Samsung’s proprietary user interface, TouchWiz, could be getting a lot more interesting, as today they have announced a software development kit that will allow programmers to create widgets on a range of supporting devices. Previously, you were stuck with the selection of widgets preloaded on the phone, but soon the doors will be open for third parties to make their own. The Eclipse-based tools support Windows Mobile, Symbian, Java, and, of course, the TouchWiz user interface.
On the user end, a Widget Gallery will be available on the Omnia II (which is due out on Verizon by Christmas) and later devices. To kick off the new development environment, Samsung is hosting a contest at a devcamp running September 11-13. The creator of the best in each of five categories will win $5,000, on top of a $20,000 grand prize for the best in the show. It sounds promising, but let’s see what the turnout is like and if a reasonable stable of widgets can be built up before the Omnia II launch strikes.
Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) has a secret weapon waiting in the wings. Our favorite Swedish-Japanese mobile phone maker has been working hard on their upcoming Sony Ericsson Satio 12-megapixel touchscreen smartphone, and it’s looking almost ready for primetime. The Sony Ericsson Satio has just been given the greenlight to connect with wireless networks in the US – possibly en route to US soil in the near future!
The Sony Ericsson Satio was initially unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona, where we had a brief chance to ogle the handset. At the time, the high-end mobile phone was known as the Sony Ericsson “Idou.” The “Satio” moniker has proven much more appealing. The Idou was announced as a new all-touchscreen smartphone powered by the Symbian Foundation OS. As Sony Ericsson’s “next big thing,” the Idou/Satio was packed to the brim with goodies – 12-megapixel camera (no CyberShot) with Xenon flash, 3.5-inch widescreen touchscreen display, and DLNA-compatible WiFi and GPS receivers.
Unfortunately, we have no idea if the FCC has cleared the Sony Ericsson Satio for US frequencies. But, with a little luck, we’ll see the Satio coming Stateside with some sort of US 3G frequency support. We’re going to keep our fingers crossed!
Want to get hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Satio? The below videos and photo gallery were taken at Mobile World Congress 2009, and should give you a pretty good idea for what the Sony Ericsson Satio/Idou will look like at launch.
The smartphone market is still seeing solid growth, despite a weak global economy that has consumers cutting back on non-essential goods. Gartner is reporting that Global sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2009 increased 27% year-on-year, accounting for more than 40 million units sold. Meanwhile, mobile phone sales in general slid 6.1%, compared to Q2 2008. It’s clear that smartphones are becoming increasingly more popular as consumers more openly embrace higher-end mobile phone features. That being said, the growth of the smartphone segment has helped some, while hurting others. Smartphone platforms like Windows Mobile and Symbian continue to lose market share as the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) platforms gain more and more ground. Considering Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) just recently saw Android surpassing Windows Mobile’s market share, this has been a bad week for Windows Mobile.
The Windows Mobile operating system, which now lays claim to just 9% of the smartphone market, has been taking hits from other platforms that offer a more compelling user experience and a more finger-friendly user interface. Indeed, touchscreen technology is high on the list of gotta-have features that are helping to drive smartphone adoption across the board. Microsoft will likely continue to see their market share eroding until they can release their overhauled Windows Mobile platform, which we really should be referring to as the “Windows Phone,” hits market.
In the end, friendly smartphone platforms will continue to outperform industry incumbents. Unfortunately, Gartner doesn’t expect Palm (NSDQ: PALM)’s WebOS to gain enough traction outside the US to ensure Palm’s survival. It’s looking more and more like iPhone and Android are the smartphone platforms to beat!
After several beta versions, Samsung Mobile Innovator portal released the first stable version of the DevPack for the Samsung i8910 aka OmniaHD! The Korean company’s first device specific SDK is packed with all the tools and documentation developers need to make apps for Samsung’s flagship Symbian device.
Among the DevPack features, we highlight:
Custom APIs such as NaviSensor, GSensor and MotionUI, along with the rest of the sensor framework;
Samsung Mobile Widget framework for making widgets for TouchWIZ UI on OmniaHD;
Optimized user interface/environment which perfectly works on small laptops, making development as portable as it can get.
In a nutshell, Samsung really did its best to make sure developers have all they need to bring their work to the OmniaHD. In that sense, we are hoping to see some cool stuff being developed for one of the most capable multimedia phones on the market today…
YELLIX is a pretty awesome idea, in theory. The application, which works with Android, RIM BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM), Symbian or Windows Mobile, goes online when someone calls you, pairs the phone number of the person calling you to the phone number your friend has in their Facebook profile, and then displays their photo and last status update. I like it, but no one calls me, everyone uses SMS. I’d rather have an application that I install, turn on, give my Facebook credentials to, and then have it populate my address book. That would be awesome … if I still had a Facebook account. Anyway, check it out, I’m sure there are several of you who will find this useful.
