Antony’s Mobile Blog

I just heard that Nokia Beta Labs launched NSeries PC Suite 2.0 yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to install it because the size is huge (350 MB). Then I heard three mobile gurus saying negative about this product.

Firstly, Ricky Caden from Symbian Guru said:

The problem seems to be stability. Personally, I’ve never really had an issue with PC Suite. However, I’ve heard NUMEROUS people on forums and over IM say that they despise PC Suite, that it crashes on them constantly or they can’t get it to connect.

Then, Stefan Constantinescu from IntoMobile second his opinion:

Overall I’m disappointed. Ricky Cadden from Symbian-Guru said it best: “Nokia sucks at desktop apps.” He is right, they are absolutely horrid. It is remarkable how many Nokia employees who I will not mention by name say: “The PC suite is shit.” or “I hate the PC Suite.”

Finally, Steve Litchfield from AllAboutSymbian.com:

Whoever chose .NET to base the new PC Suite on should be taken out and chucked into the nearest lake. Not everyone has dual core multimedia monster desktops, guys.

If three mobile gurus had the same opinion; there must be something wrong with the new PC Suite. Not to mention Nokia Download! for PC that had suffer similar criticism from many reviewers.

What’s happening to Nokia? This is really a big problem. Shall we send email to Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo?

Update (16-Sep-2007): I just installed NSeries PC Suite 2.0 today. Unfortunately, I have to agree with them. I have captured a screenshot of my Task Manager. As you can see here, the user interface of NSeries PC Suite 2.0 requires about 64 MB of memory and utilizes 12% CPU of my computer. Finally, I decided to uninstall NSeries PC Suite 2.0. It is still unusable at this point.

Update (17-Sep-2007): After listening to many bloggers around the world, Nokia Beta Labs finally remove NSeries PC Suite 2.0 from the time being. Well done Tommi!!! Make the product works first and then launch it to the public.

(Picture is courtesy of morgueFile.)

Agile software methodology is very hot topic these days. Many companies have been starting to use agile in their software development. Jo Stichbury, the author of Symbian OS Explained and The Accredited Symbian Developer Primer books, has recently interviewed Jim Coplen about agile software methodology. The interview in PDF format is available on Symbian Developer Network. Here is a small quote from the interview:

When people inquire about what ?Agile? means, I always return to the source: the Agile manifesto. There are so many branches of Agile, individual practices and individual methodologies that have been equated with the word Agile. Like most popular terms it ceases to have much useful meaning any more, so I like to go back to the source. The source is brilliant and there?s some really good stuff there for people to think about and to get their teeth into, but it probably isn?t what most people think it is.

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

If you are a fan of agile software methodology, you have to read the interview. It contains valuable information. If you don’t know about agile or haven’t used agile, I highly recommend reading the interview and then…. (this is the most important one) discuss with your team to start applying agile.

Links

• The Agile Heart: An Interview with Jim Coplien
• Organizational Patterns of Agile Software Development – a book by Jim Coplien
• Agile Manifesto

Symbian has just announced a new project to improve the current Symbian Signed process, which is very painful for developers. You can read the announcement on Symbian Developer Network Forums. It’s good to know that Symbian listens to developer’s voice.

What’s new in the next Symbian Signed? I’ll try to highlight the new changes below.

1) Developer’s Certificate

There are basically two types of developers, i.e.:

• developers with Publisher ID;
• developers without Publisher ID.

Symbian has now started to use Publisher ID from TrustCenter, which costs $200 / year. It is much cheaper compared to ACS Publisher ID from Verisign, which costs $350 / year.

Developers with Publisher ID

Developers without Publisher ID

2) Certified Signing

The process of certified signing is similar to the current Symbian Signed process. It costs a couple of hundred dollars depending on the test house.

3) Express Signing

This is a new process that allows developers to sign their application with a very low cost, most probably around $20 per signing. The application will be signed online. The application is still required to comply with Symbian Signed test criteria; but the test will be done after signing and the result will be published later.

If you have comments, please send them to Symbian Developer Network Forum directly.

How about freeware and open source software? There is no real plan yet. Symbian is collecting inputs, ideas and suggestions on how to improve the signing process of freeware and open source software.