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WebSDK for Xperia X10 and Satio

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:43:25 GMT

I am very happy to let you know that Sony Ericsson announced our new WebSDK in colloboration with Open Source framework called Phone Gap. Check out the details regarding the SDK from developer.sonyericsson.com/websdk and about Phone Gap from www.phonegap.com. The SDK enables you to develop innovative cross-platform application using HTML, CSS and JavaScript on our flagship Android based Xperia X10 & Symbian Satio devices. The web applications can have access to location, accelerometer, contacts, media and several other platform capabilities on X10 and Satio. We think this enables you to truly develop device based packaged web applications that takes advantage of platform capabilities across X10 and Satio. With web kit you can have get great rendering of the apps on the device as well.

We actually developed an app for X10 using the WebSDK to illustrate the capabilities of the SDK & Phone Gap framework in colloboration with a small company called Digital Dandelion.http://digitaldandelion.net/ This app is based on a competition that Sony Ericsson is sponsoring called Mavericks Surf Challenge. http://www.maverickssurf.com. Download the application on your Google Android device by searching for Mavericks in Google's Marketplace. This application was developed with web components using WebSDK and really shows the capabilities of the WebKit on Android Xperia X10 with Sony Ericsson WebSDK. I have attached couple of screenshots of the apps and would really like to thank Digital Dandelion http://digitaldandelion.net/ for their great work with this in a very short span of time. Check out the sample app from the websdk by downloading from developer.sonyericsson.com/websdkand participate in the competition and develop great apps for X10 and Satio http://tinyurl.com/ybel9so

The one billion apps App Store

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:55:43 GMT

As you an probably imagine it's very easy to be intimitated but also deeply impressed by the success of the Apple mobile App Store when you're working for a device manufacturer building their own application store. 100'000 apps and counting is truly an impressive achievement.

Still, one has to ask, what's next? Where is the mobile application ecosystem heading?

Once upon a time, not too long ago, the internet was no larger than a 100'000 web sites. Today, it's far above 200 million. How did the Internet grow like this? Can we learn anything from that when trying to look ahead in to the future of mobile applications?

Can we imagine a world where there are not 100'000 applications but many more. Why not for arguments sake make it a billion. It's a nice, round number, so why not?

Just as a thought exercise: what would it take to get us to one billion mobile applications? I think this is a very interesting questions that may shed some light on the future of mobile.

One thing is, application development has to be much simpler. Each and everyone with a mobile phone has to be able to create applications. Probably people wouldn't even think of it as programming, simply creating. (Read this for some interesting thoughts on the subject.)

Secondly, application discovery must be much improved. Of course with one billion apps, most of them are not relevant for you, so a powerful filter and search is needed. Probably you would need a context aware store front so that when I'm standing in the centre of Lund a Friday after noon, the One Billion Apps App Store (OBAAS) would adapt and present to me the most useful apps for the situation I'm in. I'm guessing there's huge opportunity here for advertisement models.

The flip side of application discovery is application publishing. Blogging was a revolution for website publishing. Micro-blogging like Twitter and Jaiku even more so. People don't even think of it as publishing, but it is. Remember 10 years ago, how difficult it was to set up a web site? Today, anyone can start publishing. It's as easy as taking a picture. Having a review process for applications is simply not feasible for an OBAAS.

The comparison to the web is impossible not to make. Some might argue that we're moving towards web sites as applications, where the browser takes over the entire device. Others are saying it's the other way around and that the future is all about apps. Personally, I think we simply don't know yet. I do think, however, that the above mentioned challenges - to vastly improve how applications are developed, discovered and publised - has to be overcome no matter if the underlying platform is a browser or a virtual machine or something else.

Thinking about a billion apps app store raises lots of questions, obstacles and opportunities. Any thoughts you have on the subject is most welcome (you need to log in to comment on this post).

Like the web, we can build this thing together. We just know need to figure out what it is first.

Congrats on a great season

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:53:38 GMT

I am in a bit of pain today. I am a Phillies fan and it is disappointing that they lost the World Series to the Yankees last night. It got me thinking that my first blog post vacation[i] should be my anti-Lombardi thoughts. Vince Lombardi is often quoted, “Winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing”. I don’t think this way, in fact I would flat out say that if winning is your goal you will almost certainly fail. The problem if your goal is winning then you let someone else define yourself. To me this is inherently limiting. For example, if Usain Bolt had set his mind on winning, he never would have run the 100 meter in an astonishing 9.58. But winning wasn’t the goal it was something more. It was greatness, it was changing the world.