Transitions, or pretty shit to watch while you wait for a device to do something as I like to call them, are a fast and easy way to make an outdated user interface seem new and modern. The Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N97 has the ability to display transitions, but the feature just happened to be turned off with shipping versions. Someone “hacked” the device, also known as allowing system files to be modified, in order to turn on the bling. Now I seriously hope that Nokia doesn’t think adding transitions to the Symbian OS is going to keep them competitive in the market place, because it isn’t. When Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) came out with Windows Vista, the Aero UI was called a waste of time and system resources since it failed to offer a compelling new experience and was essentially Windows XP plus pretty effects & transparency. Now that Windows 7 is out (I’m running the RC, waiting until October to buy the retail version) and has a brand spanking new taskbar and way of interacting with the operating system, it makes the Aero visualization engine useful and helpful! Time will tell if Nokia turns transitions on, I’m waiting until 2011 to see what Symbian^4 is going to look like.
Oh and one more thing, if you actually want to learn how to make your N97 look like it does in the video below, then read this blog post over at The Symbian Blog.
Today we present you with a new Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 5800 XpressMusic commercial. As you’re about to see, the Finnish giant insist the Tube is a great device for video and image capture, as well as sharing. Moreover there are maps, Internet, and so on. The idea of the clip is: Touch, Feel, Live. Here is comes, enjoy!
After AT&T, Canada’s Rogers (NYSE: RCI) Wireless is getting ready to launch the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 6790 Surge, too. We’re not too excited about the Surge and its fugly form factor, but I guess some Sidekick fans like it (or not).
Anyway, the carrier will reportedly sell the device for CA$89.99 on a way-too-long 3-year contract, or for CA$279.99 sans any strings attached. Exact release date is unknown at the time of this writing.
Specs wise, the Surge comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 2-megapixel camera, 2.5mm headset jack, Bluetooth, and a microSD memory card slot. Symbian S60 3.2 is running the show…
We know Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is gearing toward launching the next Internet tablet device which will reportedly be called N900 Rover. However, we haven’t got a clue they’ll be launching it with T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) (of all the carriers in the U.S.). This is not to say T-Mobile is bad, quite the contrary, it’s just that their 3G network sings on non-that-standard 1700 MHz band.
Anyway, the N900 aka Rover has been spotted at the FCC, and will be able to work on three HSPA bands – 850, 1700 and 2100 MHz — meaning roaming with Europe is a go!
Rest of the specs include WiFi, GPS, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, FM transmitter, 1320 mAh battery, and so on. Hopefully, we’ll see this baby released in a month or so. As a big fan of Nokia Internet Tablet devices and Maemo platform, I can’t wait to give Rover a try.
In a nutshell, what I said over a month ago about the current S60 UI being scrapped, and then expanded on a week later during an interview with Scott Weiss, User Interface Technology Manager at Symbian Foundation, has been confirmed on video by Ian Hutton in the video below. We’re not going to see any radically new Symbian user interfaces for at least another 2 years. Minimum. That leaves Nokia (NYSE: NOK) fanbois and shareholders in between a rock and a hard place. Whatever market share Nokia will lose in the high end segment of the smartphone space, which they will thanks to Android and the iPhone, they’ll make up for in volume when they drive the price points of Symbian handsets into new territories such as the €150 and even sub €100 market.
Samsung’s proprietary user interface, TouchWiz, could be getting a lot more interesting, as today they have announced a software development kit that will allow programmers to create widgets on a range of supporting devices. Previously, you were stuck with the selection of widgets preloaded on the phone, but soon the doors will be open for third parties to make their own. The Eclipse-based tools support Windows Mobile, Symbian, Java, and, of course, the TouchWiz user interface.
Sony Ericsson (
The smartphone market is still seeing solid growth, despite a weak global economy that has consumers cutting back on non-essential goods. Gartner is reporting that Global sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2009 increased 27% year-on-year, accounting for more than 40 million units sold. Meanwhile, mobile phone sales in general slid 6.1%, compared to Q2 2008. It’s clear that smartphones are becoming increasingly more popular as consumers more openly embrace higher-end mobile phone features. That being said, the growth of the smartphone segment has helped some, while hurting others. Smartphone platforms like Windows Mobile and Symbian continue to lose market share as the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry (
