AAS: Articles and Features: All Articles (Full)

What is GoDB and First Steps

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 17:56:46 +0100

GBasic (GoDB)

GoDB is a multi-platform rapid application development tool for developing handheld and wireless applications.

Applications developed once on the GoDB platform can run on devices ranging from Handheld to Laptops to Desktops and on all popular Operating Systems like Symbian (UIQ, Communicator series, Series 60, et cetera), Windows Mobile (Smart phone, Pocket PC, CE), Palm OS, Windows, Linux (Embedded & desktop), etc.

We call the language - GBasic

The GStudio IDE�has�the following�components.

Form Builder
Simulators for devices/PCs
Integrated source level debugger
Single click SIS Packaging

What�s GoDB Lite?

GoDB Lite is targeted at developers looking to develop simple applications, utilities and 2D Games for Symbian Series 60.

��Commands for sending receiving SMS, System Level notification (GPRS/IR/BLUETOOTH/BATTERY).

��Commands for Making Receiving Voice Calls, Playing Video and Audio (Embedded in the app / Launched separately).

��Commands for Switching to other Apps and views.

��Commands for Enumerating Contacts and Groups.

��Support for Sprite animation for Game development.

��Support for HTTP Web services, Native Device access (Comports, GPS, Bluetooth Smart Card etc.).

��Support for Push Services over SMS and TCP/IP.

��Support for external C++ Components controls to be embedded in forms and extending functionality.

Yes. You get to play around with your Symbian device. But note that for�any database/enterprise application, you require the GoDB Enterprise Edition.

For more details, see www.consigntech.com

Getting Started

Lesson 1:

Creating Hello World Application

http://www.go-db.com/GoDB_manual/NewTutorials/Lesson1(GoDB%20Lite%20Symbian).htm#CreatingaProject

Lesson 2:

SIS file creation:

Well, if you are happy with your creation,

http://www.go-db.com/GoDB_manual/Deployment/SymbianGoDBLite.htm

All About Symbian Pub Meet, October 2005

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 14:46:14 +0100

All About Symbian Pub Meet
Monday 10th October 2005, The Crosse Keys Pub, London (City)

Every year on the night before the Symbian Expo (or the Exposium, or the Smartphone Show, depending on what the marketing company calls it), All About Symbian organise an open meeting for Symbian users, developers, manufacturers and interesting people to come along for an informal get-together. This year is no different, and we hope that everyone who comes along will find a warm welcome, friendly conversation, and have a good night out.

We're using a different pub this year, having finally outgrown The Dover Castle. We'll be in the Cross Keys (a JD Wetherspoons pub). Our meetings always see the room bursting at the seams with excitment, so you'd be a fool to miss this one. With almost everyone involved with Symbian OS in town that night, we expect some early technology being discreetly demonstrated under tables, software previews, and perhaps a few surprises as well

The AAS Team will be there from 5pm - an earlier start than normal - there's plenty time here for developers to show off their latest software before it gets really busy for the main program of events, which will start at 8pm.

Where To Find Us

Out thanks this year to the Crosse Keys Pub for hosting the event. We'll be in the function suite up the stairs at the rear of the pub.

The Crosse Keys Pub
9 Gracechurch Street
EC3V 0DR
London

Google Maps Link

The Crosse Keys is within walking distance of Liverpool Street and London Bridge Mainline stations, and numerous Underground stations on the Jubilee, Circle, Central and District lines.

Whats Going To Happen

The main program of events, as listed here, will commence at round about 8pm, to give everyone time to get in from work, changed, and head to the bar, or land from their aircraft flight and find the hotel, or to finish any meetings they have and head on over. We'll be at the pub until 11pm at the very earliest.

Rafe's "State of the Union"
What's been happening with AAS, and what's planned for the future.
Guest Speakers and Lightning Talks
Not yet announced (watch the AAS Front Page for news), we're looking for a copuple of 4-5 minute lightning talks from interesting Symbian OS people.
The Raffle
With lots of great prizes and free software to be won.
The Mystery Star Prize Bag
Traditonal fun in the raffle, the first prize is always memorable. Could this be the year you win?

The Raffle Prizes

Thanks to the following companies for supporting the AAS Pub Meet with raffle prizes, support and encouragement.

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Our top prize this year, after the Mystery Star Prize Bag, is the N-Gage QD Sivler Edition,

A Nokia QD Silver Edition, in silver presentation tin, with the MMC 'Cigarrette Case' Holder and a bundle of N-Gage MMC Games
Copies of O'Reilly's Nokia Smartphone Hacks book.
A selection of books from the Symbian Press range will be on offer, including All About Symbian's Ewan Spence's OPL Book.
Software vouchers from Handango.
Your choice of any registered apploication from RMR Software's collection.
A rather tasty prize from UIQ should keep the winner on edge throughout the pub meet, through the Smartphone Show, and beyond.
Four software titles from the ZingMagic range (winner's choice).

There may well be more prizes announced as we approach the date of the meet, so keep us bookmarked. Good luck to everyone and we'll see you on Monday night.

It goes without saying that while everyone can enter the raffle, there are going to be a few people who we've decided won't be allowed to win the Nokia. For a start Rafe, Ewan and the rest of the senior AAS team don't get to win it. Neither do employees of Symbian or Nokia or any of the super big companies that have them already. And on this one, we're not open to bribery. Sorry.

The Smartphone Show 2005, On The Floor

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:08:18 +0100

So you�re visiting The Smartphone Show, and given it�s free entry to everything except some of the high level political stuff there�s not much of an excuse (apart from distance) in not�getting round everything. But if you�ve not got the full two days, or you�re looking for what to go and see straight away, then here are a few suggestions.

All About Symbian

My, my, this is a familiar name! Yes we�ll be out in force, and a number of the AAS team are going to be not only prowling round the Show looking for the news stories, but making themselves available to talk about the site, our readers, and how we can help companies get their message out to handset owners. Rafe, Ewan and Steve are definitely coming along, and more of the team will be dropping in on both Tuesday and Wednesday. You�ll find us in the Media Zone, which is pointed out on this handy map.

www.allaboutsymbian.com

Symbian

The other stand everyone is going to naturally gravitate towards is the Symbian stand, to find out what�s going on with OS 9.1, and if the rumoured changes to the Symbian Signed program are as useful as they might be. Although the separate Symbian Developer Network stand might be a better idea for that question. The Symbian stand is usually the place to see most of the new handsets.. Given that certain companies aren�t sending over massive stands to display new phones, but just push their developer program, it might be, strangely, the only place to see handsets like the N91.

Of course we�ve talked already about Symbian and what it�s partners will (hopefully) be doing, so let me take you on a flying run around the floor to see what catches my eye and deserves a bit more exploring once we all get to the ExCeL Centre.

http://www.symbian.com/

Dataviz and Quickoffice

Where you see one, you�ll see the other. The two competing Office Suites have a strange relationship with each other, having seen �battle� in the Palm sphere (where Dataviz have the upper hand in terms of volume), and are now working in the Symbian sphere (where the roles are reversed). Both the applications have differing strengths and weakness, and you need to see both of them in action to decide which is for you.

www.dataviz.com
www.quickoffice.com

Dreamspring

At the other side of the field of Developers is Dreamspring, coming all the way from Australia. They�ll be showing off their new contacts manager application, DreamContact2 for UIQ, along with a number of their other products. Their MD, Malcolm Lithgow, started out on the Psion/Epoc devices and has stuck with Symbian, and this small operation is another example of where Symbian�s focus should be more. The more companies like Dreamspring, the better for everyone.

www.dreamspring.com

Visto

Push email, especially from Research in Motion, has always been held up as a killer function in mobile devices, and Visto have a huge amount of time and effort invested in their multi-platform push email solutions. They�ll be demonstrating their solutions on the floor, and having seen this in action at 3GSM, it�s stunning stuff and they�re not kidding � it is a killer solution.

www.visto.com

Macromedia

Still promising to break out onto into the mainstream, Flash Lite is another runtime that�s coming real soon now to the Series 60 platform. At the moment it�s supplied to smartphones as an integrated player, and the key to its adoption is getting the Flash runtime into as many handsets as possible, then getting the programmers to follow. But it looks impressive, and there should be demos aplenty showing exactly what it can do.

www.macromedia.com/mobile

Access

In a perfect world there would be a signpost that would say, "We�re here about the NetFront web browser, so don�t mention the fact that we actually own PalmSource and Palm OS now." But of course, everyone is working out why they�d move for PalmSource, and perhaps the NetFront browser technology is the key. In any case, the browser is a nice piece of work and deserves investigating.

www.access.co.jp/english/index.html

Surfkitchen

When WAP isn�t enough for mobile operators, it�s time to look at some alternative interfaces and "user experiences." Every year there are always a number of companies along these lines, all with slick programmers, a nice looking idea, and the mantra "will sell it to the networks." Out of this year�s contenders, SurfKitchen looks to be one of the nicer implementations. Of course part of you is thinking why should a company such as UIQ or Nokia�s Series 60 department go to all the bother when the carriers are going to replace everything� One to ask SurfKitchen I think!

www.surfkitchen.com

Wiley

Not the only Symbian book publisher in the game now O�Reilly have turned up on the scene, but still the one with the largest range, and the first place you should turn to for anything developer wise. From high level OPL and Java, to adventures deep in the Symbian Kernel, you�ll find all the books on sale at the show, and it wouldn�t surprise me if half the authors will be hanging around nearby as well.

www.wiley.com

ZiCorp

Getting information into your smartphone is always an interesting experience, be it a qwerty keyboard on a 9500, T9 on Series 60 or the handwriting recognition on UIQ. ZiCorp, along with some very nifty global and app specific search tools, have a number of improvements to the user input experience, including eZiTap, eZiText and Decuma. Worth giving them a spin with your favourite stylus in hand.

www.zicorp.com

Obviously every comapny on the floor at The Smartphone Show has something of interest, and these are only a few highlights. The full list is at The Smartphone Show website, and it's worth noting down your own favourites� before you get to the show.

