Nokia Developer News

Champion of the month: Sajid Ali Anjum

pkrass — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:00:11 +0300

Congratulations to Sajid Ali Anjum, our Nokia Developer Champion of the month for August. Based in Pakistan, Sajid has worked on mobile platforms since 2008. Having earned a bachelor’s degree in computer systems engineering from the college of engineering and technology at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, he now focuses on building his company, SajiSoft, and on developing for Nokia Asha Touch phones. Sajid's special interests include social networking, location-based services, mobile utilities, and games.

On Nokia Store, Sajid’s company offers several games and utilities, including Math n Fun, a game for practicing math; Brain Bash, a cartoon game; and mLocker, a file-locking utility. His most recent app is Tangle Craze, an arcade puzzle game optimized for the full touch UI for Series 40.

Sajid shares his skills with the Nokia community as a frequent contributor to the Nokia Developer discussion boards and Wiki, where he can be found under his username sajisoft. In addition, his skills have won him several developer awards, including the Nokia Calling All Innovators 2011 competition and Nokia Qt Ambassador. Sajid engages the wider developer community through his blog on the Sajisoft site. He also speaks publicly on topics that include getting started with mobile programming, and developing mobile games.Bravo, Sajid!

Meet Sajid Ali Anjum.

Learn what it takes to join the Nokia Developer Champion reward and recognition program.

Champion of the Month: Firstman Marpaung enthuses for Windows Phone apps development

pkrass — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 09:00:17 +0300

The Nokia Developer Champion for July is Firstman Marpaung, a developer with iComm International in Indonesia and president of the Nokia Indonesia Community Enthusiasts. Recently, Firstman helped organize a Web Apps Roadshow that visited more than 10 campuses in Indonesia and produced 355 apps that were submitted to Nokia Store. He was also recently honoured as a Most Valuable Professional for Windows Phone, and he also has expertise in Symbian C++, Qt, Series 40, Themes, and UI design. Firstman has been a member of the Nokia Developer community since early 2011, and under his username firstmanm, he contributes regularly to the Nokia Developer discussion boards.

Meet Champion of the Month Firstman Marpaung.

Explore the Nokia Developer Champion program.

Tools for full-touch Series 40 coming June 25, documentation available now

davidjstone — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 18:49:28 +0300

Beta versions of updated Java and web tools for targeting full-touch Nokia Asha devices will be released Monday June 25.

Information, documentation and guides for these upcoming releases are available now, allowing you to familiarise yourself with the new capabilities of the tools.

Today's documentation releases include:

Porting to Series 40 guide
Series 40 full-touch design guidelines
Design and user experience library
Java developer's library (standalone and Eclipse plug-in versions)
Series 40 Web App developer's library (online and downloadable versions)
Updated Java documentation
Updated Series 40 web app documentation

More guides and material, including 'getting started' technical videos, will be published on June 25 to coincide with the release of the new tools.

The Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306 and Asha 311 are the first all-touch Series 40 devices, and are expected to ship in the third quarter of 2012 (second quarter for Asha 305). They will have an estimated retail price in the EUR 63-68 range for Asha 305, Asha 306 and EUR 92 for Asha 311 (excluding taxes and subsidies).

Meet the Nokia SDK 2.0 for Java

Introduction to Nokia Web Tools 2.0

Join the Big Brand Hack in San Francisco: meet and build apps with big brands

davidjstone — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:21:57 +0300

What do you get when you mix big brands with big brains and big prizes? A one-of-a-kind program to connect developers, brands and mobile technology – The Big Brand Hackathon.

The Big Brand Hack is on this weekend in San Francisco, and it puts developers in front of some of the world’s most well-known consumer brands as partners who can transform concepts into code and ideas into apps.

This is a chance for developers in the US to build some amazing experiences for consumers and get recognized by some powerhouse brands. Register here to compete for more than $25,000 in cash and $20,000 in prizes. Kraft Foods and The Home Depot will reward developers who design apps that drive brand awareness through social, location and other mobile services.

We will be there, awarding up to 50 Nokia Lumia 800s to the developers who create the best Windows Phone apps.

Bravo TV will also be filming the hack as part of an upcoming reality show based on Silicon Valley.

Twenty developer finalists selected over the two day hack will have a chance to showcase their app to attendees (500 plus) at the Social-Loco conference.

The Big Brand Hackathon is June 16,17 with winners showcasing their apps at the Social_Loco conference June 18.

Participating brands will share their business challenge to developers. Teams and individual developers spend two days coding to come up with creative, technology-based solutions that include a location and social feature that brands can put into the marketplace.

