Nokia Developer News

Ovi Store daily download requests recently soared to 7.62 million, crossing the 7-million milestone for the first time and beating the previous record, set only few days earlier, by 840,000 downloads.

This significant jump in content consumption on Ovi Store follows the global removal of the registration/login requirement to download free items from the mobile web channel. The biggest increase was in India, where downloads more than tripled, making India the top country by downloads from the mobile web channel.

Publish your apps on Ovi Store.

As the app marketplace continues to grow, consumers are finding it increasingly challenging to find apps for their mobile phone. This makes discovery a major obstacle for developers and app owners.  

Perhaps not surprisingly, the challenge of discovery has brought the rise of marketing & PR firms dedicated to increasing visibility and awareness of mobile apps. As a leading app marketing & PR firm, App-Promo is one of the firms that truly understand this challenge, and they are working with a variety of clients to bring them success with their mobile products.  

App-Promo works with app developers and owners to devise a marketing strategy specifically designed to meet their objectives, whether it be to increase downloads, create brand awareness, or drive activity. App-Promo has seen significant results from their efforts with clients across mobile platforms

In order to provide their expertise on a wider scale -- and to show their commitment to the mobile space -- App-Promo recently launched a Qt-based application crafted to equip the development community with the tools, tips and information they need to market, distribute and promote their applications.

“The goal of the application is to provide the developer community with immediate how-to’s that they can apply right away to start seeing results” says Gary Yentin, CEO & Founder of App-Promo. “We guarantee that if you apply even a couple of tips from the app, you will start to see success.”

App-Promo chose to develop the App-Promo app using Qt because of Nokia’s expansive global development community. In addition, the support from Nokia on this project has been incredibly positive.

The content-based app features a variety of information from daily tips, to case studies to articles, all centered on  the subject of app marketing.

The app’s “Tips” section provides what they call “snackable” content – quick, easy, single-focused ideas that can be digested in a matter of minutes and applied immediately.

The 101 articles series found in the app covers the fundamental elements for all 10 core principles App-Promo insists any developer or product owner must consider in order to see success with their app. These principles touch on areas from pricing as a promotional vehicle to the use of social media.   

Apart from the wealth of information found in the article and tip content, the team at App-Promo wanted to highlight real-life examples of apps that have seen success in their Spotlight area. These cases studies are meant to inspire developers, and help illustrate what can happen when marketing theory is put into action.

In the spirit of the application, App-Promo is working with Nokia to offer "TIP TUESDAYS" which will be available from the Nokia Developer account on Twitter. Every Tuesday a new marketing tip will be tweeted to help spark ideas for the developer community and initiate both thinking and a conversation about app marketing.

The App-Promo app is available for download from Ovi Store at a promotional launch price of $6.99 (USD).

For more information about App-Promo and the services they provide, please visit their website.

New Series 40 phones with the innovative Touch and Type UI increase visibility for developers’ apps, and existing users will benefit from the enhancement via software updates. This applies already to C2-02, C2-03, C3-01, and X3-02 phones.

A recent software update for these Series 40 phones allow users to swipe left from the home screen to see 3rd Party apps in the Collection, and swipe right to see installed Games (including 3rd party games).

This enhanced app discoverability is shipping now in new devices, and is also available as an update for existing (C3-01 and X3-02) users. The update is already promoted via Ovi Suite, and will be available as an Over the Air (OTA) update in the future.

How to get started:

Version 1.0 of the Series 40 6th Edition SDK, Feature Pack 1 is available, providing developers with the opportunity to create Java applications that leverage the innovative Touch and Type UI.

Series 40 web apps are created and tested using Nokia Web Tools, which is available for Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, and Ubuntu Linux. 

How get noticed:

Submit your best Series 40 Java or web apps in Nokia’s Create for Millions contest to win your share of cash and prizes, worth 1 million euros. 

