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On demand mobile distribution with MobyMobile platform, now available in english

Moby_captures_animated We've released MobyMobile platform in english at least ! MobyMobile is an innovative technological solution which gives you on  demand distribution and fruition of editorial contents of various genres  through mobile phones, also delivering high quality interactive images and films.

MobyMobile formats contents in a particular way, reducing their weight in KB in order to considerably reduce the download time required; and therefore, the cost for the user is also kept down and his satisfaction maximum.

MobyMobile is the solution finally capable of distributing multimedia editorial contents through a world of 60 million mobile phones active today in Italy (almost triple the number of computers connected to the internet!).

Continue reading "On demand mobile distribution with MobyMobile platform, now available in english" »

Photos of Nokia N96

I found some first shots of a new Nokia phone that could be identified as Nokia N96. The design is inspired to N95 and N81 and it looks very cool.N96N96_2

No please Nokia ... not now.
I was very happy of my recent N95 8GB

Find enchanting locations in Italy with a brand new RIA : YuBuk

I'm glad to announce a new project's on which Comtaste is working on : YuBuk. Flex with cross scripting techniques,  Google MAPS, AJAX with Scriptacolous and Prototype libraries are some of the technologies involved in this project.
It was very fun to see how a simple web based old style application in some months turned into a real rich internet application.

We have published a Case Study on our site, where you can have more details.

Yubuk Yubuk is  a platform which is accessible on the internet and on mobile terminals for all those who love Italy for its enchanting locations, for its excellent cuisine and exceptional hotels.
Yubuk.com contains information on ten of the “coolest” locations in Italy, information which is accessible to all and to which all the users can contribute and create, modify or comment.

This is one of the best and most useful mash up Rich Internet Application we've worked on. In fact to be able to conceive new and richer modes of fruition, the technological choice has also required a careful analysis of the languages and the standards of highest profile.

Starting from the initial prerequisites, at Comtaste we have analyzed the following list of technologies was opted for which together has contributed to create a true and real mash-up application:

  • AJAX with Scriptacolous and Prototype libraries
  • Flex with cross scripting techniques
  • Google MAPS
  • PHP
  • Zend Framework
  • MySql

It was chosen to use Google Maps to visualize, through the use of its API, the restaurants, hotels and all the locations present in the data bank of Ybuk.com.  Furthermore, Ajax and Javascript functions were adopted to reduce the minimum traffic of data and download only the data relative to the portion of map visualized by the user. Through the use of the combination of Flex and Javascript technologies additional filters were made available to the user to optimize the searches on the map.  

The increase of the visits to the site has brought (and will continue to bring more) an increase of traffic and load on the infrastructure web server. To avoid problems of instability or delays on the site, it was decided to separate the principle applications of the site on two different servers, Apache and PHP 5 was installed on the first, and instead MySOL is present on the second. Both applications were configured in order to obtain the best performance in relation to the load.

To improve the entire infrastructure of the site, a course or restructuring of the code was undertaken to exploit the potential offered by a powerful and famous PHP framework such as Zend. Security, reliability, modulation and integration are just some of the benefits that such a choice entails. The Zend Framework uses the latest development technology to be able to produce flexible and extendible code, using the standard design pattern for the web applications, the model-view-controller (MVC). Furthermore, in the framework, there are also functions present among which internationalization and localization, authentication, session management, search, cache and integration with external APIs.

The activities on Yubuk are up and running, with a continuous assistance for the improvement and evolution of the service. Important goals have already been achieved, measurable especially in terms of the improvement of the user experience and the ranking of the portal.

Convert DVD to Nokia N95 video (MPEG-4)

Now that I have the N95 8GB I want to upload some videos from my laptop to my mobile. It will be very cool to see an entire movie while travelling on an airplane or train.
When I first browse the video gallery of my N96 8GB I discover that the N95 8GB has integrated the full SpiderMan 3 movie. It's amazing to see the quality of the movie on the mobile device.

Anyway I started to google to find a way to convert a DVD to N95 video using some free software.
This is a list of softwares I found and that I'm trying to use, feel free to add your favourite tools :

SUPER (Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer) : is a free GUI for ffmpeg. You can download it for free.
DVDFAB platinum (not free but very easy to use)
Mobiola Media Player (not free but cheap)
Videora iPod Converter to convert it to MPEG4
Winnydows: Soft for PSP, iPod and PC
DVD Shrink
ProjectX: used to demux the VOB MPEG2 files
mplex1.exe: used to remultiplex the audio and video stream to  an MPEG2 file

Continue reading "Convert DVD to Nokia N95 video (MPEG-4)" »

Browsing Flex applications on the new Nokia N810 with the Flash Player 9 support

N810_small The Nokia N810 seams to be a great mobile phone. It's linux-based and it runs a Debian derivated OS, Maemo, with a custom user interface built with the GTK-based Hildon framework.