Big Brand Hackathon prize packages include:

· HOME DEPOT 1^stPrize $8,000. 2^ndPrize$3,000

· KRAFT 1^st Prize $8,000. 2^nd Prize $3,000

· Best Use of Social APIs $1,000

· Best Use of Location APIs $1,000

· People's Choice $1,000

· Best Windows Phone Apps Nokia Lumia 800 smartphones (up to 50)

Learn more and register to join the Big Brand hack at http://bigbrandhackathon.eventbrite.com/

New Nokia Asha devices bring full touch to Series 40

davidjstone — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:14:32 +0300

Full-touch has arrived on the world’s largest mobile platform, with the launch of three innovative new Nokia Asha devices

The Nokia Asha 305, Asha 306, and Asha 311 bring a full-touch form factor to Series 40, and the touchscreen devices will let Series 40 developers showcase the biggest, most tactile apps ever seen on the platform.

Nokia Asha 305 specs

Nokia Asha 306 specs

Nokia Asha 311 specs

The devices are expected to ship in the third quarter of 2012 (second quarter for Asha 305), and will have an estimated retail price in the EUR 63-68 range for Asha 305 and Asha 306 and EUR 92 for Asha 311 (excluding taxes and subsidies).

While representing an innovative new chapter for Series 40, all three devices remain true to the values that have helped us ship 1.5 billion Series 40 devices so far - accessibility, value and utility. The new phones take advantage of Nokia Broswer 2.0, a major recent update which uses cloud technology to reduce data consumption when browsing the web by up to 90%. The pre-loaded social client makes it simple to access Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. All users will also receive an exclusive gift of 40 EA game titles, free to download and keep forever.

Consider the growth of Series 40 downloads - of the first billion Nokia Store downloads, Series 40 devices accounted for 13%. Of the fifth (and most recent) billion, Series 40 comprised 42% . There are now over 100,000 content items available in Nokia Store for Series 40 devices, and nearly 25,000 specifically targeting Nokia Asha and its more advanced features. Adding an all screen paradigm to this growing app platform creates even more possibility for your Java and web apps.

The Java and web tools Series 40 developers know and use today for Series 40 development are being updated and augmented with additional capabilities that will allow you to target these exciting new devices. We will announce these updated Java and web tooling releases and release dates as soon as possible here on the Nokia Developer blog.

Portuguese-language webinars offer Nokia platform training

pkrass — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 18:44:51 +0300

Portuguese-speaking developers now have a great opportunity for training on Nokia platforms: 13 webinars over the next two months.

All these Nokia webinars will be conducted in Portuguese, and all will held at 4 p.m. Brasilia time.

Sign up now or get more information for any or all of these Nokia webinars:

12 June: Qt Network explained

13 June: Dicas de otimização para aplicações Qt

14 June: Qt SDK: debugging e profiling

19 June: O que há de novo no Qt 5

20 June: Usando Qt Mobility em suas aplicações Qt

21 June: Entendendo Model-View Delegates no Qt

26 June: Utilização de sensores com Nokia Windows Phone

27 June: Game API – J2ME S40

28 June: Web 1.5 SDK para Série 40

3 July: Introdução ao XNA Game Programming no Nokia Windows Phone

5 July: Como montar uma App em diversas resoluções de tela

10 July: Apps de consumo de APIs de Internet para mobile phones

11 July: Apps de consumo de APIs de Internet para Windows Phone

Contributor of the Month: Luis Valente goes above and beyond

kevinSharp — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 19:59:02 +0300

It is often difficult to select which contributors to the Nokia Developer Wiki deserve special recognition. Nokia Developer Champion Luis Valente made it easy this month with a stunning 300 article updates during May. This monumental effort was in support of the recent merger of the Nokia Developer Knowledgebase and Nokia Developer Wiki.

Luis is based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and holds a Doctorate degree in Informatics from PUC-Rio, a top university in Brazil. His research passions include innovative mobile game interfaces using audio, gestures, and tactile feedback. Out of this research comes The Audio Flashlight series of games that allow competition between sighted an un-sighted contestants.

Crangratulations Luis, and thank you for your contributions to the Nokia Developer Community.

>> More on Luis' work in this discussion thread.