So what does this have to do with anything? There will be a lot of press of the coming months about whether an open OS like Android can “win”. The press is asking the wrong question. The goal isn’t to win. The goal is to be great. The classic Clayton Christensen Innovator's Dilemma rises because the mature company makes decision based on winning rather than potential world changing greatness. This is what Android gets right. It isn’t about Google trying beat someone. It is about how they enable something great. So don’t make winning the only thing; we can do better.

[i] It was great. Thanks

Panelizer for existing Java Applications

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 22:35:17 GMT

Sony Ericsson recently announced availability of Java SDK 2.5.0.6 that introduces support for the the new Sony Ericsson Windows Mobile Java Platform JPWM_SEMC-2.0, as implemented in the XPERIA™ X2 phone. Download the SDK from the following location.

http://developer.sonyericsson.com/site/global/docstools/java/p_java.jsp

I wanted to discuss in this blog post about easily converting your existing java applications to run on Xperia X2 and use the Panelizer SDK to convert to Panels. See my earlier blog (http://developer.sonyericsson.com/community/people/sachinanand/blog/2009/09/14/panel-sdk-for-xperia-x2) about the value proposition for Panels and monetization opportunity by submitting to Play Now Arena.

The JVM in Xperia X2 adds a feature to scale/zoom to larger size, called JVM MIDlet Scaling support. This feature can be used for Canvas and GameCanvas. The main use case is to ease the porting effort of legacy MIDlets designed for Sony Ericsson devices with lower screen resolution. With this attribute the developer should indicate the design resolution of the MIDlet. Xperia X2 will then automatically scale the MIDlet content to device resolution.

The scaling rule is defined in the following table -

Screen Size	Scaling Times (Potrait)	Scaling Times (Landscape)
Default (480 x 800)	N/A	N/A
240 x 320	2	1.5
176 x 220	2	2
176 x 208	2	2
128 x 160	3	3
128 x 128	3	4

Additional details regarding the JVM on Xperia X2 can be found from the following recently published document.

http://developer.sonyericsson.com/getDocument.do?docId=101975

Looking forward to great Java applications and Panels for XPERIA X2 device.

A Tale of Two Devices

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:09:56 GMT

My vision of the connected[i] future contains two types of devices, the generalist (mobile phone) and the specialist (a purpose built devices). Now there are some who believe that the mobile phone will be the end all be all device. A device where you can read books, watch movies or make payments. I completely agree. They then go one step further and say that this device eliminates the need for other consumer electronics. Here I completely disagree. For a great many people the mobile phone will be enough, the do everything generalist phone is great. However, the integrated camera on the phone will never as what is available in a purpose built camera. This specialist camera will be able connect to the internet, but it doesn’t have to have the optimal screen for reading books on or watch movies. It just needs to be able to take and share pictures.

I bring this up today because I am very excited about the Nook announcement yesterday. The ability to adapt the open operating system to a variety of uses should make it incredibly attractive to developers of cool applications. The ability to write and adapt cool internet apps to a variety of devices makes the open operating system far more attractive to developers than the single device OS. For example, it is easy to imagine applications added to the Nook device that lets me read tweets from other readers before I buy the book or maybe bookstores become popular destinations on foursquare?

The best thing about open operating systems and the Nook is the simple line that states it is “first[ii] Android™-based eReader”. First implies that this is one of the crowd. The truth of the matter is I don’t know if this device will be successful. But when you have multiple vendors delivering devices based on a shared operating system it doesn’t matter which device wins. The application development will not be wasted. Let’s look at my application to automatically update my presence information. One app can run on my book reader, my camera, my PSP and of course on my phone as well. This is the power of the move to open in the mobile space.

[i] All electronics will be connected to a network and all portable devices will be connected wirelessly.

[ii] Emphasis is mine

Automatic posting from blog to Twitter

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:24:34 GMT

I just set up TwitterFeed to do automatic posting from our blogs to our Twitter account. Seems to work really well and it has all the features I need - and almost nothing else. Perfect, right?

It has:

bit.ly-API support so I can get the bit.ly stats right.
Google Analytics parameters (when posting to Twitter or URL shorteners, Google Analytics has problem catching the source of link, this is a good article about the problem).
It posts to Twitter and Facebook. We don't have a Facebook Fan page yet, but it's coming.

All in all, a tool I can recommend.

