Nokia to Open Source Python for S60 Source Code

Availability of Python for S60 source code via SourceForge.net to enable broader contribution to advancement of open-source mobile solutions and applications for leading smartphone platform

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE January 31, 2006

Nokia to Release Python for S60 Source Code to Open-Source Software Developer Community

Availability of Python for S60 source code via SourceForge.net to enable broader contribution to advancement of open-source mobile solutions and applications for leading smartphone platform

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced that it has taken a step further in support of mobile open-source software application development by agreeing to release the source code for its Python for S60 Platform software package to the global community of open-source software developers.

The agreement follows on last year’s launch by Nokia of the Python for S60 Platform, which enables programmers, ISVs and businesses worldwide to utilize the powerful Python programming language to execute Python commands and run Python scripts and applications on S60-based mobile devices.

The source code for Python for S60 Platform will be made available to the open-source software development community through SourceForge.net, which provides free hosting to open-source software development projects and is the world’s largest Open Source software development web site, hosting more than 100,000 projects and over 1,000,000 registered users with a centralized resource for managing projects, issues, communications, and code.

Nokia is contributing the core components of the Python for S60 software back to the open-source developer community in order to encourage developers to take advantage of the potential for open-source mobile applications development on the S60 Platform, the leading smartphone platform. Nokia is also continuing to contribute and work within the open source community in driving the Python for S60 technology forward.

“During the past year, the popular developer-friendly features of the Python open-source language have enabled growth of a dynamic community new to mobile development to write applications that are leveraging the potential of S60-based devices,” said Lee Epting, vice president, Forum Nokia. “Now, Nokia is extending its commitment to open-source software initiatives and hopes that its contribution of source code back to the Python developer community will drive further enthusiasm and innovations in the development of leading-edge open-source mobile solutions for the rapidly expanding smartphone market worldwide.”

“I was excited last year when Nokia announced its port of Python to its advanced phones. I’m even more excited now that Nokia is open-sourcing the port.” said Guido van Rossum, creator of the Python programming language and president of the Python Software Foundation. “Opening up the platform makes the phones accessible, and will inevitably lead to cool new applications, as well as to third-party improvements to the port itself.”

Nokia’s involvement with the Python open-source community began last year when Nokia made available the Python for S60 software package for free download from the website of Nokia’s global developer support community, Forum Nokia. The Python for S60 software package installs to a S60 platform-based device, enabling developers to create applications with the simple and consistent, object-oriented Python programming language.

Python for S60 is well-suited to the development of prototype and proof-of-concept applications, enabling development of commands, scripts and applications for S60-based mobile devices. The Python for S60 runtime can also be easily extended with dynamically loadable C++ modules, enabling developers to expose additional native device functionality to Python applications. Developers can execute Python commands using an interactive console in a S60-based device, accessible via the keypad or a remote connection to a PC over Bluetooth.

Using Python for S60, developers can write Python applications and install them to a S60-based device and the device can then run these applications from the Python environment. Python applications can also be developed to run as standalone applications with the selection of an icon from the device menu. Using Python for S60, developers also can execute Python commands and scripts in the emulators of S60 SDK’s.

The S60 platform, built on the Symbian OS, is the leading smartphone software in the world and it is licensed by some of the foremost mobile phone manufacturers in the market. The flexibility of the S60 platform allows for various hardware designs and software configurations. This is demonstrated through the multitude of S60 devices already available on the market. Through its award-winning user interface, extensive support for new mobile services and the innovation potential for partner solutions, the S60 provides an open and scalable business opportunity for mobile operators and 3rd party developers.

The source code for Python for S60 Platform will be posted by Nokia to SourceForge.net. Further information and a link to the project can be found by visiting http://opensource.nokia.com/.

About Python
Python is a powerful object-oriented programming language that is developed and maintained by a global community of open source developers under the oversight of the Python Software Foundation. Python is relatively easy to learn for programmers of other languages such as C, C++, Java, and Visual Basic, and can therefore assist programmer productivity. It is often characterized as an agile language that promotes speedy development and includes a unit-testing framework for building more robust applications. Python is often used in large system development to decrease software costs, and meet aggressive schedules. The language is the basis of applications used by tens of thousands of companies and organizations worldwide, and its user base is growing rapidly.

