Updates from June, 2011 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • pit 12:45 pm on June 29, 2011 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    Java ME and Ovi Maps: geocoding an address with the Location API 

    The Java ME Location API allows to easily integrate Ovi Maps in a Java ME application, with just few lines of code, together with a set of ready-to-use features as geocoding and reverse geocoding, routing, positioning and more.

    I’ve recently started to publish a set of articles on Nokia Developer Wiki that show the various features of the API in action. You can read the first one here: Geocoding an address with Java ME Location API.

    Check it out and let me know your comments.

     

  • pit 5:15 pm on May 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: community, mobilerevamp   

    Mobile development revamped, on MobileRevamp.org 

    A new community for all mobile developers, designers and everything-else gets officially launched today, thanks to the efforts of Giorgio Natili, Leonardo Risuleo, and Alessandro La Rosa (me ;)): http://www.mobilerevamp.org

    With different backgrounds, we all aim at providing useful information about the mobile environment, in all its aspects. From its manifesto:

    The aim of this community is to share as much as possible information related to the mobile development using all the social networks and the new capabilities of the NET to make easier find updated contents and to create a deep feeling of connection between developers.

    The journey is at the beginning, hope you’ll join in! :)

     

  • pit 5:10 pm on May 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: callingallinnovators, , , ovi app wizard,   

    Create your RSS app with Nokia Ovi app wizard, and win BIG! 

    Ovi app wizard allows you to turn any RSS feed into a mobile app in minutes, and publish it on the Ovi Store in a snap, literally reaching millions of consumers and devices worldwide.

    If this sounds not interesting enough, now there is one more reason to start using Ovi app wizard today: the Calling All Innovators contest has a new category, called “Best RSS Apps” that will award the most downloaded RSS applications created with OVI AppWizard.

    Once your new app is published on Ovi Store, submit it to Calling All Innovators and be eligible to win one of 10 special prizes for the Most Popular RSS Apps created using the Ovi app wizard.

    The Top 10 submissions for Most Popular RSS Apps will win a Nokia E72 and the new Nokia N8. The No. 1 submission will also win a cash prize of $5,000 (USD), and Spotlight placement in Ovi Store.

    Here are the contest deadlines:

    One month left, start today!

     

  • pit 10:13 am on February 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    MidMaps: new Google Maps API for J2ME 

    I finally found some time to finish and publish the first release of a tiny library that allow to easily integrate Google Maps in every J2ME application: MidMaps.

    You can read all the details, download the library together with sample code, and read the full JavaDocs here: MidMaps – J2ME Google Maps library.

     

    • yama 10:05 am on April 22, 2010 Permalink

      i am using your library.yours is a nice application but the only problem is that it shows path as a straight line instead of road to road view.please help me out with a solution that how should i show such road to road path in my application.Thanking you.

    • Nicholas Ndegwa 9:41 am on January 1, 2011 Permalink

      Hi I like your API it works perfectly on the SUN emulator but does not work on the Nokia emulator nor Nokia device am getting the following error.

      map error:1000, java.io.IOException: Error in

    • Umesh 7:45 am on March 15, 2011 Permalink

      can we add important location like hotels,historical monuments, etc to static maps.

    • azura 4:01 pm on April 13, 2011 Permalink

      thnks for share :) i will practice it dude

    • Dileep 10:47 am on October 31, 2011 Permalink

      i am used to your library. but It give the
      java.lang.InstantiationException: Class not a MIDlet
      at com.sun.midp.midlet.MIDletState.createMIDlet(+66)
      at com.sun.midp.midlet.Selector.run(+22)
      Unable to create MIDlet DisplayMap

      How to i solve this problem.. Help me..

  • pit 10:35 am on February 18, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Deploying API Bridge apps the easy way: the delayed deploy model 

    When developing a Flash Lite, Web Runtime or Java ME application based on API Bridge, one of the things you know you’ll have to deal with is the Symbian packaging and signing process.

    For single-person and small developer teams, the whole Symbian process could be a not suitable option. For this reason, I’ve looked for an alternative deployment approach that could bypass this process. The approach presented here is based on a delayed deploy model, meaning that the API Bridge engine is not deployed with your application, but in a successive moment: actually, it is deployed only when the application needs it.