The N810 supports WiFi,  a four-inch touchscreen with an 800x480 resolution, Bluetooth, and VoIP via Skype,  GPS and a slide-out keyboard.

But one of the greatest features is the support of the Flash Player 9 as well as PDF documents.
This means that you can launch Flex applications on the N810 phone.
Cooool !

If you want to read more have a look at this detailed review of the Nokia N810.

Never lost with Google Maps Mobile and My Location technology

I've just had bought my new N95 8GB when I discovered (thanks Tommy) that Google Maps for mobile is about to use a technology called My Location :

My Location is a new beta technology from Google that uses cell tower identification to provide you with approximate location information, so it will work on phones without GPS. Simply fire up Google Maps for mobile, press [0], and the map will indicate your approximate location by centering on a blue circle.
If you do have a GPS-enabled device, My Location can actually complement it. My Location kicks in faster than GPS in most cases, so you can access your location even faster on the map. It also works reliably indoors (unlike GPS) and doesn't drain your phone battery at the rate that GPS does.

A Flash Lite content studio: Mobile Folio

Mobilefolio Dmitry from flashweb.sabiostar released his new project - Mobile Folio.
His company provides such services as :

    * Web-programming
    * Graphic design
    * Flash multimedia
    * Illustrations
    * Flash lite for mobiles
    * SEO promotion

Take a look at FlashLite screensavers/wallpapers portfolio that we've done.

J2ME for Nokia S60 devices blog

A new blog dedicated to Java (J2ME) development for Nokia S60 devices  is live : (via seeinto60)

This is the goal of the new blog : We love open source in S60 java and we are trying to enable more of it in our platform. But It is always interesting to hear your opinions. Why do you think there are not as many mobile java projects? What about converting those existing desktop and enterprise projects to mobile? What are your candidates for converting to mobile?

iPhone web simulator for iPhone designers and developers

A friend points me out this cool web application for testing your iPhone sites and pages without having and iPhone : iPhoney.

From the product site : Looking for a way to see how your web creations will look on iPhone? Look no further. iPhoney gives you a pixel-accurate web browsing environment—powered by Safari—that you can use when developing web sites for iPhone. It's the perfect 320 by 480-pixel canvas for your iPhone development. And it's free.

iPhoney is not an iPhone simulator but instead is designed for web developers who want to create 320 by 480 (or 480 by 320) websites for use with iPhone. It gives you a canvas on which to test the visual quality of your designs.

It seams very cool and very useful for who can't have a working iPhone (like europeans) to test their web pages.

Opera Mobile Beta 2 just released and some tips on optimizing web sites for mobile viewing

Chris Mills, the new Developer Relationship Manager at Opera, sent me an email with this great news :

I just wanted to let you know that we've just released Beta 2 of our Opera Mini 4 mobile web browser - download it for free at http://www.operamini.com/beta/.

We've also just published an article on dev.opera.com, highlighting some of the features of Beta 2, and giving tips on optimizing web sites for mobile viewing - check out http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/evolving-the-internet-on-your-phone-des-1/.

Essential Symbian OS Performance Tips booklet

The monthly Symbian Community Newsletter is out with a lot of interesting articles, tutorials and whitepapers.
If you're a mobile developer as well a Flash Lite developer you can't miss this great booklet :

"Essential Symbian OS" booklet Performance Tips has been updated and is available to download

Moreover have a look at these documents :

Learning about Symbian OS: With the recent spurt in the proliferation of Symbian smartphones, increasing numbers of developers are looking to learn more about Symbian OS. Mark Shackman looks at some of the resources available, for everyone from seasoned developer to university student.

 

Platform Security and Symbian Signed: Ben Morris examines the Symbian OS native C++ idioms that developers love to hate. His focus is on Platform Security and Symbian Signed.

Nokia S60 will start to use Microsoft's copy DRM protection software

(via CNET New) : Microsoft's technology enables people who use Nokia cell phones to share protected pieces of content--like music, games or videos--between phones, PCs and other devices.

Nokia, the world's largest cell-phone maker, will license Microsoft's PlayReady digital rights management (DRM) technology, and build it into its S60 software, the most widely used software platform in the cell-phone industry.

Nokia's S60 software, built on U.K.-based Symbian's operating system, is used extensively in Nokia's lineup, but also in advanced cell phones of LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.

