Symbian^3 web app development tools come out of beta, aim for standardized simplicity
By Vlad Savov 
posted April 30th 2010 6:47AM
posted April 30th 2010 6:47AM
Anyone Who Can Create a Webpage Can Now Create an App for Symbian^3
Symbian Announces New Web Application Development Tools
SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Symbian today announced the availability of its web application development tools, making application development on the Symbian platform as easy as creating a webpage. These new tools open up application development to creators of any technical ability, providing access to consumers and device manufacturers within the world's largest mobile market.
"Now anyone can create fantastic applications for devices such as the Nokia N8, the world's first Symbian^3 device," said Lee Williams, Executive Director of Symbian. "These Symbian web application development tools provide an ideal entry point for web developers targeting the vast, new development opportunities offered by the Symbian^3 platform and the wider mobile marketplace, where compelling applications are proving their ability to fuel communities."
Using Symbian's web application development tools, any existing web developer can simply apply all their existing skills with HTML, CSS and JavaScript but in a mobile context. By exploring just a few more JavaScript APIs, developers can directly access the deep device capabilities that ultimately produce truly engaging applications with mass appeal to the mobile consumer, such as contacts, camera, accelerometers and even location.
Although Symbian web applications can be created using any existing web development environment, the added value delivered by the tools environment provided by Symbian is in areas like mobile-specific application preview, debugging and deployment capabilities. These features further support the transition of desktop development skill into the mobile universe.
Williams added: "With these tools, web developers can leverage their existing expertise effectively to create powerful mobile applications. This, combined with the on-schedule release of Symbian^3, is further proof of our commitment to enabling innovation and empowering all developers, including web developers, to harness the rich capabilities of the Symbian platform."
The new tools, which have recently come out of community beta and are available across all of the major platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux, can be accessed at:
http://developer.symbian.org/main/tools_and_kits/symbian3_developer/index.php.
Information about developing and contributing to the tools as an open source project is available from the package landing page, at: http://developer.symbian.org/main/source/packages/package/index.php?pk=263.
Symbian Announces New Web Application Development Tools
SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Symbian today announced the availability of its web application development tools, making application development on the Symbian platform as easy as creating a webpage. These new tools open up application development to creators of any technical ability, providing access to consumers and device manufacturers within the world's largest mobile market.
"Now anyone can create fantastic applications for devices such as the Nokia N8, the world's first Symbian^3 device," said Lee Williams, Executive Director of Symbian. "These Symbian web application development tools provide an ideal entry point for web developers targeting the vast, new development opportunities offered by the Symbian^3 platform and the wider mobile marketplace, where compelling applications are proving their ability to fuel communities."
Using Symbian's web application development tools, any existing web developer can simply apply all their existing skills with HTML, CSS and JavaScript but in a mobile context. By exploring just a few more JavaScript APIs, developers can directly access the deep device capabilities that ultimately produce truly engaging applications with mass appeal to the mobile consumer, such as contacts, camera, accelerometers and even location.
Although Symbian web applications can be created using any existing web development environment, the added value delivered by the tools environment provided by Symbian is in areas like mobile-specific application preview, debugging and deployment capabilities. These features further support the transition of desktop development skill into the mobile universe.
Williams added: "With these tools, web developers can leverage their existing expertise effectively to create powerful mobile applications. This, combined with the on-schedule release of Symbian^3, is further proof of our commitment to enabling innovation and empowering all developers, including web developers, to harness the rich capabilities of the Symbian platform."
The new tools, which have recently come out of community beta and are available across all of the major platforms including Windows, Mac and Linux, can be accessed at:
http://developer.symbian.org/main/tools_and_kits/symbian3_developer/index.php.
Information about developing and contributing to the tools as an open source project is available from the package landing page, at: http://developer.symbian.org/main/source/packages/package/index.php?pk=263.
Symbian=AVKON.
