• Symbian Foundation - one year / six months / three months on...
      
  
• Symbian Exchange and Exposition
   
  
• The universal web runtime as a meta platform and Symbian's potential role
  
  
• Challenges of open governance in the mobile industry
   
  
• Qt and the Symbian Foundation
    
  
• Symbian's competitiveness with other mobile platforms in various areas
   
  
• The forthcoming application arena (has been touted as Symbian's 'app store', but this is a misleading label), with a brief mention of Symbian Signed changes
   
  
• What handset does an Executive Director use?

The Google blog points out the major features of this new client:

• Take a photo on your phone and upload it right to your Orkut album.
• Share photos with orkut friends or SMS the photos to phone contacts not yet on Orkut.
• Call or SMS any of your Orkut friends or phone contacts without leaving the app.
• View scraps, updates from friends, and photo albums in offline mode.

It's a free application, much like Google Maps and Gmail on the mobile; and the installation method is a matter of pointing your smartphone's web browser to m.google.com/orkut.

More at the Official Google Mobile Blog.

Oh... and by the way, DreamLife S60 is shaping up nicely and it would fill in many holes in S60 PIM. Watch this space!

Ozone uses a more recent version of WebKit than that standard S60 browser, but currently has fewer mobile specifci features and a less polished UI. This means it should will render some sites more accurately, but may not be as optimised for mobile usage or as easy to use.

Ozone rendering the BBC News website:
The first screen is zommed out (fit to width), while the second shows the site at 100%.
You can use the 5 and 6 keys as shortcuts for zooming.

Ozone's page claims it 'offers great performance' and our tests would seem to bear this out. General rendering is faster, although on more recent devices the gap is smaller. How much of a difference you see this will also depend on your connection type and speed and, to a lesser extent, the pages you visit. One area of note is that Ozone makes better use of caching that the standard browser making it quicker, for example, to load previously visit pages.

Ozone has a setting to allow you to switch between mobile and desktop 'modes'. In mobile mode text content (within certain sections of a page) is re-flowed into a single column, thus making it easier to read the text.

During our tests Ozone did a good job rendering most pages. However it is not perfect, for example it didn't do a very good job on Wikipedia pages or on framed pages.

Rendering pages on a mobile device is both a science and an art form. Accuracy does not always guarantee readability. Whether you find Web, Opera Mini or Ozone the best at rendering web pages will almost certainty depend on personal preferences as well as the set of websites that you regularly visit.

I also had a couple of crashes and freezes, but both this and rendering issues are likely a reflection of Ozone's beta status. However the crashes do mean its not likely to be a replacement browser for most.

'Visual back' via the back button and rendering the AAS drop down menu.

Other features worth highlighting include multiple windows support, pop-up blocking, zooming, URL/search auto-complete and offline application support. Unlike the standard browser multiple windows can be opened manually, a real boon for power users who are familiar with tabbed based desktop browsing. The auto-complete functionality goes further than the built in browser - it makes guesses even for URLs you have not entered before.

If you use Ozone to visit Google services (e.g. Reader, GMail, News) you'll see the enhanced mobile / iPhone version (presumably because Ozone identifies itself as iPhone compatible). If you're a regular users of these services Ozone may be worth installing for this functionality alone.

Ozone rendering the BBC News website:
The first screen is zommed out (fit to width), while the second shows the site at 100%.
You can use the 5 and 6 keys as shortcuts for zooming.

Ozone runs wells on S60 3rd Edition phones and those with older devices will particularly welcome the speed boost. However while in places the UI shows promise (e.g. history, visual 'back', andzooming) in others areas it feels incomplete. This is partly because it uses the browser 'start page' access bookmarks (rather than holding them in an application view).

While Ozone will not replace Web for most people, it is still well worth installing, if only to have another browsing option for troubelsome sites that you come across. Between Opera Mini, SkyFire, Web and Ozone you'll have a versatile web browsing toolkit.