Its closest rival is Microsoft's own Windows Mobile, but analysts said the deal should benefit both.

Remote Flash Lite and J2EE application testing on Nokia S60 devices

Nokia Forum has released a new service calleda RDA (Remote Device Access) that allows mobile developers to test and debug their mobile applications using remote device access (via Tommi).
Nokia introduced some months ago this possibility but now it's live !

Daniel Rocha  wrote about the service :

Remote Device Access (RDA) technology enables remote access to mobile devices over the Internet. The system consists of a device pool connected to a server, and users connecting to the server in order to remotely use the devices. Once a user has connected to a device, the screen of the device is transfered to the user’s desktop in real time. In addition, the user can install applications on the device, transfer files, and analyze log files in real time. This enables developers to test their mobile applications and services on various Nokia devices based on Symbian OS. RDA is an Internet-based solution, and the requirements for using the service are a standard Web browser and Java™ Web Start (typically comes with Java Runtime Environment, JRE).

Link to the service page: http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/technical_services/testing/rda_introduction.html. The instructions page is found here: http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/technical_services/testing/rda_instructions.html.

The following devices are available at the launch time; Nokia 5500 Sport, Nokia E60, Nokia E61, Nokia E65, Nokia E70, Nokia N71, Nokia N73, Nokia N80, Nokia N95.


Read the full article on his blog.

dotMobi started creating a definitive database of mobile handset information from across the world

Andrea Trasatti sent me an email with this great news :
dotMobi, the company behind .mobi – the first and only Internet address designed specifically for mobile phones – today announced its plans to create a definitive database of mobile handset information from across the world.

The dotMobi mobile device database, scheduled to launch in late 2007, will make developing mobile applications significantly easier and less expensive. While developers of PC-based content need to address differences between a small number of browsers like Windows Internet Explorer or Apple Safari, mobile content developers must accommodate the differences among thousands of phones with different display types and browsers.

Next iPhone generation will support Flash

Apple will introduce built-in support for Adobe Flash on the iPhone in the next couple of months, according to the article of the Questions About Apple’s iPhone from The Wall Street Journal :

If the iPhone’s Web browser is so good, why can’t it play video on Web sites I visit?

At launch, the iPhone version of the Safari browser is missing some plug-ins needed for playing common types of Web videos. The most important of these is the plug-in for Adobe’s Flash technology. Apple says it plans to add that plug-in through an early software update, which I am guessing will occur within the next couple of months. However, a separate program included on the iPhone can play a limited selection of videos from YouTube, and the phone can play videos you purchase from Apple’s iTunes store, and certain videos you create yourself.

Optimizing and porting web applications for iPhone

Iphone_nytimes A great guide by Apple on how to Optimize and port web applications for iPhone. As you know, Safari on iPhone uses the same Web Kit engine as Safari on the computer desktop.  So developers cancreate and port their existing sophisticated Web 2.0 applications under iPhone.

The  guidelines  helps developers to create and  prepare web content and design a website or web-based application for iPhone.

Have a look at the Supported and Unsupported Technologies topics :

You’ll want to avoid using Flash and Java for iPhone content. You’ll also want to avoid encouraging users to download the latest Flash on their iPhone, because neither Flash nor downloads are supported by Safari on iPhone.
Differences Between Safari on iPhone and the Computer Desktop

There are a few differences between how Safari works on iPhone and on the computer desktop.

By default, Safari on iPhone blocks pop-up windows. However, it is a preference that users may change.

Safari on iPhone supports:

    * Cookies
    * User-initiated window-open calls. There is a limit of 8 pages (equivalent to 8 open windows) in page view.

Safari on iPhone does not support:

    * window.showModalDialog()
    * Mouse-over events
    * Hover styles
    * Tool tips
    * Java applets
    * Flash
    * Plug-in installation
    * Custom x.509 certificates

Disassembling the iPhone: a look inside the Apple mobile device

Found on C. Enrique Ortiz blog : a video from Semiconductor insights, which is a company that provides in-depth technical and patent analyses of integrated circuits and structures :

Semiconductor Insights' Allan Yogasingam waited in line for 12 hours and braved the elements to get ahold of the just-released Apple iPhone. He and his intrepid co-workers kept the cameras rolling as they popped the cover and dove inside

Nokia offers mobile photo printing services in Europe

This is great and I want to test the service. To use Nokia Xpressprint, you just need to install it on your compatible Nokia Nseries device and you're ready to choose the print format adn make your order. Your order will be transmitted in the background, so you can continue to make calls or send messages.

