Nokia Developer News

Marketing your application effectively is a key to your success in Nokia Store. We understand how important this is to you, and we are actively working to support your marketing activities. One such way is through the Nokia Spotlights, a promotional opportunity that can significantly enhance your application’s visibility and downloads in Nokia Store. An important pre-requisite when applying to be featured in a Nokia Spotlight is to have a complete set of marketing assets (including banners) uploaded to Nokia Publish. If you don’t have the marketing assets, you can’t gain exposure through spotlight.

So, how do you create high-quality spotlight banners that will appeal to consumers? Photo-editing tools are expensive and hard to master. To deliver a professional banner, you may have to spend a lot of your valuable time in the design and creation of the materials. Hiring an external agency or a freelancer is also a costly and time-consuming affair.  

Today, we are excited to offer you a great solution to this challenge - the new and improved Simple Nokia Asset Creation (SNAC) tool. This free online tool will help you create crisp-looking banners that place your application front and center in a matter of minutes.  You start by entering the Nokia Store URL of your application or content (e.g. http://store.ovi.com/content/59360). The tool then automatically picks up details such as the name, category, price and icon. Almost instantly, the tool then generates a live preview of your banner, as shown below.



You can customize your banners using the 'Options' column of the tool. For example, you can modify the language and the content of the text in the banners – the tool supports 11 languages. Furthermore, you can showcase your application on one of more than 90 Nokia phones, ranging from classic feature phones to touch-based smartphones.

Most important, you can create banners in many different sizes including the standard Nokia Store spotlight formats (both desktop and mobile) and other advertising industry certified formats (e.g. IAB and MMA). The resulting banner files can be downloaded to your computer for re-use, or you can  let Nokia host these files for you, and you simply use the generated embed links to point to the banner.

Your new spotlight banners should be uploaded under the 'Content Item' tab > 'Spotlight & Promotion' area in the Nokia Publish tool. (For more details, please refer to the 'Spotlight Content' section of the Nokia Publisher guide).

Using the Simple Nokia Asset Creation (SNAC) tool will help you to promote your Nokia Store content, whether on your own website or elsewhere online. Additionally, it will help Nokia’s decision-makers to know that Spotlight banners about your content are available and ready to go.

What are you waiting for? Try the SNAC tool today, and see how easy it is to create professional looking banners to promote your applications and content in Nokia Store.

Nokia has introduced an upgraded, Qt Quick-based version of the Nokia Store client for its new Symbian smartphones, such as the Nokia N8, as well as the Qt-powered Nokia N9, delivering improved user experience and performance. In addition to the new branding to “Nokia Store”, features of the enhanced Nokia Store client include:

• Improved user experience and usability
• Improved client start-up time, and improved page-loading times and general UI performance
• Permanently visible navigation elements, and support for the new Belle UI style
• Next-generation payment checkout flow

Using the Qt SDK to develop the new Store client provided an easy-to-use, developer-focused environment that allowed for more time to create the app, and less time learning how to use the tools. “This was a great way of creating the application,” said Bill Bonney, Senior Systems Architect, Client UI for Nokia. “With Qt Quick there is no rigid UI framework and you have a lot more freedom to realize the experience that you want.”

According to Ashwini Bharadwaj, Senior Software Engineer at Nokia, developing the new Store client with Qt made it easy for the team to write the code once and compile it on different platforms. The Qt-based client was written for the Nokia N9 first, and then compiled for use on Symbian smartphones. “This saved us quite a bit of time,” said Bharadwaj.

The new Qt Quick -based version of the Nokia Store client will be offered for all of Nokia’s new Symbian phones, including those with Symbian Anna and Symbian Belle. This upgrade will be available in all markets globally, except for staggered deployment in certain countries.

It should also be noted that a new version of the Nokia Store client for Nokia Series 40 phones is also being introduced at this time.

