The first hardware device, Kindle First Generation , was released in the United States on November 19, 2007. Using this device, one could browse through the e-books and purchase from Amazon store and then read on the handheld device. This could be carried anywhere with several books in it at the same time, very convenient compared to carrying hard covered books.

Now, there is also Kindle for iPhone that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to read kindle content on those devices. The company has also released Kindle eBook software for the Windows PC’s and a beta version of a BlackBerry Kindle application.

Kindle for iPhone is a free application that lets you read more than 350,000 Kindle books on your iPhone or iPod touch—no Kindle required. It is available in more then 60 countries. Amazon’s Kindle application also allows you to read newspapers and magazines.

Thus now you don’t need to use an Amazon Kindle device to access and operate from the Amazon kindle store. You can use a PC or BlackBerry or iPhone platforms.

While the Amazon app for iPhone and iPod touch can be downloaded for free via the Apple App Store, the Amazon’s free BlackBerry app can also be downloaded, which runs on seven models from Research in Motion. It allows you to read books, browse the Amazon Kindle store, make purchases and access the library of books already purchased from the Kindle store. The application is easy to navigate, has adjustable settings for text and background color, and you can enable or disable the accelerometer. You can also synchronize bookmarks between the devices using Amazon’s Whispersync technology. This means that if you read till a certain page on one device, then bookmark it, you can continue reading it on other device.

Amazon has pitted the Kindle against other phone- and PDA-based e-book reader apps like Stanza from Lexcycle, eReader.com from Fictionwise and others. This is going to be a huge rage just like the Kindle device was among the e-book readers.

This operating system is designed for portable devices including notebooks and smartphones, in-vehicle infotainment, connected TVs, Tablets. It will support both Intel’s Atom processor & ARM chips. ARM architecture is used in advanced smartphones like Apple’s iPhone & smartbooks & has the advantage of low power consumption.

Applications that previously worked on Maemo or Moblin will work on the new MeeGo OS. The applications will then be marketed through Nokia’s Ovi Store, for all MeeGo and Symbian-based Nokia devices and through Intel’s AppUp Center for Intel-based MeeGo devices. Also, this OS is projected as Open source as opposed to other competitors.

The major difference between Android and MeeGo is that Google, while making Android’s source code public, had a tightly closed development cycle, dumping onto developer’s massive amount of code with every release.  Intel and Nokia are taking the more traditional route of Linux development by trying to get third party involvement from Linux and MeeGo users to help direct efforts. Thus the open source community will be of greater help to MeeGo!

There will be a stiff competition in the market as both these companies together go up against the upcoming netbook OS from Google, Chrome OS, as well as mobile, tablet, and OS’s from other vendors, including Microsoft.

As the Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin has to say that “MeeGo was built for powerful next generation devices from the ground up; instead of a cell phone system trying to work in netbook or a desktop system trying to work on phones, MeeGo has powerful computing in its DNA and will take advantage of new hardware form factors the industry hasn’t even dreamed up.”

Thus the merger of Maemo & Moblin will create one open source uber-platform for the next generation allowing same applications to be used on different devices from different producers. MeeGo will arrive in the second quarter of 2010 with products becoming available starting in the third quarter.

Some highlights of the event:

Windows Series 7 Release

Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer unveiled the “Windows Phone 7 series”, as the next generation of windows phone. It brings the Xbox LIVE games and zune music & video together on a mobile phone. App Tech joined Microsoft development program to develop applications for 7 series.

Best Mobile Application Award

Webex Meeting Center received the “Best Mobile Application” award. This application from CISCO for the iPhone allows you to connect to important meetings anytime, anywhere from the iPhone. Users can join the audio, chat, view shared content & transfer meeting from the iPhone to computer.

Flash 10 coming to most SmartPhones in 2010

A full-fledged version of the Adobe Flash player is coming soon on a whole range of smartphones. Apple’s iPhone won’t support this due to technical difficulties. Flash Player 10 will be available on smartphones running Windows Mobile, Google’s Android, Nokia S60/Symbian, and the new Palm operating systems. It is the full version of Flash that runs on PCs. Devices with Flash Player 10 are expected to enter the market in Q1 of 2010.

Some handsets that gathered attention at the event

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10- Google Android-powered a sleek handset with stunning display & loaded feature set.