NokiaprintV ia Nokia Press Release : Nokia launches a fully integrated mobile printing service in Europe*. The new Nokia service enables people to order high-quality prints easily and directly from the device, over cellular** or wireless LAN (WLAN) networks, and have them delivered to your home or to a friend.
 
"Remember when you had to drag yourself to the store to have your film developed?" asks Mikko Pilkama, director, Multimedia, Nokia. "Now you can order prints directly from your Nokia Nseries device, and have them delivered to your doorstep - hassle-free!"

Continue reading "Nokia offers mobile photo printing services in Europe " »

The Internet Channel for Nintendo Wii is available (powered by Opera)

Wiipanorama The Internet Channel for Nintendo Wii, powered by Opera, is currently available for free via the Internet Channel within the Wii Shop Channel menu. After this week though, this unique Web experience will require 500 Wii points to download. The free grace period ends July 1, 2007. Users who download before this period retain the application at no cost for the life of the system.

See the video of how to use and browser the Wii Internet Channel.

The Wii Internet Channel is the exclusive full Web browser for the hot-selling Nintendo Wii game console and delivers exciting Web content, such as Flash, YouTube and Google, to your TV with intuitive, Wii-tailored controls. (via Opera Press)

More on the full version of the Opera-powered Wii Internet Channel

US Internet Channel

UK Internet Channel

The future of mobile games by Nokia

Found this article via Miikka at Aniway about the future of mobile games by Nokia.

One of the interesting reply to the question about the obstacles the industry faces to reach the growth potential that’s been forecasted (ie, growing from $3.3 billion this year to $10 billion by 2009)
Mark Ollila, of Nokia,  answered that the main problems are :

- mobile payments for buying mobile contents : at the moment the experience to buy content is hardand users don't trust about the quality of the contents
- finding the contents : it's not very easy for the end users (not geeks or web users) to find the contents

The same problems exist in the Flash Lite field where people don't have easy channels where to  download Flash Lite  contents (games, wallpapers, ringtones, applications ...).
Then you have to consider that many mobile users don't know (and don't have the capability)  wheter their mobile device has the Flash Lite embedded !

Adobe is trying to solve the problem and the Verizon's deal is a clear message of this.
But it needs time ..... a long time !

The answer of Mark ends with :

Nokia is focusing on create an end-to-end solution which allows you to find the content, see reviews, get imagery, and then you can even try the content before you actually pay for it.  All of those things will actually allow Nokia to build trust with the consumers so that they start feeling comfortable paying for the content.

And it's great ! Nokia

Mobilize your FLV file : how to convert FLV (Flash Video) to 3GP for mobile devices

Waiting for Flash Lite 3 new features that allow developers to load FLV files, in order to use viode in your Flash Lite 2 applications you have to convert them to 3GP format.

I made a post on my blog about "Convert FLV into 3GP for next generation FlashLite 2.0 application".

For a Flash Lite 2 project a client of Comtaste asked us to convert FLV video to 3GP format using a server side batch procedure.
A great free tool that allows you to convert FLV video to 3GP is FFMPEG. A generic syntax for the command line tool is :

ffmpeg [[infile options][`-i' infile]]... {[outfile options] outfile}

So you can create a batch file that execute a syntax like this :

ffmpeg -i /serverFolder/video.flv -s 176x144 -i 3gp_videos/video.3gp

Read the  Tips for creating video for mobile devices from Device Central documentation.


Want to hack and tune your Nokia handset ?

I was googling looking for some tech articles about my N73 handset when I came across this site :

nokia-tuning.net provides you with all information you need for tuning your nokia mobile phone. All information and tutorials are checked as much as possible, but i can not be made responsible for faults or damages on you phone. You use these information on your own risk!

Play Zelda on your mobile device !

Today is saturday so it's party time.
This is a post about a game for mobile that makes the history in videogame : Zelda.

This is the mobile versione of Zelda developed in J2ME (midp2).

I've just found and downloaded it. So let me go and play !
Have a nice weekend !

Fring: talk and chat using your Skype, Google Talk, MSN and Twitter account for free

Fring I'm pretty interested to see the final version of Fring, the  free mobile VoIP software, allows you to talk & IM via your handset's internet connection to other mobile phones and PC-based services such as Skype, Google Talk, MSN  SIP (Gizmo VoIP or Truephone)  and Twitter,  for free.

If you want to see more, there's some videos on YouTube that show how to install nad use it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr-2JrjhJEI (via MobileBlog)

Mobile Web 2.0 is first of all "social"

This week in Comtaste we forced to define and explain to a venture capitalist, what's beind the definition of Mobile Web 2.0.