 

Get ready for Qt Developer Days, the big event for Qt developers. This year the event is being held in two venues: Munich, 24 – 26 October, and San Francisco, 29 November – 1 December. Regional events are also being planned for Beijing, Tokyo, and other to-be-announced cities. Agenda topics for the main event include Qt 5, Qt Quick, and the Qt-powered Nokia N9. Attendees will also enjoy face time with Qt engineers and partners; Qt training; 50+ technical sessions; case studies; and an expo of Qt apps and devices.

Registration is open now. Several discounts are available, too: Early Bird (up to 200 euros/$200), five for the price of four, bring a colleague, and educator/professor.

Check out the agenda for Qt Developer Days 2011.

Register now to attend Qt Developer Days 2011.

July’s Nokia Developer Champion of the month is Randy Arnold, an experienced product innovator who was directly involved in the launch and support of Linux-powered mobile computers like the N800. Known to his many online friends as Texrat, he is a tireless community organizer, three-time maemo.org community council representative, and MeeGo community advocate.

The Nokia Developer Community connects with Randy through his Nokia Developer Blog, his popular twitter channel @texrat, and his Tabula Crypticum writing on “best practices, random analyses, and sober speculation”.

 

Meet Champion of the Month Randy Arnold.

Learn more about the Nokia Developer Champion recognition and reward program.

Developers have easy new ways to create web apps for Series 40 phones, thanks to two tools made available by Nokia:

- Web Clip Creator: This new, experimental menu-driven tool, available in Nokia Beta Labs, gives people with little or no mobile development experience a mechanism to create Series 40 web apps based on their current, publicly available websites.

 

- Ovi App Wizard: This free, easy-to-use Series 40 web app template is for RSS-based apps that are ready for publication on Nokia’s Ovi Store. A publisher’s news and information can be presented in a format that offers consumers interactive user interfaces with graphical transitions.

The two new tools follow the earlier announcement of Nokia Web Tools for Series 40 and the announcement that Series 40 web apps can be distributed through Ovi Store.

Also, web apps created with either Web Clip Creator or Ovi App Wizard and then published on Ovi Store can be entered in Nokia's Create for Millions contest, which will award the winners a share of  cash and prizes worth 1 million euros.

 

 

Now's the time to prepare for the upcoming Mango release of the Windows Phone OS. Microsoft has just started a Mango early-access program for developers. The company has also released the Windows Phone Developer Tools Beta 2, which is now available for download. These new resources are important for developers as Nokia makes its transition to the Windows Phone platform.

Learn more from the Windows Phone Blog.

 

To support Nokia’s new strategy to deliver phones and services for the next billion, the company has just announced the Create for Millions contest. Submit your best Series 40 Java or web apps, and you could win your share of 1 million euros’ worth of cash and prizes.

Developers may submit Series 40 and web apps in any of four categories:

-    In the Know: Apps that focus on news and local information.
-    Fun & Games: Entertainment and gaming apps.
-    Emotional Closeness: Social networking apps.
-    Access to Knowledge: Apps the help consumers improve their lives – education, health, etc.

Within each category, there will be 10 cash prizes, with a top prize of 50,000 euros. These winning apps also will be promoted by Nokia in several venues, including online, social media, and newsletters. In addition, the top app in each category will receive both a free user experience (UX) consultation from Nokia and support from a design agency to create promotional banners.

Three special prizes will be awarded, too:

-    Best touch feature: The winner will receive 25,000 euros.
-    Best location-based Java app: Entries must run on either the Nokia C2-02 or Nokia C2-03 phone. The winner will receive 25,000 euros.
-    Best Series 40 web app: The winner will receive 50,000 euros. In addition, Nokia will promote the app in appropriate countries on the start page of the Nokia Browser for Series 40.

To enter the Create for Millions developers contest, you must first publish your Series 40 or web app on Ovi Store. Then complete the Create for Millions competition registration form.

But hurry: The deadline for all Create for Millions entries is 20 September.

Learn more and enter the Create for Millions contest.

Discuss the Create for Millions contest with your fellow developers on the Nokia Developer Forum.

