Nokia Developer Summit 2009; Recap Technical Stream

I thought I ought to sum up the first-ever Nokia Developer Summit 2009 conference. It has been an intense two days with lots of new interesting stuff. It was about 345 developer from 45 countries here in Monaco.

Overall the conference was a very very good one, with lots of good mobility speakers and what I really thought was great was to get a more wider view of developing for Nokia's S60 and Maemo-platform using different technologies like JavaME, Qt, Web Runtime Widgets. Left it full of new energy and compelled to try out numerous new technologies. Update the address book with those new contacts and new friends.

Some of the hot mobility topics at this Nokia Developer Summit:

• Nokia will continue to support Flash and JavaME, but Qt that’s Nokia future direction in mobile application development for the Symbian and Maemo platform. Nokia encourage you to learn more about Qt!!
• It was also very nice to be able to hear more about the roadmap for the Java Runtime for S60, version 1.3, 1.4, 2.0 and 2.1.
• From S60 version 3.2.3 it will also be possible to upgrade the Java Runtime, nice I think.
• Nokia did not answer the question "Why develop for Maemo 5 platform?", waiting and waiting but no news on the Maemo 5 tablet, hope for some great device to come. I really love my Nokia N810!!
  
• I did not know so much about Nokia Web Runtime (WRT), it was nice to learn more about it.
• Qt will perhaps in the future also be part of the Symbian Foundation, it is suggested by Nokia.
• Here you find more about: Qt for Maemo 5 and Qt for S60
• Interesting to hear more about Symbian Foundation and JavaME, JavaME is not yet part of Symbian Foundation but Nokia plans to Open Source the Java Runtime for S60 and put it in Symbian Foundation.
• The new Symbian Foundation developer site: http://developer.symbian.org/ will soon open.
• Mobilize your website with 3 clicks (a Open Source CMS) using a Mobile Plugin
  

Conclusions:

• I plan to learn more about Qt and WRT, it will be important in the future for mobile application development for the Symbian and Maemo platform.
  
• Nokia will continue to support JavaME and thats great I think, but Nokia talked more about Qt at this conference, but anyway it was very nice to to be able to see Nokia's JavaME roadmap, but I don't understand why Nokia have not publish it on forum Nokia site. It is very interesting for JavaME developer like me (I took a picture of it :-) ).
  
• Nokia did not talk at all about JavaFX Mobile, perhaps Nokia is not so interesting in JavaFX Mobile?
• Developers are now more important for Nokia, thats great I think!!
  

I am looking forward to a next Nokia Developer Summit, I will surly go!!!!
But I hope next conference also have more sessions about JavaME, eSWT!!

Read more:

• Nokia Developer Summit video round up Part 1, by NOKIAUSER
• Nokia Developer Summit 2009 by Thiago Macieira

Update:

• Java Runtime for S60 Roadmap by Aleksi Uotila

Maybe it will be possible to easier upgrade JavaME in the future on Nokia phones

It look like it will be possible in the future to easier upgrade JavaME on Nokia phones. It would be great if it works in a similar manner as in JavaSE for windows!!

****** from Forum Nokia Developer Newsletter *******

New Versioning Scheme for S60 Java Runtimes

Starting with S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, Java implementations will be versioned separately from the underlying S60 platform. All Nokia S60 devices come equipped with an implementation of the Java Platform Micro Edition (Java ME), also known as Java Runtime for S60 (also known as JRT). For example, Java Runtime 1.3 for S60 (JRT 1.3) is the latest version shipping with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a device based on S60 5th Edition. (In fact, the exact version returned by Java environment is 1.3.4.). Developers can check the Java Runtime version by using the standard mobile information device profile (MIDP) system property microedition.platform. For example, with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the system property would return:
NokiaN5800/20.0.012/sw_platform=S60; sw_platform_version=5.0;sw_java_build=1.3.4.

For details of the version features, download two Forum Nokia Wiki release notes.

Java Runtime 1.3 for S60 release notes.

Java Runtime 1.4 for S60 release notes

To learn how to create a MIDlet for asking the property and parsing the individual details, download this Forum Nokia Wiki article.

Learn more about Java Runtime for S60 releases and their versioning from this Forum Nokia Wiki article.

Nokia is also planning something big on December 2

It looks like Nokia is planning something big.

Check out the countdown timer here, this new countdown timer has also shown up on Nokia Europe home pages.
This is cool !, the timer will expire this Tuesday at 09:15 CET, I suppose there will be a big release at Nokia World on Tuesday at 09:15 CET.

The cool thing it that Sun has also announced that JavaFX desktop version 1.0 will be released on December 2!!!

Something big?
Could it be:

• a Nokia S60-phone with a big screen, a 4-inch screen?

or

• a Nokia's Internet tablet with a big screen, a 11-inch screen, a Maemo-based laptop?
  

What do you think?

A Mobile Web Server on my Nokia E71 phone

On the train to Øredev conference in Malmö, Sweden I read a blog post about a new release of Nokia's Mobile Web Server 1.5 beta, it was a lot of fun to play with it on the train. Here is my web site on my Nokia E71 phone

New release of Nokia Email Service

I really love using Nokia Email Service and now Nokia have release a new version, read about it here.

What I really think is very nice with this product:

• I am able to push Email using my gmail/IMAP account!
• There is now also full support for international characters!!
  

If you earlier have used the Nokia Intellisync client 9.0, you understand what the Nokia Email client is based on.

Some weeks ago there was a very surprising (for me at least) press release from Nokia about that Nokia renews its business mobility strategy, as a result of that Nokia will discontinue sales Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite 9.0 and Nokia Intellisync Device Management through Nokia for Business distribution partners.

So it is very nice that Nokia Email Service will continue to live !!
Companies have to found other products and it could be very painful!