Take a look at the new Qt-based Nokia Store client, and learn more about how it was developed: 

For individuals, this update to the Nokia Store client should arrive on smartphones any day now - users will be prompted to make the update when they open the app - but for those that can't wait, there is a beta version of the Store QML client in Nokia Beta Labs now.

Learn more about developing with Qt Quick.

 

Are you interested in transferring your existing Android application to the latest version of the Qt platform for use on Symbian phones and the Nokia N9? Porting will be a breeze with the Qt API mapping tool that has recently been extended to include Android to Qt API mappings. You can easily find QML and Qt C++ counterparts to Android classes and methods you have used in your current application. This new tool also provides direct links to Qt classes, methods, elements, and properties for further implementation details. Learn about porting your Android apps to Qt.

In addition to the API mapping tool, make sure you visit our Porting Library for more useful comparisons and tips about porting from Android to Qt. 

And, as a reminder, details about porting your iOS apps to Qt were published to Nokia Developer in September. And, Windows Phone mappings are expected later this month – we’ll let you know as soon as they become available.

 

This month’s Nokia Developer Champion, Maximiliano Firtman, has helped countless developers with his books, training programs and blog posts. Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Firtman has been a Nokia Developer member since 2003. His books include Programming the Mobile Web (O’Reilly, 2010) and jQuery Mobile: Up and Running (O’Reilly, 2011). Firtman is also the founder of IT Master Professional Training, which offers training courses and books on the web, mobile computing, and IT. He also writes a blog on the Nokia Developer site; recent topics include HTML5 support on the Symbian Anna browser.


Meet Nokia Developer Champion Max Firtman.

Are you planning to attend SenchaCon 2011 in Austin, Texas, on 23 – 26 October? Then thank Nokia for being a conference bronze sponsor. Developers of apps and content for Nokia phones can use a special discount code to save $300 (USD) off the conference fee.

Sencha Touch is the leading HTML5 and JavaScript framework for modern mobile app development. Developers can get on board now with this exciting framework to prepare for the future support of the Windows Phone platform.

To get the $300 (USD) discount:

1. Go to the SenchaCon 2011 homepage
2. Click on ‘Register Today!’
3. Click on ‘Sponsor’
4. Enter the Sponsor Code: SC11Nokia

Also, be sure to check out Nokia’s current web development offering.

An online update for Qt SDK 1.1.3 was released today. Developers can obtain this update by running the Qt SDK's update tool.This update features several improvements, including:

An Updated Harmattan target, Beta2, to correspond to the most recent public firmware release of the Nokia N950 Developer Device. This version of the Harmattan target is still considered experimental, but it can be used for developing apps for the Nokia N9. The Nokia N950 firmware update is available here.

Qt Creator 2.3.1, with support for app booster for N9 software and fixes for Symbian on-device debugging (CODA).

Fix to ensure that Qt Quick components work in the Simulator for software targeting the Nokia N9 smartphone and Symbian phones.

Symbian Complementary package improvements with an updated qmlviewer.sis for Qt 4.7.4 and NFC support in the  QtMobility 1.2 sis file.

In addition, QtWebKit 2.2.0 was released today. Qt Labs has more detail about this release.

Get more information about the Qt SDK 1.1.3 update.

Finally, With this update to the Qt SDK, the scope of Nokia's NFC developer offering took a significant step forward. The update features a new version of Qt Mobility, which creates new opportunities for developing NFC-enabled applications. Get more information in this blog post.

 

We are excited about the latest Mango updates that Microsoft released today. Among the many enhancements, with its unique user interface that include colorful Live Tiles that put people front and center, the latest devices from Windows Phone will make it easier to connect and share with friends, family and colleagues. How can you take advantage of these updates?

Today Microsoft released the final version of the Windows Phone SDK 7.1. If you are thinking about getting started on building apps for Windows Phone, now is the right time to get started by downloading and using the Windows Phone SDK.

Among the enhancements to the Windows Phone SDK, you will find that tooling is now localised in nine languages to develop apps (English, Japanese, Chinese - Traditional, French, German, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish), as well as additional finishing touches across the tooling components.  

