A couple of short links - December 24, 2009

1. 16 Cool Cellphone Concepts Which Won't Be Implemented - cellphone concepts that look amazing, ranging from customizable back sides like the Nokia Unik, to cellphones that act as a bangle like the LG Helix.

2. The (Last and Next) Decade in Gadgets - breakthroughs in technology of the past decade and prediction of  future trends. The areas covered are Computers/OS, Cellphones, Web, cameras, Home Entertainment, Music, Movies, Video Games (here it mentions Microsoft's Natal project), and Print.

3. Top Ten Stories on Digg in 2009 - the title says it all.

4. Java Design Patterns book - written by IBM's James Cooper, an excellent free resource on Design Patterns implemented in Java. Bruce Eckel has a similar book, entitled Thinking in Patterns.

Top 5 Cellular Phone Producers for 2008

Based on reports from PhoneArena, here is a list of the top 5 cellular phone producers in the global market for 2008:

1. Nokia - 470 million units sold.
2. Samsung - 200 million units sold.
3. LG - 100 million units sold.
4. Motorola - 99.9 million units sold.
5. Sony Ericsson - 96.6 million units sold.

I am still hoping Motorola will come through (eventually) and will revive its mobile devices unit. Until then, another 4000 jobs are expected to be lost (beside those 3000 from November of last year).

Nokia unveils "Comes With Music"

From Nokia's Press Release:

"The company announced Nokia Comes With Music, a revolutionary program that enables people to buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to millions of tracks from a range of great artists - past, present and future. Once the year is complete, customers can keep all their music without having to worry about it disappearing when their subscription is over."

The CEO of UMG International was with Nokia to launch the program. "It's fantastic to work with Nokia on Comes With Music," said Grainge. "We feel it's an innovative way for people to discover and enjoy new artists, while at the same time having access to the amazing depth of the Universal catalog. Comes With Music allows our artists to reach new audiences in a very easy and affordable way.""

Cell Phones - Top 3 best sellers

I remember reading about it a while ago. Digging a little through the Internet, I found the source in engadget. Here are the facts:

1. Nokia 1100 - around 200 million units sold.
2. Motorola RAZR V3 - around 50 million units sold (although I believe that the Motorola StarTac sold more units).
   
3. LG Chocolate - around 10 million units sold.

Now, Apple's iPhone has a big chance of overrunning the third spot by the end of 2008 (with the new improved and cheaper 3G model). We'll just have to wait and see. Of course, searching the internet will reveal a different top for the most selling cell phones.

On a similar note, CNET has published a review on the best 5 cell phones. Why haven't I owned any of them yet?

Testing Mobile Applications

Mobile developers will tell you that probably the hardest part of the entire mobile application development process is testing. You would need access to hundreds of mobile devices, test on each and every one, and make sure that the features you implemented in your application work properly on each and every test device. Sure we have emulator, but all they provide is an emulated environment of the phone. Sure you should start with an emulator when testing the application, but eventually, to see how it works on a real device, you need to push further. The question that unfolds is what can you do if your company does not have access to hundreds and hundreds of devices. Here are a few possibilities:

Motorola offers a Handset Loaner Program through which you can test your mobile application on Motorola handsets. The kit that you will receive will consist of the Handset, Charger, Battery, and a USB Cable. The cost of the kit for a 30 day loan varies between $35 and $70. There are not a lot of devices available as far as I can tell. If you loose or damage the device, the fee is $1000 for most of the devices. A lot isn't it? Make sure you do not damage or loose the device.

Nokia offers the Remote Device Access program free of charge for all Nokia Forum members. It is a service that allows you to remotely test your mobile application on Symbian OS-based Nokia devices. "The main features of the service are remote controlling a device, installing and running applications, transferring files, and analyzing log files in real-time."

Sony Ericsson Virtual Lab service allows for remote testing of your mobile applications on selected 2007 Sony Ericsson mobile phones that are connected to a network 24/7. The cost varies between $18 to $20 an hour. The platforms supported are Java ME and UIQ 3.

Probably the most well known service is DeviceAnywhere, and this is because of the high number of devices/manufacturers/operators supported. It offers remote access to almost one thousand mobile devices from more than 25 manufacturers that run on more than 20 networks from places like Japan, UK, US, France, etc. Individual device packages are $100 a month each (and you can choose from over 20 packages); the hourly rate various between $13 and $16 and the hours can be used across all device packages. The unused hours do not roll over to the next month, since unused hours expire at the end of each month. You do get 3 hours of free trial to try the service.

DotMobi Virtual Developer Lab, powered by DeviceAnywhere, offers you 5 free hours to test your mobile application.

PACA Mobile Center offers access to more than 850 handsets. As far as I understood, you need to go to one of their centers (located in France) to get access to the pool of devices. The daily access cost is 500 euros, with the possibility of a 10 day plan starting from 3000 euros, and a yearly plan of 12000 euros. For start up companies, the fees are usually half off the regular price mentioned.

Mob4Fire implements the concept of crowed sourced mobile application testing. How it works is easy and straightforward: "The developer chooses a mix of handsets, network and OS's to test the software on, gets it tested by the crowed, gets feedback and pays the tester." There is an online rating system where testers are rated based on the quality and timeliness of the response. Developers are also tested based on how clearly they outlined the job testers need to do.

I will keep adding to this blog if I find new information. If you want to participate, you are very welcome, so please leave comments.