    How this can be achieved? Basically, there are 2 possible options to implement this model, and they’re based on:

    • AppManager API from Platform Services
    • Local HTTP calls

    Using the AppManager API to check API Bridge

    If the target devices support Platform Services, the AppManager API can be used to retrieve the list of installed applications, and so to check if API Bridge is installed on the device itself.

    The code below shows how this can be achieved by using JavaScript in a WRT widget. The same approach can be easily ported to ActionScript, and so used in a Flash Lite application.

    var apiBridgeFound = false;
var apiBridgeCheckError = null;
 
var so = device.getServiceObject("Service.AppManager", "IAppManager");
 
var criteria = new Object();
criteria.Type = 'Application';
 
var result = so.IAppManager.GetList(criteria);
 
if(result.ErrorCode == 0)
{
	var iterator = result.ReturnValue;
 
	var application;
 
	while((application = iterator.getNext()) != undefined)
	{
		if(application.Uid == '0x20023710')
		{
			apiBridgeFound = true;
 
			break;
		}
	}
}
else
{
	apiBridgeCheckError = result.ErrorMessage;
}

    The code works by checking the UID of all the installed applications, comparing them with the API Bridge UID (0×20023710). This code snipped defined 2 variables, that can be used to check for API Bridge availability:

    • apiBridgeFound: if true, it means that the API Bridge engine is installed on the device. If false, the API Bridge engine is not installed.
    • apiBridgeCheckError: if not null, it means that there was an error while checking for API Bridge, due to the AppManager API. In this case, the application cannot actually know if the API Bridge engine is installed or not.

    So, once these 2 variable have been set, the application can perform the most appropriate operation, based on the AppManager call result. The code snippet below shows a possible implementation:

    if(apiBridgeCheckError != null)
{
	alert("There was an error! " + apiBridgeCheckError);
}
else if(!apiBridgeFound)
{
	if(confirm("You have to install API Bridge to continue, press OK to download it"))
	{
		widget.openURL('http://www.yourserver.com/APIBridge_v1_1.sis');
	}
}
else
{
	alert("API Bridge is already installed on the device!");
}

    And below you can see this code running on a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:

    Using local HTTP calls to check API Bridge

    Since the API Bridge engine works as a local HTTP server running on the mobile phone, the other possible approach is to make an HTTP request, and to check if any response from API Bridge comes.

    Note: this approach works by using the API Bridge default port (9080). There are no guarantees that this port number is fixed, and that it will not be changed in future API Bridge releases. For this reason, my advice would be to use this second approach only when Platform Services are not available.

    The code below shows how to make a request to the local API Bridge HTTP server, and how to check if it’s running or not: if it is running, the response status of the XMLHttpRequest object has to be different than zero.

    function pollApiBridgeServer(_callback)
{
	var request = new XMLHttpRequest();
 
	request.open("GET", "http://127.0.0.1:9080", true );
 
	request.send(null);
 
	request.onreadystatechange = function()
	{
		if( request.readyState == 4)
		{
			if(request.status != 0)
			{
				_callback(true);
			}
			else
			{
				_callback(false);
			}
		}
	}
}

    The approach described here can be used also when using API Bridge from other languages, as Flash Lite or Java ME. Anyway, when working with Flash Lite, in the scenario where API Bridge is not yet installed, you will incur in the typical (and horrible) error popups, that will inform you (and so the user) that the network call failed.

    How to use the code above? First, define a callback:

    function pollApiBridgeCallback(apiBridgeInstalled)
{
	if(apiBridgeInstalled)
	{
		alert("API Bridge is already installed on the device");
	}
	else
	{
		if(confirm("You have to install API Bridge to continue, press OK to download it"))
		{
			widget.openURL('http://www.yourserver.com/APIBridge_v1_1.sis');
		}
	}
}

    Then, just call the pollApiBridgeServer() method by passing a reference to this callback:

    pollApiBridgeServer(pollApiBridgeCallback);

    Pros and cons

    Using one of the two approaches discussed above as some important advantages over the standard API Bridge deployment mechanism:

    • You don’t have to build a SIS package
    • You don’t have to sign your application to distribute it
    • You will save money :)

    On the other side, these approaches have the main drawback on the user-experience side, since your users could be asked to download and install an additional component when they start to use your application. Anyway, this event will happen only once at most, so it could be considered reasonable in most scenarios.