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The Free N-Gage Software and Demo Scene

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 19:02:13 +0100

The Free N-Gage Software Scene

How much can you do with an N-Gage for as little money as possible? While there�s a huge amount of Series 60 software you can install, and over 50 MMC based titles out there (with no sign yet of Nokia slowing down the releases), the N-Gage QD at $99 in the US looks like a fantastic bargain. Add in the seven free software downloads direct from the N-Gage Arena and you have to ask why the machine isn�t doing particularly well.

Hold that thought for a moment, because it�s time to whistle stop through some short reviews on Nokia�s N-Gage Freeware scene. All of these titles are available to download from http://arena.n-gage.com/

System Rush

System Rush is the first title inthe wave of games to be released leading up to Christmas 2005, and Nokia have continued the tradition of releasing a demo version of the game with a handful of levels - and quite frankly this is a good idea. People still need a�bit of convincing that the N-Gage platform is still worthy of spending time, more so as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are now easily available to those who want them.

The game itself, while shrouded in a massive plot of hackers, corporations taking over the world, and code vehicles penetrating secuirty layers, is one of the slickest 'future' racing games around. Ideworks really have got the hang on how to throw a million lines around the screen and keep everything at a frantic pace - sometimes too frantic when you're climbing the learning curve. Definitly worth the download and space on any MMC.

Pathway to Glory

PtG�s demo was the first downloadable game we saw from Nokia, back in September 2004. Given the hype behind Pathway, releasing a single level demo so everyone could see just what they were going on about was a master stroke. The single map here still takes a good bit of planning and gaming to actually beat, and is probably the best use of a demo out there � to prove a new gaming concept to people before they buy. The success and number of PtG Demo downloads probably not only made sure the game would be a massive hit, but also ensured more software from Nokia.

Asphalt: Urban GT & Colin McCrae Rally 2005

Up next, the two driving games. Asphalt is very arcade in its style, so it�s race to the line as fast as possible. It�s possibly the most lacklustre demo, as it�s purely a single level demo, and even then I think the choice of Paris as the track was a mistake (New York would have been better). As a thirty second advert for the game, it�s great. As something that makes you want to keep playing, a bit more depth is needed I think.

Colin McRae, on the other hand, with two circuits, actually has a lot more depth. The game is much more simulator, so the car is harder (more realistic) in it�s controls. You�re going to be sliding about and off the road till you learn to balance everything and get a good time. A much steeper learning curve here (more than Pathway to Glory I feel) but great gaming rewards when you succeed.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Absolutely stunning graphics for the N-Gage, with a spin around camera so you can watch Sam Fisher climb, spin jump and tumble around the training area from the full game. Yes, the training area. You don�t actually get a competitive level here, just a "this is how to do this" scenario. So you step through it all, and are told you�re ready for your missions. Which you need the full version for. So a great demo, but not quite a gaming experience. But to show off the graphics, it�s worth the install

Snakes

Not strictly a demo, but the success of the demo scene probably convinced Nokia to try using this "viral" market to good effect to release one of the landmark mobile games onto the N-Gage. It�s the classic Snake game. In 3-d. With a huge number of modern day power ups, boosts, walls and holes. This is one title not to be missed. It�s probably worth the price of the N-Gage on its own.

Worms World Party

Worms truly is a love it or hate it game. Technically squeezing it into the N-Gage (both in size and screen dimensions) is impressive. It�s fair to say though, that a portrait screen isn�t the best for playing Worms on, so being able to check it out first is very much welcome. While you only have a single map in this demo and your team options are fixed, it�s a complete blast. The majority of the weapons are there, as is the multi-player gaming (which is lacking in other demos). Just having this classic title lurking on the N-Gage if you ever need a good frag with a friend makes it worthwhile.

X-Men Legends

Finally, it�s the Marvel action fest that is X-Men Legends. An isometric view, but with the same depth and playability of the PS2 and Xbox versions, this is a great little single map adventure that should take you some time to complete. Control of the four central X-Men characters (and yes, you get to be Wolverine!) makes this a great romp. Gorgeous graphics and the inclusion of one of the game cut-scenes show just what the N-Gage can do.

Summary

One 64mb MMC card should see you able to load all the demos (and Snakes) from the N-Gage site, and it means you get a bundle of action the second you pick up your N-Gage. Why these aren�t in the retail boxes I�ll never know � at the very least Snakes should be there. If you�re short on room, I�d recommend System Rush, Snakes, Pathway to Glory, Colin McRae and X-Men Legends as the best of some pretty high quality titles. Go forth and play!

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Craig Senick (Quickoffice) Interview

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:32:06 +0100

Smartphones � what�s the one thing everyone rushed to get onto the devices? The ability to look at and edit files from�Microsoft Office. First out the blocks was the Quickoffice team. Now bundled on handsets from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Panasonic, to name but three, Quickoffice is an established player. I sat down with Craig Senick to find out more about Quickoffice. But firstly, how did Craig get into this game?

"I have a long history in the telecom space and enterprise/business sales. I�ve worked in a variety of sales, channel development, market planning and business development roles. So the breadth of experience has served me well in this market." This would be the small team that was initially behind Quickoffice? "Yes. As with many mobile software companies, Quickoffice had its genesis with the original founder writing code in his spare time. We grew to a handful of people and were known at the time as Cutting Edge Software. Cutting Edge was sold to Mobility Electronics and the founder moved on to bigger and better things. Seeking strategic assets, Mobility was approached by Mobile Digital Media expressing their interest in acquiring the software group and adding Quickoffice to its portfolio of high quality, branded mobile software solutions."

So you�ve been passed around a lot of companies then? Craig laughs, "yes." And the one advantage in all of this? The same URL� www.quickoffice.com. Which smart cookie made sure you kept a hold of that? "As it is the name of the core product and now the company, it was important to keep the namesake brand for our users and is a great URL property. Ironically, until now the name of the parent company has always been different than the product and we have fortunately always maintained a strong focus on our brand and customers. Quickoffice describes our product perfectly. The ability to quickly review and edit your office files on your mobile."

All About Quickoffice

Time to do the softball questions. What's the goal of Quickoffice? Craig relaxes a bit here. "The goal of Quickoffice is to allow Mobile Business Professionals to take their office with them on the mobile phone and facilitate document management on their mobiles." As simple as that? "Does it need to be any more complicated?"

Of course Quickoffice isn�t limited to Symbian. It currently runs on Palm OS and Symbian OS (S60 and UIQ). "The software requires a robust operating system to operate effectively and provide an optimal viewing and editing experience," explains Craig. How easy was it to decide on the move to support Symbian as a platform after Palm? "It was really quite easy. Symbian was expected to dominate the smartphone market by the end of the decade and was a C++ software language set. Thus, the porting between the platforms was challenging, but doable. Over the last couple of years, we have designed and developed an entirely new architecture based on 10 years of developing mobile office applications." Codewise, is there a lot of cross-over between the products? Is development shared, is there any commonality? "We share quite a bit between platforms, mostly at the core levels. As you know, Quickoffice is a UI intensive application that requires significant usability testing and interface work with our major partners."

The Competition

Okay, the freebies are over. We can't not mention Documents to Go. The two products fill a similar niche, on both Palm OS and now Symbian OS. What does Quickoffice do better than Documents to Go?

It looks like Craig might have answered this once or twice before! "Quickoffice has been designed for our three customer segments: OEM device manufacturers, network operators, and end users. The differentiation of the products will become clearer as new versions of Quickoffice come to the market. We have developed Quickoffice for Palm OS, Series 60, and UIQ and have many OEM bundles. Most network operators have Quickoffice on several phones in their portfolio. Our competitor has focused mostly on selling version upgrades through their web site."

"In a product feature comparison, Quickoffice provides better file management with a single comprehensive solution rather than three separate applications. Quickoffice also provides editing and saving of PowerPoint which is important because Quickoffice has the unique ability to present directly from the phone. "

Are there areas where you feel Documents to Go outperforms you? "Clearly, they have focused on Palm OS development and marketing. As a business process, they have developed a marketing system for registering palmOne customers and marketing version upgrades through email campaigns and their web site. In product comparisons, we have different feature sets. We discussed some of our advantages above. I am sure they would point to in-line images in Word files as a key advantage."

Other Operating Systems and Handsets

Of course, being competitors in different markets doesn�t mean the playing fields are level on varying operating systems. On Palm OS, Documents to Go was the clear leader when you started. Now on Symbian you�re perhaps the�leader and Documents to Go is playing catch up. Any thoughts on that?

"Actually, Quicksheet was one of the first commercial applications for the Palm. Quickoffice was the first editable office suite on the Palm OS and was named Best Office Suite for 4 years in a row by Handheld Computing." Yes, I blushed here, but Craig continues. "We decided to focus on Symbian OS rather than Palm OS due to the market potential. This decision has provided us with a 3 year head start and a dominating market position within Symbian."

Would you say getting on and staying on the handsets is a large part of the business plan going forward, or are individual sales through Handango more important? "We see three important channels: handset manufacturers, network operators, and consolidators (e.g. Handango). The end users are key to our overall strategy. Designing elegant software solutions that make their lives easier and more functional is a key element to our business. Without the consumer, we wouldn�t be where we are today." So how would a P910 user update the supplied version of Quickoffice? "We have built the software so that it is upgradeable. Even if your P910 came with Quickoffice in ROM, you can upgrade to the latest version. For those interested, the latest software can be purchased from www.quickoffice.com, and several other web sites."