Nokia selected for 5-year Managed Services deal with Hutchison Essar Limited

Nokia has reached a 5-year managed services agreement to run Hutchison Essar’s network operations in 9 circles in India.

Espoo, Finland – Nokia has reached a 5-year managed services agreement to run Hutchison Essar’s network operations in 9 circles in India. Nokia will assume the operation of Hutchison Essar’s networks in Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Rajasthan, Haryana and West Bengal, thus allowing the operator to better focus on its customers and core activities.

The agreement, for which documentation is being finalized, calls for Nokia to provide an array of solutions from its extensive services portfolio, including network planning, project management, configuration and optimization, network operations and maintenance and the administration of third party vendor contract management. Nokia will also welcome over 600 Hutchison Essar staff into its Services business unit.

“Nokia’s Managed Service know-how, plus its proven track record when it comes to operating and enhancing networks worldwide, were key drivers in helping us make this decision,” says Asim Ghosh, Managing Director, Hutchison Essar Limited. “We are happy to be working with a leader in this area.”

“We are delighted to extend our cooperation with Hutchison Essar to managed services,” says Rajeev Suri, Senior Vice President, Networks, Nokia. “The services business has become increasingly important for Nokia. Our managed services will improve Hutchison Essar’s cost structure and further enhance their service offerings.”

The contract deepens already strong ties between the two companies — Nokia is the supplier of GSM network equipment to nine of Hutchison Essar’s 13 circles, making it the largest network vendor for the operator.

Nokia’s Managed Services business is a key part of its Services business unit, and a core part of the company’s drive to help operators enhance their service offerings and reduce costs. To date Nokia has 36 managed services contracts in 28 countries, and it expects this figure to grow in the coming years.

Nokia’s operations in India include networks and terminals sales divisions, three Research and Development facilities and an upcoming manufacturing facility in Chennai that will produce both terminals and GSM infrastructure equipment.

Bharti Tele-Ventures to be renamed as Bharti Airtel

Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, one of India’s leading telecommunications services provider, is to be renamed Bharti Airtel Limited.

Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited, one of India’s leading telecommunications services provider, is to be renamed Bharti Airtel Limited. The proposal has been approved by the Board of Directors of the Company and will come into effect post approvals from the shareholders and statutory / regulatory clearances.

Source:Televisionpoint.com

Industry leaders unite to promote mobile TV technology

Intel, Modeo, Motorola, Nokia and Texas Instruments Working Together to Drive the Future of Mobile Entertainment

Las Vegas, NV, USA – Today, a group of the industry’s leading wireless and entertainment companies announced the formation of new organization created to promote the growth and evolution of Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld (DVB-H), an open procedure standard for broadcast digital TV reception on mobile devices. The organization, called the Mobile DTV Alliance, includes representatives from Intel Corporation, Modeo [NYSE: CCI], Motorola [NYSE: MOT], Nokia [NYSE: NOK] and Texas Instruments (TI) [NYSE: TXN].

http://www.mdtvalliance.org

Nokia adds IBM Lotus Notes and Domino support to its mobile email portfolio

Nokia announced the addition of IBM Lotus Notes and Domino support to its mobile application platform, announced back in September 2005.

Nokia announced the addition of IBM Lotus Notes and Domino support to its mobile application platform, announced back in September 2005 ? Nokia Business Center. IBM Lotus Notes and Domino support will further complement the Business Center, which provides a combination of voice and business applications on a single device and allows a wide range of employees access to business-critical mobile email. Nokia Business Center is currently supported on more than ten Nokia smartphones and communicators. It is expected to be available to customers, equipped with IBM Lotus Notes and Domino support in the first quarter of 2006.

Source: Nokia

Nokia phones to send emergency alert

Nokia has applied to the U.S. Patent Trademark Office with its interesting development.

Nokia has applied to the U.S. Patent Trademark Office with its interesting development. It works in the following way. There is a special button installed to the phone, in case of emergency the user presses it to activate the process ? the phone camera takes and sends a series of time-stamped snapshots or video clips with sound to a service center or a friend. It the phone has a GPS-receiver it also stamps the message with location.

