Nokia buys out remaining Symbian shares

It's all over the mobile news feeds - Nokia have announced they will be buying the shares in Symbian that they don't already own, becoming their sole owner. Perhaps even bigger news is that they will turn over the IP to the Symbian Foundation to further develop the platform in an open source environment. This is massive news from a platform point of view, and obviously a move to keep Nokia/Symbian at the front of the oncoming surge from other "open source" mobile platforms.

In terms of impact to developers (and Flash developers in particular), Mark Doherty had this to say:

Building applications for this new platform will undoubtedly be much simpler, you can fully expect to develop a single code base and have that run on handsets globally from at least four manufacturers. SDK, documentation, sample code, forums and tech support will be free.

Interesting times ahead ...

New FL 3.0 Devices Released

Nokia have just released the new E66 and E71 device specifications, which include Flash Lite 3 (UPDATED: S60 3rd Edition FP1, so most likely standalone player, screensaver and browser).

The E71 in particular is looking pretty slick, coming in at only 10mm thick.

Hola from S60 Summit

Well that's not completely true .. the conference starts properly tomorrow but I'm here in Barcelona getting ready. I love travelling to new places and getting my expectations of what it will be like completely thrown out the window! Very different to what I imagined, but it's a great city. Did the quick tour of the city yesterday (photos here) and was blown away by the Gaudi buildings - he was a genuis to be sure to have been able to design such weird and wonderful architecture.

Anyway, I'll have more to report on work stuff tomorrow. This afternoon I'm doing a video interview with Nokia (along with the other developers here) about the applications and products we make, and then the fun begins with a Forum Nokia dinner tonight.

Nokia Web Kit Rewards

Right now if you sign up on the Forum Nokia APAC site, you can also enter the Forum Nokia Developer Program Promotion!

• 1st Prize - N95 8GB
• 2nd Prize - Nokia 6110
• 3rd Prize - Nokia 5610

Click here to find out more information.

See Nokia Web Run-Time at webDU 2008

As part of the always-awesome webDU conference this year, I'm very pleased to see Nokia not just sponsoring the event (which is great on its own), but also presenting on their WRT (Web Run-Time) technology. WRT can of course contain Flash Lite content, becasue essentially is a browser-based experience, and Flash Lite has long been able to be viewed through the S60 browser. But WRT is ultimately based on HTML, Javascript and CSS to create installable widgets for the S60 platform.

Gary Chan from Nokia will be presenting "Beyond Browsing - Web 2.0 goes Mobile" and showing web developers the opportunities to extend their reach into mobile widgets on the WRT platform by using their existing skills.

And as part of my session ("The Not-so Ancient Art of Mobile Flash Video") I might even get time to show the Flash Lite 3.0 video app we build incorporate into a WRT widget.

New Flash Lite 3,0 Devices

The new Nokia 6600 slide , 6600 fold, and the 3600 slide Flash Lite 3.0 devices are up on Forum Nokia devices page. For those of you who haven't been there before, it's a great part of the FN site for checking on device specifications. I actually subscribe to the RSS feed so that new devices come into Google Reader when they hit the site (my tip of the week ;)

These are all a lot sexier than the original Nokia 6600 (one of the first colour screen phones I owned!).

In the wake of recent annoucements regarding an approach to fixing certain issues with Flash Lite 3.0 (see last post), it seems that the sooner it happens then better, with new devices rolling out now with more frequency.

Talk to the Flash Lite Guru on Forum Nokia

I have officially been elevated to "guru" status by Forum Nokia for their upcoming "Talk to the Guru" online discussion on Flash Lite.

Following on from my involvement with the Flash Lite Code Camps this month, I'll be on the Forum Nokia Flash Lite discussion forum on April 22nd at 3pm (Brisbane/+10 GMT) to talk all things Flash Lite, and probably with a particular focus on Nokia devices.

No hecklers thanks - you know who you are!

Moket featured on Forum Nokia and Games out on Nokia Download! Platform

All the attention that Nokia has been giving to Flash Lite lately has been great and has put the spotlight on many developers around the world. The plan was for WRT and Flash Lite to be a major focus for Nokia platforms in the first half of 2008, and they have certainly been following through those plans very well.

Ugur and the Kuneri guys have been written up already, and now it's Moket's turn in the Media and Games section with a great article on how our Flash Lite products have been supported by Nokia devices.

In the article, I mention an exciting new channel for Moket content that is launching in April - Moket games (and any that we can get through from the Moket Content Network) will be available through the "Try For Free" catalogue on the Nokia Download! client for S60 devices. We will be visible in APAC (including India) and Europe in the coming weeks, launching with 5 titles from our catalogue - Dizzy Zub Zub, Cipher, Polar Cap Blues, Jon Burgerman's Sausage Smackdown, and GRORBS.

Once they are live we'll make another announcement, but we're stoked that we have been able to secure this sales channel for Flash Lite games.

Free Nokia phone on cover of teen magazine

Via AllAboutSymbian: Fancy an old (pink) Nokia 6630 for free? Just buy a copy of GirlTalk magazine and you get one stuck to the front cover! You even get some stick-on jewels to give it some bling! Now when Flash Lite enabled handsets start making it to this kind of saturation I'll be happy :)

Moket and Forum Nokia Deliver Flash Lite Code Camp

I'm very happy to be involved in this upcoming Flash Lite Code Camp with Forum Nokia - April 3rd 2008, Sydney.