The Future

Finally, where does Quickoffice go from here? Do you solidify the product, add new features, or something else?

"All the above! It is important to create an experience where the user wants to use your software over and over again. Thus, product quality, features, functionality and performance will continue to be at the forefront of our future. We go back to our vision of � "taking your office with you on your mobile". Phones are ubiquitous and the growth rate doesn�t appear to be letting up any time soon. The future is bright for mobility and we are excited about the future of Quickoffice."

Craig, thanks for your time.

�

It's all about the software � the rise and rise of Series 60

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:42:09 +0100

The year is 2001 and the Nokia 7650 has just been launched, the world's first Series 60 smartphone. I'd been using the Nokia 9210i Communicator, but its lack of RAM, relative paucity of software (this was before OPL had been released for it) and bulk meant that I wasn't incredibly attached to it. I took a look at 7650 and Series 60 but dismissed the PIM applications are extremely poor, bemoaning for the umpteenth time that Symbian's trademark applications hadn't all made it across to the new platform. In addition, there was almost no storage memory and no expansion card. And, of course, very little third party software (being a new platform). In short, I dismissed Series 60 from my mind as an underpowered, simplistic platform.

Instead, my eye was caught by Handspring and their Palm OS-powered Treo 270. Having previously used a Palm III for a while, I knew I liked the easy synchronisation, interface and power of Palm's applications, plus there was a huge catalogue of add-on programs, from office suites to utilities to games. To get all this with Symbian-like telephony included seemed too good to miss and I plumped up for the Treo. I wasn't happy at heart though, if only because I knew that, back in the Symbian world there was the possibility of real multi-tasking and doing 'proper work'.

With a view to getting back into the current (2003) 'cutting edge' of the Symbian world, I snapped up one of the earliest UIQ-interfaced Sony Ericsson P800s, followed fairly quickly by the newer P900. The form factor was right, the design was generally excellent and it was great to have a camera on board and stereo music blasting into my ears, even if that silly 128MB limit on the expansion cards did limit what could be carried around. But, gradually, the cardinally stupid 'return to base state' behaviour of all UIQ applications began to really annoy me, and I never really got on with having to extract the stylus just to input a few characters.

Hallalujah! [FX:heavenly choirs] Nokia put everyone out of their misery with the announcement of the Nokia 9500, a single keyboarded Communicator device with oodles of RAM, oodles of flash memory, all the built-in applications I used to know and love, plus a VGA camera, stereo music output and support for 1GB MMC cards. This was the device that I had been waiting for, for the last five years. By now, OPL had been finished for the Series 80 platform and I could program away on my handheld, just as in the days of Psion, plus others could run my programs with a simple runtime. The extra comms capabilities (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS) were also vital in establishing the 9500 as�the businessperson's communications device. And quite right too.

Yet, only seven months later, a glance at my hip will show you a Series 60-powered Nokia 6630. What on earth happened to the 9500 and how come I'm using a platform I was so dismissive of four years ago? Well, the 6630's Megapixel camera had something to do with it, it's true. Once you've seen your daily snaps (and with a young family, there are a lot of these) with four times the number of pixels, it's very hard to go back. But there's another reason, and it's not to do with the relative sizes (size isn't that important to me, since my devices tend to stay on my hip).

It's all about software. To a small extent it's about the built-in software within (take a deep breath) Series 60 version 2, Feature Pack 2 devices (now you know why sites tend to stick to quoting simple model numbers!) - Series 60 has come a long way from those early Nokia 7650 beginnings. The PIM applications are slicker, the interface has been tweaked and optimised, and the underlying Symbian Operating System (v8.0) is much more powerful and robust.

But THE main reason why it's the 6630 that's staying with me every day is that there's now a critical mass of top notch software that just isn't available for the Communicator. Software like iSilo, which lets me archive web pages and HTML file sets. HanDBase, which lets me keep all my business data on both PC and smartphone. And games, games, games galore. I'm not a big PC gamer, but I absolutely love snuggling down with my smartphone in odd moments and knocking down a round of bowls in Bowling Master, or trying to achieve a lowest under-par round in Golf Pro Contest. Or spending time with any one of the dozens of quality games.

And of course the killer applications for Series 80, such as OggPlay (for music) and TomTom Mobile 5 (for navigation) are also available for Series 60 and installed on my 6630.

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iSilo,�HanDBase and Golf PRO Contest,�three of the newest stars in the Series 60 world

Text input was always a concern of mine, preventing me from giving 'predictive' input on a numeric keypad the time of day, but now I've learnt some of the tricks, I find I can knock out up to 20 words per minute fairly easily (compared to about 30 on the 9500's keyboard). And, for those occasions when speed is of the essence (like writing this article), I reach for my Bluetooth keyboard and I'm connected in a couple of seconds.

Do I still think Series 60 is underpowered and simplistic? No, but I still hanker for notes on Calendar entries and more than one To-do list, all synced nicely to Outlook. Is this too much to ask for, Nokia and Symbian? And I'd really, really, really, really, love someone to find a way to get the OPL runtime working properly on Symbian OS 8 so that I and other OPL stalwarts can start converting over the large number of OPL programs from the rest of the Symbian world.

My 9500 isn't exactly gathering dust these days, it's too good a unit to be left alone for long. But when I leave the house it's my sleek black 6630 that comes along with me. And, for the moment, I'm pretty happy with the arrangement.

For me, it really was all about the software. There's enough now for modern Series 60 smartphones that there's very little need to look elsewhere.

Steve Litchfield, Sept 2005
3lib.ukonline.co.uk

The Smartphone Show 2005, Learning How To Go Faster

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:44:08 +0100

Developer Training

The Developer Training runs alongside the seminars that are on offer, and consists of three two hour sessions each day. A mix and match approach is evident, with two choices in each session available. You�ll find full details on The Smartphone Show web site.

It�s interesting to look at these courses from a non-developer's point of view. The techniques and skills learnt at these sessions will be used not just in current smartphones, but in those that we�ll be speculating over in the next 12-18 months. It�s no surprise to see a general introduction to�the OS in The Symbian OS Kitbag,�with the two major UIs (Series 60 and UIQ) both having their third version heavily involved (each has a separate two hour session), but also not surprising is the focus on the changes in Symbian OS 9.1. The cryptically titled EKA1/EKA2 Compared is probably very high on a huge number of lists. The EKA is effectively the kernel of Symbian OS, and changes this deep into the OS can fundamentally affect a number of tools.

Two other areas that are high up on Symbian�s list of OS 9.1 advantages are covered in the seminars on the second day. Platform Security is probably the biggest benefit to a change to OS 9.1, but there has been a lot of classic FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) spread about the threat of malware and viruses. And while that is all acknowledged, it should also be acknowledged that a lot of what�s going on now in the OS will help the general market feel comfortable with Symbian OS driving more and more capable smartphones.

DRM is the other hot topic and is covered in the last seminar � it doesn�t have any competition in the form of another seminar choice, so they�re hoping everyone will head on over to the Digital Rights Management one. The rights and wrongs of DRM could fill an entire web site on their own; needless to say it is something that�s going to be around in Symbian OS and impacting on a lot of user issues in the next year.

Developer Seminars

Not everyone is going to need the in-depth, paid Developer Training that�s on offer. Spread over three �tracks� and two days the free Developer Seminars are going to give the majority of mobile developers enough of an info dump to keep them happy for a very long time.

User Experience and Applications concentrates on what you give to the user, in terms of interface. What expectations they have and the challenges in delivering these solutions to the user.
Developing with Symbian Tools and Platforms looks at how you write these programs. Day one takes a broad strokes look at the tools and both Series 60 and UIQ, while day two focuses on what to do once the application is written, with information on Symbian Signed, Developer Certificates and the new Symbian Accreditation program taking centre stage.
Enterprise Streams looks at practical ways of using Symbian OS powered smartphones in the real world, how to use them to create profitable business solutions, and the intriguingly titled �Breaking the Executive Ceiling for Mobile Email.�

Most companies with a few developers are going to send one to each stream. The single user/developer is going to have to sit with the program (online here)�and decide which are the most important to his/her projects so they can jump between the streams as needed.

Wrapping It Up

While all the big noise and announcements are going to be front of house, the real stars of The Smartphone Show 2006 (assuming they don�t go and change the name yet again) are going to be squirreled away in the training rooms. It�s to Symbian�s credit that these are organised to go alongside the exhibitions, even if it does mean that the dedicated programmer only gets an hour to have both their lunch and a look round the exhibit hall!

Visto Interview - An OTA Sync That Works?

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:32:01 +0100

Sitting on a beachfront terrace, with an ice-cold orange juice on the table, the warm sun beating down on you, and the lapping waves just at the edge of your hearing is a lovely way to spend late February. In the back of my mind, though, is the idea that I�m going to need to do some of that reporting stuff so Rafe signs my expenses claim. Luckily, I�m sitting with Steve Maynard from Visto, who�s Over the Air synchronising solution looks fast, and more importantly, looks like it actually works.

"Visto enables access to your emails, contacts and calendar data, all from your mobile handset," explains Steve. "Commercial users and companies can synchronise data on MS-Exchange and Lotus Domino back ends, while individual users are supported either through synchronising with a POP3 account (possibly from an ISP) or the contents and calendar data from a PC that�s always connected." With broadband becoming more ubiquitous, that actually makes the idea of constant synchronising over the air as something that can have benefits. There�s still going to be a huge percentage of users that don�t need sync capabilities when they�re out and about (just a good backup / sync when they get into bluetooth range of their home PC). For those where the receipt of email, and having their diary always to hand is critical, then this could be the answer.

