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Over the past four years, S60 has released two editions and a number of service packs. Marketing people use the terms "editions" and "service packs" while the developers use the term "version". Here's some of the new additions presented in each of the previous S60 releases...
S60 1st Edition...
- Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME™) APIs, including:
- Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 1.0.
- Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.0.
- Wireless Messaging API (JSR-120).
- Mobile Media API (JSR-135).
- XHTML/WML browsing.
- Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messaging.
S60 1st Edition, Feature Pack 1...
- The introduction of Java™ APIs for Bluetooth Java Specification Request (JSR-82) to S60 1st Edition, Feature Pack 1 is a notable addition.
S60 2nd Edition...
- Skinning (theme) and Digital Rights Management (DRM) C++ APIs.
- Java™ 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME™), Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 2.0, including enhanced performance through the inclusion of the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) HotSpot compiler.
- XHTML browsing over TCP/IP.
- Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) support for HTTP transport and advanced presentation capabilities through enhanced Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) support.
- Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Client Provisioning, which allows device settings for services such as browsing, MMS, and over-the-air (OTA) Calendar synchronization. This technology enables easy device configuration and ensures that a consumer can take full advantage of a device’s capabilities.
- DRM via OMA forward-lock.
S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 1...
- Presence Open and Bluetooth notifier C++ APIs.
- Wireless Messaging API 1.1 (JSR-120) and Mobile Media API 1.1 (JSR-135) Java™ APIs.
- Support for a megapixel camera with 4x zoom as well as recording and playback of video clips.
S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 2...
- C++ APIs for browser plug-in, connection monitor server, Digital Rights Management (DRM) license manager, simulation file, DRM helper, pictograph, DevASR, speech recognition utility, MMF SRS custom commands, Data Synchronization Profile Listing, content access framework, GIF scaler, Huffman encoding and decoding,
message queue, Publish & Subscribe, Location Acquisition, OpenGL ES, EGL, and Symbian XML framework.
- Mobile 3D Graphics API for J2ME™ (JSR-184), FileConnection API (JSR-75), and PIM API (JSR-75) Java APIs.
- Support for a 1.3-megapixel camera with 6x zoom, WCDMA and Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) networks, and IPv6.
S60 2nd Edition, Feature Pack 3...
- APIs for feature discovery, scalable icons, browser control, download manager user-interface library, download manager engine, image transform library, image transform plug-ins, Universal Serial Bus (USB) client driver, and an updated utilities API.
- J2ME™ Web Services Specification (JSR-172) and Java APIs for Bluetooth (JSR-82), with OBEX support Java APIs.
- Support for scalable user interfaces (176 x 208-pixel, 240 x 320-pixel, and 352 x 416-pixel screens).
It's an endless race of cat and mouse - people keep believing that mobile browsers will catch-up to fullsize browsers and I just don't see that ever happening. Surfing just about anywebsite on your smartphone device isn't that bad - but isn't always that great either. Large images and unecessary components can be time-consuming to load and pricey as well. Nowadays, just about everything comes served on a RSS feed but starring at gobs of pure text for more than five minutes makes me depressed.
So I think 2006 is the year we'll see more mobile-specific sub-sites of all your favorites, even less popular sites like blogs, CMS's, and forums. All the latest online platforms have easy-to-install themes, just snap on a new theme to your blog or edit a CSS file and your site instantly becomes mobile-friendly. But first users are going to need to demand this, with less expensive onlines and more powerful phones, I think 2006 is the year this will happen.
S60.com has already done something similar, browse to www.s60.com on your mobile and it'll direct you to the mobile-friendly www.s60.com/mobile site - Winksite is another easy and quick way to make your existing site mobile friendly. Or with a little text-editing skills, you can manually make your own site a friend of the mobile phone, here are some tutorials here, here, and here.
Be sure to check out 3-Lib's list of S60 freeware utilities, games, and apps!! This list just keeps getting bigger. Can't wait to see more Python applications added to this in the near future. Here's a few of my S60 freeware favorites...
