Nokia or Blackberry a possiblity?
- Thread starter Ivan006
- Start date
Ivan006 said:
BlackBerry Torch probably not - if RIM eventually ports the native-code-friendly OS from their new tablet back to their phones, that might open up the possibility for Pleco on BlackBerry, but right now we're looking at the same awkward Java-only BlackBerry development environment we've been seeing for years.
As for the N8, Symbian's been mostly irrelevant for years and I don't see the N8 changing that - I think it's more of a transitional device until things are up and running with MeeGo, Nokia's clearly not that interested in Symbian at this point. We might consider porting to MeeGo in a few years, though, depending on how the market share numbers shape up (low-level it's got a lot in common with Android and it might be a fairly easy port), so you could finally see Pleco running on a Nokia phone via that.
You can run the Palm OS version of Pleco on a few Nokia phones using StyleTap, but I don't think it's been updated to work on the N8 yet.
Hoping this information might cause you to reconsider - as I understand the latest stand from Nokia, developing via Qt is now cross-platform - new Symbian applications can now be utilized in MeeGo. Apparently very easy and nothing really to gain by waiting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLptXE6DSM&feature=player_embedded
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/k...-mobile-applications-with-qt-quick-components
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLptXE6DSM&feature=player_embedded
http://blogs.forum.nokia.com/blog/k...-mobile-applications-with-qt-quick-components
mnf said:
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
However, developing a mobile app is a lot more than just an API - there's extensive hardware-specific testing / optimization involved, and every implementation of a given platform inevitably has bugs; even the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 each have specific problems that can only be found by individually testing software on them. With two platforms like Symbian and MeeGo that have a very different core there are likely to be considerably more differences, and there really is very little evidence that Nokia or anyone else is still committed to Symbian at this point.
So I still think we're better off waiting to see how MeeGo develops / how it does in the market and consider a MeeGo-specific app, rather than developing something that kind of works on both but doesn't work perfectly on either.
mikelove said:
I don't know how you can say that there is very little evidence that people are not committed to Symbian. I'm not sure how the sales of the N8 are doing, but the 1st time I saw this phone was on a Chinese website. It's also a world phone, so don't you think anyone who buys this smartphone, (especially those who are also learning Chinese) would certainly use your program (Pleco). Mnf is right, there is no point waiting. In the time that is spent waiting, you could be making a new pleco version for Symbian, right (or at least try it out)?
Ivan006 said:
It's not that customers aren't committed to it, it's that Nokia isn't - Nokia needs to pick a smartphone strategy, proclaim it from the mountaintops, and actually stick with it. It seems unlikely they'll stick with Symbian for much longer with MeeGo waiting in the wings - the whole reason for adding Qt support to Symbian was to ease that transition. Some smartphone apps could probably just be developed for Qt and not have to be rewritten for Symbian/MeeGo at all, but Pleco isn't one of them.
I could also see Android's market share getting so overwhelming over the next year that they drop MeeGo and start using that - heck, they could probably even build a hybrid OS that ran Android and MeeGo apps, the underlying OS is similar enough - so that's a big reason not to leap into supporting MeeGo.
Hi Mike, I respect your outlook and position and don't know all that is involved, but I'll continue to try and keep you in the Nokia/Symbian loop. I have philosophical issues with the iOS phenomenon too but that's not relevant here...
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-...t-displace-symbian-as-enterprise-os-40091029/
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-...t-displace-symbian-as-enterprise-os-40091029/
mnf said:
Thanks, certainly appreciate you letting me know about new developments - it's tough to keep track of what's going on with every smartphone platform these days. Do your philosophical issues extend to Android too, or is that more a matter of aesthetic preferences?
mnf said:
I'm not really inclined to believe anything they say on the subject at this point - enterprises are adopting iOS and Android in huge numbers and abandoning the ostensibly enterprise-oriented BlackBerry, so the notion that there's some magical divide between "enterprise" and "consumer" mobile operating systems is getting more outdated every day - everybody benefits from security and reliability, but everybody also benefits from beautiful UIs and a healthy third-party software ecosystem, and there's not really any reason why the two sets of features have to be mutually exclusive.
I have nothing against Android, in principle. iOS disturbs me as a dictatorial walled garden. This would be a marginal issue if there weren't a steamroller effect spreading like a flash fire, consuming esoteric flora and fauna in its path.
I'm an architect and it's sort of like how the shopping mall phenomenon, on the alter of convenience, where the featured chain stores are the same wherever you go, have almost wiped out the the individual, quality shops and boutiques with their local patina and charm.
Snowballing market forces, with iOS leading the charge, are stamping out OS variety and choice. I, too, don't believe in the Enterprise/Consumer dichotomy, but I do think that Symbian/MeeGo, though currently less convenient than iOS or Android, has a large user base and is unique in its green characteristics and customization capabilities, and as such, deserves to live, not least, as a foil to keep iOS and Android on their toes.
Also, I like your application and use Symbian. :wink:
mnf said:
I'd say it's more like a rainforest - brighter and more colorful but also nutrient-poor at the lower levels and unbelievably competitive; you get diversity but it's a harsh, violent place and significant sections occasionally fall victim to bulldozers...
mnf said:
Fair enough - I'd much rather have MeeGo as the default open Linux-based mobile OS than Android, I've said how much I hate Java in these forums at least a few hundred times now... but business-wise it's very difficult to make a case for either Nokia platform yet.
The "rainforest" metaphor juxtaposed with the "flash fire" one is interesting, perhaps more nuanced.
Fair enough. Again, I don't know what's involved and don't judge but if the bulk of application developers stand back and wait for critical mass, that in itself is the death knoll for Symbian/MeeGo.
Fair enough. Again, I don't know what's involved and don't judge but if the bulk of application developers stand back and wait for critical mass, that in itself is the death knoll for Symbian/MeeGo.