Champion of the Month: Craig Miller goes on location with LBS

pkrass — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:00:22 +0300

Nokia Developer Champion Craig Miller founded Spatial Minds -- a U.S. geo-spatial research, development, and consulting firm -- in 2004 and has more than 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and managing location-based services (LBS). He is also an advocate of Qt, Nokia’s application and UI framework. Craig is a cofounder of the Seattle (Washington) Qt User group, and he recently organized the group’s booth at LinuxFest Northwest, which featured local businesses and their Qt apps. Craig is also an active member of the Cascadia Users of Geospatial Open Source (CUGOS) and the author of Spatial Minds’ Hello World blog.

Prior to forming his company, Craig was a Senior Software Engineer with Autodesk Location Services, where he developed innovative LBS products, designed the COM plug-in API for the tablet-based Onsite View, and earned an LBS-related patent. Craig holds a master’s degree in Spatial Information Science and Engineering, and he has done research at the University of Maine National Center for Geographic Information Analysis and Battelle Pacific Northwest National Labs' Remote Sensing Group. Craig also has hands-on experience and formal training in nearly all aspects of wired and wireless enterprise, mobile, and desktop location-based solutions. He has been a Nokia Developer member since 2010.

Meet Champion of the Month Craig Miller.

Nokia Developer Champion helps South African quadriplegics with phones, training

pkrass — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:17:40 +0300

Nokia Developer Champions are rightly celebrated for their developer skills. But they are also extraordinary people.

Take Simon Botes, a Nokia Developer Champion based in South Africa. Simon recently undertook an epic road trip of more than 5,000 km. He travelled to a farm outside Lyndenburg, in the South African province of Mpumalanga. There, Simon provided seven days of training on mobile phones to nearly a dozen quadriplegics living in a home run by Ama Wheelies, a non-profit organisation that helps people with spinal-cord injuries. The 32 Nokia C5-03 devices he trained them on were donated by Nokia Connects. ‘Helping these disabled people really is a life-changing feeling’, Simon says. ‘I’m glad to be able to help.’

Such was Simon’s commitment and pride at being a Nokia Developer Champion that he had his Nokia Developer Champion t-shirt couriered to the next stop on his driving route when he realised he hadn’t packed it. The next day, T-shirt in hand, Simon set off for the Ama Wheelies farm. When he finally arrived in Lyndenburg, he trained several of the residents and their caretakers to use their new Nokia C5-03 device.

Moses Mlombo is one of the Ama Wheelies residents now using a Nokia phone. Paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in the chest six years ago, Moses uses a specially adapted Nokia C5-03 phone, both to communicate with others and run a small business that recycles printer cartridges. He uses a prosthetic on his wrist to hold the phone and taps on the phone’s keys with a mouthstick. In this way, Moses says, ‘I can still have a meaningful life.’

As for Simon, after his seven-day training session at Ama Wheelies, he visited nearby Kruger National Park to document wildlife species for a new mobile app he’s working on – and to take some vacation time. ‘This was one of the most awesome outreach programs I have helped on’, Simon says. ‘A HUGE thank-you to Nokia Connects...you guys rock!’ We think Simon rocks, too.

Simon Botes, standing in black t-shirt, training Ama Wheelies residents Amos Nkosi (on left) and Bethuel Manyika.

Ready.Set () {Code} Challenge hits US and Canada

davidjstone — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:24:29 +0300

Headphones on. Tilt the seat back. Get ready, because Nokia Developer is about to turn your town into Dev City with its Ready.Set () {Code} Challenge.

We are hitting the road to 13-cities looking for developers who want to build an experience not just another app. To kick off the Ready.Set () {Code}Challenge, Nokia Developer will hold hackathons across the US and Canada beginning in May. You can sign up individually or form your own team to build the coolest, baddest apps for the Windows Phone platform and Nokia Lumia devices.

Prizes will be awarded on site at each event for the top 3 created apps, top student created app, and most Nokia-branded developer (use your imagination). App winners will be judged on creativity, usability, technical difficulty and app presentation.

1^st place: $500 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

2^nd place: $250 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

3^rd place: $100 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

Student Winner: $150 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

Most Nokia-Branded Dev : $100 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

At Nokia, we don’t have ordinary developers, so these won’t be ordinary hacks. We have some amazing experiences in store – like our Re-Charge Room - for developers to chill out between pounding out code. So come showoff your skills and earn rewards. Space will be limited so register early.

The Challenge is on. . . .Ready.Set () {Code}

Ready.Set () {Code} Challenge Schedule:

08:30 a.m. Light breakfast and registration

09:00 a.m. Welcome and competition overview

09:30 a.m. Let the hacking begin!

12:30 p.m. Lunch

07:00 p.m. Show us your app/Dinner

08:00 p.m. Winners announced