Visto are a company of nearly 200 staff, so their route to market is a direct consequence of this. The �Visto Mobile� solution, be it the Business or Personal flavour, will only be available through your Network Operator. "This was a conscious decision to not fight in the marketplace and the retail market. Rather than get involved with a huge number of resellers and distributors, going through the Networks allows us to introduce this idea, and grow the mass market adoption of immediate access and delivery of information." Steve points out the success of the RIM Blackberry in the Financial Markets, and watching everyone at 3GSM, it would be fair to say that the �Crackberrry� was probably the second or third most popular device being used in anger. "If you have a mobile from your business, it should not just be for voice calls," says Steve, "97% of North American users have said that email is their primary mode of communication. So we�ve focussed on those areas, chosen this route, and we�re doing very nicely."

"We�ve announced publicly 9 Networks who are going to be offering the Visto Mobile solution, including AT&T, Nextel and Rogers in the USA. We supply a Visto component that the Networks licence and run in their data system." So the only way for an end-user to get Visto Mobile is through their Network? "That�s right. The solution can be branded by the Operator [There�s the �operator branding� line again � it�s a popular refrain from 3GSM this year - Rafe], and they sell it onto their customers, along with any subscription charge or GPRS offers. We�ll be announcing more partners throughout this year, and we will have many European and UK networks in there."

The big question, given the reputation of Symbian as regards syncing, is does it work? Yes is the simple answer. One of the strengths of Visto Mobile is that it uses the built in applications rather than a custom client. So using email for an example, the Nokia 9500 Messaging application has a new �Email� box, that is treated (by the application) as if you had created another POP3 or IMAP box. In fact, this Visto box talks with the Visto server, and in it will be displayed the emails in your Exchange / Domino box, home PC or ISP�s email account. When you read an email, it�s obviously marked as �read� on your device, but the email on Exchange (or wherever) is also marked as read, so when you get to your work PC, you can see what still needs doing.

[I�ve taken out this section because we don�t have a specific timeframe that we are giving for features such as syncing of sub-folders and we don�t sync the "Sent Mail" folder. It�s slightly misleading; we ensure that a record of all mails sent from the phone are stored in the sent folder on the phone and also on the PC; what we don�t do is keeping a record of all mails sent from the PC, in the sent folder on the phone. Probably easier to leave it out.]

Don�t forget that all this is happening not when you touch a button or start a program, but whenever your device is in GPRS coverage � it�s a constantly syncing solution, so when an email arrives, it�s instantly pushed onto your device. "People have an understanding and expectation of email delivery," Steve points out. "They expect it to be instant. So what we have here is a bit like a Blackberry, but with a much higher level of integration into Symbian OS than any other solution.

Visto Mobile doesn�t use SyncML in the current version. While it did so in a previous build, it now employs a custom solution. It makes the Visto platform much more flexible, and has the advantage of dropping the bandwidth requirement by 80%. Still, Visto Mobile is going to be pushing around a lot of data � how much is our GPRS bill going to be Steve? "For a regular user, it�s not going to be more than a few megabytes a month." Even on European data tariffs, that�s still a surprisingly affordable amount for what�s on offer. "Everything is run through your corporate spam filter, and we never push attachments automatically. We tell you they are there, and if you want them, you can pull them down individually, but we don�t see people using this service having a need to pull down a huge number of attachments in any case." When they are downloaded, they�re handled just like any standard email attachment, and can be opened with the built in viewers on each platform."

The Visto Mobile solution promises much, and from what was on show at 3GSM, it delivers where it needs. Being able to have the same information on your PC and on your mobile, and knowing that no matter where you are, the information will be in sync (or at least sync the next time you get into GPRS coverage), means that you can forget about having to actively check, or remember to connect to your PC. You can just get on with your working day, safe in the knowledge that while Visto may be �invisible� to you it�s keeping you and your data visible no matter where you are. If the support from the Networks can get this into the hands of people who will genuinely find it useful, then Visto are onto a winner.

Links of Interest

Visto Homepage.

The Smartphone Show 2005, Previewing Symbian and The Handsets

Tue, 27 Sep 2005 14:27:48 +0100

Here we go again. Every year we all gather at the ExCeL centre in London�s Docklands to find out what�s been going on and what�s going to happen with Symbian OS in the next 12 months. There�ll be disappointments, shocks, and decisions that seem ludicrous. But there will also be welcome surprises, possibly official word on some new phones, and more opportunities for developers, vendors, operators and manufacturers to make more money.

The biggest news is either going to be "Sony Ericsson P1000 Breaks Cover" or "Sony Ericsson P1000 Missing Presumed Having A Good Time." While Nokia have their anticipated next generation Series 60 phones and a new model almost every quarter, the SE phones, running UIQ, have a stronger association with Symbian OS than any other, by virtue of Symbian owning UIQ (the company).�An official appearance of some new hardware at The Smartphone Show is a must for the credibility of both Sony Ericsson and Symbian.

Symbian�s credibility also rests in a large part on Symbian OS 9.1, and the third version of UIQ, being available. With UIQ 3.0 announced in February 2004, it has used up all the goodwill due to it, and then some. Unless it�s actually running on devices that attendees can hold and experience, then the industry will probably consign it to the scrap heap. I�m not asking for units to be on sale at the door, but seeing it running on actual hardware, with a shipping date, will calm the markets enough.

Symbian OS 9.1 is another tricky one, with its rewritten kernel�to handle both telecomms and�general handheld�functions, and with a mass of new�library calls (APIs) and functions.�There are architectural changes that developers are going to need to get to grips with, so expect most of them to be squirrelled away in the small dark corners of technology seminars.

How much�credibility should be placed in�malicious programs, viruses and trojan applications is still a strong point of contention between industry commentators and software developers. But even if the risk is theoretical, OS 9.1 takes a number of steps to limit the effects of �evil programs� at the API level (around 40% are restricted). The Symbian Signed program is due an overhaul to take it away from the �complete lock down� it has previously threatened to implement, to something that is workable across the board, from freeware developer to massive third party software houses. Expect some not insignificant reworking of the Symbian Signed program.

Beyond hoping that Hermione (the code name for the P1000) turns up, what can we expect from the other handset manufacturers? The short answer is not a lot. In previous years the Symbian Show has never been the place for a high profile launch, companies preferring to either run their own event or launch at a large scale event such as 3GSM. Although there may be one or two models from the smaller licencees, Nokia will hold back anything big for the Nokia Mobility Conference in November. It�s a shame Sendo left us so suddenly, because the X2 would probably have been in the stores for a month or so and been one of the star performers on the exhibition floor.

We�ll be taking a look at the show floor, some of the companies at the Smartphone Show, and what they could be showing off in our next preview.

Take a Picture, Post It On The Web. MoblogUK Interview

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:00:46 +0100

You�ve all heard of TypePad, Movable Type, Blogger and other blogging sites that host your blogs. You might even realise that All About Symbian host Symbian Diaries for people�s blogs if you ask us nicely. But one of the new types of services that camera/smartphones have allowed to explode in the last year are Moblogs, and one of the leading UK entrants in the Moblogging sites you can sign up to is MoblogUK. Alfie Dennen and Mat Brown head up the site. We caught up with Alfie to ask what moblogging is all about. But firstly, who is Alfie?

"I'm very interested in mobile, I�m a skateboarder, I'm about as old as my nose and a little older than my teeth. I head up the mobile division at www.streamuk.com in my day job."

So what�s moblogging? "In the strictest sense it is blogging from a mobile device," he explains. "The term moblogging is now typically used to describe the sending of images or video from a mobile device." So why do we need a new name, surely this is just blogging, but with content other than text? "It depends on how you look at it I think." Alfie thinks for a minute� "Some people use their moblogs as their personal blog, but mostly people are sending up images from their mobiles to keep a sort of image based diary of their lives, or to share their lives with friends (and increasingly, with strangers!). A moblog differs most from a blog by being an activity that brings you closer to your mobile device, and links your use of it to the web, and a larger audience."

Of course, Alfie doesn�t just talk about the theoreticals of moblogging. With MoblogUK, he�s behind one of the fastest growing moblog sites in the world. Tell us a bit about the site. "MoblogUK is very community oriented. If you look at the way people are using moblogging to share images, you realise that the online community aspect to the activity is what keeps people interested and moblogging. MoblogUK is full of sharp, savvy, helpful and incredibly funny people. Once you start moblogging, you'll have friends for life in under a week, I know I did.

"MoblogUK fits into the global idea of moblogging in a slightly different way to most other moblogging sites I think. Most moblogging sites are (understandably, we all need to eat) about money, and using the members to make it. From the outset of this project, Mat and I wanted the site to be as member led, and free as possible."

"When we set up MoblogUK, Mat and I were using other moblog sites, and time after time we were coming up against mindless censorship; the craziest terms and conditions that were essentially saying that the service provider owned my usage patterns, my name, all my images and so on. As users of moblog sites, we decided to do it the way it should be done; ad-free, a totally free service, and the user gets the right to maintain ownership of their work and everything else. Plus, we're a lot more fun than anywhere else, and we give away the best prizes!

"As it stands now, the site carries no advertising and is totally donation supported. We also offer creative commons licenses for people to use for their images/videos, as most moblogging sites take complete ownership of your content once you've signed up. The one thing that really defines the site is its members; creative and dedicated to the site, it's members have made MoblogUK the number one moblog site in the UK and Europe.

