In a report surely to be widely read by networks around the world, Strand Consulting have summed up the iPhone effect on a network's bottom line, but I think it goes a lot deeper. The standout line is "Not one (operator) has increased its market share, revenue or earnings as a result of introducing the iPhone." But then networks have never been about one product. They've been about offering the right device, to the right people, at the right time, for the right price. Let me explain.
Last week, in the developer section, I posted an interview with Christopher David, Head of Developer and Partner Engagement on Sony Ericsson’s plans to re-engage with Symbian developers for the Satio launch. It seems to have been quite timely, as additional information is starting to break cover.
More updates from Nokia (although there seem to be more betas than Google to be honest!) as Ovi Suite 2.0 receives an updated beta. It now includes support for installing applications on your smartphone via .jar or .sisx files on your PC, better use of memory and various tweaks and fixes to the syncing of photos and music.
The second day of Nokia World has opened with a number of items of interest to developers. Focused on the Ovi Suite of services, two API's are being initially offered. Due to demand these are for Ovi Maps, and are the Ovi Maps Player for mobile and web; and the Ovi Navigation Player to allow you to include walk and drive navigation into third party applications. These will form core components of the new beta Ovi SDK and the new developer program which will be run via the traditional Forum Nokia.
In All About Symbian Insight 85 (AAS Podcast 147), Rafe, Steve and Ewan discuss the glut of Nokia news ahead of this week's Nokia World. We cover the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia 5230, Nokia Money (an under appreciated announcement) and the Nokia N900. There's also some discussion of Maemo 5, service strategy and the Sony Ericsson Satio. You can listen to AAS Insight 85 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Any open source project lives or dies by its members, whether those members are active contributors to the code base or provide support in other ways. The Symbian Foundation is no different. The responsibility for building and maintaining membership of the Symbian Foundation falls on the shoulders of Lauren Sarno.
Samsung has extended the deadline for submissions to SIQ 2009. You now have until 28 August to submit a widget and be in to win £15,000. For developers who have already submitted a widget, Samsung will accept resubmissions enabling developers to polish their widget further.
Microsoft and Nokia have entered into an alliance that is "set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity". They will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications software to Nokia’s Symbian OS smartphones, starting with the business-focussed Eseries. The two companies will jointly market these solutions to businesses, carriers and individuals. Read on for further details on today's announcement.
Nokia has announced that, from today, Qt Software will be known as Qt Development Frameworks and its URL changes to qt.nokia.com. The reason behind the move? Nokia want to encourage the use of Qt by mobile developers and therefore decided to strengthen Qt's associated with the Nokia brand.
In the last few days there has been considerable comment, invariousmediachannels, on some of the changes that are set to be introduced with the Symbian^4 release, including the breaking of backwards compatibility due to the retirement of AVKON and introduction of Orbit, which we first reported on back in May. With Symbian starting the process of communicating the changes to developers, and with renewed discussion online, it is worth revisiting the subject. Read on for further details.
The Symbian Foundation have asked for input from Developers and interested parties on the newly drafted Test Criteria for Symbian Signed. The new criteria, v4.0.8, are still in draft (and developers should continue to follow the existing v3.0.3 criteria until told otherwise), but the Foundation "...believe that it's important to get as many eyes on this as possible as soon as we can."
Offscreen Technology have just released a touch enabled version of Elements, their periodic table application (it's available in the Ovi Store). Making best use of the letterbox screen size of the 5800, the app presents the always useful periodic table of elements, nicely colour coded to keep elemental groupings together, as well as allowing you to tap through on each element to gain additional information.
In All About Symbian Insight 81 (AAS Podcast 143), we share the news that Ovi Files is now free to use and talk about its potential uses. We follow up with discussion of the latest Google software updates, the most notable being the addition of Layers to Google Maps. There's comment on Apple's recent result, Accenture acquisition of Nokia's Symbain Professional Service unit and answers to some listener questions. You can listen to AAS Insight 81 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
What if your phone could destroy an entire network base station with just a single command? Would you rework the OS so safeguards would be in place, or would you prefer to hold back every third party application, Canute style, hoping nothing gets through? The attitude of Apple and Symbian to this issue reflects the benefits of the open platform that Symbian and the upcoming Foundation promote, in my opinion. Read on.
Candid insight is hard to obtain during the initial phases of an acquisition. Accenture’s purchase of the Symbian Professional Services group from Nokia is no exception. However, a little digging does indicate that from Accenture’s perspective this deal is about more than gaining access to Symbian skills. Read on.