Transmission can be discrete, with the phone apparently off, or obvious to warn an abductor that a call for help has been sent. If it is impossible to send the info, the phone stores it in memory and automatically transmits it as soon as possible. The emergency call can be halted by entering a personal code, so accidental false alarms can be averted.

Should the company make this idea a reality, there will be less problems to call emergency service. When you try call for help, you need to explain the situation, and this idea will make it easier.

Samsung’s New 4GB SGH-i300x Musicphone


Samsung has announced an update to its SGH-i300 “Super Musicphone” – increasing the storage capacity of the built-in HDD from 3GB to 4GB.

The SGH-i300x shares the same design and features as its predecessor – tri-band GSM, 1.3MP camera w/flash, QVGA TFT LCD display, MPEG-4 / H.263 / H.264 / WMV video recording and playback, MP3 / AAC / AAC+ / WMA / ASF / WAV / WMA audio playback, 3.5mm earphone jack, stereo Bluetooth, MS Office / PDF Picsel viewer, Bluetooth / USB / IrDA connectivity, flight mode, microSD storage, and running Windows Mobile for Smartphones.

via [MSMobiles.com] and [SamsungHQ]

BenQ-Siemens launch first handsets: EF81, S68, & S88

BenQ Mobile today said it will focus on 3G and multimedia as its ships new handsets this year under the BenQ-Siemens brand.


According to engadget
It’s not exactly breaking hallowed ground at this point, but today BenQ-Siemens finally launched three three new devices — the EF81, S68, and S88 — thereby culminating in product form their acquisition/merger last year. Not surprisingly, the BS (we can call them that, can’t we?) EF81 is 0.6-inch thick 3G RAZR-competitor with a 1.3-inch 120 x 160 external display, and a 2.2-inch 262k color internal QVGA display, as well as 64MB RAM and MicroSD. The S68 is slightly less interesting with a 1.8-inch 132 x 176 display, Bluetooth, USB, EDGE, and 8MB of memory; the S88 (the black device above) at least features a two megapixel camera in addition to its 2-inch 176 x 220 262k color OLED display, MicroSD, and Bluetooth, though it only supports GPRS. So essentially the only phone you or we or anyone else will probably care anything about is the EF81, which is due to ship in March (where and for how much we don’t yet know)

read more

Bluetooth SIG for Bluetooth adoption in India

Early adoption of Bluetooth wireless technology in India will begin with the mobile phone and headset application

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) is a trade association comprised leaders in the telecommunications, computing, automotive, industrial automation and network industries that is driving the development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing them to market.

Read this article at CIOL

Do Google Miss Anything 466453

google is making sure it does not have any accessibility problems for mobile users

According to a weblog everyone wishes that they would take a leaf out of Google’s book. Google have even started registering domains based on numeric keyboards that use predictive text like most mobile phones. For instance, they have even registered 466453.com. Why? Try it on your phone and see what it spells.

For guys and gals who dont understand what 466453 means, try typing that on ur mobile phone

via [http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/blog/_archives/2006/1/16/1679136.html]

Nokia 6125 clamshell announced

Nokia today expanded its mid-range portfolio with the quad-band Nokia 6125 phone. The stylish clamshell offers wide range of features at an affordable price

nokia 6125Nokia today expanded its mid-range portfolio with the quad-band Nokia 6125 phone. The stylish clamshell offers wide range of features at an affordable price – 1.3 megapixel camera, EDGE, Bluetooth, Infrared port and FM radio. The integrated digital player supports a variety of music formats including MP3, MP4, eAAC+ and WMA and it is really usable due to the microSD card slot (hotswappable).

The Nokia 6125 is expected in the 2Q 2006 at an estimated retail price of 230 euros.

Nokia press release

Compact Nokia 6125 offers excellent performance in stylish folding design

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today expanded its porfolio of highly popular mid-range mobile phones with the stylish Nokia 6125 fold phone. Sleek and compact outside, the Nokia 6125 offers excellent performance and a compelling feature set – including a 1.3 megapixel camera, Bluetooth wireless technology and digital music player – in a modern, folding design. The quadband Nokia 6125 (GSM 850/900/1800/1900) is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2006 at an estimated retail price of 230 euros, excluding taxes and subsidies.

