My name is Alessandro La Rosa, and I'm a freelance software architect for Mobile and Web platforms. I'm living in Rome, Italy.
Feel free to contact me at: info@jappit.com
Christmas has passed, hope you had a great time! Now it’s time to prepare for New Year’s eve 
Meanwhile, here’s the first little upgrade to GCal, the J2ME Google Calendar client: if you use Google Apps with your mapped domain, now you can use your hosted accounts with GCal as well!
Download GCal v0.1.1 here.
Edit: this version also fixes a bug with some Nokia S60 3rd edition FP2 devices, who previously got stuck at splash screen.
NEW: check out the new Gcal 0.3 version!
Christmas is rapidly approaching, and it’s time for presents!
For those who have always wanted a Google Calendar client for their Java ME enabled cellphones, it is finally here!
J2ME Google Calendar
It’s still an early alpha, but everyone is welcome to try it and give feedbacks.
Features of this first release include:
And here are some screenshots:
Daily events
Calendars filter
Event creation
Event location map
Date selection
Event search
Settings screen
For all requests, feedbacks and bugs please leave a comment to this post
Compatibility issues:
Not working with me, I tried a gmail account and a google apps account, both gave an username/password error.
I’m using N95 over WIFI
Dear pit,
great work you do..i have problem trying it on my E71 as it always give me wrong username/password
and i am sure they are right..
notice: i login with same information of my gmail account.
thanks
Thanks its work pit….nice work..
usability is excellent.
Hi all,
thanks for your precious feedback!
@Salim: you should specify the account name without the ‘@gmail.com’ part (I know it’s not clear right now :)). Have you tried this way? If problem persists, please let me know.
@Wael: was the problem related to the ‘@gmail.com’ part in the account name? Anyway, glad to know it works now Let me know if you have some other problems!
Pit
Yes, without the @gmail.com it works. As a web developer, I have previously worked with google’s authentication API, it’s very easy to implement both google and google apps accounts authentication, hope you will support this in future version.
Anyway, very useful app, keep up the good work
the program did not start on N79. it stop at the first screen (http://www.jappit.com/images/blog/uploads/GCal_splash2.gif), hope this can help development
It does’nt work on my n96.
Hi all!
@carlo: does it stop since first execution, or after some usages? Also: does the loading bar block after a while, or does it continue to run indefinitely?
@ernesto61: can you please provide more details about the problems you have on your N96?
Thanks again for all your precious feedbacks!
Pit
About the bug with devices stuck at splash screen: version 0.1.1 should have solved it
Please let me know if the problem persists on some devices!
Hello,
just installed it on a N 82 and it works great.
Are you planning to implement a month and week view?
Greetings from Germany
Tom
niente si impalla fin dalla prima esecuzione nel senso che la barra non va avanti, non si carica, l’installazione è perfetta ma il programma non si esegue.
it does not work since the first execution; the bar does not go forwar.
The software does not charge itself;
the installation is perfect but the program does not run.
Works perfectly on the Nokia E90 Communicator’s inner screen and outer screen. Brilliant in every way. Shows me my calendar and others’ calendars. i really like the month view calendar when you hit the “go to” menu – any chance of a shortcut to the “go to” function?
Regardless – this is great software.
Hi all!
@Thomas: monthly and weekly views are on the wish list, I’ll keep you informed about them!
@ernesto: have you tried latest v0.1.1 version? It should solve the problem with splash-screen. You can download it here:
http://www.jappit.com/blog/2008/12/27/hosted-accounts-support-added-to-gcal-j2me-client/
@Dan Din: thanks for your appreciation! Key shortcuts are on the todo list, they’ll be surely included in one of next releases 
Pit
Works great on the Sony Ericsson W880i. I agree, weekly and monthly views would be most welcome. Keep up the good work.
Now if this had vibration or audible alerts for upcoming events… that would make it very worthwhile for me 
Great and useful app tho
With a Nokia 6555 it loads and lets me log in. Then, when it is loading my calendars, it shows each one saying it can’t access them. Finally after all show that, it gets a NullPointer java/lang/NullPointer Exception and dies. I’m really looking forward to this!!!
Hi all!
@Phil: both the views are definitely on the todo list. Probably not in the next release, but soon..
@Ethan: good idea, they’ll be surely useful! I’ll get on this asap.
@Michael: thanks for the feedback! I’m on this right now
Happy New Year to everyone!
Pit
Hi,
First, thanks for a great free app (works perfectly on a European edition Nokia E71, loading 5 calendars in a heartbeat over wifi at home).
What I’m still looking for, and can’t find anywhere on the internet, is an app that syncs with gcal but also works offline, that is, it saves the downloaded info somewhere on the phone. Not sure if it’s possible or not for this app, but it would be a great next step. Two way sync (i.e., edit / create entries on the phone and upload to gcal) would also be nice.
I still haven’t made up my mind how best to sync a work calendar and several google calendars between my work PC, home laptop and E71.