That's not going to change before in S^4 and maybe for us high end phone buyers most important is the Harmattan/MeeGo that will be totally based on Qt.
Good thing with S^3 is that there's at least Qt4.6 for developers. It's not the UI framework yet like on MeeGo and S^4.
@Pdexter
i like to dance with the wind as Nokia's S4 and Meego flagships make their entrance
the elements celebrate within
@Zylam
I have no idea what just said.
@Pdexter : Sure, there's Avkon in the OS, but developers can start porting Qt applications to S^3 devices immediately. Which as far as devs is concerned is awesome.
@JFH
i just can't wait for S4 and Meego to become mainstream for Nokia. Their have nuclear power in their hands of developers realism what such a combo is capable of.
In some twisted way my message was conveyed through that
@sockatume
Sure that's awesome. Now other than developers can see how capable Qt4.6 really is.
Just saying that S^3 UI is still build upon AVKON so people really shouldn't expect anything earth shattering there.
While Nokia and Symbian Foundation seem to be building S^4 to look like Symbian the user experience will be totally different as the UI is build in Qt. Probally keeping the "phone UI" looks because of the price point we are going to see those Symbian phones.
Harmattan/MeeGo will be different beast.
@Pdexter
My guess is that S^3 with both QT and AVKON is a necessary step to give old applications time to be recoded to the new only QT S^4.
@Pdexter : It'll be interesting to see how it works out for them in reviews. Having apps with a significantly improved UI framework on one hand, and the core OS using the same old thing, might bite them in the ass when reviewers get their free handsets and don't bother to put any thirdparty apps on them before putting fingers to keyboard. I mean, people are still discussing S60 3rd's upcoming Twitter integration. Who, aside from reviewers, is going to use that when Gravity exists?
@newone
That's a terrible way of thinking -- especially considering it's pretty much the majority vote that symbian has become stale and obsolete.
They NEED to cut loose and get rid of backwards compatibility and all the garbage apps from v3 that run in a UI that looks like it was "high tech" in 1997. It's 2010, they need to step up their game. I was really hoping for this device to be running S^4...fuck these delays, get the lead out symbian foundation, Android et al. are leaving you in the DUST.
@DoctarPeppar That's a terrible way of thinking -- especially considering it's pretty much the majority vote that symbian has become stale and obsolete.
They NEED to cut loose and get rid of backwards compatibility and all the garbage apps from v3 that run in a UI that looks like it was "high tech" in 1997. It's 2010, they need to step up their game. I was really hoping for this device to be running S^4...fuck these delays, get the lead out symbian foundation, Android et al. are leaving you in the DUST.
@DoctarPeppar
S^4 devices have been meant to be out in Q4 2010- Q1 2011 since the start of Symbian Foundation. There's nothing new or surprising there.
You need to remember that Nokia is actually building it from the ground, like they should.
Qt is very modern cross-platform application and UI framework that actually is not just as good as webos or iphone, but can easily be simply better. Not to say that it's some kind of win button.
In Q4 when we are seeing Harmattan/MeeGo devices there's no reason to be waiting for S^4 other than if you want cheaper phones with weaker processor.
@DoctarPeppar
"get rid of backwards compatibility and all the garbage"
Now THAT is a terrible way of thinking.
Sounds like webOS's principles.. Palm is a game changer once again.
@zeroinfinity2 I think you meant game over for palm.
@zeroinfinity2 Sorry, but this are the principles of Nokia Web Runtimes introduced by Nokia in 2007, long before Palm WebOS.
Nokia was, as always, a step ahead.
@zeroinfinity2 agreed. its really funny to see company after company copy palm's innovations.
@bkeasy
Have a look at the post above yours, einstein :)
@franchg
I don't believe it was deployed in this fashion. We're not talking about widgets anymore.
@zeroinfinity2 What you call widget are real applications, with the same API power of webOS applications. This symbian runtimes comes straight out of Web Runtimes.
Nice article Savov...