It's not too easy try to give a definition for the concept behind Mobile Web 2.0. And that's not because it's not a defined and realistic concept, but because behind it there are a lot of structured and complex  variables.
One of the variables involved in the definition of Mobile Web 2.0 is the concept of social. In the mobile enviroment, social means the creation and the navigation of contents.
In the Mobile Web 2.0 the creation of mobile contents focused on mobile device that allows you to catch the content in a multimedia format, at the point of inspiration.
The creation of mobile contents is social because is based on the ecosystem of each single mobile device's owner across the world.

This echosystem is able to invert the standard strenght between content publisher and media.

At the same time, the navigation of mobile contents is social because it's shared within mobile user's echosystem.So that the collection of social contents evolves in a collective intelligence, made up of people that share ideas and opinions.
And learning from Latins, "vox populi, vox dei".

An example of the wisdom of the crowd is given by the voting system to evaluate a vendor or a user in the Ebay sites.
And that's the engine of the mobile web 2.0, a social and democratic collection of contents.

This is just a minimal part of what Mobile Web 2.0 is. Another chapter would be dedicated to mobile user experience, but that's another sotry !

A worth reading is the Mobile Web 2.0 book by Ajit Jaokar e Tony Fish and if you speak italian you can read the post on "Comtaste Consulting | Enterprise RIA development" blog.

Develop mobile mashups with Vodafone Betavine API

Betavine Vodafone launched today the Betavine API that lets you interact with mobile & web services. It allows you to send text messages, push web links to mobiles and access Vodafone Betavine content. API calls are available in a variety of formats including XML, JSON and RSS.

Vodafone Betavine is a research and development space run by Vodafone Group R&D. We aim to encourage collaboration in the area of mobile and internet communications.

It might be great to also use Flash Lite to make Betavine API calls !

Avoiding mobile viruses and Keeping track of your applications on your S60

The new S60 newsletter is out with a lot of cool and fresh contents.

The Smartponin' topic of the week is :  Keeping it clean: avoiding mobile viruses where Johanna shares some  advices to  make your mobile virus proof !

The tip of the month is about keeping track of your applications with Application Manager, that you can see on the next page.

What are you waiting for .... join the S60 newsletter.

Continue reading "Avoiding mobile viruses and Keeping track of your applications on your S60" »

Opera Mini 4 beta released

Opera has released the Opera Mini 4 beta.
There a lot of new features for this version :  a virtual mouse to make it easy to scroll in any direction, the Fit to width option, CSS support, 2x faster than other mobile browsers.

I'm a regular user of Opera Mini. And I found it the best mobile browser so far.
The Nokia Mobile Browser for S60 it's at the second place and I can't wait to see the next version to compare with Opera Mini.

Opera Mini vs iPhone

Don't miss this video :

Opera Mini vs iPhone

Amazing ;)

iPhone will support Flash and Flash Video contents

It's just a rumors but it could be the truth ! The iPhone reads Flash video contents from its browser.

Appleiphone_2 (Via Luciano > Via Gizmodo) :  Mactards have even speculating that the iPhone has Flash support, because the NY Times website's video player appears to load up fine. But the commercial also skips over the agonizing four-minute load time it would take to cache all those ads, images, flash movies, and did they not notice there is weird baby music playing while some disembodied voice narrates? Dropping in a fake placeholder for the video just isn't out of the question. It doesn't matter, though.



Wibree: the new Bluetooth by Nokia

While we're still waiting for Bluetooth support in Flash Lite, Nokia announced the new generation of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors.

Via CNET : Handset maker Nokia's ultralow-power short-range wireless technology is to be developed as a new version of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors, the company said Tuesday.
Nokia's agreement to offer the technology as the basis for an ultralow-power Bluetooth standard should help speed its adoption and encourage acceptance rather than be a competing technology, the Bluetooth special-interest group said.
Nokia's Wibree short-range radio link uses a fraction of the power of previous systems and can hook up devices with small batteries or power capacity.

See a photo of who's calling you with your Nokia S60

This is the tip of the mont of the Nokia S60 newsletter. Other than this tip, the featured application of the month,chosen by the S60 newsletter ,  is Mobizines, the Flash Lite webzine application.

See a photo of who's calling you with your Nokia S60 : instead of just seeing the person's name, see their photo when they call as well.

1. From the main menu choose "Contacts" then scroll to highlight a particular name.
2. Choose "Options" then "Edit".
3. When the contact's details open up, choose "Options" then "Add thumbnail".
4. You'll then be prompted to choose a photo from your device, find the appropriate photo and press "Select".

Looking for a Symbian Developer

The  Allen Partners is seeking an experienced mobile device developer to support and enhance its existing metering infrastructure for mobile devices and to architect and implement new client-side solutions for Symbian, Windows Mobile, Palm, Java/J2ME and BREW devices. You will get the chance to work across the core areas of the business with a superb team of experienced professionals. This is a great opportunity for someone interested in working in a start-up environment and directly contributing to the success of first-mover in a rapidly growing and dynamic market.

The Skills Needed
We need a mobile device developer who has experience in at least one of the following mobile device areas: Symbian, Palm, Java/J2ME, BREW, Windows Mobile using C++. The job requires close collaboration with a number of groups within the company, so strong communication skills are necessary and crucial to success of the position.

Shoot me an email if you're interested in !

Continue reading "Looking for a Symbian Developer" »

Opera Mobile embedded in Japan's newest 3G operator mobile devices

Opera Software and Japan's newest 3G operator, EMOBILE, today announced that the Opera Mobile browser will be pre-installed on its first device, the Sharp EM·ONE. The EMOBILE service along with the Sharp EM·ONE is available in Japan as of March 31, 2007. EM·ONE runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 with HSDPA communications service and offers a maximum downlink speed 3.6 Mbps.

The EM·ONE has a unique dual slide system. Slide in one direction for the QWERTY keyboard or slide the opposite direction for the arrow key. It also has a 4.1 inch WVGA screen, allowing ample room for speedy Web surfing with Opera Mobile 8.7 for Windows Mobile. (Via Opera Press Relaese).

It could be interesting to know if the new Japan's operator will also embed Flash Lite player into its mobile devices.

Nokia Siemens Network

Nokia Siemens Network, the joint venture formed between Nokia and Siemens, got off the ground Sunday, but already the company is warning it won't meet financial expectations.
On Monday, the company that will sell infrastructure gear to build wireless and fixed-line communications networks, said that it expects "very slight" growth in 2007.
The network equipment maker had earlier forecast "slight" growth. But now company executives said that there are signs of a slowdown in spending by communications service providers that will impact its yearly revenue outlook.
"The companies now expect very slight market growth for the mobile and fixed infrastructure and related services market in euro terms in 2007," the company said in a statement. (via CNET News)

Update your own devices with the Nokia Software Update application

The Nokia Software Update application is now available from selected Nokia local support web pages and also www.nokia.com/softwareupdate.
After a successful trial run last year, Nokia is expanding the program to enable people to update their own mobile device software without having to visit a service point. Nokia Software Updater is a free application that enables people to update the device software on compatible Nokia devices, including many S60 devices such as the Nokia N70, Nokia N73, and Nokia E61. Initially available only in English, Nokia Software Updater is now available in almost 40 different langugages. (via Nokia S60 newsletter)

Web Browser Design Guide from Nokia

Nokia released the Web Browser Design Guide where it gives advices and tips to developers who want to create mobile web site.
The documentantion, based on HTML, contains the following topics :

  • Developing mobile-aware Web sites
  • Using basic HTML structures
  • Graphics and colors

You can download it from the Nokia Forum site.

Sun released Content Delivery Server as open surce

The J2ME world is full of open source project (EclipseME, J2ME Polish, etc.). And there is another great news for mobile developers : Content Delivery Server is now an open source project (OpenCDS)

“Content Delivery Server is a mobile content delivery and management platform that enables mobile operators to launch and sustain content services more cost-effectively. The source code is available today under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL).” via InsideJava.

ASUS choose Opera browser for Windows Mobile-based devices

Opera is gaining the market of mobile web browsers :

Opera Software today announced that the Opera browser for mobile phones has been selected by ASUSTeK Computer Inc., a leading provider of 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) total solutions, to bring the Web to the company's Vodafone deliveries. Opera 8.65 for Mobile will be initially integrated on the V1210 for Vodafone International or the VDA IV for Vodafone Germany.

The Windows Mobile-based V1210 will allow users to access news sites, perform a search or check Webmail from the convenience of the small screen. Opera's unique Small Screen Rendering (SSR) technology adapts the Web to suit the screen size, making content easier to read and navigate. ASUS has designed this smartphone to be cost-effective and meet the needs of the average businessperson.

Java Mobile Application Video Contest

Sun announced a contest for Java Mobile Application Video Contest :

Dukeanddevices Sun has decided to change all that by creating a way for developers and those interested in becoming developers to share information about something they've either created or a favorite application/service they've seen created by someone else.