The excitement for Windows Phone is real – since February of this year, the number of apps submitted to Windows Marketplace has grown from 7,000 to roughly 30,000. Developers have downloaded hundreds of thousands of pre-release WP SDK over the past few months. Over 75,000 developer devices have been updated – and that number is growing by the day.  

Enhancements to Windows Marketplace

In addition to the final SDK, there is news about Windows Marketplace, too. There are 19 additional countries where you can distribute and sell your apps (bringing the total to 38). A browser-based version of Windows Marketplace now offers consumers greater discoverability of apps, and along with that more reach and opportunity for you to publish your content. And, the Microsoft Advertising SDK uses Live ID integration and location services to provide you with better ad targeting.  

Existing app authors should update their 7.0 apps and submit them to Microsoft’s AppHub to take advantage of new Windows Phone 7.5 capabilities.

At this time, developers from more than 100 countries who are a part of Microsoft’s AppHub can submit apps.

Download the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 now.

Get more information in The Windows Phone Developer blog.

Now in its eighth year, Qt Developer Days is the best place to learn, share, and build your Qt expertise and develop relationships within the Qt community. The event’s dedicated Qt mobile training offers developers and UI designers skills to harness the large Qt for mobile opportunity today, and the future opportunity offered by the Nokia ‘Qt for the next billion’ strategy.

If you register before midnight Thursday (CET) you can take advantage of the Early Bird discount offer and save up to 30% on the price of event access.

Featuring tech tracks with more mobile content than ever, keynotes, Qt in Use sessions, training, an exhibition and social events so you can network with others in the Qt community, attendees benefit from:

• Time with Qt engineers and Qt partners to solve your head-scratching Symbian and MeeGo development challenges
• Qt Training day with a special track about Qt Apps with Nokia - Design, Develop and Distribute
• 50+ technical sessions for all levels of expertise
• Qt in Use case study sessions from world-leading app developers including AccuWeather and Offscreen
• Partner and Qt Ambassador exhibition with Qt apps and Qt-powered devices

Attendees will see the future of Qt, including: Qt 5; the next generation of Qt Quick; and of course the stunning new Qt-powered Nokia N9.

Developing with Qt for Nokia provides global reach to hundreds of millions of devices, and a secure pathway to the future. The event has doubled in size over the past two years, and even more growth is expected this year, so act now and secure your place at Qt Developer Days.  

Qt Developer Days 2011:

• 24 – 26 October in Munich 
• 29 November – 1 December in San Francisco

Learn more and register at http://qt.nokia.com/qtdevdays2011

The Nokia N9, designed for people who appreciate exceptional design and craftsmanship combined with the latest smartphone technology, has begun shipping to customers and stores around the world.

“With the innovations in industrial design, user interface, and apps based on the Qt developer experience, the Nokia N9 sets the bar for how natural technology can feel, and represents the first in a number of products from Nokia that will be brought to life in similar fashion,” said Ilari Nurmi, Vice President of Marketing, Nokia.

The Nokia N9 features an intuitive user interface that’s controlled with a simple swipe. The phone features three home views - Applications, Events and Live Applications – to allow users to navigate through the smartphone easily and get to their favourite content faster. Other features include:

• A 3.9-inch AMOLED screen made from scratch-resistant curved glass.
• Easy sharing of content through NFC technology, including single-tap pairing with NFC-enabled accessories like the Nokia Play 360⁰ wireless speaker.
• An 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus sensor and wide-angle lens for HD-quality video and photo capture, and large lens aperture for great camera performance even in low-lighting conditions.  
• Global and local apps available through Nokia Store for further personalization and new discovery opportunities.

The Nokia N9 is available in three colours – black, cyan and magenta with 16GB and 64GB storage options to accommodate plenty of content. The estimated retail price of the Nokia N9 16GB and 64GB is approximately EUR 480 and EUR 560, respectively, before applicable taxes or subsidies, with pricing and availability varying by region and operator.