Moket will be part of the one-day session aimed at educating mobile developers on Flash Lite development and how it integrates with Nokia's own roadmap for the platform. This roadmap includes Flash Lite and Nokia's own Web Run Time (WRT) platform for wrapping and distributing Flash Lite content as "widgets" for Series 60 handsets.

Adobe will also be present, delivering important business information regarding their Mobile & Devices platform and future plans.

The current agenda for the day is as follows:

• 9:30am : Registration
• 10:00am-10:30am : Forum Nokia, Flash Lite opportunity - Gary Chan
• 10:30am - 11:00am : Adobe's Mobile & Device Platform - Mark Blair
• 11:00am - 11:20am : Coffee Break
  
• 12:00am -12:30pm: Flash Lite in the Market - Dale Rankine, Moket
• 12:30pm -1:30pm : Lunch
• 1:00pm -3:30pm : Hands-on session with Flash Lite 3 - Dale Rankine
• 3:30pm -4:00pm: Wrap up + networking

For the afternoon hands-on session, I'll be working through developing a Flash Lite 3 video application, and then wrapping it with WRT for distribution.

If you're in the Sydney area or can get there, this is a fantastic opportunity to come and hear and learn from the experts, and to get hands-on experience with Flash Lite.

Register for the event here.

More FLash Lite enabled devices announced - First FL 3 phone?

I may have just beaten Alessandro to posting about some new Flash Lite enabled devices! Amazing!! Ahh, he's off enjoying MWC in Barcelona, so I don't feel too bad :) Checkout the nice new Nokia 3120 Classic with FL 2.1 (S40 5th Ed. FP1), 6210 Navigator (S60 3rd Ed. FP 2) listed as having 2.1 also, and the 6220 Classic (S60 3rd Ed. FP 2) - listed as having FL3.0!

Now a couple of things. Not sure that even though the 6210 and 6220 are both S60 3rd Ed. FP2 why one has FL2.1 and the other has FL3.0. Anyone?

Also, the picture for the 6220 Classic isn't the right phone! There is an old 6220 (S40 Dev Platfom 1) from 2003, so it seems the product numbering is on the way round the merry-go-round again :)

Anyway, bring them on!

New Flash Lite WRT Competiton

A new comp has just been started for members of the Yahoo Flash Lite Group by Riku at Nokia.

Simply develop a new Nokia WRT (S60 Web Runtime) widget that contains Flash Lite content, and post it to Nokia MOSH, and you can win for yourself a new N95 8GB handset. There's also an extra handset for the widget that grabs the judges' attention the most (how they determine that i have no idea - personal preference)

All you have to do is to use the instructions at the Forum Nokia Wiki.

You can take something you've made earlier or create some cool Flash Lite content and package it into a WRT widget, post it on MOSH and tag it as 'widget' before the end of this year and you're in!

The only requirements are that you have to have the legal rights to publish the Flash Lite content, and you must be a member of the Yahoo Flash Lite Group.

If you have any questions about te WRT, please send them to widget.support@nokia.com or comment on the Wiki page.

Nokia pushes Creative Class Community and Flash Lite

Not sure if this is old blog-news, but Nokia have been pushing out some email marketing over the past couple of days and making mention of their "Creative Class" for Flash Lite developers working on the Nokia platforms.

Highlights a pretty decent resource for Flash Lite informaiton on the Forum Nokia site anyway.

Is MOSH a bit dodge?

Recently Nokia launched the beta site for its new MOSH peer-to-peer mobile content sharing portal. I accepted the beta invite and logged in to have a look around. I actually found some other Flash Liters already in there, along with quite a large number of average punters. The first thing that struck me though was the potential for mobile content copyright infringement and licensing issues. Then Bryan mentioned it on his blog, and now MocoNews also runs with the same idea.

What do you think?

Alessandro Nokia Champion of the Month

One of the brightest stars in the global Flash Lite community, Alessadro Pace, is currently featured on the Forum Nokia website as "Champion of the Month"! Nice pic mate ... "don't mess with me, I know Flash Lite."

Great mobile marketing site

I don't remember this site making it's way through the Flash Lite blogosphere, but if it has, my apologies for the repeat ... Here's a fantastic website dedicated to marketing something we all know and love, but in a way that no one would expect. Expertly developed in Flash, it's a perfect blend of video, interactivity, information and... ummm .... fashion?

http://www.greatpockets.com/

Nokia N95 a sweet ride

This is far from a comprehensive review of the Nokia N95, but thought I had to say something about how great this phone seems to be! I received one today that we'll be using for a Flash Lite application we're developing, and it's a pretty darn sexy phone. The dual-direction sliding screen doesn't feel to weak as other slider phones have in the past, and the screen itself is great. Having the standard headphone jack - it's about freakin' time! I'll try and post some more feedback on the device as we get further into our project, but for any phone freak thinking about upgrading or getting into one of these, go for it.

My 5300 finally arrived

Finally, my Nokia 5300 arrived today ... sweet :) Since it's one of the first Flash Lite 2.0 phones out there I thought it was important to get one and try out some of our apps and screensavers on there. I don't actually think it runs as fast as my 6131 but it's still not too bad. The form and build of the handset itself is nice and it feels solid enough even with the slider out. Looking forward to showing it off over Christmas to all my gadget-addicted friends and relatives.