AutoLock Automatically keylocks your smartphone after a configurable number of minutes. FExplorer Superb file manager and tools package. SMS Assistant SMS answering system. SyncML Synchronize your calendar and contacts with a remote SyncML server (account needed). Torch Blanks the screen white so that you get maximum backlight for use as a torch! XXL Screen Saver Replaces default screen saver with bigger, more readable clock Doom Engine to play the standard shareware Doom WAD file(s). Frogger The classic arcade game GoBoy GameBoy emulator. Wolfenstein 3D Pre-Doom first person shooter Yahtzee The classic dice strategy game Agile Messenger Instant Messaging for all IM systems on the Internet. Azure Blogging client Google Local for Mobile Mapping and satellite imagery for anywhere on the earth's surface OggPlay A great music player, limited on some Series 60 phones by the hardware's mono output... .ogg files are half the size of MP3, making them a good choice. Opera Mini Proxy-based mobile browser, extremely byte-efficient
Source: All About Symbian
Some of you might be familiar with iPod's new online video store - for just $2 (.U.S.) you can download a high-quality iPod compatible version of your favorite TV shows. Sony's PSP device now offers full length movies sold in shops on compatible discs similar to DVDs. So I'm thinking to myself...S60 needs to get in on this action!!
Of course, what's the difference between S60 devices and an iPod or PSP? The size of the disk. iPods can hold up to 60 GB, PSP's UMD discs can hold 1.8 GB. But the typical S60 user might only have 64MB available on their devices, not enough space to hold lengthy, high-resolution video. But this will soon change, the new Nokia N91 sports a 4GB hard drive and *that* gets me excited about the possibilities of video. And you know darn well we'll be seeing a lot more large hard disks in S60 devices in the near future. How soon before we're *all* carrying hard drives in our pockets?
Within a few short years, we'll be downloading full-length movies over the airwaves with our S60 devices - connecting our smartphones to our PCs with a cable will be a thing of the past (and already is for some). You'll be on the bus heading to work and have the urge to watch an episode of "The Simpsons", you'll whip out your smartphone and within seconds you'll be watching it. But let's be honest, these fast 3G connections are expensive. Unless you have a company like me who'll foot the bill for your mobile activities, the average person can't afford to be downloading videos over 3G all the time. Until it becomes more affordable, connecting your phone to your PC is the ideal way, and let's hope S60 integrates video this way real soon.
A few pics from 3GSM...
What's this? A new S60 device?? More details to come...
Nokia Corporation and Vodafone have today announced that they are collaborating to strengthen the S60 software platform's role in Vodafone's device portfolio. The collaboration will help Vodafone to offer new services more quickly to its customers by increasing the use of S60 on Symbian OS as a standard software platform for mobile handsets worldwide.[...]S60 on Symbian OS offers Vodafone the leading technologies in customization, extensive support for new mobile services, and the baseline for best in class user experience. S60 customization capabilities, proven by strong track record in satisfying operator needs, help Vodafone to differentiate their services and applications.
Together with the S60 community, Vodafone will also be able to enhance user interfaces (UI) of mobile devices.
"We are very pleased with Vodafone's choice of S60 as a preferred device software platform. This collaboration is an important step towards increased service differentiation and innovation speed for the whole industry. S60 platform offers a rich application suite, great extensibility and ease-of-use for multimedia, imaging and business services. High priority is given to the customization and application development needs of the operators," said Matti Vänskä, Vice President, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia.
Steve Litchfield and Ewan Spence of All About Symbian put together the twenty five coolest things you can do with your S60 smartphone, here's a few of my favorites...
- Run a professional multitasking OS
- Use it as a laptop computer
- Browse round digital maps
- Chat to others round the world
- Publish a personal blog or photo blog
- Getting Out Of Meetings
- Read the BBC News Website
What else could we add to this list?
S60 is beefing up it's support for Flash Lite which is now available on the N70/N90 and will be expanded to S60 3rd Edition. Just as Java rocked the mobile world a few years ago, Flash on S60 will do the same...
"The launch of the Forum Nokia PRO: Flash Zone continues and expands the relationship between Nokia and Adobe that has resulted in the deployment of Macromedia Flash technology on Nokia devices and collaboration on the Flash 8 development tool," said Lee Epting, vice president, Forum Nokia. "The new Zone underscores the strength of Nokia's commitment to supporting its PRO developer community and to developers already working with Flash technology, providing technical, training and business development resources that will help to extend the boundaries of mobile applications." Forum Nokia's new PRO Zone follows on a previous licensing agreement providing rights for Nokia's integration of Flash technology into mobile device platforms, including S60, the world's leading smartphone platform. The integration is evidenced by Nokia's intent to include Flash Lite in certain Nokia Nseries multimedia devices and Nokia Eseries business devices starting with S60 3rd Edition, as well as in other select S60 and Series 40 Nokia devices.
