This would be my last posting on Antony’s Mobile Blog. I will not blog here anymore.

Why do I decide to stop blogging here? As some of you may know that I am currently working in one of the mobile phones manufacturers. Although I have written disclaimer in the About page that everything written here is purely my personal rants, there might still be a conflict of interests. People may think that this blog is related to the company where I’m working.

In order to avoid any further conflicts, it’s better if I just close the chapters of this blog.

PS: I am still maintaining two other blogs, i.e. Antony’s Life Blog and S60Tips.com. The first one is about my life (unless you know me in person, this may not be interesting for you). The second one is about tips, tricks and tutorials of using S60 phones (a.k.a. multimedia computers).

(Picture courtesy of jark on Flickr.)

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Update (30-Oct-2007): I have decided to remove this posting because of one reason and another. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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Thanks to petrib who pointed this out. Apple just announced that they are going to support third party applications on iPhone and iPod touch. This is not surprise because developers have been crying for SDK for iPhone. Many people have predicted that Apple will open their platform soon or later; otherwise they will have difficulty competing with “open” smart phones.

What made me surprise is the statement from Steve Jobs in the news. They will have an advanced system that allows developer to access iPhone’s software platform while at the same time protecting users from malicious programs. It sounds like Platform Security in Symbian OS, doesn’t it?

It will take until February to release an SDK because we?re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once?provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc.

…

Some companies are already taking action. Nokia, for example, is not allowing any applications to be loaded onto some of their newest phones unless they have a digital signature that can be traced back to a known developer. While this makes such a phone less than “totally open”, we believe it is a step in the right direction.

There is no detail of how they will implement the system. It could be similar to Symbian’s PlatSec or totally different. Let’s wait and see on February next year.

Bonus Links

• Third party applications on the iPhone - from Apple Hot News.
• Some more info on the SDK - from Fake Steve Jobs.

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I have posted similar posting a couple of months ago, Save Our Planet. Since today (October 15), bloggers around the web unite to put a single important issues about environment, I’ll “re-post” the same message. The aim this “Blog Action Day” is to save our planet for a better future.

As mobile device users, what can we do to save our planet?

• Don?t leave chargers plugged in. After charging your device, remove it from the electric socket. Unfortunately there is no chargers for S60 devices that support automatic on/off switch (or is there one?)
• Recycle old devices. Some manufacturers have initiatives of taking back devices from their customers for recycling. See some links at the end of this blog.
• Let your PC gets some sleep. Turn your PC on only when you need it.

If you are interested to find out more information about energy saving actions, please download a free booklet from Greenpeace, How to Save the Climate.

Bonus Links

• Nokia Take-back and Recycling Program
• Samsung Take-back and Recycling Program
• Toshiba Trade-in and Recycling Program

(Picture is courtesy of stock.xchng and greenpeace).

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I am currently doing major upgrade on AntonyPranata.com. You will find experience of my web site and blogs in the next couple of days. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Here is the summary of the upgrades that I am currently doing:

• Move my web hosting to a better company, which provides more space, more bandwidth and better spam filtering.
• Move all the static contents to CMS. I’ll be using Joomla as the engine.
• For the blog engine, I’ll still be using WordPress. However, I would need to change the theme because of the second change above.

(Picture is courtesy of CarbonNYC @ Flickr.)

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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.)

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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

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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.

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Recently, someone from Epocware sent an email to me. He said that he can help me signing my application. Wow, that’s good news. So, I sent him my application. Surprisingly, one day later, she sent my application back. It is a signed application! Here is the certificate information that is used by Epocware to sign my application.

Primary:
Issued by Symbian.
Issued to f3c961139a1c755c92afde01f4ef8e9e.
Valid from 10/08/2007 to 09/08/2017.
Issued by VeriSign Testing-Based ACS Root for Symbian OS.
Issued to Symbian Limited.
Valid from 13/10/2003 to 27/08/2023.

Thanks a lot to Epocware. You have saved my life.

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• The Sad, Sad State of Symbian Signed from Symbian-Guru
• Symbian Freeware Scene Under Serious Crises from Symbian Freak
• Quick Clicks #4 from Symbian in Motion

Thanks also to:

• Steve Litchfield from AllAboutSymbian.com who tried to contact one of the Symbian Vice President.
• Jo Stichbury, the author of Symbian OS Explained and Accredited Symbian Developer Primer, even met me today asking the detail of the problem.

Is there a solution for Symbian Signed for Freeware? Is it possible to do automatic signing for freeware? How can we authenticate freeware developers without any cost? There are many open questions to answer.

I have an idea of automatic signing that may work for open source projects. Basically, Symbian (or other organization that has access to root certificates) creates a system that is able to download the source code directly from SourceForge.net or FreshMeat.net. It compiles the source code in the system automatically. Then it signs the application automatically.

In my opinion, there won’t be crazy developers who publish virus or malicious code to the open source communities. The success of an open source project is based on trust, isn’t it? Will someone abuse the system? It might be, but as far as I know SourceForge.net team always review a project for approval.

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