Xperia10: first Android Sony Ericsson handset

The number of Android phones keeps growing. New enter in the manufacturers using the open source OS is Sony Ericsson with its new XPERIA10.

From Sony Ericsson developer website:

Sony Ericsson today unveils the XPERIA™ X10, the first phone in a family of phones to deliver a consistent user experience where communication truly becomes entertainment.
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XPERIA™ X10 is Sony Ericsson’s first phone on Google’s Android OS platform. XPERIA™ X10 has a 4 inch 854 x 480 pixel screen with a capacitive mineral glass touch-screen, fast 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon™ processor, 1GB internal storage with additional storage via microSD™ card, an 8.1 megapixel camera with autofocus, Wi-Fi 802.11g and HSPA at 7.2Mbps download. With the power and features of the XPERIA™ X10 and the open software platform, developers have a compelling opportunity to create, share and sell applications.

New Android phone from Motorola: Motoblur

In this photo from www.motocoder.com the new Android phone from Motorola. The OS version is the 1.5

Will TMobile make the first Android phone available on 17th ofSeptember?

The unofficial TMobile blog (TNO News) claims TMobile will offer the first Android Phone (called with the (code)name G1) on 17th September for their customers at the price of 150 $, much less than the expected 399 $.

The other customers (not already TMobile) should wait until the beginning/mid October when the national launch will take place.

Expected specifications:

• 3g


• a 5" long by 3" wide touch screen


• a slide out QWERTY keyboard


• 3.0 Megapixel camera


• Three available colors: brown, white and black

Users will be required to have a GMail account to get the phone working.

We have only to wait and see if TMobile will really meet this exiting deadline.

Android: HTC denies GPhone delay

HTC has confirmed that their first Android phone will be on the market on the 4th quarter of 2008 denying the rumors which claimed a possible delay to first quarter of 2009. No more details came from HTC.

A video (not very high quality to be honest) showing the first images of HTC Dream, an Android based phone, has been posted on YouTube:

Google Android UI shown in SanFrancisco

Google showed off the new Android user interface in San Francisco during a developer conference. The demo has been done using a prototype device provided by an unamed manufacturer.

The interaction between user and device is in IPhone style...everything is drivable with a finger.

Watch the Steve Horowitz (Engineering director) presentation video:

Sony-Ericsson C905: first Capuchin phone

Sony-Ericsson has announced the new phone C905, the first phone supporting the project Capuchin (which define a bridge between J2ME and Flash). It is also equipped with an 8.1 megapixels camera and GPS. The screen resolution is 320x240.



It belongs to the JP-8 Sony-Ericsson family and it introduces a new subset called JP-8.4 which includes the phones of the JP-8 family supporting the project Capuchin.

It will be available on the selected markets during Q4 2008.

Update to JP-8 family

In the Sony-Ericsson developer website we can find an useful article about their JP-8 platform that at the moment includes 14 devices.

 The most innovative supported API by this family are the Content Handler APIs(JSR-211) and the Mobile Sensor APIs (JSR-256).

Sensor APIs can be used to get the network signal or the battery level.

Battery
SensorInfo[] infos = SensorManager.findSensors("battery_charge", null);
String sensorURL =infos[0].getUrl();

Network signal
SensorInfo[] infos = SensorManager.findSensors("network_field_intensity", null);
String sensorURL =infos[0].getUrl();

The Content Handler APIs can be used to launch the native music player to play an audio file.

Registry registry = Registry.getRegistry(this.class.getName());
Invocation invoc = new Invocation();
invocation.setID("com.sonyericsson.musicplayer");
invoc.setURL(file:///..../playlist.m3u); //optional, if not used a resume play will be made.
invoc.setResponseRequired(true);
boolean mustExit = registry.invoke(invoc);
if (mustExit) {
// App must exit before invoked application can run
destroyApp(true);
notifyDestroyed();
} else {
// Application does not need to exit
}

You can read more about this topic in the Sony-Ericsson Developer Site

Keep updated about mobile phones world: Mobile News podcast

When there's not enough time to browse through online headlines, email newsletters and trade magazines, simply download The Mobile News Podcast. Its a weekly 30-minute podcast that will keep you up-to-date with everything happening in the mobile telecommunications industry.

The hottest new handsets, the latest downloadable software and the current mobile news headlines are all brought to you in an entertaining show created by the editorially unbiased team of Iain Graham, Mark Bridge and James Rosewell

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Sony Ericsson Virtual Lab

The registered Sony Ericsson Developers Community members have now the opportunity to test their own application on pre-commercial phones.This is an online services which:

• 
  
  is a global service, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  
  


• 
  
  is convenient: no shipping of phones or firmware updating required
  
  


• 
  
  has selected 2007 phones, representative of JP-7, JP-8 and UIQ 3
  
  


• 
  
  can test key presses and network behavior
  
  


• 
  
  has on-line session reservation, virtual view of phone and real-time results
  
  


• 
  
  for one hour testing slot per phone, $18-20 (USD) per hour depending on selected monthly package
  
  

Link: developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/products/virtuallab/p_virtual_lab.jsp

FileConnection API System properties

At this link, we can find several interesting J2ME system properties useful when we are working with File Connection API and we want know, for example, names and path of some directories.

The link is from Forum Nokia website but is a good start for all the devices supporting this optional package.

www.forum.nokia.com/document/Java_ME_Developers_Library_v1/GUID-545CA84A-8378-4DFA-9035-94479F5BE26E.html

Nimbuzz is Hiring

"Imagine all the people around the globe to be connected. One world in which we find and share happiness, interests, dreams and wishes. Wherever you are, whenever you want!

It really is not just a dream anymore. The Nimbuzz technology is giving new meaning to mobile communication. AND WE ARE HIRING…

Think about it… being part of one of the top start-up companies in Europe that will change the face of mobile communication, working with enthusiastic people and having super career opportunities. Nimbuzz is currently recruiting the best of the best.

If this sounds like a blast and you are top of the bill, then drop us a quick note with your resume attached. Because we might be looking for YOU!"

This is the Nimbuzz (the company where I have been working in) message for people are interested in get a fantastic job opportunity. The available positions are:

Technical Department:

• Flash Developer


• Gateway Developer


• Java web developer


• Javascript developer web team


• Senior MIDP Developer


• Senior Symbian Developer


• Security Officer


• Web designer


• Openfire specialist

Marketing & Sales Departement

• Creative copywriter


• Graphic Designer


• Product Manager


• User Interface Expert


• Viral Marketeer

If you are interested in one or more positions, ask me the job description sending an email to: emanuele.pecorari@email.it

China phone market

Nokia is the head brand in the Chinese mobile phone market and togheter with the other foreign manufacturer (Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson,...) cover the 70% of that.

Small penetration for the Chinese brands like Huwaei and ZTE.

Here is the table with the complete data:

Nokia	30,90 %
Motorola	22,50 %
Other firms	19,00 %
Samsung	9,60%
Sony Ericsson	7,70 %
ZTE	4,80 %
Huwaei	3,20 %
Bird	2, 30 %

 

Nokia N96: the new super phone

The Nokia N96 is the new high level Nokia device. Beyond the nice design, it presents also a lot of features among which the DVB-H support that make the user able to see tv programs in high definition.

It supports WIFI and A-GPS, it has a 5 MegaPixels Carl-Zeiss camera. The screen resolution is 240x320  and the color depth is 24 bit.

The operating system is the Symbian 9.3 and the Nokia family is the Serie 60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2.

The Java platform supports the following JSRs:

• CLDC 1.1


• eSWT UI API


• JSR 135 Mobile Media API


• JSR 172 Web Services API


• JSR 177 Security and Trust Services API


• JSR 179 Location API


• JSR 180 SIP API


• JSR 184 Mobile 3D Graphics API


• JSR 185 JTWI


• JSR 205 Wireless Messaging API


• JSR 226 Scalable 2D Vector Graphics API


• JSR 234 Advanced Multimedia Supplements


• JSR 248 Mobile Service Architecture for CLDC


• JSR 75 FileConnection and PIM API


• JSR 82 Bluetooth API


• MIDP 2.1


• Nokia UI API

eSWT is a subset of the cross-platform SWT and give to the developer a finer control over the UI or a greater variety of UI components (called widgets in eSWT) than what the LCDUI API can offer. The drawbak of the eSWT is that it is supported only by the series 60 3rd edition FP2 or newer

Take snapshot using J2ME on Nokia Series 40

There are several tutorials about taking a picture using the optional package MMAPI and almost each one advises to use the string "capture://video" in the method startPlayer() to start the phone's camera from a J2ME application.

Using this approach in the Nokia Series 40, you'll get an exception calling the method takeSnapshot(). The Series 40 requires to start the player using the "capture://image" string instead of "capture://video".

Nokia Ovi

Last week Nokia presented Ovi, the new service to enable user to access social networks, communities and contents.



At the same time it has launched new phones to get the best user experience interacting with Ovi:

• The Nokia N81 and N81 8GB multimedia computer is configured to find, buy, manage and play music and games purchased via the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage. In addition to dedicated music and gaming keys, 3.5 mm headphone connector and 3G and WLAN connectivity, the Nokia N81 also boasts keys that light up with activation.


• The N95 8GB multimedia computer offers up to 20 hours of video or as many as 6000 songs in addition to a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, built-in A-GPS, WLAN, HSDPA and a two-way slide. The N95 8GB also arrives with a luminous 2.8" QVGA display.


• The 5310 XpressMusic boasts up to 18 hours of music playback, memory for up to 3,000 songs on an optional 4GB microSD card and dedicated music keys. At 9.9mm thick and weighing under 71 grams, the device also features a 2-megapixel camera and a two-inch QVGA screen with up to 16 million colors.


• The 5610 XpressMusic promises up to 22 hours of music playback and capacity for 3,000 songs on an optional 4GB microSD card, with a Music Slider key promising easy access to music content. Alongside its 2.2-inch, 16 million color display, the 5610 XpressMusic features a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and dual LED flash.

Here is the url of the Ovi service: ovi.nokia.com/ovi/app/ovi/flash/