Also to add to this is good to point that is more or less the same thing we get in WebOS PLUS is possible to develop with Python and Qt.
I am awaiting for PySide, Python+Qt bindings developed by nokia, to come out from the furnace to develop something just for fun...
@Mr w00t
So first the Qt SDK, then the Ovi App Wizard, and now the S^3 web app development tools? All platforms at that. Seems like they are really pushing to get good apps out.
Qt is cross-compatble with Meego and Silverlight, right? I've been hearing about those dev tool bringing the 2 platforms and Microsoft's standard together.
@N900
Yes, isnt that smart :)
I'm targeting Qt as my development platform. One language/API for Windows, Linux, Mac OS and Nokia phones? There's even a possibility one could port it to Android, which would be even more fun.
@The Madman
Nokia and Apple can't be any more divergent in that aspect, can they?
I hate dumbed down development tools because that means that more people who are too stupid to develop applications start doing that. We can't focus on making things simpler without focusing on making people smarter.
Symbian:
-Evil Symbian Signed process.
-Not unified market.
@magallanes
Evil WAAAT ?
You just said it moron : Not unified market = multiple marketS = you don't need any signed stuff.
Got your apps declined because it was not in the political views of the Guru who commands to the sect/company that made your phone ?
Well use another app market or just a simple website.
This is like Cydia except you don't have to hack, you don't loose consumer support and it's open-source.
(Oh and there is competition too... but that something a reckless capitalist like you probably cannot understand...oh wait!)
@magallanes
The symbian signed development process is evil because:
a) you must pay for every process (yes, per new application / new version).
b) it can take over 6 months.
c) you can be rejected then you must start all over.
And for unified market.
If you are a symbian dev then you can sell your app on Handango.. and they charge you over 60% (App Store is 20%), plus the sales are petty, the top10 is tricky at best and many other problems.
Pocketgear and alike are the same stuff.
@magallanes All fair points......before Symbian turned open source.
check their website for the new rules.
& Ovi is 70/30 like everyone else.
@Munk
Yes, they changed the rules,and now they are allowing to indies to sell their stuff on Ovi Store but the certification is still evil and still charge you (and still they can miss the deadline).
Strictly speaking for sell on OVI a developer need 3 certificates.
@magallanes The troubles with the certification processes is well documented and you wont be getting any arguments from me.
However the process is much better than two years ago and promises to get better when all the security code gets streamlined in S^4/Hammartan (Qt4.7).
Take the example of Rovio. They worked closely with Nokia on Bounce Evo (3d) and managed to port Angry birds to Qt for the n900 in a very short time (it is another matter that the n900/maemo5 lacks drm & they have not been able to charge for the games but the work is already in place & thus they are featured in the n8 adverts. Since it qt it will run similar to the n900 version which essentially is the same as the iphone version).
People complain that the processor is not 1ghz without realizing that Symbian is coded for better power & memory management than the competition & the 680mhz ARM is the not the previous gen chip but the current gen with Open GL & ELS 2.0 support. Raising the clock speed only gives you superficial bragging rights while having a negative impact on the cost, battery & efficiency of the devices.
hum the language used is not what makes a platform successful and nokia should know that. It is all about mature and flexible SDKs and easy to use tools. And while using HTML + CSS might sound *cool* it basically means interpreted code with a quite complex programming environment since there will be both native and non-native apps. Oh and noone really cares what platform the *lone ranger* developer will be targeting. What does matter is if the big studios will adopt the platform and unfortunately even the biggest supporters of Symbian ( Sony and Samy ) are moving away from the platform. I guess that's what happens when a company like Nokia looses it's vision of the future and decides to focus on low cost devices and yesteryear's technology.
@(Unverified), yesteryear technology like 12Mpix HUGE (in mobile markets) sensor w/ perfect 720p recording, USB-OTG, HDMI-out w/ Dolby Surround, free offline-enabled GPS navigation, all GSM 3G bands... Yeah, we had this for centuries now...
