My laptop is the center of my life, time for my phone to take that position

The Nokia PC Suite represents the final link in the chain that is holding back Nokia phones from truly becoming mobile computers.

Frankly I understand the logic of developing such an application. People need a method for inputting and exporting data on their mobile. The Nokia PC Suite serves as that middleware application that sits between my phone and my computer. However in 2006 with the explosion of rich AJAX based websites more and more data is being stored in, what developers call, the cloud. I just call it the net. This is one way in which the Nokia PC Suite has become useless. We manage our calendars online, we use web based email, and RSS feeds are consumed via Bloglines or my personal favorite Google Reader. Data doesn’t reside on a single machine, it is however accessible on any machine.

My router, DSL modem, and server are devices that fascinate me because they have the same rich functionality that a site such as Google Reader does. How is that so? I can simply type a URL into any computer connected to the net and have full control of any of those devices. Remote management is usually a topic discussed amongst IT administrators, but I think it has a critical untapped role in the consumer space.

Here is a user scenario that is completely plausible, yet isn’t implemented by anyone:

There is a knock on my door, and it is the FedEx man. He arrives with my brand new Nokia phone. I sign for the package and immediately start the ritualistic unboxing process. I pop my SIM card into the phone and turn it on for the first time. It asks me to register my device on nokia.com to be able to interact with it in a rich way. Why not? I double click the browser icon on my PC and point it to nokia.com.

At the website I enter in the typical registration details, and I create a username, devilsrejection, that in turn gives me my own private page at devilsrejection.nokia.com. My friend Jennifer calls me to come over to hang out later tonight. I agree to this rendezvous.

I’m at my friends house and we’re listening to a new CD she just purchased. I really am enjoying track 7 and I would like to take it with me. I take my phone out of my pocket and click the "manage by pc" button. The phone says "enabled" and I walk over to my friendâ€™s computer. I open up her browser and type in devilsrejection.nokia.com, login, and I am presented with a UI that gives me access to the contacts on my phone, my to-do list, my calendar, the pictures I took, basically everything that I can manipulate on my phone is accessible via this website. I click "upload a file" and then select the mp3 she just ripped for me, and off it goes, directly onto my mobile phone. After that process is finished, and I left my friends house, I’m on the train going home. I plug my headphones into my Nokia and enjoy the song that I just uploaded to it while I was spending time with Jennifer.

Now did you understand what happened in that user scenario? I have a Nokia device that I register on nokia.com which then gives me my own private URL, in this case devilsrejection.nokia.com. My mobile has a built in web server; when I click the "manage by pc" button on my phone it pings nokia.com my IP address therefore setting up the forwarding correctly similar to dyndns. It then proceeds to enable the web server I hold in my hands. When I go to devilsrejection.nokia.com it is the remote management console to my device. I am literally manipulating data on my mobile via a web browser.

Think about the possibilities for a moment. The Google Suite, Outlook Web Access, and Zimbra show us that a PIM is in every way shape and form as capable as its desktop counterpart. The problem most people have is that they want to be able to manipulate that data in Outlook and have it stay in sync on multiple devices. Why not just rethink this prospect to data centralization, on my Nokia, and have it manageable on every device that can connect to the internet. Better yet, for the safety conscious out there, why not let Nokia backup all the data on my phone incase something were to go wrong.

Consumers don’t understand exchange servers, or push email. They do however understand going to a website. Many people take pictures on their phone, but don’t know how to take that image off. Even worse carriers are charging ridiculous prices for each MMS you send. How nice would it be to spend a day with your family, go back to their home, use their computer and give them all the pictures you took today for their collection without ever having to plug in a cable.

Better yet imagine being at a public terminal that you know has no USB ports, so therefore that USB flash drive you got for Christmas is useless. However, you put your document on your phone via that remote management site at home, and then you download that file to a public terminal via that same handy dandy remote management website.

I encourage you to check out these screenshots of Zimbra

Those are in a browser window, very very rich AJAX. Take Microsoft Outlook out of the damn equation. Why do I need to install an application that can mange calendar data, then install an application to sync calendar data, just so I can stay organized? You know what really sucks the most about having to install those 2 applications? It limits me to manipulating my data to either my phone, or that sole machine which has the Nokia PC Suite and Outlook installed. Can you say ineffective?! Imagine if my phone had a web server with Zimbra installed. Enterprise class data management in the palm of my hand, anywhere I go, just a web browser away.

Now I don’t have a degree in programming or networking, but if anything I said is not possible then please tell me. I do think everything I discussed in this article is implementable; it’s just that no one has done it yet. My only question is why?