We'll be watching for further development of Ozone with interest.

Although it is not fully compatible with S60 5th Edition Ozone will install and run on the Nokia 5800, but it does not currently support the on-screen text input (keyboard, handwriting recognition) and therefore you can not enter URLs or search terms. You can get round this by using a Bluetooth keyboard (see our tutorial on using a Bluetooth keyboard with the 5800 here).

Ozone definitely benefits from the 5800's highest resolution screen, especially when using 'web applications'. It is particularly impressive when zooming (double tapping on the screen acts as a shortcut) or panning (semi kinetic scrolling) around the screen, both of which are impressively speedy and smooth.

Below you can see how the browser identifies itself as iPhone compatible (or similar) and thus 'sees' the enhanced mobile version of various Google services.

General performance of the Nokia 5800 is good, although there's probably less of a difference between Ozone and the default browser than on older devices.

Ozone can be downloaded from the Ozone website.

(Thanks to SERKOART from Mobile Divide for the heads up)

Symbian ^4 will see the full integration and optimisation of Qt into the Symbian platform. Further proposals includes the 'Orbit' extension library for Qt (replacing AVKON) and a new 'Direct UI' interaction and navigation logic. Put crudely, this means we will see an evolution of the existing S60/AVKON UI to a new Qt-based 'Orbit' Symbian UI for devices coming out in 2011. Read on for more details.

Here's a summary and brief details on each release.

Symbian^2

Symbian^2 is the first full release under the Symbian Foundation. It is the equivalent to S60 5th Edition Feature Pack 1 (S60 5.1). It is the first release for which the source code is (will be) available via the Symbian Foundation website. Some of the code is being released under EPL, although the majority is still under SFL.

In Symbian ^2 the customisable, widget-based homescreen, as seen in the N97, becomes a formal part of the platform. It will also support multiple form factors, screen resolutions (including VGA) and input methods.

Symbian^2 will be functionally complete by week 19, 2009 (next week) and will be hardened by week 51. This means it will be available in devices at the very end of the year - or early next year.

The Foundation blog notes that "Symbian^2 is particularly suitable for device manufacturers who have already been working with previous versions of Symbian OS technology.  Device manufacturers who are relatively new to the Symbian world are expected to use Symbian^3 in their first commercial shipments". This means Symbian^2 will likely be used by Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson in a whole range of devices that are due in the market in 2010.

Symbian^3

Symbian^3, in many ways, is the first Symbian Foundation release that fulfills the vision of the Symbian Foundation. Most, if not all, of the code will be available under EPL. This release will see Screenplay graphics, Open acceleration and improved multi screen support.

Symbian^3 incorporates the technologies that Symbian have previously promoted as Freeway and Screenplay. These consist of a 'high performance communications architecture' (including true seamless handover between different bearers) and 'support for seamless composition of hardware-accelerated content into UI elements' (including layered graphics and much improved graphics performance) respectively.

720p HD video recording, HDMI output, textual location-tagging (GPS co-ordinates translated into country-street-city), multi-channel audio, and many other features will all become fully integrated into the platform.

It should be noted that any of these components or features can appear in earlier devices - manufacturers can add custom code and functionality. Indeed this is likely to be a common occurrence. Manufacturers may typically choose to test an addition in their own devices (and use it as a way to differentiate from their competitors) before contributing the necessary enablers to the Symbian Foundation.

Symbian^3 will be functionally complete by week 4, 2010 and will be hardened by week 26. This means is will be available in devices in the second half of next year.

Symbian^4

Symbian^4 is the first release to be defined by the community process (councils, etc.) of the Symbian Foundation. In this sense, it can be seen as the first full release to fall completely under the auspices and planning of the Symbian Foundation and its members.

