Viadeo 2.0 for Windows Phone is now available!

Viadeo has published the version 2.0 of its application for Windows Phone devices: see it on Marketplace. The application is now fast and fluid with its interface Metro and with a lot of improvements and bugfixing compared to the previous release.

Below, the list of features taken directly from the description of the Marketplace. With the new application you can:

• Develop your network: add new contacts quickly and easily
• Keep in constant touch with your network
• Read and reply to your messages
• View the profiles of millions of other professionals
• Keep up to date with and share the latest news from your industry

Install it and give your feedback!!



Bug Nokia: TimeZone.getTimeZone() returns invalid value for GMT whenusing daylight saving time (summer time)

A bug related to the use of the class Timezone using the Daylight saving time.

Click here to see

Utility application to monitor your j2me application power consumption

On 9 March Nokia released the version 1.2 of Energy profiler a Symbian application you can use to monitor how the power consumption of your phone changes when you try a J2ME application (or other type of software).

As stated in the Nokia website:
"It is an application that enables developers and device users to examine power consumption and several other parameters on S60 devices. The reporting provided by the Nokia Energy Profiler enables developers to identify and improve application functions that consume excessive amounts of power and thus to create higher-quality applications."

The application works on Nokia series60 3rd and 5th edition devices.

The features added in the version 1.2 are:

• Touch UI support.


• Capture of WLAN received signal strength and 3G cellular network T1 and T2 timers.


• New graphing features.


• New CSV output features.

J2ME Google Maps API

I've found this interesting article from the wiki of Forum Nokia describing a library to query Google Maps to geocode addresses to their geographic coordinates and to retrieve static images with custom size, zoom and format.

The article is complete with source code and shows also an utility to scroll the map you get from Google

Go to the article clicking J2ME Google Maps API

Nokia Serie60 and 40 bug: softkey codes are not reported on a normal Canvas

This bug is reported by forum.nokia.com in their "Knowledge Base" section.

Some key codes are not reported through the keyPressed(), keyRepeated(), and keyReleased (methods of the Canvas class on a normal, non-full screen Canvas. This applies especially to the left, middle (when present), and right softkeys. Those are only reported back to the above key-capturing methods on full-screen Canvas instances.

The MIDP 2.0 specification says:

For some devices the keys used for commands may overlap with the keys that will deliver key code events to the canvas. If this is the case, the device will provide a means transparent to the application that enables the user to select a mode that determines whether these keys will deliver commands or key code events to the application.

This does not happen on all tested devices.

The tested devices are Nokia 6301, Nokia 6555, Nokia N95, Nokia E61i. The families affected are S40 5th Edition (and FP1) and S60 3rd Edition (and FP1 and FP2) .

J2ME system properties

Sometimes it is useful to know informations about the J2ME platform running in a devices. To get this data it is possible use the System class and its method getProperty().

Both standard properties and brand's specific properties exist.

At this URL:
www.forum.nokia.com/info/sw.nokia.com/id/37086440-dcce-4fb4-aa3e-8d8c16d62b33/MIDP_System_Properties_v1_2_en.zip.html

you can find a document from Nokia Forum where a list of system properties is shown. You'll see some specific Nokia properties also.

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

Filesystem in Serie60 Emulator

When we are working with FileConnection API, it's good to have an easy way to put file in the file system of the emulator to test at least the read side of our midlets.

If we are using the Nokia Serie 60 3rd edition FP1 emulator we can find the filesystem at

C:NokiaDevicesS60_3rd_MIDP_SDK_FP1binepoc32winscwc

(supposing we have installed the SDK under C:).

If you enter in the "Data" folder, you can then see the folders for the files like Images, Sounds, etc.

Bug Nokia series 60: WMA and Push Registry behaves inconsistently receiving several SMSs

The problem happens sending several SMSs (5-10 or more) to a series60 device (all S60 2nd and 3rd Edition devices). The WMA unsinged midlets using PushRegistry acts wrongly when launching. We can have:

• Slow queuing of received SMSs;


• Symbian OS Error;


• Launching fails;


• Crash of application without message or error.

The solution claimed by the Forum Nokia is the signing of the Midlet with the Third Party Protection Domain and change the permissions for the autostart to "always allowed".

It is not a easy solution (the sign process is always a pain) and also it is a pity that the affected feature is one of the most interesting for J2ME developers.

Link to the Forum Nokia Knowledge Base article.

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

Bug MMAPI Nokia: setDisplaySize method in Series60 3rd edition

The method setDisplaySize() for VideoControl doesn't work properly for S60 3rd edition.
The implementation doesn't user the parameters passed but uses always the max allowed size mantaining the aspect ratio.

Here is the link to the Nokia Technical Library about the bug:

Go to Technical Library

Bug Nokia: S60 2nd edition platformrequest always launch browser

I experienced this problem in the Nokia 6670 launching a platform request to call a number (using the protocol tel:).

After the call, the result is the start of the web browser and then the call starts. The problem happens in the series60 2nd edition and 2nd edition FP1

Here is the link to the Nokia forum post about this problem:

Forum Nokia

Camera snapshot: difference between Nokia Series40 and Series60

Starting from 3rd release it is possible take picture from J2ME application using the camera in the Nokia series40.

There is a difference between in the startPlayer action between series40 and series60.
In the series60 you can start the video to take the picture using the string capture://video. This doesn't work for series40 where you have to use capture://image.

You can make your application able to understand which string have to use writing a code like that:

Player p;
try {
    Player p = Manager.createPlayer("capture://image");
}
catch (Exception e) {
    p = Manager.createPlayer("capture://video");
}.....

It is important use capture://image first because some series 40 support the capture://video but in that way you can take video film but not snapshot.

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/

Bug Nokia: extra withespace character causes error in installation

Newer the phone, more strange the bug. The following is a bug affecting some Series60 devices (3rd FP1, 3rd FP2 and 5th): Nokia E71, Nokia N79, Nokia N96, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

The withespace characters before and after JAD attributes should be ignored according to MIDP specifications but if user tries to install an application with a whitespace character after the last JAD attribute on one of the mentioned decvies he will get a "Compulsory attributes missing".

So, be sure to remove whitespace chars from your JAD!

J2ME bug on Nokia series60: no newline with 'n' in Alert

Despite the 'n' can be used in any string in J2ME applications, with S60 Editions up till S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1, the new line is not inserted properly in the Alert and the message remains in the same line (at least until it fits in the alert width).

The issue has been fixed starting from S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2.

Read more at the Forum Nokia Wiki