My laptop is my life, but my phone however â€¦ the potential is only limited to your imagination Nokia. If you need me to further elaborate on any of these ideas then feel free to contact me and start a conversation. I refuse to call your phones mobile computers since they do such a poor job at the most crucial feature of todayâ€™s idea of computing, and that is networking.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

lutzs

huh… First i think: these guy like to have PC Suite as an ActiveX or something to install, but then i understand. Running a webserver with a thin and light One-Person Groupware on it, with the possibility to replicate with other servers (PCs, Mobile Devices). I’m not a programmer, the only thing i learnd was a bit VBA… But that idea isn’t impossible. There are webservers for Windows Mobile. But the other components, like PHP, LDAP or a Mailserver must be there to. Then running services on every device is a huge security risk. A GPRS Connection is always needed too. And Mobile Phones need a lot more Power.
Stefan Constantinescu

I don’t think it would have to be done with an active x control at all, something like this can definitely be done with ajax, just look at gmail and google calender.

mobiles have the power i think, i mean if it can play back video it could definitely host a website.
Shulyaka

One question: can your phone upload files to internet?
To download a file from pc to the phone without usb cable upload it first from pc to a web server (I think you will find such service, for example some forums allow uploading files) and then download it to the phone from that server using internal browser or so.
To upload a file from the phone to pc without cable you should find a way to upload files to a web server (if the internal browser doesn’t support uploading check whether applications have access to phone’s filesystem) and download from the server to the pc. Is this what you want?
Stefan Constantinescu

I would prefer a real time connection then having to make files go from phone -> webserver -> pc -> webserver -> phone

I would prefer a pc phone connection
ptenteges

Dude!! That is MY idea!!
And seriously … I find it difficult to explain to people, that to do this you actually change your mobile INTO a web server, for the time needed to do all the things you want to. They keep thinking that I connect to such mobile through some internet service, sitting at Nokia HQ’s computers. I think that it will take time before broad public accepts the fact, that a small electronic device sitting in your pocket is fully Internet enabled, personal computer.
Thats why I dont expect this scenario to become reality for a long time.

BTW – great job doing ringnokia.com. I really enjoy reading your articles … even when you steal my ideas
Stefan Constantinescu

haha show me your blog post with “our” idea before mine and i’ll believe ya!

but in all seriousness, it really is a shame that no one is building such a solution. i had someone from the Nokia Research Center contact me, and they said that they can only come up with the tools, they don’t design products around them.

it’s difficult to find a developer who would want to work on this!
Alex

Nice idea, I think it is only a matter of time before the web-interface appears on mobile phones.

But some thoughts about implementing this today:
The only immediate problem it solves seems to be someone not having PC Suite installed.
It assumes you are in a WiFi area (or else you have access to an Ethernet patch cable) – admittedly not a great problem these days.
Making your phone a web server has obvious security implications, imagine what havoc a malicious hacker could wreak if they could change your phone’s settings. Also it may not be possible to run a web server on a public WiFi hotspot such as in a cafe. They probably block such things for security and cost reasons.

I assume you would still want to be physically next to the phone and a PC at the same time — you carry the phone with you always, and wouldn’t normally want people on distant PCs connecting to your phone — so a bluetooth or cable connection is still a possibility.

I think a more practical solution would be to make the phone look like a standard USB device, so that you can plug it into any PC and Windows (or OS X or whatever) will recognise it as a removable drive and let you access the files that way. You could even have a virtual file system where emails etc appear as files.

Or carry a bluetooth dongle with you to plug into your friend’s PC.
Stefan Constantinescu

No I still believe this could be done OTA.
Shulyaka

Dude, webserver on mobiles sounds cool, but nothing more. Firstly you will need to carry a charging cable instead of USB if you want to keep the server always on. Secondly, you will need a real IP address. Neither gprs nor wifi hotspots provide it for providers use NAT servers.
A webserver between pc and phone looks much nicer. But tell me do we need to have a special server? I just looked at your idea and found out I already have what you’re dreaming about with my low-end phone. Your idea is just interface for what I described earlier. Just look at it from another point.
Noah

Honestly, this isn’t that far off from how the web views and servers for the Sidekick/Danger Hiptop work.

It’s built around a persistent, transparent synchronization system, however. But it could be easily expanded to support file transfer or media management if Danger (or the carriers) wanted once it became 3G compatible.

It’s basically a web2.0 phone.
gladwin

hi

pls let me know the eamil of nokia research center as i have a few ideas for nokia phones.

best regrads

gladwin
mad at Helio

does anyone know how to use idlin drift to get on internet with laptop? i can get it started but after 10 seconds it loses connection. i’m getting so angry cause Helio CS says you can’t but i know you can.
David simpson

i would like to be able to use my phone thru the pc basicly haveing everything that is on the phone right in frount of me or ethern slip ur sim card into a laptop and have the phones os on the laptop etc
David simpson

or how about this a data card that dosent charge the earth for connecting to the internet or more isp using gprs for internet connections