Push Email from gmail/IMAP - Nokia Email Service

Nice to be able to push Email using my gmail/IMAP account!

It works really nice with this new free Nokia Email Service, I have try it on a Nokia E90 and Nokia E61!

Read more:

Nokia Offers Native Push Email With New Service by Darla Mack

One Symbian - Symbian Foundation

Now we have seen Nokia's response to Google's Android, it is Symbian Foundation!!

I think it is a good thing for us (consumers), we now have three open platforms for mobile devices: Android, LiMo and Symbian

The only bad thing is that Sweden’s UIQ Mulls More Than Halving Staff On Symbian News

Read more:

• Mobile leaders to unify the Symbian software platform and set the future of mobile free, press release by Nokia
• Symbian Foundation, Simon Judge, Freelance Mobile Developer
• Symbian is getting open sourced under EPL, by Gorkem Ercan
• Foundations and principles, by Ari Jaaksi

Nokia N96 a device with support for eSWT, MIDP2.1 and the subset of JSR-248

Read more here: Announcing two Nokia devices with eSWT
Nokia N96 look like a cool device!
(N96 is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2008)
N96 is running S60 v3.2 (with great JavaME support)

great to be JavaME developer

It looks very nice all new Java features of Nokia's S60 3rd Ed. fp 2

Because of Nokia's new S60 Java VM, we will get:

• better performance for JavaME applications
  
• possibility to dynamically extend the virtual machine with new APIs.

S60 3rd Ed. fp2 also will add support for:

• MIDP 2.1
• subset of JSR-248
• eSWT
• and lot more .......
  

Great improvements Nokia!

update:

• Widgets: The S60 Web Run Time, what is it and how can I use it? by Stefan Constantinescu, intoMobile
  

eSWT and Netbeans

Nokia have now released a eSWT plugin for Nokia S60 SDK 3rd Edition FP2 beta.

I thought, will I be able to use my favorite JavaME development tool, Netbeans 5.5.1, for develop a eSWT Midlet?
The short answer is: Yes it works, thanks to the Nokia SDK (very nice Nokia!!)

HowTo get started with eSWT development with Midlets?

1. Read: eSWT for S60, First Contact - Gorkem Ercan from Nokia
   
2. Read: How to use eSWT with Midlets.
3. Install Nokia S60 SDK 3rd Edition FP2 beta
4. Install eSWT plugin
5. Install Netbeans 5.5.1 and Netbeans Mobility Pack and add the Nokia SDK (In the menu "Tools/Java platform manager", choose "Add platform" and "Java Micro Edition platform Emulator")
   

I used the example code from How to use eSWT with Midlets and it works with Netbeans!

But Netbeans don't support eSWT, it works because of the Nokia SDK, I wondering if there is any plans for eSWT support in Netbeans?

Read more about it here:

• eSWT for Nokia S60 series is now available (Beta)

update:

• eSWT available for development (S60 Java blog)
• Advantages of eSWT

Nokia S60 will include eSWT in the next release

I read something very interesting: eSWT will be a standard part of the Nokia S60's java platform (in S60 third edition feature pack 2).

update:
Article: Explore Eclipse's embedded Rich Client Platform (more about eSWT)

Article: The JavaME GUI APIs at a Glance (a update about GUI APIs for JavaME, but nothing about eSWT)

new Nokia official Podcast

Interesting, Nokia has started offering official podcasts, I find this podcast very interesting!

They talked about how important it is for Nokia Research Center to worked more open and together with other companies and university and how important it is with standards and Open Source.

I have earlier wondering why Nokia S40 platform support JavaME faster and bettter compared with the Nokia S60 platform. In this postcast Nokia explained it "Nokia S40 is a more closed platform and really need JavaME, but for the Nokia S60 you also have c++". But I think this is wrong, JavaME is also really needed for the S60 platform, if you would like to develop enterprise applications you need high end devices (S60) and of course really good support for JavaME.

If you want to subscribe, here is the XML feed for your podcasting client.

eRCP 1.0.02 Released

I read that eRCP 1.0.02 Released, now also with support for WinCE 5!!
More information about this Eclipse project at the eRCP project home

I am waiting for next release, eRCP 1.1 which will add support for Nokia's S60 platform.
It is close, the release plan (I think I don't know) for eRCP1.1 is July 2007.

S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2

S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 was announced today.
Read about it here

update1:
Improvements in Java™ support in S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 focus on providing support for the subset of the Mobile Service Architecture (JSR-248). The goal of JSR-248 is to reduce the fragmentation of Java APIs.

• support for MIDP 2.1
• The subset of JSR-248 has been implemented. It encompasses JSR-118, JSR-184, JSR-205, and JSR-226, as well as PDA Optional Packages for the J2ME™ Platform (JSR-75), Java™ APIs for Bluetooth (JSR-82), Mobile Media API (JSR-135), and Connected Limited Device Configuration 1.1 (JSR-139).
• updated version of the Scalable 2D Vector Graphics API for J2ME™ (JSR-226)
• Java™ APIs for Bluetooth (JSR-82) has been updated to v1.1.

read more at: S60 3rd Edition: What's New for Developers

update2:
Related to this see the article the Mobile Services Architecture Specification which introduces JSR 248 and next generation platform for Java ME devices.

The Sun Java Wireless Toolkit 2.5 for CLDC final version is now available for download, and is it is packed with lots of good stuff, including supported for all the JSRs under the Mobile Services Architecture Specification (MSA).
Read more about at it at C. Enrique Ortiz Mobility Weblog

update3:
S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 focus on providing support for the subset of the Mobile Service Architecture (JSR-248). It look to me "S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2" target low end devices. We have to wait and see when Nokia release support for the full MSA stack that target high end devices.