To learn more about the Nokia N9, please visit: http://swipe.nokia.com

Or, view the device specifications for the Nokia N9.

For those that want to learn more about developing for the Nokia N9 with the Qt SDK, there are 14 demo apps now available in the Nokia Developer Projects site, which include full source code. Get more information in this related blog post.

We have launched a new section on Nokia Developer designed to help Android and iOS developers take advantage of the growing momentum behind Nokia Store. With constantly growing download rate, owners of Nokia smartphones have a huge appetite for apps.

Apps for Nokia smartphones are created using Qt, a rich cross-platform environment delivering efficient and intuitive APIs and a fully integrated set of tools for all aspects of app development. The obvious challenge, if you have an Android or iOS app, is figuring out where to start. And this is where the new Nokia Developer Porting section comes in.

Now you can find the information you need to get started and up-to-speed with efficient porting of your app’s UI and logic to Qt. The Porting to Qt library is where you might wish to start.

The library provides you with the following:

• An introduction to Qt technology and tools.
• Overview of application examples that illustrate how to undertake a port.
• For iOS and Android, individual sections that:
  • Provide you with a guide to the differences and similarities between your current apps’ architecture and those you will create with Qt.
  • Guides you through the decisions needed and Qt Quick components to use when porting your app’s UI.
  • Describes two examples of practical app UI porting, with full explanations of the design process and decisions.
  • Summary of the Qt Quick components you can use in porting your apps.

Having reviewed the library you will be ready to start porting your apps to Symbian phones and the Nokia N9 smartphone. At this stage the API Mapping Tool will be invaluable, as it by enables you to look up the APIs you have used in your app and find the right Qt API to use.

The section also provides you with an alternative route to access the code examples, of both model and real-world porting project, to help you gain a deeper insight into the porting process.

Visit the Porting section on Nokia Developer. 

But wait there’s more … Qt developers, get ready to discover new opportunities with Windows Phone

A huge new opportunity is coming, as we prepare to welcome Nokia products with Window Phone. For those of you with Qt applications, Nokia and Microsoft want it to be as easy as possible for you to take advantage of this new opportunity. So our friends over at Microsoft have been busy creating resources to get help you get your apps onto Windows Phone with the minimum of drama.

To get you started there is the Windows Phone Guide for Symbian Qt Application Developers, which provides a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about Windows Phone Apps standards, coding, and the tools. In addition information on the Qt APIS has been added to the Windows Phone API mapping tool so figuring out how to recode you app will be easy.

If you want a hands-on, guided kick-start to porting your apps to Windows Phone don’t forget the “Nokia Windows Phone Training” roadshow, a series of developer events starting in Paris today.

You can also find links to these resources in the Nokia Developer Porting section.

To find out more, check out the Windows Phone developer blog post.

Apps on Nokia Store had 2.5 times more downloads in the second quarter of 2011 than did apps on Apple’s App Store, according to research2guidance, a Berlin-based mobile research firm. In fact, the average Symbian app is downloaded from Nokia Store 160 per cent more times per day than is the average iOS app, the firm adds.

For developers and their content, this means it is easy to get noticed in Nokia Store, and to have your content seen by a global audience that is eager to download compelling mobile apps. It also confirms that Nokia’s promotional tools are working, driving downloads to more than 9 million a day.

In fact, as of this past August, over 200 developers had more than 1 million downloads of their Nokia Store content, and these developers represent more than 45 global markets. Among them, the most recent success case is QuickOffice. Its Quickoffice Premier 6, both free demo and paid versions, have been downloaded more than 2.3 million times in over 190 markets from Nokia Store. The free version of the app has also been made available on more than 60 Nokia phones as a preinstalled app for millions of consumers, and it can be used to upsell the app’s paid, premium version.