MoblogUK. Not MoblogTheWorld. Can I use it from outside the UK? Alife nods enthusiastically, "Absolutely. The reason we remained being called MoblogUK was in fact due to our members; After we came out of beta testing we asked site users what they thought and they decided that they'd like to keep the name. We have users all over the world, from Brazil to Japan."

So how would our readers get started using MoblogUK? "The first step is just to visit the site and sign up for a moblog. It's entirely free, and easy to do. Once you've signed up, you can simply MMS or email pictures from your phone directly to your moblog. If you haven�t yet used MMS, your network will guide you through setting it up very quickly."

What�s next? "Well, that would be telling surely. There are some site developments coming up soon that will add a lot of value to the sites users, some madcap technical wizardry that Mat is developing - I'd love to tell you, but there we are. We�re in a good place in the market, and we have some excellent relationships with the major handset vendors, which includes running moblogs dedicated to showing only the imaging capabilities of new handsets (http://moblog.co.uk/phonecam_test.php)."

They have also done competitions for handsets, one was a design contest for the site itself, inviting it's members to redesign the site as they'd like it, with Motorola offering up prizes (http://moblog.co.uk/thethemes.php). Another contest was in conjunction with Sony Ericsson and the art of imaging contest (www.theartofimaging.com/blog.cfm) which turned into a print exhibition at Proud Galleries.

Alfie, thanks for your time. Once more, what�s the URL for our readers?

"http://moblog.co.uk/"

The Casualties of Christmas Past

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:48:20 +0100

Around twenty years ago after my first Cub Scouts meeting I accidently bumped into my lifelong passion in the den leader's den: video games. I sat at his well-aged Atari 2600 for hours playing Boxing, Combat, Night Driver, and a host of others. I was instantly addicted. Later on in the 80s I bought into Nintendo, and then Sega, and even NEC. I was endlessly enthralled with the interactive stories and worlds that unfolded for me every time I jammed in a new cartridge. The challenges were real to me and the passion was heightened when it all went portable for me at the end of 1989 with Nintendo's Game Boy.

The Game Boy was ugly, bulky, and pretty expensive but my god the joy for a 1989 boy. I was speechless as I stared at it in the Toy 'R' Us display. Just the idea that I could take all the goodness of my NES on the road was earth-shattering and the blurry, grayscale, 4-bit, pixel graphics didn't even get a thought. I played Tetris till my thumbs were sore. I played Motocross Maniacs and Batman. I was enthralled. I played and played and played. I had seen the Lynx around but it had no games and I had seen that Bonk kid everywhere but I couldn't afford one of those NEC systems.

About a year and a half later I saw Sega's Game Gear and I said, "wow!". I liked Sega and they'd done all right by me with their Genesis so I figured maybe it was time to try something new. I saved my allowance and earnings from mowing lawns and bought a used one along with Sonic. The batteries died in 2 hours and I sold it within two weeks. I was back to my Game Boy and Final Fantasy asking myself why I ever left.

The point? As a gamer in the pre-hype era I lived through the first major portable gaming war without realizing there was one on and for me, like everyone else, it was all about the games and the user experience. Has that changed? No, not much and I expect it never will. Marketing, the internet and the modern super hype machines haven't really changed the basic equation at all despite how loudly everyone now blows their own horns. In fact, all they've really done is accelerated the process of judgment.

So what does all this mean for the current portables war (only really the second ever)? Well, maybe a lot. George Santayana famously said that "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it," and I think comparing past systems to current ones says a lot for what has or hasn't been learned and as well what might occur again. To that end let's look at all the fallen, why they fell, to who they fall, and then see if we can extract some trends.

Atari's Lynx

For people who started gaming pre-Nintendo there was no bigger name than Atari. They were the biggest name in the arcades and home systems right through to Nintendo's rise and were even originally approached by Nintendo as the US distributors of the NES (they refused - oops!). Their entry into portable consoles was the often emulated, rarely owned, Lynx.

Pros

Huge Backlit Color Screen
Extremely Powerful (More so than the home consoles of it's era)
Handedness Independent (Left or right handed play at a whim)
Supreme Multiplayer Experience

Cons

Too Big
Poor Battery Life (3-5 hours)
Weak Name Brand
No Killer Apps
Low Game Quality Standards

Atari's Lynx line of handhelds despite being more powerful than Nintendo's home system of the time with a larger screen than the Game Boy, a backlight, color graphics and a multiplayer experience allowing 4 times as many simultaneous players was beaten down by the lowly little 4 bit Game Boy with its ugly screen. Atari was financially too weak in the early 90's to continue pushing their unloved Lynx and the lack of killer apps sealed its fate because all the advertisements and shelf space in the world would not make it fun without them. Atari cancelled the Lynx in favor of trying to regain home console market share with their Jaguar, which itself along with Atari later died.

NEC's Turbo Express

While NEC wasn't a major player in US gaming circa 1988 they were a strong contender in Asia. Their PC-Engine line was a strong number 2 in the marketplace and with broad developer support and stronger hardware they seemed destined to walk in and own the US market. They launched their PC-Engine, renamed TurboGrafx-16, in the states in 1989 and followed it almost immediately with their stunningly powerful Turbo Express. Unbelievable to the gamers of the era the Turbo Express played the exact same games as the home system, not cut down ports on a different medium, but the exact same games. Awesome!

Pros

Backlit Color Screen
Extremely Powerful (Comparable to the home consoles of it's era)
First Portable Ever To Play Actual Home Console Games

Cons

Too Expensive (349 USD)
Too Big
Bad Battery Life (1.5 - 2.5 hours)
Weak Brand Name
Poor Distribution
No Killer Apps
Weak Launch

NEC despite their strength in Asia had a really hard time in the states. Developers were content with the NES and later Genesis and NEC couldn't get enough system sales to make them change their tune. In addition NEC's marketing poorly educated the consumer as to their confusing TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx CD, and Turbo Express lines and where they all fit together. When 300+ price tags were added into the mix it just kept consumers away. Gamers were happy with their Game Boys and Nintendo Entertainment Systems and at the cost of the NEC offerings really had no incentive to move over. NEC would continue their failures in the US before withdrawing to Asia and later signing off with their swan song, the PC-FX.

Sega's Game Gear

By 1991 there were few companies out there who could stand against Nintendo in video gaming. In fact there was really only one, and that was Sega. Despite the pretty broad failure of their Master System, Sega persevered and released the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive if you've got culture). When it surprised many and started to take off Sega decided it was time to parlay their success and follow Nintendo into portables. They recycled the architecture of their Master System, fit it to a decent screen, and the Game Gear was born.

Pros

Backlit Color Screen (One of the biggest of it's age)
Powerful
Killers Apps
Strong Brand Name
Recycled an Architecture Developers Were Familiar With

Cons

Too Big
Poor Battery Life (2.5-4.5 hours)

Perhaps the most interesting system in this article, the Game Gear was actually a success. While it never managed to dethrone the Game Boy it retailed for several years and managed a following of both users and developers. Ultimately though it fell by the wayside and was forgotten as the interesting apps began to taper off and expectedly consumer interest waned.

Sega's Nomad

When the Game Gear started to become stale many wondered if it was the end of Sega portables. Sega decided it definitely was not and brought the Nomad to market. This uber powerful portable remained the most powerful portable of all time for years. With the Nomad Sega basically did what they had done years before on the Game Gear and just recycled the architecture of their previous home console, this time the Genesis.

Pros

Huge Backlit Color Screen
Extremely Powerful
Strong Brand Name
Recycled an Architecture Developers Were Familiar With
Only The Second Portable To Allow Mobile Play of Actual Home Console Games

Cons

Too Big
Bad Battery Life (2-4 hours)
Ineffective Marketing

If there were lessons to be learned from the Game Gear and it's inability to take the market by storm it seems Sega didn't learn them. The problems of the Game Gear were revisited on the Nomad tenfold. Where the Game Gear was a little too big the Nomad was WAY too big. Where the Game Gear needed too many batteries and they didn't last long enough, the Nomad didn't even have an internal compartment for batteries and could suck them dry like nobody's business. Predictably this confused design combined with ineffective marketing led the Nomad nowhere. It was dead even as it hit the shelves and never amounted to anything in the portable market.

Tiger's Game.com

Tiger Electronics of 1997 was an aging dinosaur. Their primary claim to fame were a host of pocket LCD games and their line of R-Zone systems neither of which were spectacular money makers especially in the era of the Game Boy when mobile gaming could be so much more. Even Tiger knew it's days were numbered if they didn't make a change. The change they made was their Game.com, a programmable cartridge based gaming system with dual cartridge slots, online capabilities, and portable gaming's first touch screen.

Pros

Inexpensive
First Touch Screen In Mobile Gaming (I don't count PDAs)
First Dual Slot
First Online Score Compares
First System To Integrate The Internet
Integrated PDA Functions

Cons

Too Big
Underpowered
No Killer Apps
No Clear Market For The Device
Low Game Quality Standards
Weak Launch

Affectionately referred to as the Game.bomb online the Game.com was just exactly that, a bomb. Tiger lined up some big name franchises and appeared to have some chance but after two years of retail the Game.com proved it just didn't have enough. To give credit where credit is due Tiger showed dedication to their system revamping it with a follow up, the Game.com Pocket Pro, but by 1999 Tiger was on its last legs and the Game.com line with it. In the end the Pocket Pro versions did no better than the original and Tiger was quietly absorbed by Mattel only to be dismantled and never heard from again.

SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color

If you were an arcade gamer in the early 90s, SNK was a name you knew. They had several big franchises and more than a few recognizable characters in their stable. They also made a huge impression on game freaks like myself with the release of the Neo Geo Home System (Yes, I owned and own one) which sported the same hardware as their arcade units and played pixel perfect versions of its games. SNK also turned heads when they marched into portable gaming at the end of the 90s. Despite their strained finances and aging arcade hardware SNK tightened their belts and moved on the portable gaming market in Japan. At the time Game Boy was all but unchallenged and very tech weak. SNK put their thinking caps on and released the Neo Geo Pocket. In very short order it started making decent numbers in Japan. With truly awe-inspiring ambition they set their sights on globalizing the product. They took their award winning design, updated it with color graphics and went global, releasing in Europe, the US, and Japan almost simultaneously. Damn they had a pair!

Pros

Award Winning Design
First Internal Battery Backup (For implementing instant on and off auto saves and loads)
Good Battery Life
Powerful
Tons Of Killer Apps
Good Distribution
Good Brand Name

Cons

Poor Third Party Support
Poor Financial Backing

SNK despite their tremendous brass balls, solid design, and horde of big name titles was just not strong enough for the competition. The Neo Geo Pocket Color did sell well and had a good chance but in the end SNKs finances were not such that they could survive a long war of attrition with Nintendo and with the threat of Nintendo's Game Boy Advance on the horizon decided to bow out gracefully after only a few short months. The Neo Geo Pocket Color was SNKs final contribution to gaming before a long series of mergers and movements that ended them as a series of intellectual properties owned by the Korean firm Playmore.

Nokia's N-Gage

Cell phones are a growing technology, one that is absorbing other technologies as time goes on and redefining what it is to include them. It is relentless and unstoppable and to quote the Borg of Star Trek fame "resistance is futile". The technologies currently being absorbed: PDAs, digital cameras and MP3 players. Nokia knows this and is pursuing the adaption of their phones, but Nokia is going one step further and attacking the next generation of devices, portable gaming machines. Their first feeler in that direction, The N-Gage.

Pros

Extremely Versatile Device
Powerful
First 3D Capable Portable Gaming Device
First Wireless Multiplayer Implementation
First Integration of Cellular Technologies
Built-In MP3 Player
Open Development Environment (Want to develop for it, download and get to it)

Cons

Too Expensive
Poor Distribution
Weak Launch
No Killer Apps
Weak Design

Nokia were new to gaming and showed it so clearly here. Their design was massively flawed and they seriously overestimated demand with no justification for their stance. While the marketing blitz did get Nokia and the N-Gage talked about the fact that Nokia only gave people bad things to say was detrimental and resulted in lackluster sales generally accepted to be in the neighborhood of 500,000 units worldwide. Not as much a failure as a learning process the N-Gage was replaced as immediately as possible by Nokia's N-Gage QD.

The Unconquered

All of these systems, each and every one fell to an iteration of Nintendo's Game Boy or the overwhelming control it had over market and mind share. The Game Boy was neither more powerful, nor more capable than them in any consistent way. Quite to the contrary each and every one of them (except the Game.com), was significantly more powerful than the Game Boy it was competing against. The Game Boy line's amazing success for the most part seems consistently attributable to the fact that it was more portable than the competition (read that as smaller with better battery life), was widely accepted as the standard by which portable gaming should be measured and always had at least equally compelling content.

Between The Lines Sleeps A Dragon

Now if you're a careful reader and have an analytical mind you already know the conclusions one must draw from this history of the fallen, but I'm going to try and spell them out here so we're all on the same page for next time. Under the assumption that the above statements can all be agreed upon I see portable gaming success and failure as extensions of three basic concepts: portability, believability, and the user experience.

Portability, The Name of the Game

The most obvious, but stunningly the most overlooked factor here is portability. If a "portable" weighs as much as my TV and wouldn't fit in anything short of a backpack is it really portable? If the batteries powering a "portable" last just long enough to get me to the store for another pack of batteries is it really portable? I say no and no along with every other sane gamer out there and might I add Nintendo, but it would seem that time and time again massive gaming companies who should have known better have somehow missed the most basic of concept in PORTABLE gaming: making your system portable.

Believability Isn't Just For Con Men

Equally important but more difficult to quantify, perhaps explain, and certainly to gain is believability. Name brand is part of it, marketing figures in, hitting release dates seems to be a factor, but what exactly is it? To me it's nothing less than faith. People don't have unlimited resources and if companies want gamers to spend their money on a portable entertainment device they need to prove to gamers that that money will not have gone to waste. They need the gamers to believe in them, to trust them, to have faith in their ability to provide what has been promised.

Using Your Users

And finally, if you want to use the users to get rich then you must give the users a user experience that they like and want to continue being a part of. The games must be good, the system must feel right, the process of acquiring the system must be smooth and comfortable. Every stage of involvement should be one where the user is rewarded with feelings of joy and achievement. The purchase of a game should not be a struggle to find a retailer or manage shipping, but should instead by a situation of being overwhelmed by options with only a modest investment of time. Starting a game should not be a long series of frustrating procedures, it should simply be a desire satiated on command.

Now with all this percolating under your hair I would like to humbly request your ear again in Part 2 of our write up where we sit down and talk about everything there is to talk about with respect to Nokia's N-Gage QD, Nintendo's Nintendo DS, Sony's much hyped PlayStation Portable, and portable gaming's second great war. Hope to see you then.

Glimmerati Preview

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:37:49 +0100

E3 is when you announce things. Big things. Things that make the industry sit up and take notice. And Nokia�s N-Gage press team is no exception. Last year, they had the N-Gage QD to show off, and they were trailing another of Nokia�s own titles, Glimmerati. It was pretty hard to work out exactly what the game was, apart from the fact it had a lot of money spent on it, and it was a driving game.

Eleven months later, we catch up with the Producer of Glimmerati to find out about the game, and�the delay which means it�s still labelled as coming soon at the next E3. "We take perfection seriously, deadpans Jussi Laakonen (MD of Bugbear, the developers behind Glimmerati) when I ask him about the delay. "Coming with a great game takes time. It�s not been the easiest of projects, but it has been very rewarding." The delays aren�t all down to development issues, there are marketing considerations and release slots to consider as well. At the end of the day though, Glimmerati will get out on MMC, and Bugbear wants it to be a classic.

So what is Glimmerati? It�s more than a Driving Game, as Jussi is quick to point out. "There�s very few racing games, apart from possibly Driv3r, that have a strong storyline to go alongside the game. One of the things we wanted to do was create a good experience, all round, in Glimmerati. So we�ve concentrated on giving the player what they expect in a glamorous driving game. There are fast cars, beautiful ladies, and hi speed racing in exotic locations." The production team has been out in force with cameras and tape measures to get the best looking levels possible. You�ll be racing in Paris, Monaco, Milan and the middle of the Mediterranean.

The look of the game is one that seems to ape the Super Sprint top down look, but pulling back ever so slightly to get the 3d effect in. "This is mainly so you can see what�s coming up on the road ahead," explains Jussi. It�s rather like watching from a helicopter just behind and above your car.

The storyline itself sees you inherit a huge amount of money from a dying Uncle. But to get the social status that you believe you deserve, you need to start at the bottom of the Glimmerati Club, and slowly ascend through your driving skills and relations with other characters until you (hopefully) become accepted into the inner circle.

Of course Stanley Kubrick could plot the story, but if the actual driving game itself isn�t up to scratch then the whole concept fails rather quickly. So while the idea of uploading your "Clubcard" Diary to the N-Gage Arena sounds great in theory (as does fastest lap times, race times, and a gallery of the prizes you have won), it all comes down to the game. If the car handles well, then we could have a huge hit on our hands� or another Crash Nitro Kart. Given Bugbear�s past history of racing games on mobile platforms, I�m pretty hopeful.

Glimmerati is now scheduled for release in July 2005.

More screenshots and info on the Glimmerati AAN Games Page.

N-Gage, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS. What Do We Really Think?

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:33:00 +0100

If you've made it all the way to this third and final article in our write up on portable gaming's second great war you will certainly have noticed that while I am not at all short on opinions I haven't made any final conclusions on the outcome. That I saved for today, but before I stick my foot in my mouth I want to play a game with you the reader. I'm going to put forth 3 scenarios, one for each of the systems currently in play whereby it wins this war, and I want you to read them all and see which seems most likely to you. Deal? Good. Play ball!

Scenario 1 - When Pigs Fly - An N-Gage Story

The N-Gage now moving steady at 100,000+ units a month continues its climb up from the 2003 fiasco and by E3 2005 has moved over 2 million units. The PSP on the other hand despite it's seemingly strong start has become the system everyone loves to hate. In a backlash reaction to the enormous pre-release hype the press and eventually gamers have started heaping their frustrations on Sony's bid at portable gaming starting first with a wave of "that's it" followed quickly with heaping helpings of "you better be joking". Sony manages an underachiever's 3 million unit sales and looks to be in danger. The DS continues its climb leading right into E3 2005 with a total system sales count of 5 million units despite competition and a lack of killer apps.

E3 2005 as it often does brings some serious surprises. Nokia announce several exciting new games and developers, and then turn some heads unveiling their new revision of the N-Gage line, the N-Gage Px. This redesigned QD builds in a 2 megapixel camera and will retail alongside the QD at just 50 USD more. The press is impressed and general responses are very positive. Nintendo also shocks audiences with the unveiling of their surprise Game Boy successor the Game Boy Revolution for release in November of 2005 worldwide. It is in fact the Game Cube in a portable. The DS suddenly is seen for the delaying tactic it was to buy time against the PSP and the fallout is hell for both Nintendo portables. Sony also shows at E3 with more of their ho-hum PS2 ports and under-impresses gamers with the lack of compelling content to match their premium pricing.

