Nokia Developer News

Dear Nokia Developer,

Much has been said in the last few weeks about Nokia’s announced strategy. I’ve heard from many of you with encouragement, concerns and questions. Please do continue the dialog with me and the Forum Nokia team.

I want to take a moment to focus on what these announcements mean to you, how Nokia plans to support your development needs and how this translates into opportunities today and in the future.

First, let’s recap what it is we announced; the three main areas of our strategy:

1. Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft on Windows Phone
2. Connecting the Next Billion
3. Future disruptive technologies

What about Symbian? What about Qt?

Understandably, these are the first questions that come to mind. Although Windows Phone will become our primary smartphone platform, we will continue to deliver a great deal of value from Symbian. We’re making investments that will help us to engage and attract existing and new Symbian users and allow us to launch new competitive smartphones.

Over the past weeks we have been evaluating our Symbian roadmap and now feel confident we will have a strong portfolio of new products during our transition period – i.e. 2011 and 2012. These devices will take advantage of the strong integration of devices and services as well as our strength in areas such as imaging and location-based services. They will also include improvements in hardware performance such as GHz+ processing capabilities and faster graphics speeds.

To further enhance the competitiveness of these products we will deliver updates to the current Symbian user experience. The first major update will arrive in summer, delivering a new home screen, new icons, a faster browser, new Navbar and a fresh look and feel to Ovi Store and Ovi Maps, including integration of social media services in Ovi Maps.

You may have seen some of these updates in the latest product we launched at CTIA Wireless this year, the Nokia C7 Astound.  Those plus the rest of the enhancements will be delivered to all users over the air in a simple update available from the Home Screen, and Nokia Astound users will receive the remaining enhancements not already in their device at the same time.

I’ve been asked many times how long we will support Symbian and I’m sure for many of you it feels we have been avoiding the question.  The truth is, it is very difficult to provide a single answer. We hope to bring devices based on Windows Phone to market as quickly as possible, but Windows Phone will not have all language and all localization capabilities from day one. 

In many markets, including markets where Symbian is currently the lead smartphone platform with significant market share such as China, India, Russia and Turkey, we will continue to make our Symbian portfolio as competitive as possible while we work with Microsoft to introduce Windows Phone. For that reason certain markets will play a more significant role in selling the 150 million Symbian devices than others and we will be selling devices long after Windows Phone devices from Nokia have already started to appear in other markets. That is why we cannot give you the date when Symbian will no longer be supported.

What I can promise you is that we will not just abandon Symbian users or developers.  As a very minimum, we have a legal obligation, varying in length between countries, to support users for a period of time after the last product has been sold.  Our intention is that when users come to the end of the natural lifecycle of their Symbian device they will make the change to a Nokia Windows Phone device and so it would not be in our interests to undermine their Nokia smartphone experience.  Operators have also been very supportive in their commitment to help us continue to sell and support Symbian devices while we make the transition to Windows Phone. Ovi Store is available to consumers in over 190 countries. We currently stand at 109 operators in 34 countries who offer operator billing and no doubt they continue to recognize the opportunities in a platform that has great localization, differentiation and flexible billing services, while we start to build great new devices with Microsoft.

Qt, the development platform for Symbian and future MeeGo technology remains critically important and Nokia is committed to investment in Qt as the best toolset for those platforms and we are focusing on future developments in part by our plan to divest the commercial licensing business, used mainly by developers of embedded and desktop applications beyond the mobile market.

Additionally we are readying app analytics, in-app advertising, in-app purchasing, a new browser and hardware enhancements. There are a lot of new things for developers to take advantage of in these soon-to-be-released APIs. We are continuing to explore Qt for use in other strategic investment areas as well.

So in short, there are some very exciting things happening in Symbian and Qt, lots of new devices and platform improvements and we believe consumers will be downloading great developer apps from these devices. All together, this means your investment in Qt is a safe choice for skill competency, monetization opportunities and brand awareness amongst our millions of users.

The partnership announcement has many of you wondering how Forum Nokia and Microsoft will support you in the future. As we carefully plan this with Microsoft we will be able to share more information. However, we are listening to your concerns and comments. Nokia and Microsoft share a view and commitment to make the transition as smoothly as possible for developers.

The second pillar of Nokia’s strategy, ‘Internet for the Next Billion’ also highlights our increased focus on opportunities for developers, especially Java developers. Nokia sells over one million features phones a day; a staggering number by any measure. Developers can already distribute Java apps to approximately 600 million Series 40 devices.