 

You may have noticed the look of some of the Nokia application icons have been changing. The corners have become a little more rounded, and the styling a bit more simple. That's because Nokia Developer has updated the icon guidelines for Series 40 Touch and Type, Symbian and MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan.

Check out the new icon guidelines:

- Series 40 iconography guidelines.

- Symbian icon guidelines.

- MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan iconography guidelines.

- Iconography style summary (the differences among the platform icons).

 

Ovi Store momentum continues to be strong, as more than 300,000 new Nokia accounts are created daily, and consumers are downloading 6 million mobile apps and content every day.

Additionally, as we recently reported, Ovi Store has grown nearly eight times in one year, with more than 48,000 apps now available. Nearly 1,000 new apps are added every week, too. Series 40 devices, which will enable apps for the next billion mobile phone users, have experienced more than 35 per cent growth in download volumes in the last two months, making up about a quarter of the total downloads.

By the end of May 2011, more than 170 developers had each exceeded 1 million downloads on Ovi Store. Among those developers, 15 companies had total downloads in the 10 million to 20 million range each; five companies were in the  20 million to 30 million range; and one company, Offscreen Technologies, had more than 72 million total downloads.

The total number of operator billing connections is growing at a steady pace, too. It now includes 121 operators across 42 countries. Operator billing improves our consumers’ experience when buying Store apps and other Nokia Services; any purchase via operator billing is simply charged to the mobile phone bill issued by the Operator.

Recent additions to operator billing include:  

•    Chile with Claro – AMX
•    Portugal with Vodafone
•    Hong Kong with five operators: CSL, 3HK, SMV, PCCW, and CMHK
•    United Arab Emirates with Etisalat

Also, more than 400,000 mobile and web developers from around the world have joined Nokia’s developer program in the past year. Together, they are making the most of a truly global distribution opportunity that only Nokia can provide. It is also worth noting that the Store is now available in more than 190 countries and over 30 languages; more than 90 per cent of all Store customers download apps in their own language.  

Qt developers can now target more than 100 million Nokia devices for their apps. And let’s not forget the 150 million future Symbian smartphones Nokia intends to sell, including the Nokia E6, Nokia X7, and Nokia Astound from T-Mobile USA. Also, Qt app developers can re-use code to speed the creation of apps on Maemo and the new Nokia N9 that will ship later this year.

With Nokia’s unmatched integrated billing and global presence, monetization opportunities and local merchandising of content to consumers, developers can ensure that they make the most of this global opportunity.

Ready to distribute your apps globally to millions of Nokia users via Ovi Store?  Get started by visiting the publish to Ovi page.

Want more information about developer successes in Ovi Store? Check out the Ovi Store statistics page.

Nokia has introduced three affordable Series 40 phones at Nokia Connection 2011 in Singapore. All three phones offer web, maps, and messaging experiences that are ‘second to none’, according to Mary McDowell, head of Nokia Phones.

Nokia C2-03: The third dual-SIM phone Nokia has brought to market in the past month, the Nokia C2-03 lets the user customise as many as five SIM cards with a dedicated look and feel. The phone also supports Nokia’s Touch and Type UI, which combines keypad functionality with a touch display. Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, Flash Lite 3.0, stereo FM radio, media player, and support for up to 32 GB memory card. The Nokia C2-03 will ship in the third quarter, and it will retail for 75 euros/$105 (USD).

Nokia C2-02:  Essentially a single-SIM version of the Nokia C2-03, this new phone also features Nokia’s Touch and Type UI. Like the Nokia C2-03, this phone also features a 2-megapixel camera, Flash Lite 3.0, stereo FM radio, media player, and support for up to 32 GB memory card. The Nokia C2-02 will ship in the third quarter, and it will retail for 75 euros/$105 (USD).

Nokia C2-06: This phone features dual SIM with easy-swap slot, and it comes in a range of fresh colours with a clean, smooth finish. The Nokia C2-06 will ship in the third quarter, and it will retail for 80 euros/$112 (USD).

Learn more about the new Nokia Series 40 phones.