Welcome message

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:48:12 GMT

I am pleased to announce the launch of this blog. My aim is to be in touch with the Flash developer community, creating communication channels and loops of feedback, driving innovation when it comes to developing, supporting and selling Flash applications for Sony Ericsson mobile phones. I also envision this blog to be a help for new and experienced Flash developers who are interested in using Sony Ericsson Flash UI components and Project Capuchin and to communicate with them out of a pure Flash designer and developer perspective. Many of you have been participating in this important technology venture, working with Flash technologies and creating appealing Flash applications or games for mobile phones. Developers may select the right technology for the right market segment out of different perspectives, yet I believe that sharing gained knowledge and experiences is the most effective way to achieve true innovation. There are no fees or any type of charges to join this blog, except for a lot of enthusiasm, keenness and interest in sharing knowledge and openly discussing topics related to Flash Lite development.

Kind regards

Youness

Miley Doesn't Matter

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:22:54 GMT

No offense to Miss Cyrus[i], but the fact that she is quitting Twitter means nothing. I only bring this up because I have heard multiple times now that this is the beginning of the end for Twitter[ii]. Now, I don’t follow many celebrities. When I do it is usually because they are providing entertainment (@theauthorguy makes me laugh). For me what Twitter does is provide a vehicle for the democratization of identity and voice. Twitter gives anyone a voice in their community. Anyone can reach out and share thoughts with people interested in similar topics. Whether they agree with you or not, you can have a dialogue with others thinking about the same things. I can tell you now the last thing that Miley Cyrus needs is a vehicle to let people know what she is doing[iii].

So who do I follow? Guys like @monkchips who provides great insights into the community I am interested in. This is why Twitter is powerful, it gives people who don’t have paparazzi a vehicle to share ideas. Twitter is not a press release. It is a conversation. I find it hard to believe you can converse with Miley on Twitter. But I know I can share ideas on open source with @mjasay.

Over time using your voice allows you to establish an identity. That identity allows you to connect to the global community in meaningful ways. When people know you, it gives you the opportunity to collaborate with them to change the world. So don’t bother with the celebrities other than @drewfromTV[iv].

[i] Who is on the TV in my house second only to Mr. SquarePants

[ii] Usually the person saying this prefaces it by saying, “I am not into Twitter…”

[iii] People, TigerBeat and Entertainment tonight have it covered for her.

[iv] CBS had pledged a $1,000,000 to cancer research if he get 1,000,000 followers by year end. In fact this whole story is the best example for giving the little guy a voice I have seen.

Co"blog"aration

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:18:47 GMT

A few days ago I got a great comment from MTrively - "aren't you supposed to pitch out your half developed, beta ideas and let us collaborate on them? :-)". You know he is absolutely right.

So here is the idea (which I have started with someone already). Let's use Google Wave[i] to collaborate on a few blog posts. We can work the post together and then put it on our individual sites with links back to everyone's blog. The world is moving to crowd sourcing so let’s collaborate on ideas that we can give to the world to think about.

If you have idea that you want to collaborate on send ajbraun a message on googlewave and we can take it from there.

[i] And yes it is not incredibly intuitive but how else do you learn if not by experimenting.

Gran Turismo

developerworldwatch@kpi-consulting.net — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:43:19 GMT

I have been playing Gran Turismo[i] on the PS3 recently. It is a visually spectacular game which if I am completely honest I suck at[ii]. So I asked for tips around the office. I was surprised to be given advice so profound that I need to share it here at Change the World. The driving tip I got was:

To drive really fast you can’t look at the road in front of the hood; you have to look through the curves ahead of you in the distance.

No one has a problem accelerating at full speed when on a straight away, but then when the curve is right on top of you there is no time to react.

Interestingly, Moore’s Law speaks to much the same thing. Over time Moore’s Law had gone from a statement on transistor growth to one to generally represent the exponential growth of technology. In today’s mobile industry, handset capabilities are growing at exponential rates. If you want to bring something interesting to market you can’t address the need right in front of you, by the time you are done the opportunity will have passed. You have to look through the curve ahead[iii]. You must realize that you cannot project the future along a straight line of linear growth. Looking through the curve will give you enough time to react and get to market with something interesting.

In the end you may not know exactly where the road heads after the curve so the important thing is to know the road ahead is not straight.

[i] Note to the FTC: I work for Sony Ericsson whose parent is Sony. I did not receive compensation from the PS3 folks but would be more than happy to.

[ii] I am much better at strategy games than skill games

[iii] And in reality it probably isn’t a simple curve so you may crash anyway