Sony Erricson’s Vivaz- Good multimedia features, shiny finish with a curved backside to go along the curves of your hand.

Samsung B2100 and E2370- Rugged but attractive handsets that focus on durability.

Motorola’s MotoRoi – It is the first Android phone for Spain

A45 Eco – Made from recycled materials and is certified as carbon neutral.

Chinese manufacturer Huawei displayed 4 models: Android 2.1 powered Huawei U8800, Huawei U8300- youth phone focusing on messaging & social networking, T-Mobile Pulse Mini & entry level Huawei U8100.

Blackberry is a multitasking OS which makes use of its handsets specialized input devices, like the scroll wheel, the trackball and the recent trackpad which is a small pad for navigation. Most models now come with a QWERTY keyboard or are full touch-screen devices.

BlackBerry Enterprise Server

Businesses having multiple BlackBerry users use the ‘BlackBerry Enterprise Server’ software to manage each BlackBerry’s connection with the corporate network. The software operates within the corporate firewall & pushes information to the handheld units.

The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution allows mobile users access to wireless functionalities like:

• Email & Text Messaging, Internet Faxing
• Corporate data
• Instant messaging
• Phone, organizer
• Internet and intranet access

BlackBerry Internet Service

It was developed primarily for the average consumer rather than the business consumer & allows POP3 and IMAP email integration for the personal user. It allows up to 10 email accounts to be accessed, including Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Myspace, Facebook, & MSN.

BlackBerry Messenger

BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), is an instant messenger application. BlackBerry devices can communicate via Blackberry PIN system. Users can send pictures, emoticons & other files.

BlackBerry Connect

With BlackBerry Connect technology, users can connect to BlackBerry Internet Service and BlackBerry Enterprise Server & access BlackBerry features like email and calendar synchronization on their preferred devices from manufacturers such as Asus, HTC, Motorola, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson.

Blackberry is the world’s most popular smartphone among business users & has a 20.9% share of world’s smartphone sales ( Q2,2009).

Although the conference did not include the formal launch of the handset giant’s Ovi Store mobile application storefront, it did throw light on Nokia’s plans for the Ovi platform, its evolving relationship with the mobile developer community and its transformation from device manufacturer to solutions provider. Here are some highlights.

Nokia N 97 Beta SDK

This software development kit enables users to get the latest updates from an application, directly from their home screen, without even having to open the application. To support the growing interest and demand of the N 97, the company is making the Nokia N97 beta SDK available to anyone who registers on Nokia forum.

Mobile Games will play a central role in Ovi’s future

Ovi Store’s concept of “social location”–i.e., a more personalized and relevant user experience determined by friend recommendations and related tools–is critical to Nokia’s mobile gaming plans. This will be done keeping in mind the challenge faced by Ovi store to persuade non-gamers to rethink their attitude.

Nokia N 97 Widget Competition

A competition was hosted for developers for creating widgets for N 97. The winner would bag himself a brand new Nokia N 97 complete with his winning widget displayed on the home screen.

Nokia Growth Partners looking to invest      

A $250 million venture fund targeting growth-stage companies, Nokia Growth Partners, which works closely with Nokia, its sole limited partner, is on the lookout for acquisitions of services that tie in well with the Ovi platform, in particular local search and mobile social networking applications.

Adobe and Nokia Open Screen Project Fund

The 10 million USD initiative between Nokia and Adobe is designed to accelerate the creation of applications, content and services that “leverage the Adobe Flash Platform and run across mobile, desktop and consumer electronic devices”. The first five applications to receive funds through this initiative have also been announced.

J2ME is a smaller Version of Java 2 Standard Edition targeted towards consumer end embedded and small devices, which includes Cellular Phones, PDAs, Blackberry devices, Set-top boxes etc. There are around 600 companies connected to the J2ME initiative by joining the development efforts. Companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, RIM, etc have already based their platforms on J2ME specifications. 

As with Java, the development of J2ME is also passed through the Java Community Process (JCP), which is a collection of different companies to work on a platform.

Although J2ME is a trimmed down version of standard Java but it supports platform independence and security. The overall J2ME architecture can be viewed as, 

• A Java virtual machine targeted to the consumer end user device. For mobile devices, the virtual machine is called KVM i.e. K is for Kilo, to demonstrate the small memory footprint.
• A group of libraries and API to use the device’s capabilities and other functionalities. These libraries and API’s are grouped separately according to devices’ type. They are known as Profiles and Configurations.
• Several tools to accompany development, deployment and device configuration. 