 

Nokia made several announcements at Nokia Connection 2011 in Singapore this week that clearly signal the company’s commitment to its new strategy – and to the developer community. ‘Earlier this year, we outlined a comprehensive strategy to change our course’, Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia, said at the conference. ‘Innovation is at the heart of our strategy, and today we took important steps to demonstrate a new pace of innovation at Nokia. It's the beginning of a new era for Nokia.’

Here are the key announcements:

Nokia N9: This new phone, based on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan and supported by the Qt application framework, features a unique swipe user interface (UI) that lets the user move from any app to the homescreen with one swipe of a finger. The Nokia N9 UI also features a screen that shows thumbnails of all open apps, allowing true multitasking. Other features of the new phone include an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, free turn-by-turn drive and walk navigation in Nokia Maps, and a beautifully designed case made from a single piece of polycarbonate and laminated deep-black display. The Nokia N9 will be available in three colours: black, cyan, and magenta. Shipments are set to begin later this year, and prices will be announced then. Learn more about developing for the Nokia N9.
 
New Symbian smartphones: Over the next 12 months, Nokia plans to bring as many as 10 new Symbian-based smartphones to market, the company said.

Symbian Anna: This July, Nokia will start shipping new Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6-01 phones with the Symbian Anna software update, which includes  several user experience improvements. By the end of August, current owners of these four Nokia phones will be able to upgrade their phones with a Symbian Anna download.



Explore Nokia’s new strategy.

Exciting news for the developer community today, and in particular for those who are focused on Qt: At the Nokia Connection 2011 event in Singapore, Nokia Senior Vice President, Developer Experience Marco Argenti confirmed that Nokia will “make Qt core to bringing applications to the next billion,” and he reassured developers that investments made in Qt today will live on in the future with Nokia.

During his presentation, “Qt and the Next Billion”, Argenti noted the following:

• “Qt-powered Apps have serious momentum on Ovi Store. Our consumers are downloading more Qt-written apps on over 100 million devices worldwide. And today I’m happy to announce that we will make Qt core to bringing great applications to the next billion.”
• “Why did we pick Qt? Qt is a great cross-platform framework. Qt is modern and efficient. Qt Quick bridges the design phase with the production phase – making it incredibly easy to design, prototype and develop new applications. With QML, the interface markup language, web developers can feel right at home creating great UI’s.”
• “Qt is widely supported by an active community of over 1/2 million developers. And Nokia will continue to invest in Qt, as we’ve recently released Qt SDK 1.1, and we’re actively involved in contributing to Qt 5.”

This means developers will have both a large existing audience to target with Qt-based mobile apps (100 million Symbian-based phones, plus our first-ever pure touch smartphone, the Nokia N9).

Argenti also noted that: “We will disclose further details in due time; today we want our developers to see the opportunity that the future of Qt brings as part of our mobile phones strategy.”

Learn more about developing for the Nokia N9 and developing with Qt.

Tero Paananen (tepaa to the Forum Nokia Community) is a full-time mobile developer and Mobile Qt team Team Manager at Digia in Finland, where he specializes in Symbian C++ and Qt development. In his spare time he recently began exploring mobile development for Windows Phone 7, and he launched the first two Forum Nokia Projects containing code for WP7 apps: XNASolitaire and Angry Monsters. Forum Nokia talked with Tero via e-mail about his experience as a skilled Symbian/Qt developer approaching Windows Phone 7 work. An earlier blog post presented our conversation about learning C#. Here is an edited transcript of our conversation about creating the Angry Monsters game with his two sons.

FN: Hi Tero. Thank you for taking the time to talk about your experience approaching Window Phone 7 work. Let’s discuss your Angry Monster game. Where did the idea come from?

Tepaa: Angry Monsters is the result of long-running challenge from my two boys: 6-year old Luukas and 10-year old Matias. They know I code for a living, and many evenings I code at home. They keep asking me “Why don’t we make our own game?”

What Dad could resist? I found the open source Box2D physics engine for XNA and I decided to give it a try.