Through the rest of 2005 Nokia continues it's climb at an accelerated 250,000+ units per month ending the year at 4.25 million units. Sony continues their unimpressive sluggish semi-horizontal movement and makes only 4.1 million units by the calendar year of 2006. Nintendo losses bad after their loyalty damaging announcement and developers bail on the DS causing it's spiraling fall. The GBR makes it to market and racks up a below expectations 800,000 units. The redistributed developers favor heavily the N-Gage in current systems and the Gizmondo for future ones since they were burned by PSP and DS development. By the middle of 2006 the N-Gage line has continued it's climb to 6 million units, the PSP has been cancelled and the GBE has achieved 4 million units. The Gizmondo finally launched worldwide at a whopping 350 USD fails miserably achieving only 700,000 sales.

Scenario 2 - Nintendo Now and Forever

Nintendo being the leader out of the gate maintains it's front position all the way into E3 with a healthy 8 million worldwide unit sales. Sony comes in a distant second with 4 million units as of E3 and Nokia sadly struggles on for a still distant 2 million units and third place.

E3 as expected sees lots of announcements the most surprising of which is the arrival of the Gizmondo with good developer support, good battery life, and reasonable 200 USD price point. The post-E3 buzz is dominated by talk of the Gizmondo and it gets poised for a strong Summer release.

Sony in response to the Giz drops their price another 50 USD and is now taking a 250 USD per sale hit for the PSP. Nintendo also responds with a price drop putting the DS at 99 USD, their cost. Sales see a lot of swelling on the Nintendo side pushing it to just under 10 million units but the PSP remains sluggish as the Giz appears to be all the PSP has to offer with better portability. Nokia labors on and gets to 3.4 million despite neigh-sayers and starts to become a clear contender because of it's niche market.

Christmas 2005 sees the first casualty of the war. Sony sales plummet after the Giz hits shelves worldwide and costs are too high for Sony to maintain the product. Deciding to focus on the home market where they have done better Sony pulls the plug on the PSP in late September. The Giz and N-Gage lines benefit greatly with an influx of developer interest and both fight for second place with sales in the neighborhood of 10 million units. The DS however is the clear winner now having amassed 18 million sales and put great distance between it and the competition.

Scenario 3 - Sony Repeats Itself

Despite all the best efforts of Nintendo and Nokia the interest in Sony's portable is unstoppable. From day one of the US launch demand outstrips supply and by E3 the PSP has moved 7 million units worldwide. The DS not totally down and out has also moved forward to a close 6.5 million units. They are neck and neck and Nokia is trailing far behind with 2 million sales.

E3 comes with some major announcements by the big players. The Giz still absent becomes a joke at the show and Nokia shows promise with an N-Gage 2 in the works for late in the year, but Sony steals the show with their new PSP online services and software announcements. Nintendo doesn't disappoint with a Zelda announcement for DS but in general seems unable to muster great support for the DS and it's momentum seems broken.

As E3 leads to Summer and Summer to Christmas the rise of Sony becomes even more pronounced. By the year's end Sony's PSP has driven through to 11 million sales far surpassing Nintendo's 9 million and absolutely dominating Christmas press and sales numbers worldwide. Sony has done it again and again Nintendo is worse off for Sony's success.

So, which did you choose? To me they all seem plausible, but there's something important that's left out of all those and the reason this was a three part article: portability, believability, and the user experience.

The First Crown of The Evening

It should be pretty damn obvious who wins for portability even if you are oblivious and obsessed with one of these devices. For portability the N-Gage line sits firmly on top. It rules in battery life, physical size, and even in the mobile accessibility of it's online gaming. The silver here goes certainly to the DS. Size wise I'd say the PSP and the DS are a wash but in battery life the DS is much better for the mobile minded. Last place goes to Sony here. While I don't think it's size is out of the range of acceptability for a portable (only slightly larger than a Game Boy Color) that battery life is a cruel joke. What were they thinking? No one would have been upset if the screen was just a little smaller to save on battery life and fix some design issues. Too bad because it's the only major flaw in their design.

Who Do You Trust?

George Thorogood put forth the question "who do you love?" and that is in play here but the bigger question is "who do you believe?" For me I've been using an N-Gage since 2003 and I have no problem with Nokia, but the rest of the world can't say the same. For most they have no reason to believe in Nokia and their efforts. Some of last year's killer apps and those in the pipe for this year look solid but can anyone hear them over the noise of Sony and Nintendo? I say no. As much as I'd like to believe Nokia can get through to gamers this year I think there's too much static right now for anything but a miracle to break the rhetoric. In my mind this means the title for "Most Believable" has to go to Sony or Nintendo. At this point I'm handing it to Nintendo. While Sony has some nice games announced, the current spread is what I call one week boring (all boring within a week) and Nintendo has a wider range available. Their name brands are roughly equal in consumer moving power but the games announced and available favor Nintendo so they are getting the crown for believability from me. Second place I hand to Sony who are no further than one big release away from the lead here but are still behind in a real way.

In Hand Silences The Competition

The final factor of importance to me is the user experience and on this one the N-Gage comes in last place again I'm afraid. While the games are solid, entertaining and plentiful, the availability of them is as sad a joke as the PS2 Toy Story graphics statements Sony famously made before it's launch. Nokia has made headway to some extent in this arena but they still aren't getting shelf space in most outlets and are just not well positioned in comparison to the PSP and DS. The question again becomes Nintendo or Sony and again it's a wash. I am however going to give this one to Nintendo again because the prices of the games and system are much friendlier to the consumer interested in a DS (or that consumer's parents). For the cost of a PSP sans game you can have a DS and one or two games. You could also just pick up the system, continue enjoying some of your older GBA or GBC/GB games and only be out 150 USD to Sony's 250 USD with no content.

Scoring The Crown

As I am not a coward I'm not going to simply hide behind the scores above, but as a point of note I will total them tournament style so you can draw your own conclusions. With a simple 3 points for a 1st, 2 for a 2nd, and 1 for a 3rd the above totals out with Nintendo's DS leading at 8 points and both Sony's PSP and Nokia's N-Gage QD with 5 points each in a tie for second. If you believe the portable market would only support two devices at most then an adjusted scale that gives no points for placing 3rd would have the DS still leading with 8 but Sony in second with 4 and Nokia far behind with a minimal 3 points. As I said I have no intention of hiding behind the observations above so let's make some enemies.

The Crystal Ball Tells All

First, I don't think Nokia's N-Gage line has one thing to worry about here and neither do it's users. While they are at risk of loosing their distribution channels with poor placement in the battle ahead their device is by virtue of it's versatility and cell phone functionality very well insulated from the rise and fall of portable gaming devices within the portable gaming marketplace. While I love both my DS and my PSP it is my QD that I carry each and every day because I need my PDA and my cell almost every time I'm out. Does this mean the N-Gage will take the top spot? Most definitely not but I do think it's response to negative reaction is and will continue to be weaker. I also believe because of this versatility it will continue to sell without needing to cannibalize competing system sales to generate it's own. The only risk for the line and it's supporters is the possible need to adapt the distribution of the system and it's titles to more non-traditional methods in the event of absolute defeat in retail outlets.

Second, while I do believe Nintendo's DS is the best bet for a "winner" in this battle because of its sales lead, software selection, pricing and battery life, Sony is not as far behind as their sales numbers to date might indicate and the battle between the PSP and the DS is game for game fight. If developers really focus they can design software for the PSP that will not burn unnecessary battery power with UMD spin ups and bloated coding that burns CPU cycles. Of course by the same token focused developers could be making great touch/dual screen applications for the DS or awesome software rendering engines for the N-Gage, which I would say as programming challenges are much more approachable. Besides, developers in general are an overworked bunch already pushed way too far by their management's unrealistic goals, so going further in code/software design to carry the PSP's limping battery is just not likely to happen with anything but sequels and engine retrofit releases (i.e. Quake 3 becomes Return To Wolfenstein).

Chris' Closing Thought

So my final words on this are: Nintendo continues it's reign if they can deliver the goods with releases starting now and leading right through to 2006, Sony will revisit the history Game Gear wrote and run a moderately successful second for as long as it is economically feasible for them to do so, and the N-Gage will continue to climb in sales numbers regardless of what happens with the other two big players because a great number of PSP and DS owners are going to need a new cell and there is no better cell out there for a gamer than the N-Gage.

In short, buy an N-Gage to replace your cell, enjoy it and what you have, and DEFINITELY wait a few months to see how software and Christmas pricing pan-out before you burn yourself with early adoption. Much love from me to you and with that I'm out.

Charles Weir (Penrillian) Interview

Mon, 26 Sep 2005 15:20:52 +0100

You can keep your high profile software companies churning out amazing looking graphical games, and visibly driving Symbian forward while gaining a huge amount of press and adulation� but that�s not what makes a platform last. Good solid applications for inglorious tasks make up the mainstay of a platform�s success. Companies who�ll write the applications your Network wants, and then sit quietly in the background, happy in the knowledge of a job well done. One of those companies is Penrillian. I sat down with Charles Weir (their Managing Director) to find out what makes this UK based Development House special.

First of all, why Penrillian? Does it have any meaning? "Of course it does," Charles answers happily. "We're based in a great part of the world, Penrith in England's Lake District. We like where we work, and the company name reflects that." So what do you do? "We make software work on Symbian OS. Our team has a deep understanding of Symbian OS and the smartphone market, so we deliver outstanding technical solutions. We're also very good at working closely with our clients to translate their requirements into intuitive new products."