Nokia Store is also leading the way with operators. As of August, a total of 125 operators in 43 global markets supported integrated mobile billing for Nokia Store purchases. This made Nokia the world’s leading operator-billing network. Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements make it easier for consumers to purchase apps and other Store content in countries where credit-card use is low. Operator billing also offers a unique monetization channel to developers working within Nokia’s mobile ecosystem.

Learn more about the findings from research2guidance.

Nokia has created a set of components to use in mobile websites and web apps targeted at Symbian Anna phones, the Nokia N9 smartphone, and other Nokia smartphones with a WebKit browser. Included are components for collapsible content blocks, scrollable large content item windows, pop-up menus, expandable sliding menus, slideshows, and others. The components are designed to be used either as-is or extended for your own unique content and look.

Web components are built using the basic building blocks of the web: HTML for structured data, CSS for visual rendering, and JavaScript for behaviour. They are popular with web designers, as they deliver frequently used functions in ready-made, ready-to-add packages, with all structures and behaviours tested and working. Also, components can be easily customised by either using built-in options or editing the component itself.

To rev up your website with HTML5, download the Mobile Web Components.

 

Nokia recently announced that updates to its Symbian Belle smartphones will deliver a suite of Microsoft productivity applications and supplement security and manageability features. The free updates, called Microsoft Apps, will require no additional infrastructure. The first updates will appear by the end of this year, with broad consumer availability arriving in early 2012.

Microsoft Apps will bring collaboration and productivity tools that include: Microsoft Lync 2010 Mobile; Microsoft OneNote; Microsoft PowerPoint Broadcast; and Microsoft Document Connection, which provides Microsoft SharePoint access. In addition, an update in the first half of 2012 will introduce Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as native applications for the first time outside the Windows platform.

Microsoft Apps will be delivered via software update over the air or via PC download. They will run on the following Nokia smartphones: Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia E7, Nokia E6, Nokia X7, Nokia 700, Nokia 701, Nokia 600, and Nokia Oro. Looking ahead, Nokia will work with Microsoft to provide mobile device management of Symbian Belle devices through Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012.

Learn more about the Microsoft business updates for Nokia’s Symbian Belle smartphones.

This week, Nokia Senior Vice President Marco Argenti (@marcoargenti) spent time at Microsoft BUILD in Anaheim, Calif., to meet with colleagues from Microsoft, industry analysts, and of course lots of developers. In this blog post, Marco shares his impressions from the event …  

I’m excited about what I saw at Build in the past two days. And I was surrounded by thousands more enthusiastic people. Excitement is contagious, especially being in the midst of so many developers from all over the world.  You can read about Microsoft’s Windows Phone perspective from my counterpart, Matt Bencke, here. Personally, I’m most excited about what’s new with Metro, and how much momentum Nokia and Microsoft are building together, creating an opportunity for you, here and now.

Metro style Apps, or Metro Apps, were the main focus of this week’s Build conversation.  They were the 'new thing’ that set the aspirational level, and everyone felt they could comfortably walk towards it, no matter what the camp, business, or background they are coming from. This has truly been a show for everyone. C++ developers, C# developers, Javascript developers, VB developers.

'Metro Apps' is being defined as a new application paradigm, more than just an evolution.  A paradigm based on gestures, clean interface, fast and fluid experience. Rethinking the Windows experience in a modern way and finding the way to innovate with respect to what’s out there today.  And the Metro apps were born on the Windows Phone.

Metro Apps have their own stack, which is different from the desktop apps stack.

At the core is the new WinRT API which binds to C++, C#, VB and Javascript code equally and democratically. Developers can declare views in HTML/CSS or XAML as well as choose the language they're more familiar with for the application logic.

Metro Style User Interface can be created directly through the IDE (with hand crafted HTML/CSS or XAML) or visually through Expression Blend. Expression Blend is greatly enhanced, with the support of HTML/CSS for example, and it clearly becomes a first class citizen in the development toolset.