Here is your chance to create a short (1-3 minute) video to tell everyone in your own words about a new mobile application or service that was created using the Java ME Platform or the open source phoneME project. Whether you created it or not, you can tell others what it does, how it works, why you think it.s cool, how it was built or anything else about it (as long as you keep it under 3 minutes in length). Get creative.

Once you've completed your video, simply post it to the YouTube.com site

You could win a Triple Play Package, including:

  • Sony Ericsson K800 phone
  • Sony PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system
  • Panasonic Blu-Ray DVD Player
  • $150 Amazon.com Gift Certificate for games/movies

Developing Mobile Internet applications

CommunityMX has published the fourth part of a series of articles on the Mobile Internet using Dreamweaver 8 :

The Mobile Internet - Part 1: An Introduction
The Mobile Internet - Part 2: Image Display & Filtering
The Mobile Internet - Part 3: Background Images & A Different Breed of Mobile Browser
The Mobile Internet - Part 4: Text Elements

The first article that is an introduction is totally free !

Telefónica goes mobile with Opera Mini and Opera Mobile

Opera Software today announced that Telefónica Móviles de España has selected Opera Mini and Opera Mobile to power the full Internet for its new Web service "Navega". With Opera, Telefónica's Navega subscribers can access the full Internet from their mobile phones. The Navega-branded Opera Mini and Opera Mobile Web browsers will launch on Nokia N70, Sony Ericsson K610i, Sony Ericsson Z610i and Sony Ericsson K800, with several more to come.

Opera Mini provides Telefónica's Navega subscribers with all their favorite Web sites while on the go. This means that more customers will now have access to the data they want, such as local Spanish search, community sites, news, Web mail or even movie schedules, right out of their pockets.  [via Opera Press Release ]

Opera Mobile changes Google with Yahoo for mobile web search

A new partnership is born between Opera Mobile (and Opera Mini) and Yahoo.  Opera has named Yahoo! as the exclusive provider of mobile search on its millions of Web browsers for mobile phones, Opera Mini™ and Opera Mobile™, across more than 100 countries worldwide.

Yahoo! oneSearch is a new mobile search service optimized for mobile users.

Say goodbye to Google when you'll open Opera Mobile !

How the mobile user experience evolves and changes for enterprise mobile application

On the first days of 2007, Comtaste, my company, will announce the release of a enterprise mobile project/initiave. It was a project we've worked for about 6 months usign Java ME and Flash Lite (we made 2 different version of it).
We spent a lot of time, other than testing and developing, in choosing the user interface graphics, trying to offer the best in terms of user experience and usability.
The main aspects we considered in designing our mobile app were :

  • limited size of the display
  • how the user will use the features of your application (the context)
  • low device performance

So we started with 3 different layouts and we conducted some usability tests. As you can see from the images below, we created 3 different layouts that makes use of different graphic elements.
Other than our tests, we read all the resources given from Nokia about mobile user experience and usability (don't miss all the Nokia documentation about mobile usability).

In order to reach our goal we changed a lot of elements of those layouts. Icons, texts, visual aids, photos and UI elements. For our mobile designer was a difficult challange.
We chose the 3rd layout and the lesson learned at the end was : for enterprise mobile applications use less graphics over text elements but supporte navigation with visual clues.

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On the first days of january I'll publish all the detailed information on the application developed.

Nokia S60 site updated and S60 Newsletter December issue

There are lots of updates and improvements on S60.com. The application wishlist is a totally new feature, where you can submit your ideas for the kinds of applications you wish you had on your phone -- whether they're brilliant or far-fetched, they might inspire a developer.

You can also now sort S60 applications by compatible phone in the downloads section, saving time when you're looking for something for your device in particular.

They've also improved the S60 phones section with better usability.

Sun's guidelines to help developers fight the Java ME fragmentation

One of the biggest pain in developing mobile application with Java ME it's the impossibility to write a single version of an application that can run on every handset.
In addition, there could also be circumstances due to branding, appearance, behavior, or functionality where it does warrant different executable versions.

As developer we must fight fragmentation and produce a minimal number of versions of any application to cover a maximum number of phones. If we do not do this we run the risk of finding the production, distribution and support of Java entirely uneconomic.

To that end, Sun Microsystems and Orange have teamed up to create an initial set of design guidelines to help developers fight this problem. These guidelines consist of a number of techniques to reduce the number of executables generated per application. These techniques were created by evaluating the leading causes of fragmentation and identifying ways to achieve an optimal balance of application performance and the ability of utilize a single application version over a large number of phones. The result of using these techniques should be a reduction in overall porting, testing and maintenance costs.