"We have an eight person development team, all with significant Symbian OS experience. Among our staff are some of the people responsible for defining the smartphone as we know it. Most of us have also worked with other mobile platforms or on microprocessor development. This rich skill set is one of our corporate strengths, not just because we can manage software development and ports across different platforms, but also because it gives us a powerful set of problem solving skills."

So hired guns essentially then, but with very accurate guns. Is there anything that Penrillian is particularly proud of? "One particular expertise is porting", Charles explains. "Clients come to us with an application or technology which they need to deliver on Symbian OS, and we work with them to provide an efficient and compelling implementation. Other clients may have a great idea and need our technical expertise to bring it to market. We work with them step by step, delivering new working versions each week, and adapting to new priorities and ideas as they arise. This interaction has proved a terrific spur to innovation, and we've helped realise several new products that will revolutionise the user experience on the mobile handset."

Which is a great little mission statement, but have Penrillian actually put that into action? "Many times yes, but as we�re the technical brains behind the scenes, you might not realise it was us!" Any project you can talk about Charles?

"We've worked for some time with T-Mobile Traffic, a division of T-Mobile, developing their NaviGate on-board navigation software. This started as a port of a Pocket PC implementation to Series 60, then to UIQ. The initial implementation was tricky, as it required robust Bluetooth and network connections, and these work very differently in Symbian OS from the Microsoft Windows platforms. Over the last 18 months the software has developed further with several exciting new features. It's now a mature product, and one we're proud to be associated with."

Penrillian isn�t restricted to just Symbian OS � you can work in all the major mobile platforms. So how well does Charles think Symbian stands up against Palm and Microsoft?

"Symbian OS was designed from the start as a mobile connected operating system, whereas Palm OS and Windows CE were designed for PDAs and, in the latter case, derived from a desktop OS. This means that Symbian OS was designed for robustness (a phone should not need to be rebooted), long battery life and pervasive connectivity. So, for example, Symbian OS had full multitasking from the start, where Palm has only recently introduced it. Symbian OS applications were designed for phones from release 6 onwards, whereas Palm and Pocket PC applications are still based around PDA concepts. And the Symbian OS programming style emphasises error handling and power management, while the PC programming style has made early Smartphone implementations unreliable and power-hungry."

"Ah," I think to myself, "maybe now we can get an idea about what the industry wants from their smartphones, rather than listening to the manufacturers. Let�s see if we can find out how the various Symbian platforms are performing." So, Charles, in terms of porting and demand, what are companies looking for? Is Series 60 or UIQ the more popular 'programmable' platform?

"Our clients want effective and robust solutions to reduce their time-to-market. Sometimes they want us to put together a proof of concept application, sometimes it�s porting technologies from other platforms (be it full applications or some core engine technology), or even porting between various Symbian OS UI variants."

"Series 60 is currently proving to be the more popular platform. We tend to find that mass-market applications will target Series 60 first, while more specialised business applications may initially target UIQ. This reflects the different types of users, which the two platforms attract. Ultimately, our customers want their application on as many handsets as possible, which means that we need to ensure our code is portable across Series 60 and UIQ.

And do you see a consistent demand for one of those Operating Systems in the world, or can it vary by region? "Oh vary by region definitely. Our North American customers tend to have a background in Palm OS and PocketPC PDA applications and need our expertise to move these to Symbian OS - and, often, to make them Internet-connected as well. Our European customers are more likely to have technologies that are already portable, and for these our task tends to be adding a UI and integrating them to work with other Symbian OS applications and components."

Let�s focus on some Symbian OS issues� firstly, programming languages. Which is better for Symbian developers, C++ or Java? "We believe in using the best tool for the job whether that is C++, Java or some other tool - although it is fair to say that most of our Symbian OS projects turn out to require C++. Java's great strengths are its speed of development for producing prototypes, and its cross-platform capabilities. However, the real value of Symbian OS devices lies in the rich capabilities of the handset, and the way applications can integrate with every aspect of the platform. For this reason, many of the best platform technologies we have worked on can only work effectively in C++.

Symbian OS 9 is going to be bringing the issue of certification and the Symbian Signed program to a more prominent position. What does Charles think of Symbian Signed? "We support it very strongly. It's by far the best thought out of all the signing programs we've encountered." I�m not sure that�s saying much, given the debacle Microsoft and Orange had when they launched the SPV! One of the aims of Symbian Signed is to prevent the spread of malicious programs or Trojans. Charles continues. "Given the recent media coverage of various Trojans targeting Symbian OS phones, it's inevitable that operators will want to start allowing only Symbian Signed applications. For example, Vodafone already ship their Nokia 6630 handsets with this as the default, although users can disable it."

"The Symbian Signed logo is valuable in giving consumers confidence that the application they are buying is trustworthy. Ultimately, this can only serve to increase the demand for applications on Symbian OS devices."

One of the features of Symbian Signed is that companies can take the onus themselves to test and sign applications, in effect self �certifying their own applications. What benefits does this program offer Penrillian? "The obvious benefit is that we can offer clients an end-to-end solution; software we deliver is ready to deploy immediately. The whole process is very streamlined to minimise impact on delivery dates."

"We are very careful to maintain the independence of our internal test team. Signed software from Penrillian is thoroughly tested to ensure that it will interoperate reliably with the platform. We're very excited to be able to offer this benefit to our customers."

I�ve had an evil thought� let�s ask it. Could you write a really good Trojan program for Symbian? "We certainly could - though we certainly would not! We find it much more fun working around the operating system to integrate complex functionality into existing applications. A Trojan 'in the wild' is a possibility at the moment, though we believe most people currently using phone software are relatively sophisticated and so such a program is unlikely to spread." So I wonder if that mean�s the first virus is going to be powered by stupid people?

"For the future, we believe the signing model is probably strong enough to prevent both Trojans and viruses. On existing phones the Symbian OS security model is based on keeping rogue software out, but once in, it is allowed free use of most handset features. With Symbian OS 9, things will become more difficult for rogue coders as the platform moves to a security model where unsigned applications are restricted from potentially troublesome activities without the user's knowledge."

It seems that the development houses I�ve spoken to all have a side project, an application that they have in the open that anyone can see. Penrillian has SymbianOSUnit, an open source testing suite. What is this used for? "It�s an automated unit test framework. Typically, our developers write tests for functionality before the code is written. As the project matures, this produces an ever-larger battery of automated tests, which enables us to thoroughly regression test our code when we make changes to it. This is an important facet of our eXtreme Programming development methodology, and it does wonders for the reliability of our products."

"The tool derived from an open source project called CxxTest and in the same spirit we've maintained SymbianOSUnit as an open source project in order to return something to the Symbian OS community. We�ve just made a new release of it, which improves significantly on the previous version."

And finally where do you see the future for Symbian OS, and as a result, Penrillian? "We see the future of Symbian OS as moving even further into the mass market as mass-market handsets become more powerful and users demand more sophisticated features. At the same time, our recent experience tells us that ease-of-use will become ever more important as operators seek to drive ARPU by promoting more advanced services to users."

"We see this as an exciting growth market. We will expand Penrillian's capabilities and strengthen our presence within the smartphone ecosystem. We aim to do this whilst maintaining our strong client-focus and reputation for excellent in-depth knowledge of Symbian OS."

Charles, thanks.

Links of Interest:

http://www.penrillian.com/ Penrillian's Home Page

http://www.symbian.com/partners/penrillian.html�Penrillian's Platinum Partner page at Symbian.

AAS: Articles and Features: All Articles (Full)

What is GoDB and First Steps

GBasic (GoDB)

What�s GoDB Lite?

Getting Started

Lesson 1:

Lesson 2:

All About Symbian Pub Meet, October 2005

All About Symbian Pub MeetMonday 10th October 2005, The Crosse Keys Pub, London (City)

Where To Find Us

Whats Going To Happen

The Raffle Prizes

The Smartphone Show 2005, On The Floor

All About Symbian

Symbian

Dataviz and Quickoffice

Dreamspring

Visto

Macromedia

Access

Surfkitchen

Wiley

ZiCorp

The Free N-Gage Software and Demo Scene

The Free N-Gage Software Scene

System Rush

Pathway to Glory

Asphalt: Urban GT & Colin McCrae Rally 2005

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

Snakes

Worms World Party

X-Men Legends

Summary

Craig Senick (Quickoffice) Interview

All About Quickoffice

The Competition

Other Operating Systems and Handsets

The Future

It's all about the software � the rise and rise of Series 60

The Smartphone Show 2005, Learning How To Go Faster

Developer Training

Developer Seminars

Wrapping It Up

Visto Interview - An OTA Sync That Works?

The Smartphone Show 2005, Previewing Symbian and The Handsets

Take a Picture, Post It On The Web. MoblogUK Interview

The Casualties of Christmas Past

Atari's Lynx

NEC's Turbo Express

Sega's Game Gear

Sega's Nomad

Tiger's Game.com

SNK's Neo Geo Pocket Color

Nokia's N-Gage

The Unconquered

Between The Lines Sleeps A Dragon

Portability, The Name of the Game

Believability Isn't Just For Con Men

Using Your Users

Glimmerati Preview

N-Gage, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS. What Do We Really Think?

Scenario 1 - When Pigs Fly - An N-Gage Story

Scenario 2 - Nintendo Now and Forever

Scenario 3 - Sony Repeats Itself

The First Crown of The Evening

Who Do You Trust?

In Hand Silences The Competition

Scoring The Crown

The Crystal Ball Tells All

Chris' Closing Thought

Charles Weir (Penrillian) Interview

All About Symbian Pub Meet
Monday 10th October 2005, The Crosse Keys Pub, London (City)