Trying it on the Inq1. Consistently getting the error ‘There was an error while loading calendars data’ after entering username and password and trying to log in. Hitting retry yields the same error. Any ideas?
This app looks awesome, it’d be great to have it, especially as the Inq1 built in calendar is awful.
Hi all!
@Peter: yes, event synchronization would be a great feature. I’m not working on it right now, but will surely do when the current release is a bit more stable.
@Jack: a new version with a lot of bug-fixes (and new cool features :)) will be released in the next few days, you can give it a try to check if your issue is properly fixed.
Pit
I noticed GCal has static GMaps support. I’m pretty amazed by this … because I’m working on a project and would like to add GMap access to my J2ME midlet, but have not been able to find sufficient resources online to do so.
Is there somewhere I should be looking to learn the official API for Google Maps Mobile? Any help here would be appreciated.
Thanks!
haven’t been able to get GCal to work properly on my Helio Ocean (Pantech PN-810). The v0.2 version shows “Error while connecting to Google” instead of the previous invalid Username / Password message. Looks like a great application, hope to get it working soon, thanks:)
Hi all!
@KH: you could try taking a look at Google Static Maps API. Feel free to ask if you have any doubts
@Chris: login error messages have been fixed in version 0.2, so yours is most probably a connection/network issue. Unfortunately I have not a Helio Ocean device to perform some tests, but I’m planning to release a debug Gcal version to help to fix this kind of issues.
Pit
Hi,
Been waiting for this for a long time
I have a samsung L700 and can login but i allways recieve a ‘There was an error while loading Calender data’
Hope this will be fixed.
Thanks Pit, sounds great, I would be glad to do some tests with a debug version when you have one, looks like a great app:)
Keep up the good work! I hope this is the right place for feedback (if not, please let me know what is).
I’ve been waiting for a decent gCal application for my Nokia E90 (S60 3rd edition), and this looks like it’s it. I love the fact that you automatically pick up my colour choices for each of my calendars, so they have the same colours as on my PC.
I have a lot of separate Calendars in gCal (between 20 and 30). Some are created by me and shared with others; Some are created by others and shared with me; Still others are subscriptions to (e.g.) iCal calendars with Sports fixtures (e.g. Formula 1 race info).
First a bug: In Filter Calendars, I can select the first 19 to include or exclude, but after that moving theD-pad down simple scrolls the list without selecting a tick box. (This means that gCal is spending a LOT of time trying to receive info from calendars, e.g. the 2006, 2007 and 2008 F1 seasons) Where I KNOW it’s not going to find any current data, but I can’t exclude them. So far, it hasn’t actually retrieved any data for today, and it’s been trying for several minutes.)
Second, a feature request: Please could gCal only display a Calendar name/heading *IF* it finds entries for that day. Most of my calendars are quite sparse, so my screen gets filled up with headers with no data, making it difficult to see entries that do exist. Sometimes I have to scroll down to page 2 of my list to see the only entry for today.
A second bug: With this version, I always get asked twice for my Access Point when connecting. I don’t THINK that was the case with 01.1
Thanks
Julie
Hi all!
@Magnus Dunker: unfortunately I have not a Samsung L700 to reproduce your issue. Anyway, I’m planning a debug version that will help to solve all these issues. So, stay tuned!
@Chris: I’m just working on it
@Julie: yes, this is the right place for feedbacks. First, thanks for your appreciation!
About the checkbox issue: I have to do some more tests to reproduce it, but It should be most likely fixed in very next Gcal release.
About the hidden empty calendars: yes, this can be surely useful for users with many calendars, so expect this also to be done really soon
About the Access Point popup: previous versions should have the same behavior, and this is due to the different protocols used by the app itself (http/https), so it seems it cannot be avoided 
Thanks again for all your great feedbacks!
Pit
I get he following error on Sony Ericsson W910i when I try to login.
“There was an error while loading calendars data”. Any help to fix this?
Thanks.
Hi Krishna,
thanks for your feedback. The calendar loading issue has been reported from other users too, and should be fixed from next Gcal version, that will be available in next days.
Pit
Thanks pit for your prompt reply. Will keep checking here for an updated version.
Hello and congratulations on a greatly needed application. I love having all my google calendars loaded on my mobile(nokia e71)but my only issue is that, the Gcal is constantly asking you for permsission to access the internet, it would be cool if it only asked you once. There is an app called twibble mobile(j2me)that handles the pop-ups really well it only asks you once and then it populates your twitter feeds. If Gcal had a similar setup it would be great.
Request:
1. Automatic updates ie. every 1 hour, 2 hour, 4 hour
It would be awesome
Thanks in advance,
Hi Jorge,
thanks for your appreciation!
To have the connection popup shown only once you have to manually modify permission settings of Gcal. You can do it this way:
1) go (from E71 main menu) into “Applications” -> “Application Manager” -> “Installed apps.”
2) select Gcal and, from the Options menu, select “Settings”
3) in “Network access” select “Ask first time”
Unfortunately, this process cannot be automatized, and users need to do it manually.