Anyone with a phone intergrated into their automobile knows the hassle of switching SIM cards to and from your phone. Others purchase a seperate phone number devoted to the vehicle. Now with S60 3rd Edition support for SIM Access Profile, car phones with GSM can connect to a SIM card in a Bluetooth phone, so the car phone doesn't need its own SIM...
Bluetooth SIM Access Profile support will be a standard feature in Nokia smartphones based on the S60 3rd Edition software. These devices include multiple state-of-the-art models, such as the current Nokia Eseries product range, Nokia N71, N80, N91 and N92 as well as the Nokia 3250. The car phone solutions supporting Bluetooth SIM Access Profile include the Nokia 616 high-end hands free solution, and the Mobile Telephone Preparation PREMIUM, which comes as an option with the new Volkswagen Passat."Today, mobile communication in the car is easy and convenient* thanks to Bluetooth wireless technology, which is a significant component of automotive solutions. Bluetooth SIM Access Profile support in Nokia mobile devices based on the S60 3rd Edition sets new standards for user comfort. Additionally, this is an important step in offering automotive communication solutions based on open standards", says Marcus Stahl, General Manager, Nokia Automotive.
Curious about all the cool new features and changes on S60 3rd Edition? Here's a few great documents to start you off. When you finish them off and are looking for more, everything S60 related can be found at S60.com's document repository.
S60 3rd Edition Overview - This document provides an excellent introduction to the main aspects of Series 60 Platform from the developer point of view. It covers the platform editions including 3rd Edition, available tools, and guides on finding further information.
Series 60 Platform 3rd Edition: What's New for Developers - This document provides an excellent introduction to the main aspects of Series 60 Platform from the developer point of view. It covers the platform editions including 3rd Edition...
S60 Platform FAQ - This document provides an introduction to the main aspects of the S60 platform. It covers all the platform editions, available tools, and guides on finding further information.
S60 Platform: Web Browser Product Descripiton - This document provides an overview of the components and features of the Open Source Software (OSS) Web Browser for the S60 3rd Edition. The OSS Web Browser is available as an add-on to the standard S60 Browser, and will replace it in the future.
S60 Platform: Porting From 2nd To 3rd Edition - This document provides guidelines and describes how to port S60 2nd Edition C++ applications to S60 3rd Edition.
S60 2nd/3rd Edition: Differences In Features v1.2 - This document discusses differences in features between S60 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition base software. It presents new, enhanced, and removed features, functionalities, and APIs between those two versions.
Hi there!
This is my first post on the S60 blog. Why am I posting something now? Well, following the basic rule of "don't post anything if you haven't got anything to say", I'll start my blogging career when I'm just about to head to the 3GSM event in Barcelona. Actually, half of the S60 blog team will be heading South from Finland. You can probably meet one of us at the S60 stand in hall 1, stand C22. Just ask the stand personnel for any S60 blogger.
Going to 3GSM, I expect many news on S60 to come up. I can give you some my insights on what happens there in respect of smartphones and S60.
If you have any particular questions on the 3GSM fair and S60, don't hesitate to ask. (But please don't ask me where to find what, trade fairs are a nightmare in that respect.
Before I forget it: Who am I? Well, I'm Peter and I'm working in the S60 marketing team. I work closely together with global mobile network operators and help them to understand the value of S60.
To be continued....
Whenever an updated operating system or platform is released, there's always compatibility issues with older software. I just experienced this when I recently upgraded my XBOX to a XBOX 360 and only a fraction of the games will run on the new system. Migrating from a S60 2nd Edition device to a 3rd Edition device will be no exception but there will be some differences.
In their current state, none of the 2nd Edition applications will be able to run on a 3rd Edition device. However, Java powered applications won't be affected by this. Fortunately, it should be relatively easy for the developers to simply re-compile their code, in other cases some porting my need to be done. This all has to do with the new Symbian 9.1 operating system. They've changed to a new kernel architecture, added new security measures, switched from ARMv4 to requiring ARMv5 - this and other changes will force the developers to recompile and possibly recode.
So I'm wondering - Will the developers be giving out free updates to license owners? Or will we be purchasing a second license to run on our new 3rd Edition devices? I guess alot of that depends on how recoding the developers need to do. A simple recompile and I'm sure they'lld hand out free updates. More time consuming recoding and I think we'll be buying another copy.