Improving the mobile browsing user experience

In her dissertation research, Virpi Roto has interviewed users of mobile browsers in several countries, and identified characteristics that help improve the mobile browsing user experience if taken into consideration. In addition to user and use context, all the system components should be taken into account: device, browser, network infrastructure, and web site. A partial outcome of the research is a visualization method called Minimap, which has gathered publicity as the first practical way to view Web pages on a mobile phone. The method has been used in Nokia S60 phones since 2006.

Read the full Web Browsing on Mobile Phones - Characteristics of User Experience and download the document

Windows Live Messenger and Discovery Channel goes mobile with I-mode in Italy

Imodewind Wind the fourth italian mobile provider, announced the partnership with NTT Docomo to bring the I-mode  technology in Italy.
Things started moving and some great Imode site has been announced from Wind.

Windows Live Messenger on i-mode™ allows you to communicate with your frineds using Microsoft Messanger

Discovery Mobile allows you to keep in contact with Discovery Channel news, articles, images .. etc..

More services are present on the Wind I-mode Portal (via IlTelefonino)!

Mobile browser war: Opera Mobile vs. Nokia S60 browser

Mobile web browsing is more and more usual. Many people started browsing the web on their mobile devices.
Actually for Symbian devices you have 2 web browsers : Opera Mobile (and  the free version Opera Mini) and the Nokia S60 browser.

Ivan in his blog has  compared usability of the pages that he visits from mobile most often and what he likes and doesn't of the two browsers.

My personal preference goes to Opera, althoug I can't live without some Nokia browser features such as the use of mouse for navigation  rendering and scrolling speed .
But I'm pretty sure this is just the beginning of the war :)

MobileMonday Italy: UMA and Convergence business

The main topic of the MobileMonday Italy will be the Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology.
The  tops of the UMA business will share the latest developments with our MoMo guests :

WHEN: Monday 11th December 2006, 18:00-20:30

WHERE: Milan (venue details are sent to the registered attendees)

Admission: FREE, but online registration is required. Free drinks to the first 50 registered.

As usual, a networking party will follow the presentations, where guests will be offered a drink while sharing experiences and making new contacts.

Nokia expects the growth of mobile market in 2007 to be below 10%

We expect the volume growth in 2007 to be above 15 percent in Asia Pacific, China, and Middle East and Africa, and below 10 percent in Europe, Latin America and North America," Nokia said in a statement. In 2006, mobile phone shipments are set to rise 21 percent according to Gartner.

Nokia cuts profitability target, sees slower 2007

Opera Mini 3.0 released !

Today Opera will release Opera Mini 3.0, the fast and tiny Web browser, that allows you toOperamini_3  access the full Internet on your phone.
UPDATE: Read the entire press release. Opera Mini drives social networking from mobile phones - Opera Mini upgrade released today with new level of interactivity

Some of the new features include :

  • Secure browsing (advanced version)
  • Feed (RSS) preview and aggregation
  • Photo upload
  • Content folding: automatic folding of long lists of links
  • Don't miss this long thread on Opera Mini 3.

    Windows Mobile 6.0 (codename Crossbow) is behind the door

    Windows_mobile A great review of Windows Mobile 6 has beed published by Mobile-Review :

    (via Mobile Review)As one of my acquaintances (involved in development) said, “Crossbow is a weapon aimed at our competitors”. Let us see what brand-new features are considered by Microsoft to be such deadly weapons and why this or that function has eventually popped up. So, numerous improvements and updates for Outlook Mobile have much to do with the new version of MS Exchange; refreshed outlook and sound themes are inspired by the upcoming Windows Vista; integration with Windows Live and a new application going by the name of “Live Messenger Mobile” – both are very predictable steps; bundled support for VoIP – a strikeback at the competitor’s actions, who have already implemented this feature into own solutions and a response to the market shifts, demanding for VoIP-enabled products; Smart Dial 2.0 integration into Pocket PC is just another valuable step on the way of merging two Windows Mobile branches. And naturally, WM Crossbow retains all updates brought about by AKUs for Windows Mobile 5.0.

    Flickr provides trend graphs of the most popular camera phones

    Flickr provides detailed graphs to show the number of Flickr members who have uploaded at least one photo with a particular camera on a given day over the last year.
    One of the cool thing of this system is that you can filter the graph by brand and discover  for example the top 5 Nokia Cameras in the Community.
    Great job !

    Flicr_camerra