What I think was clearly achieved:

• Clearly position Metro Apps as the 'New thing' with high aspirational value and great consumer appeal.
• Give developers multiple ways to create a Metro App, and make those ways all feel equally valid and with the same level of support.
• Showing a clear parallelism between Phone apps and Windows 8 apps. Phone is the current opportunity to create, test, deploy and monetize Metro apps. They look and feel similar from a user standpoint, and from a developer standpoint most of the existing knowledge can be leveraged across platforms (C#, XAML, expression blend etc).
• Innovate on the UI and functionality, taking the gesture paradigm to the next level with the introduction of things such as Semantic Zoom (objects change behavior depending on zoom level), live Tiles (as in Mango), introducing application contracts (every app can be the target or source of information, locally installed apps become a 'web of apps') just to name a few.

The opportunity is here and now:

Writing an app for Windows Phone is the opportunity that’s available here and now for consumers to experience Metro apps, and for developers to build, distribute and monetize Metro apps.

The Windows Phone Marketplace currently has over 50,000 registered developers and over 30,000 apps available. The rate at which apps have been submitted has increased significantly since the announcement of the partnership with Nokia. Registration in Nokia developer programs, has increased 55 percent since February 2011 – the single largest increase in membership our program has seen, which can be directly attributed to our partnership with Microsoft.

I’m expecting to see another inflection point as a result of what we’ve seen at Build, with the Windows developer community being activated and excited about building Metro apps.

Members of our developer community are already seeing the value of publishing their apps to Windows Phone. Niklas Karlström, co-founder of Pico Brothers notes that, “We have seen the reach of publishing through Ovi Store and there's no doubt about jumping on the WP7 train. Ovi Store is an amazing marketplace where we have reached markets we didn't know existed. This you notice when your freshly brewed app is downloaded in over 200 countries. We have no doubt Nokia will do the same for our WP7 apps as well”. He went on to say, “we have coded in Microsoft tools since we were kids so it's like being in the backyard – making apps for WP7 will be quite a natural choice for us.”
 
Similarly, Larry Goldberg, CEO of Tunewiki said,“we view Nokia's collaboration with Microsoft as a positive because WP7 is an OS that can both take advantage of the advanced social features of our music player and also enhance the experience with the OS's unique UI and capabilities. Also, because 56 per cent of our Social Media Player audience is international and our scrolling lyrics are available worldwide, we think Nokia and its strong international presence makes it an ideal partner for TuneWiki and our global music community.”
 
As we continue to work more closely with Microsoft, we recognize the need to educate and offer as much support as possible to grow our ecosystem globally and locally, the local aspect being probably the biggest opportunity ahead of us.

Starting next week there will be hands-on training sessions in six countries to help developers get started on apps for Nokia with Windows Phone. There is still time to register online.

We’ve planned literally hundreds of developer events that we’ll conduct together with Microsoft in many of the countries where we operate, with sessions specifically targeted on monetization opportunities, on preparing our developers to best leverage the great opportunities ahead of us.

As I said, I’m excited – for Nokia, but most importantly for our developer community. This is really cool stuff.

Marco Argenti

Quality assurance (QA) is vital to your mobile apps and content. A new Nokia document, ‘Avoid the top 10 QA failures’, can help you assure the quality of your QA. According to this document, these are the top 10 reasons why content uploaded to Ovi Store fails Nokia’s QA testing:

1. The selected language and country distribution do not match.
2. The content does not display correctly when it changes orientation from portrait to landscape.
3. The Symbian package file specifies the incorrect OS.
4. The content does not prompt for an installation drive.
5. The flow diagram submitted with a Java app is inaccurate.
6. The content does not use the full screen.
7. The Java app does not include About, Help, or Exit options.
8. The MIDlet-Name parameter in the .jad file uses non-alphanumeric characters (Series 40 phones only).
9. When the content is suspended in background, the content sound is not disabled.
10. The touchscreen keypad is not disabled by default (S60 phones only).

Learn more: Download the Nokia document, ‘Avoid the top 10 QA failures’.