We intend to drive more innovation and improvement in Series 40 developer engagement. We are continuing to develop easy-to-use tools and software developer kits to make it simple, easier and more affordable for Java developers to work with us. For example, there is free signing for Java apps; the new SDK for Touch and Type UI is in the market now; plus we have plans for increased proxy browsing capabilities on our device and support for web apps.

Consumers around the world are hungry for apps on Nokia devices.

The disruptive technologies area of our strategy includes our work on MeeGo and Nokia Research Center, Nokia’s future looking, global labs. You will hear more from us on MeeGo in coming months.

Finally, there is still $10M up for grabs in the Calling All Innovators contest. The deadline is approaching – 31 March – so be sure to submit your app. If the content of your app is applicable to consumers in the U.S. and Canada, you could get a piece of the $10M in cash and prizes. Giving out these big checks and seeing your apps get downloaded by millions of consumers is the best part of my job!

In the coming weeks and months, we will continue to update you on our progress with Symbian, Windows Phone and Series 40 and new programs to assist you in building success in Ovi Store. We are excited about working with you in each of these areas. In the meantime, we’ll look for your next great Qt or web app in Ovi Store!

Best regards,

Purnima Kochikar
Vice President, Forum Nokia

Exclusive to T-Mobile USA, the Nokia C7-Astound offers a sleek stainless-steel design featuring an 8-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p HD video capture, a brilliant 3.5-inch capacitive touch AMOLED display, free turn-by-turn navigation and access to thousands of free and paid apps via Nokia’s Ovi Store.

Consumers can kick back and enjoy Astound’s entertainment features by playing pre-loaded games like Fruit Ninja, listening to the lastest music with the Slacker Radio app, or browsing their own music and video collection, right at their fingertips.

When consumers turn to Ovi Store, make sure they see your apps:

If you already have Symbian^3 apps in the store that are compatible with N8-00 or C7-00 and are distributed in the USA, just add the C7-00_1 to your device distribution list and increase your reach.

The Nokia Astound will be available nationwide starting April 6 through T-Mobile retail stores and online at http://www.t-mobile.com for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate card with a two-year service agreement and qualifying voice and data plan.

 

The first Quick Competition of 2011 was a great success, with many high-quality submissions in both Wiki and Projects. In fact, there were so many good submissions, the number of prizes was doubled, to six Nokia E7 devices and two Nokia N8 devices. Here are the winners:

I) Top Wiki Articles

* How to Build a Tabbed UI with QML by Alessandro La Rosa (jappit). Alessandro created an unprecedented 10 articles! 'In my experience as a mobile developer, Qt Quick appears as one of the greatest discoveries', Alessandro says. 'Even easier to learn than Web technologies, thanks to the immediateness of QML, it allows developers to gradually approach and explore all the power and features of Qt. It's absolutely brilliant.'

* QML OAuth by njzk2. OAuth is used by many web sites, including Twitter and Facebook, for authentication. This article explains how to implement OAuth procedure in QML apps.

* Simple Qt Timer Application in QML by ianbrfid. This article, written for developers who want to get started with QML, provides examples of how to use state transition animations. It also shows what QML can do with simple commands.

Honourable mention: QML Tag Cloud by justin armstrong. How to create a simple UI in less than 100 lines of code.


II) Top Projects Submissions

* TwimGo by Tommi Laukkanen (eetomla). Tommi submitted three Qt apps, all polished and fully functional. So also try NewsFlow and DoodleDrive on your device, and be sure you also check out the well-written code. 'Qt Quick really speeds up app development for multiple platforms,' Laukkanen says. 'I'm looking forward to running my apps on my Nokia N900, Nokia E7, and MeeGo devices.'

* Flake by claudiu.chetan, dbaila and iza. A Qt-based weather-forecasting app.

* Whatser by alichino. Ticking all the boxes of a modern application, Whatser runs on your mobile and PC, is about location and social networks, and helps you go out and have fun with your friends.

* Honourable mention: WordMaster by Funkybro, a vocabulary game developed in QML and using JavaScript for the logic.



Congratulate the winners in the Quick Competition Discussion Board.

Explore the Quick Competition, all final entries, and more details about each of the winners.