Combining the right set of features with excellent usability and keypad ergonomics, the Nokia 6125 has everything in balance. The silver and black colour scheme are complemented by sophisticated detailing and two bright color displays. Equipped with a 1.3 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom, video recording and a dedicated camera button, the Nokia 6125 provides excellent on-the-spot photography capabilities.

The Nokia 6125 also offers a range of connectivity options, including Bluetooth wireless technology, infrared and USB, making communication with other devices quick and easy. With multiple messaging cababilities – including MMS, instant messaging, push to talk and Nokia Xpress audio messaging – consumers can conveniently keep in touch with others. The Nokia 6125 also features Macromedia Flash Player, enabling users to enjoy rich Flash content on their mobile phone. Mobile email is easy to access while on the go with the Nokia 6125 phone’s integrated email client that also supports attachments. The quadband Nokia 6125 operates in GSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks and provides flight mode, which enables the user to work with calendar or relax with music while on the flight, making the new classic phone an ideal companion for any world-traveller.

Adding a touch of entertainment to the classic style, the Nokia 6125 offers music lovers a built-in digital music player, supporting a large variety of music formats including MP3, MP4, eAAC+ and WMA. To enhance the sound experience, the Nokia 6125 supports stereo audio over Bluetooth wireless connectivity and features a stereo FM radio, Visual Radio and video ring tones. Music files as well as images and videos can be conveniently stored on a hotswappable microSD memory card.

Personalized Home for Mobiles by Google

Google has announced about a Personalized Home for Mobiles. The homepage displays everything from your Gmail inbox to news headlines,weather, stock quotes, and feeds.

Google has announced about a Personalized Home for Mobiles. The homepage displays everything from your Gmail inbox to news headlines,weather, stock quotes, and feeds.

The interface is optimized for small screens, says Abhijit Kalamkar, one of Google?s Software Engineer, on his post.

You can read the whole post here.

BlackBerry to get Google Local Google Talk

Expect Google to get into anything that has to do with the Internet.And if the Internet gets onto the Mobile, Google would follow suit and develop applications for your cell phone.

Expect Google to get into anything that has to do with the Internet! And if the Internet gets onto the Mobile, Google would follow suit and develop applications for your cell phone.

Google has announced that it is expanding its services to the BlackBerry platform. Available immediately, Google Local for mobile can be downloaded for free, and will provide BlackBerry users with maps and satellite imagery as well as the ability to receive driving directions and locate addresses.

Due this spring, Google Talk will also be provided for free, and will enable BlackBerry users to chat and keep up with their contacts via the Google Talk instant messaging system. Google Talk requires a free Gmail e-mail account.

Of course both applications require that you have a data service subscription on your BlackBerry device, for which most providers charge.

via [TechBulletin]

Motorola to Preinstall Yahoo Mail and YIM on Some Handsets

partnership with Yahoo that will allow for certain Yahoo applications to come preinstalled on some handsets.

America?s top cell phone maker, Motorola has announced a partnership with Yahoo that will allow for certain Yahoo applications to come preinstalled on some handsets.

The first such handsets are likely to be available by the end of March, and will include the YIM instant messaging solution, as well as Yahoo Mail, Address Book, and Calendar software.

This comes shortly after Motorola?s partnership with Google on integrated search services. It appears that they are trying to come up with a good mix of what they see as they best services from each internet giant, in order to create the highest quality mobile internet experience.

via [Teleclick.ca]

Motorola to give some handsets a Google icon

Google found a new way to get onto a cellphone, and this time I mean literally. Last week, Motorola announced it would integrate a Google icon onto some if its handsets in 2006

Google found a new way to get onto a cellphone, and this time I mean literally. Last week, Motorola announced it would integrate a Google icon onto some if its handsets in 2006. The Google button will give users the power to connect to Google instantly from their cellphone. The new handsets will be distributed globally to “select” Motorola customers.

Motorola seems to be walking the fence when it comes to competition between the major search engines. Though Motorola and Google announced their global alliance last week, it was only back in July that Motorola and Yahoo! teamed up to make Yahoo! services more available on Linux-based mobile devices. It’s nice that Motorola seems to continue to play nice with others. It would be a bad move for the company to enter into any exclusive partnerships. Instead, it should continue to offer products catered to what customers what. It seems to be doing a good job of that lately.