It is proposed that Qt 4.6 be fully integrated into the Symbian Platform. Further, a new 'Orbit' extension library for Qt, consisting of "more than 50 widgets tailored for mobile user experience" will replace the AVKON UI layer of previous releases; along with this is 'Direct UI' interaction and logic. Together, these also mean a rewrite of the application suite to take advantage of "Qt APIs, Orbit widgets, and Direct UI". Initially this would be for touch and hybrid devices, but this will likely change in future Symbian releases.

This means we will see Symbian^4 ship with a new UI for touch-enabled and hybrid devices based on the Qt framework. The engineering effort for this will be carried out by Nokia. Clearly there will be something of a compatibility break for applications, but, at this early stage, it is too soon to assess their impact (e.g. we could see an AVKON to Orbit compatibility bridge).

Nor does it preclude another company or Symbian Foundation contributor creating an alternative application framework and UI layer (e.g for low end mobile phones or non-mobile phone devices).

Symbian ^4 will be functionally complete around the middle of 2010 and will be hardened by early 2011. This means it will be available in devices in 2011.

It is worth pointing out that Symbian^4 is still being roadmapped and specified, which means the proposals above have not been formally accepted. 

Glossary

AVKON - is the technical name for the UI-specific application framework layers implemented on top of Symbian OS. Effectively it's the S60 UI.

ORBIT - is the proposed Qt extension library consisting of around 50 or so 'mobile UI widgets' that make up a UI and will supercede AVKON (S60) as the UI layer on Symbian OS.

Qt - is a cross-platform application development framework. See Qt Software.

EPL - Eclipse Public license, the source code license chosen by the Symbian Foundation for its open source.

SFL - Symbian Foundation License, an interim license being used by the Symbian Foundation for code which has not yet been open sourced.

We'll be covering all the Symbian releases in more detail in the near future.

Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian, 1 May 2009

Read on

The Symbian Foundation brand and logo is a marked departure from typical corporate branding. It is designed to reflect the new direction of the Symbian Foundation - with openness, community and collaboration at the core.

The reaction to the new brand has been mixed, but, on a personal note, I rather like the departure from the norm. Being different is a good thing and the Symbian Foundation needs to communicate its radical ideas and processes to the rest of the industry; branding seems a sensible place to start.

Yesterday there was also an assets transfer from Nokia, with office leases, IT equipment, trademarks and Symbian-related domains being passed over to the Foundation from Nokia. The offices, including a much needed reception, are being refitted at 1 Boundary Row. This will draw on the Symbian Foundation brand themes - watch out for ducks of doom, rocket-powered reindeer, deaf fish, unicycle-horse cross breeds, ray-gun wielding tentacles and the idea-generating toaster.

The Symbian Foundation Blog has provided a number of desktop wallpapers, featuring a number of the brand elements, including the new logo. They can be downloaded from Share on Ovi.

From the Symbian Foundation press release:

The Symbian Foundation today announces the start of its beta website test programme marking a significant milestone in the launch of the Symbian Foundation. Community involvement is paramount to the evolution of the Symbian Foundation platform and as such several thousand friends and members of the Symbian community are being invited to feedback on the website which will launch as a public beta in this quarter.

The website will include a full developer offering which includes platform release information, council charters, wikis, forums as well as access to the SDK, code repository, tools, documentation, wiki, bugtracker and forums.

If you haven't already, now would be a good time to update your bookmarks from Symbian.com to Symbian.org.

The press release also notes:

The foundation continues to receive encouraging support from companies across the industry. Since the membership programme first opened in February, 81 companies have applied for membership and are either going through the formal process or have become members, 50 of which are first time endorsers.

To put this into perspective, seventy-eight organisations had endorsed the Symbian Foundation, as of 12th February 2009.

"So this week saw the long-awaited release of Gravity, the S60 Twitter app to end all Twitter apps. Brilliant.

I, like many others, had heard a lot about this mystical application from all manner of sources; with many of my friends and peers being on the early beta, the reports that came back were very good indeed.

In fact, my first experience of Gravity was when my good friend Jonathan Greene made a surprise appearance at the London’s Social Media Cafe and gave me a demo in person."