 

There is a new version of the Forum Nokia Design and User Experience Library, which gathers essential design and usability aspects in one place. This version contains updated and new information about Nokia design principles, Symbian iconography guidelines, and simplified layouts and navigation for both Symbian and Maemo. The Library can be either viewed online or downloaded as a Zip file.

Check out the Design and User Experience Library v2.2.

 

Two mobile apps that began life on Forum Nokia Projects are now available to the public on Ovi Store. Podcatcher, a podcast manager and player for Nokia Symbian devices, has been in development for several years, and it is now available on Ovi Store for $0.99 (USD). SingaporeBus, an app that helps Singapore users find nearby bus stops, bus arrival times, and bus itineraries, was born and developed on Forum Nokia Projects as a hobby. It has now grown up to be a real app available in Ovi Store, where it is free.

Forum Nokia Projects offers online project hosting for collaborative software development, web design, documentation, and other projects. Projects currently hosts nearly 1,500 active members and more than 670 projects.

Explore Forum Nokia Projects.

The Nokia Mobile Web Templates have been restructured and improved. Version 2, which covers both mobile phones and smartphones, is easier to target and manage. Improvements include restructured JavaScript and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for easier customisation. Also, the documentation is now targeted at making the process of copying-and-pasting simpler.

 

Explore, download and view online examples of the updated Mobile Web Templates.

Apps developed with the Qt SDK 1.1 Beta are now being accepted into the $10 million (USD) Calling All Innovators North America contest presented by AT&T and Nokia. Qt SDK 1.1 Beta apps will be accepted into the Ovi Publish intake system, and they will receive a special acknowledgement advising that they have been received and will be held for publishing until the SDK is commercially available. Once the SDK is finalized, submitted apps will be processed for distribution in Ovi Store. There, developers can reach consumers using 100 million Qt-enabled devices -- of which 75 million are touch-enabled. And looking ahead, Nokia plans to sell 150 million more Symbian devices, including new devices with enhanced features.

Contest winners in 17 categories will receive $10 million (USD) in cash, devices, and marketing prizes. But hurry: The deadline for contest entries has been extended to 31 March.




Find out more, and enter the Calling All Innovators North America contest today.

Developers are always looking for a few good ideas. Now they can find -- and contribute -- more than a few at Nokia IdeasProject.com. The two-year-old IdeasProject has just been upgraded, and Version 2.0 expands support for the global community of mobile users. It enables the exchange of ideas between users and developers around innovation powered by Nokia.

On IdeasProject 2.0, ideas are invited from virtually any source, on a broad range of topics. The site is designed to help people build ideas upon ideas, constructing new approaches to solving a variety of the world’s challenges. Find a challenge that interests and excites you. IdeasProject users will bring together insights, ideas, and suggestions. You may even find an idea for your next world-changing app.


Check out IdeasProject 2.0, and start exchanging ideas.

Add IdeasProject to your RSS news feed.

From the Ovi Blog, this news for developers from madho :

We are testing two important areas in a live environment: in-app purchase and even stronger DRM. Based on the feedback of those specially selected Publishers, we will roll out these features to a broader group. If you are interested in participating in either beta, please get in touch with your Ovi team contact.

So, we’ll admit we are excited!

And yes, we like to geek out over every small improvement that makes it better for you, whether you are a consumer or publisher.

Any questions or comments, please email me at madho@ovi.com or find me on twitter @NokiaMadho.

Other news from the full post include:

• Search improvements
• Use Email as your username
• We want your feedback!
• Faster browsing

See Better search and other improvements in the new Store for all the details.

 

 

 

Join the Developer Economics 2011 survey and have your say on which is the best mobile platform. It’s a 10-minute online survey on the hottest issues of app development - with a chance to win a $1,500 Amazon voucher. 

Last year's report was described by Robin Wauters at Tech Crunch as "the most profound I’ve read to date." The results of this year's survey will be freely available in Q2, so be sure to have your opinion count by taking the short survey now before the 31 March deadline. Developer Economics 2011 is produced by VisionMobile and sponsored by BlueVia.

Digia Plc. has agreed to acquire Nokia’s Qt commercial licensing and services business. The proposed acquisition, scheduled to close by the end of this month, will transfer some 3,500 desktop and embedded commercial customers to Digia.

