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.

J2ME "on device debugging" with Sony Ericsson SDK

The Sony-Ericsson SDK provides you a tool to perform an on-device debugging of your J2ME applications.



After the SDK installation you can go to "Start" -> "Sony Ericsson" -> "Java ME SDK for CLDC"  and check the presence of two tools: "Connection Proxy" and "Device Explorer".



First of all you have to connect your Sony-Ericsson mobile phone to your pc. Launch "Connection Proxy" and press the "Settings" icon in the buttons bar. Select the COM port where your phone is connected to and press "Ok". Press "Connect" at the right top in the Connection Proxy software window. The "Status" frame below the device image should show the "Connected" status for your device.





Now launch the Device Explorer. It should start the synchronization with your phone. If it doesn't, start it manually clicking the "Reloading device information" in the buttons bar.

After a while in the left column you should see the list of application installed in your device. Now you can select the application you want to debug and start it.



The System.outy.print messages included in your code will be shown in the console window at the bottom of the "Device Explorer" software.





The tool can be used also to manage the application: install, delete, stop, pause, and resume it.

Serializing an image with J2ME

Sometimes you need to transfer an image from your J2ME application to a server. In that case you need to serialize the image so you can write its bytes onto the connection opened with the server.

A good example to perform this task is in the Sony Ericsson Developer Site. Check out the article at developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/techsupport/tipstrickscode/java/p_java_0502.jsp

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

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