The first two constitute the runtime which is installed on the end-user’s mobile device to execute J2ME based applications. The J2ME platform provides a rich environment for development applications on mobile devices. These APIs are available on all significant platforms such as Nokia Series 40,60,80,90, etc.

BREW application environment supports an event driven architecture similar to Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and other operating systems. There are two types of applications which can be created on BREW. One is Applet and the other is Extension.

An Applet is a GUI application having a user interface and reusable code enclosed in one or more classes.

An Extension is a reusable code module written by OEMs and third party software vendors to include additional functionalities in the handsets. Some examples for extensions are Java Virtual Machine, Game engines etc. Extensions can be loaded or unloaded on needed basis.

To get into some details, I can discuss the following concepts.

Each BREW application is represented by a single Module object and one or more applets and classes. Each Applet or Class must have a unique 32 bit identifier known as a Class ID. Dummy Class IDs can be used during development process. Unique Class IDs have to be inserted before the application is tested in the BREW handset.

Each BREW application is associated with a corresponding Module Information File (MIF). The Module Information File contains vital information about a BREW application like

• Supported classes
• Supported applets
• Applet details like title, icon etc
• Class IDs for each of application’s applets and classes
• Classes exported for use by other applications

This article should give a reasonable insight into BREW platform and the main concepts involved in it.

 Internal Porting

Developing the expertise to port across mobile devices internally is a risky approach.

 Firstly, strong relationships with the mobile operators and device manufacturers around the world are needed to ensure availability of the necessary information.

 Secondly, global testing facilities are needed to be able to load applications onto the actual devices and test them.

 Thirdly, software and tools are required just to manage the immense numbers of source code builds, and staff trained on all of the devices and tools is critical.

Automated tools can be the saviors. With automation, publishers can rely on the tool providers for device information and to provide the necessary workflow engines and data bases to effectively and efficiently perform the ports and to manage the growing number of builds.

 The Outsourcing Alternative

 As the pressure mounts to get more versions of games out faster, game publishers find themselves turning to outsourcing. While a company that specializes in mobile game porting is more likely to have success in sourcing devices and mobile operator guidelines, they remain challenged with global testing facilities. But probably the biggest challenge, not unlike any outsourcing project, is maintaining quality. Porting partners that employ automation tools can provide time to market and consistency in quality across a broader range of device builds.

Summary of a typical porting process

 A typical porting process can be divided into four phases;

1. Port Design Phase – You create a reference port, decide target number of handsets and prepare a technical analysis of our porting strategy.

2. Handsets Appraisals – You make sure we have the phone and there no limitations of the phone that prohibit porting of any specific application or specific features of that application. You will let the customer know any discovered limitations that will make exact port impossible (like no camera on the phone for a mobile application whose primary input comes from camera).

3. Port Development Phase: In this phase, you set customization strategy and goals and carry out application code revision and optimizations. GUI changes are also optimized and dealt in this phase.

4. Port Test and Verification: In this phase, you test each port on the live device for functionality test and carry out agreed tests. It is ensured that there no major anomalies from the reference port.

 This forms the Mobile application porting process and the alternatives which a developer has while carrying out the process.

In the past, many game studios and developers considered porting skills – whether it be from console to PC or across consoles – to be a key part of the value add they would bring as either a developer or publisher.  

Some critical components for Mobile Application Porting can be understood as following; 

J2ME devices – A large number of vendors such as Nokia, Motorola, etc make Java enabled handsets. Java was supposed to be the unifying force for mobile applications where you write applications once and then they will run everywhere. Unfortunately, variations in device implementations have made that promise of device portability become just a dream. In summary, unless you run a game or application on the phone, you won’t really know what to expect.

Brew Devices - Most, if not all, CDMA phones are based on Brew operating system from Qualcomm. Brew provided a closed sand box that not only includes operating system but its own development environment. It means that even if you made a game or application run on J2ME devices – you must now do the same development on Brew environment.

Smart Phones: This category includes Windows Mobile Devices, iPhone and ever popular BlackBerry phones. Each phone presents its own challenges when it comes to porting an application from one environment to another.

Whatever approach is taken, it is clear that game developers and publishers have to consider their porting strategies and the critical components of the porting system carefully.