windows Mobile are (and the newcomer Android will be)
good at. And lots of people say that this architecture is the most
suitable solution for cross-(mobile)platform software.<br />
<br />
In my
opinion, it's too early to talk about the dethronement of Nokia by
Apple and RIM. Just count the number of phones sold, how many models
various manufacturers have on market, how long has a manufacturer been
on market, etc. and we'll have just the right amount of information ...
to be silent. <span style="font-weight: bold">The author of the
article fails to see that global market is not equal to American
market, over-emphasizes the importance of Silicon Valley and can't
think of the possibility that these platforms, devices, manufacturers
can co-exist with one another.</span><br />
<br />
Otherwise the article was good,<br />
<br />
Tote :)<br />
<a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/08/silicon-valley-doesnt-respect-nokia.html ">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a>
</p>Mobile OSiPhonePlatform SecurityWindows MobileSymbianDevelopmentAndroidNokiaSymbian Foundation2008-08-20T23:57:50Ztote_b5Static vs active application icons
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/gabor-toroks-forum-nokia-blog/2008/07/18/static-vs-active-application-icons
<p>
I found an interesting blog about mobile interaction design at <a href="http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/06/dead-icons-must.html">Sender 11</a>
(whatever that name means). The point of the article is that in order
to make application icons more attractive and provide a better
user-experience, the icons should refresh their content from time to
time and show "relevant" information to the user instead of being
passive and showing only static information.<br />
<br />
I like the idea. As one of the <a href="http://sender11.typepad.com/sender11/2008/06/dead-icons-must.html#comment-119547678">comments</a> says <span style="font-style: italic">with Nokia S60s you can now build interfaces wiht live icons like these in web-run-time and create a whole menu as a widget.</span>
Well, I don't know much about widgets, but I can imagine that it would
work. For example, the whole Application Shell could make use of Web
run-time and show application entry points (i.e. icons) as widgets with
their always-changing behavior. Even more, the idea of Active Idle
could be replaced by an active Application Shell, too. Some pixels
could also be saved from precious screen real-estate (e.g. unread
messages) by letting the application icons show information.<br />
<br />
What could different applications show to the user? Here's a by far incomplete list out of my mind:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Calendar: indication about events nearby</li>
<li>Messaging: unread messages (sms, e-mail, etc.)</li>
<li>Bluetooth connectivity: enabled vs disabled, transfer in progress</li>
<li>WLAN connectivity: enabled vs disabled, number of hotspots nearby</li>
<li>Maps: known (i.e. pre-recorded) locations nearby</li>
<li>Clock: time</li>
<li>Music Player: some information about tune being played (with scrolling, for example)</li>
<li>RSS reader: new, unread items</li>
<li>etc.</li>
</ul>
Could you add more?<br />
<br />
Tote<br />
<a href="http://mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/07/static-vs-active-application-icons.html">mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com</a><br />S60UISymbianDevelopment2008-07-18T12:16:48Ztote_b5