@incognito and which one of the listed features are actually part of the OS? Also you should do some research about the technology that you list as so revolutionary. Mpx count means nothing and Nokia uses AGPS which is shit, and the fact that a phone can cover all 4 GSM zones means hardly anything since 99% of the users never leave their home zone. But my feeling about the hardware aside I was talking about what Nokia has been doing in the last 3 or so years and not the N8. N900 is the closes they've gotten to an innovative device and they killed that.
@(Unverified), who said anything about the OS - you said 'yesteryear technology' and in addition to that 'low cost devices' - the N8 is neither of those. As for the N900, who said they killed it? I'm posting this from it, and it pretty much doesn't look killed - it's alive and kicking. It's the platform they will use for the future N9xx series, the one coming this fall...
@(Unverified) You write "Nokia uses AGPS which is shit". A-GPS is shit? That comment alone shows you have no idea what you're talking about.
@(Unverified)
Really, they killed N900?
I love this thing.Sure it isn't for everybody yet, but for those who know how to use it, it is awesome. If my N900 died today, the only thing I would consider for replacement would be another N900. MeeGo will be huge.
@UI True dat.
@UI really mate? I am the one who doesn't know what he's talking about? Why do you think that TomTom has another receiver in their car mount for the iPhone? Sure every phone on the market today uses A-GPS but that does not make is great or innovative. And since you brought this up you might read this http://www.radio-electronics.com/info/cellulartelecomms/location_services/assisted_gps.php
And as for the rest of you Nokia fanboys noone is stopping you from buying their products. Still Nokia makes about the ugliest smart phones and has about the worst UI for smart phones there is. But that's just my opinion.
@(Unverified) Thanks for the link, dude. I know what A-GPS does. It basically makes plain GPS better on a phone. And like you said everyone uses it. Which is why I still don't understand why in your "opinion" when Nokia uses A-GPS it "is shit".
@(Unverified) " all about mature and flexible SDKs and easy to use tools."
You mean API access right? Symbian & Maemo have the richest API access for developers compared to every other platform. Not only do you get access to the camera, microphone and hardware that others are just getting around to, but a developer can change the default app's with their own if they wish. Cant do that with Android/iphone.
Also Nokia was the one to popularize gps in phones via chip based solutions. They added A GPS to the n95 before the iphone even released to help better "fixes" via the use of cell-triangulation.
Tom Tom released a dock because there was a market for it.
a) the gps chip in a phone is usually much smaller than stand alone devices & due to the size/power factors is unable to compete 1:1 with a PND.
b) the iphone universally has a shitty battery life and radios which are not helped by the construction and metal enclosure. The dock not only charges the iphone in car but also helps get a bettter fix via a larger chip which wont be possible otherwise. And again, Nokia has been offering similar solutions for years.
You have a right to your opinion just as anyone else but do not call ppl "fanbois" when someone calls you out on something :).
@(Unverified)
Apparently you don't understand what AGPS is.
The short explanation is it is GPS with extra bits. It is a regular GPS. You can use it as without the A, and it doest differ any way from a standard GPS. The A is for assicted, meaning it gets extra info from the cell towers. This information consists of satellite almanac, meaning the constellations of satellites that GPS sends. Now by getting this information from celltowers it shortens the time for location fix, and gettig a location fix with worse singal.
So if AGPS is shit, GPS is really shit, as its worse.
I believe that Nokia will eventually turn around on its situation, and we can sse they are trying (not enough for now, tough)
Ps.: Anyway... thanks to engadget I'm participating on that N8 contest and doing quite fine! Hope you guys could help me on that..
Awesome! Off to update my resume....
Web runtime means no Symbian Signed. Now you can create your own apps for your own phone and it works with S60v5 and S60v3
If you're still using the number 3, you failed!
@kapryt If you're still using the number 3, you blew it!