FN: Why did you choose the Box2D engine?

Tepaa: My boys love to play Angry Birds, and they often compared the game they wanted to build to it. I heard Angry Birds uses the Box2D physics engine, which is available for both Qt and XNA frameworks. It seemed like a good fit. Angry Monsters uses the open source XNA Box2D engine from CodePlex under MIT license. Box2D for Qt is also available for free download. Both XNA and Qt versions have the very same API and it is quite fast to rewrite the game from XNA to Qt. There is also an engine for QML.

FN: What’s it like having your sons as working partners on a software project?

Tepaa: Every time I show them the demo they find something they don’t like. They’re constantly asking: When will the game be ready? Why don’t enemies explode? Where are the sounds? Why this and that…

So I guess in a way it’s not much different from any other project manager, except I can’t tell a project manager at my day job that it’s past his bedtime.

Graphic designers Luukas and Matias hard at play.

FN: Has anyone outside the family gotten to play Angry Monsters yet?

Tepaa: Yes, a few people have seen early versions of the game. Vesa-Matti Paananen from Microsoft Finland sent me an invite to attend Microsoft Windows Phone Developer Day at Helsinki after reading the previous blog post about XNASolitaire. I was there and our Angry Monsters demo was on Digia’s stand.

I showed an early demo to the company’s secretary and she started to cry and laugh at the same time. She was impressed and asks to see final version. My boys keep asking for the final version, too.

FN: What are Angry Monsters Rocks?

Tepaa: Angry Monsters Rocks was a small project so the boys could thank our big project enablers: Microsoft, Nokia and Digia. They painted Angry Monsters on rocks and wrapped them nicely for each of the people who helped. Angry Monsters was a difficult English phrase for them to write on the rock.

FN: When do you find time to work on Angry Monsters?

Tepaa: I have a day job at Digia Finland where I implement Qt and Windows Phone projects. I have to implement Angry Monster at nights, when the family is sleeping. For example now it is midnight and I answer these questions in my mobile house in the garden. The WiFi signal from the house is so weak out here that I have to walk nearer to the house when committing code into to the Forum Nokia Projects repository.

Developer / Dad Teppa outside the mobile house where he codes late into the night. This time of year in Finland it stays light late into the night.

FN: How much of the actual game design did the boys do?

Tepaa: The idea for the level editor and the interaction that allows users to hit the stone many times came from the boys. All graphics and the theme are from the boys. They like to design and break down levels and store these for later gaming or breaking again. Breaking seems to be the most fun for them.

Video: The boys designed a level editor that lets them create custom game levels any time they want.

FN: How did you set them up so they could create graphics that you could use in the game?

Tepaa: That was easy; they were very exited to draw the game after I told them I would start implementing it. It’s waiting for the final game that is almost too difficult for them. Luckily I have Angry Birds on Nokia N900 and the latest Angry Birds Rio on Apple iPad.

FN: What are your next steps with Angry Monsters?

Tepaa: The game still needs sounds, exploding enemies, better game play, game over… I have also been asked to implement a QML version of it.

It would also be nice to share self-made levels to friends.

Any interested developers can follow the Angry Monsters project by clicking the “Follow” link on the project page. Followers will get updates every time the project publishes updates.

14 June update: here's a new video of Luukas and Matias playing Angry Monsters in an emulator, now with sound!

SVG Converter, available now from Forum Nokia in a beta release, is a desktop application that converts SVG images to SVG Tiny images that are suitable for mobile applications and content. It can also export to PNG format, which may be useful for exporting icons in media such as web pages. The application includes a graphical user interface and command-line interface.

While most Nokia platforms can use SVG Tiny content for icons and other graphic elements, the typical graphics package can output only SVG (scalable vector graphics) content. This is where SVG Converter can help.

SVG Converter runs on Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, and Ubuntu (Linux) computers.

Download the SVG Converter beta, plus the user guide and release notes.

Share your experience in the SVG Converter thread on the Forum Nokia Mobile Design and User Experience discussion board.