Qt will continue to be offered by Nokia as the sole application development framework for both Symbian and MeeGo, both of which are supported through LGPL (Lesser General Public License), not Commercial licensing. Nokia’s first MeeGo devices, which will run Qt apps, are expected later this year. What’s more, Nokia previously announced its plans to sell another 150 million Symbian smartphones, further extending the opportunity for mobile application developers on Qt and creating a large, continuing opportunity for developers to reach mobile consumers worldwide. Nokia currently has an installed base of approximately 75 million Qt-capable, touch-enabled Symbian smartphones.

In short, Nokia’s continued commitment to Qt is not affected by this proposed change, and Nokia will continue to invest in developing Qt for the benefit of both Commercial and LGPL customers.

Learn more about Nokia's proposed sale of Qt commercial licensing and services.

Four new web tutorials for Qt are now available on Forum Nokia. Each tutorial features an introduction, IDE walkthrough explaining the development environment, programming guide describing the key points, an optional test to ensure mastery of key concepts, a step-by-step guide to creating an application, and a summary with links pointing to relevant reference information and useful downloads. The four new tutorials are:

• Qt Mobility: Messaging
• Qt Mobility: Sensors
• Qt Mobility: Multimedia Audio
• Qt Quick

 

Browse and view the new web tutorials for Qt.

An early beta of the Series 40 On-device Debugger is now available. This tool enables Java applications to be debugged on the latest Series 40 devices from the NetBeans and Eclipse IDEs.

Three components are key: a debugger client application that is installed on a device, an emulator for installation into your IDE, and a PC-side configuration manager. To use the debugger, first integrate the emulator into your IDE, then set up the debugger client on your device, and finally use the connection manager to establish communications between the device client and the IDE.

Once this is done, applications can be debugged, making full use of your IDE’s debugging tools, such as examining the content of variables and stepping through the code. If you have chosen another IDE, the tool may be usable by taking advantage of its remote attach capability. In addition, the tool also enables IDE-independent user-level traces.


Download the first beta of the Series 40 On-Device Debugger now.


Explore the Series 40 On-Device Debugger user guide.


Watch a video guide to getting started with the Series 40 On-Device Debugger.

For those of you looking to access the 100 million Symbian smartphones that can run Qt today, and the additional 150 million Nokia expects to ship there is good news to share: Qt SDK 1.1 is now at beta status and the final version is not too far away.

The beta version includes the Qt 4.7.2 and Qt Mobility 1.1.1 APIs, which will be available on Symbian devices when the final version of the SDK is released. These APIs include new features for mapping and navigation, imaging, and calendar among others. This means that the Qt SDK can now be used to create the final version of applications you want to make available in Ovi store. With versions for Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS X, and Ubuntu Linux, the Qt SDK 1.1 doesn’t restrict you in your choice of development platform.

If you’ve not yet checked out Qt SDK 1.1, it’s certainly worth a look. Qt Quick is one of the latest features; offering a declarative UI technology that uses a JavaScript-like language to define not only how a UI looks but how it behaves. With support for complex transitions, Qt Quick makes it easy to create the modern, fluid UIs smartphone users expect. You can see an example in the video where Nigel Hietala demonstrates a Twitter client app created in Qt Quick, part of a series on developing UIs with Qt Quick you can find among the Qt videos.  

Download the Qt SDK 1.1 beta and experience how easy it is to create rich, compelling applications for Nokia smartphones.

The latest version of the theme tool for Symbian devices is now available. Carbide.ui Symbian Theme Edition 4.0 delivers a new UX that has been designed to boost the productivity of theme designers. The UX was created by going back to first principles and rethinking how designers can most efficiently create themes. This has resulted in changes that include:

Richer Component View: With faster refreshing, improved iconography, status indication, and filtering, reviewing components is now faster and better aligned to theme-development needs.

Unified Properties View: All properties of a component -- and the tools to manipulate them -- are now in one place. New tools, such as a slicer to create nine-part components, are also available.

Tabbed Preview: Preview screens are now grouped into convenient tabs, making it easier to find and display specific previews. This, in turn, enables the impact of component changes on the UI to be evaluated speedily.

Colour and Gradient Editor: An improved colour-selection tool makes editing common colours and gradients straightforward. Get an instant preview of any change, then use the colour picker to sample colours from any source.

Export to PDF: Export all preview screens to a PDF document -- at full resolution. Designers can now easily evaluate and share theme ideas without having to first install them on a device.

Automatic Updates: Whenever updates to Carbide.ui become available, an automatic alert is shown in the tool. Then, a single click is all that's needed to get the latest features and functions.

 

Explore and download Carbide.ui Symbian Theme Edition 4.0