If you have any other doubts please tell me
Thanks,
Pit
Ho provato a scaricare sul mio mtorola A1000 il programmma, ma una volta installato non si avvia, probabilmente il problema è sempre quello dell’HTTp redirect!!! Spero che il bug venga risolto al più presto.
Ciao Ardelsal,
grazie per il feedback. Farò test approfonditi sull’A1000 al più presto, di modo da poterti dare info più dettagliate
Pit
Hi there!
I’m having the wrong username issue since upgrading to 0.3.2 on a w880i (even without thé @gmai.coml part)
… ?
Thanx for helping !
I tried putting this on an Samsung M800 (instinct) but when I try to log on, there is an error and it exits the app. Looks like a great app though
Hello, Downloaded v0.3.3 and worked fine on my Samsung Instinct…then upgraded to v0.3.4 and I receive an exception 400 error. Tried to reininstall v0.3.3 and now i get a wrong username/password error. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi!
You have made a great job! This application is extremely handy! I especially like the possibility to save meetings locally on my phone.
I have discovered one small bug. I live in the Netherlands and my phone is set the timezone of Amsterdam (GMT+01). The same is set in the Google Calendar. When I create a new event using the GCal today (March 27th) everything goes OK. Unfortunatelly when I create an event next week (for example April 1st) then the created events are shifted one hour! Event at 8:00 becomes 9:00! This both in Google Calendar and the event saved locally on the phone. Must have something to do with daylight saving time which is starting this weekend?
Greerings, Irek.
Great job, guys! One problem I’ve got on my Nokia 6500 is that all events show as “All Day” events even when they’re not. Also, similar issue to Irek re timezone out of sync. I’m in Adelaide, AU (+9.30) and all my events appear on Google Calendar as set to GMT rather than local time.
Cheers aus00
Here’s a free implementation of an animated GIF encoder for Java ME. This class is actually a porting of the original Java version, available here.
Download J2ME AnimatedGifEncoder here.
Usage is quite straightforward, and it requires these steps:
ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream(); AnimatedGifEncoder encoder = new AnimatedGifEncoder(); encoder.start(bos); encoder.addFrame(image1); encoder.addFrame(image2); encoder.finish(); return bos.toByteArray(); |
As for the original version, code is free for any kind of usages, but you must refer to the Unisys LZW patent for restrictions on use of the associated LZWEncoder class.
Thanks! Very useful!
Have just given it a go and it works like a charm.
The only thing is I seem to be able to get much smaller images when I save from photoshop.
Have you any idea if the LZW compression is working properly? The file size I am getting now is just a tad bit smaller in bytes than I have total pixels. On the other hand photoshop, or php for that matter reduces this to 1/5.
Thanks again!
Hey hi, How to use this J2ME Animated GIF encoder in J2ME Application, please tel me.
Thanks
Chris, 
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ernesto61 7:12 pm on December 29, 2008 Permalink
Yes, now it works but every time it is downloading a event, ask the permission. If there are 10 events …ten permits…
ogni volta chiede l’autorizzazione di protezione se scaricare o no l’evento, è molto fastidioso; c’è un modo per levarlo?
pit 10:32 am on December 30, 2008 Permalink
Hi ernesto,
to modify permission settings you should follow these steps:
This way, you will have only 1 permission popup per usage session.
Hope this helps!
Pit
Kearon 5:49 am on January 8, 2009 Permalink
First up – Tops job on a handy little app!
Now here’s a small bug report (maybe)…
Let’s say I have an appointment on 8:30am Friday. It show correctly on Google calendar, but in Gcal (on my N95) it shows and an all-day event on the day before! This s consist=ant with other ‘morning’ appointments – they show as ‘all-day’ events the day before….but drilling down into each event reveals they actually have the correct time and day data (that is, whats showing in google calendar – it’a all OK)…so it’s something to do with how Gcal is reading and displaying the event. Any ideas? I have all my location settings on Google calendar correct for Sydney, Aust (GMT+10).
pit 10:36 am on January 20, 2009 Permalink
Hi Kearon,
have you checked latest version (0.2)? It should have solved many problems with timezone. Let me know if it worked for you
Pit
ManojGaur 2:22 am on February 4, 2009 Permalink
Hello !
I’ve Sony Ericsson K810i model but Gcal latest version is not working bcoz it accepts only 5digits password for gmail account;while I’ve 6digits password gmail account.
Pl help.
Thanks.
pit 10:09 am on February 4, 2009 Permalink
Hi ManojGaur,
this sounds really strange, since password limit is currently set to 255 characters; I use a longer password too, and it works on tested devices. :-\
I’ll check if there are some device-related issues or other possible causes, and let you know asap
Thanks,
Pit
Chris 3:46 pm on March 3, 2009 Permalink
Have you had any progress with a diagnostic version? I would love to get this app working on my Helio Ocean (still having the same connection problem), thanks:)