Read on, in the full Whatley Wednesday feature article.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome James (a.k.a. Whatley or Whatleydude) to All About Symbian. We've long admired his contributions elsewhere in the mobile and tech sphere, and are very pleased to have him contributing to the site. We are also keeping a close watch on The Really Mobile Project, which we suspect involves James and AAS friends Dan Lane and Ben Smith.

'Whatley Wednesday' was a semi-regular feature on Mobile Industry Review and earlier pieces can now be found over on whatleydude.com.

We will be covering Twitter and Gravity in more detail; Ewan will post his review at the end of the week.

"An amazing logic game and memory training tool in one! Flip the face-down mosaic tiles and remember the pattern on the other side. When you find two similar patterns, you score points. The smart logic game Twice combines the main principles of a classic game: an attractive appearance, popular and simple rules and a variety of game modes. Its rules are well known: you have to flip the face-down tiles in the puzzle one by one and remember the pattern on the other side. When you flip two identical tiles, you score points. To complete the level you have to find all of the pairs. Twice has three game modes so you can pick the game that suits your tastes – race against time, limited number of attempts or no limits at all. "

Game features:

- Colourful Oriental style graphics

- Pleasant, relaxing music

- Three game modes for all tastes

- Excellent memory training tool

- Captivating gameplay

 Detailed information about the game, including screenshots, trailers and links for demo version are available on the HeroCraft PDA site - http://smart.herocraft.com/twice.

You can read AAS's reviews of these games below:

Astraware Boardgames review on All About Symbian

Astraware Solitaire review on All About Symbian

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our latest contributor to All About Symbian, Richard Bloor. Richard has been writing about Symbian since 2001 with a focus on developer and enterprise aspect of the platform, which reflects his background as a software development and testing manager. With Richard on board we are planning to expand the developer section on AAS with more news and features.

In this podcast we cover:

• S60 5th Edition SDK version 1.0 released (+ using SDK's as emulators for old devices)
    
• Kinetic scrolling on the Nokia N97 in more detail
   
• Steve on the Nokia 5800 homescreen and level of AAS coverage
   
  
• Monopoly on the N-Gage
   
  
• Steve and Ewan school Rafe on how N79/N85 video is worse than N95 / N82.
  

Here's a quick run though of how Fingertouch works in practise:

1. User clicks on a part of the page, but due to closely spaced elements, it tricky to select the 'right' element.
2. Opera Fingertouch 'zooms in' on the page elements in question making it easier to select the 'right' one.
3. Visual confirmation of the 'right' element is provided by having it 'fly' towards the user.

Fingertouch is a very interesting idea and, on certain types of devices, it could make a very significant difference to the browsing experience. While some may question the concept because it adds an additional interaction step, I think this would be an acceptable trade off for guaranteed accuracy. Moreover it is much more efficient than having to manually zoom in and out (probably the more typical current usage scenario). 

I would not be at all suprised to see this idea replicated in other mobile browsers in the near future. You can read more about Fingertouch in this Opera Labs article.

Here's a video, which offers the best way to grasp this concept, showing the Fingertouch technology being demoed on the Sony Ericsson P1i:

Currently Fingertouch has only been implemented in the beta version of Opera 9.5 for UIQ 3. However it is likely we will see it Opera 9.5 for other mobile platforms in due course.

Opera are currently working on the development on Opera 9.5 for S60 and a release is expected some time this year. We spoke to Opera at Mobile World Congress a few weeks ago, but they were unable to get any definitive information on a release date for the S60 platform. Opera's CEO, Jon von Tetzchne, said it was 'a work in progress'.

Opera's Widget Manager, which is available for S60 (albeit in beta form), is based on Opera 9.5 and gives you some indication of what Opera 9.5 on S60 will be like. Opera Widget Manager is well worth taking a look at in its own right; it is notable that it has been chosen by Vodafone as its widget platform for mobile devices.