     

    • Pat 4:16 am on March 1, 2010 Permalink

      Hi Alessandro , I’m trying to understand how to package/install a custom API bridge with a J2ME app. A specific post about that would be great. Thanks.

    • Diogo Moreira 2:13 pm on June 7, 2010 Permalink

      Hi Alessandro, Is there anyway to change themes phone using APIBridge by requisition for wrt ?
      I wait answer, Thanks !

    • pit 2:38 pm on June 7, 2010 Permalink

      Yes, by implementing a custom plugin you can also let a WRT widget change the device active theme. This Forum Nokia Wiki article could help for the C++ part:

      http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/TSS000456_-_Changing_the_active_theme

    • Pedro Cardoso 6:49 pm on June 25, 2010 Permalink

      Hi,

      I’m trying to use APIBridge on my app as you explain on this post, but whenever I try to do a function call (ie: retrieve the list of photos, or resize an image), the app crashes without any warning. Just quits and that’s it. The APIBridge detection is working as you outlined.

      Do you know any way I can troubleshoot, where/if any logs exist that explain the cause?

      Thanks a bunch.

  • pit 11:28 am on February 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , , ,   

    Platform Services and API Bridge: features, differences and advantages 

    If you’re developing applications for Nokia devices, and more specifically Web Runtime, Flash Lite or Java ME applications, you probably already had to deal with the platform limitations, and with the tools and libraries that allow to go beyond these limitations by adding more capabilities.

    Basically, when you want to extend the functionalities of a WRT widget or a Flash Lite application, you have two options:

    Both of them provide a set of tools and libraries that, added to your applications, allow them to access more functionalities than the ones that each technology naively supports.

    So, which approach is the best one? It’s not easy to give a unique answer to this question, so let’s go into details.

    Ease of use

    The Platform Services library is available from more time, and there’s a well established set of resources and code examples that will help you to quickly get your functionalities ready and running.The primary source of information is Forum Nokia Library, that has a detailed references of APIs and useful sample code. Then, also Forum Nokia Wiki provides an extensive set of examples that cover all the possible usage scenarios. Even if there is some little parts where this information could be improved, you shouldn’t get much in trouble when using Platform Services in your application.

    API Bridge is a fresher technology, released on November 2009, and so it’s harder to find complete documentation and usage examples. Anyway, Forum Nokia released a set of libraries for various platforms (Flash Lite, Web Runtime and Java ME) that will definitely help in starting to use API Bridge.

    Device support

    Platform Services are fully supported starting from S60 5th edition devices, but are also compatible with a subset of S60 3rd edition Feature Pack 2 devices: the full list of supported devices is available here: Web Runtime 1.1 compatible devices. This means that you can use them only on the touch screen Nokia devices.

    On the other side, API Bridge can work on all devices starting from S60 3rd edition Feature Pack 1 onwards, so meaning:

    Available features

    Current Platform Services (version 1.0) allow to access a wide set of features:

    • Application Management
    • Calendar
    • Contacts
    • Landmarks
    • Location
    • Logging
    • Media Management
    • Messaging
    • Sensors
    • System Information

    It is currently available also a beta release of Platform Services 2.0, that adds to this features’ set also the access to the device camera.

    API Bridge, instead, has a more limited set of functionalities, currently including:

    • Capture of photos, videos and audio streams
    • Files uploading
    • Files reading
    • Image resizing
    • Location
    • Logging
    • Media Management

    Supported technologies

    Platform Services are currently available for Flash Lite and Web Runtime applications.

    API Bridge libraries have been released for Flash Lite, Web Runtime and Java ME. Generally speaking, the API Bridge engine, working as a local HTTP server running on the device, is accessible from all technologies.

    Overall considerations

    The current implementation of Platform Services and API Bridge don’t allow to decide which approach is the best one, and there is no need to do it anyway. Right now, if you’re working in Flash Lite or Web Runtime, and as long as your set of target devices support them, you can benefit of both technologies, including the two libraries in your application.

    Talking about future perspectives of both approaches, we can see both of them evolving in more mature products.

    Platform Services 2.0 is already available as a beta release, so you can already start experimenting with the new APIs and features, including the access to the device camera. On the other side, API Bridge promises to allow everyone to create custom plugins, through the ECOM interface, as reported on Forum Nokia Blogs.

    Concluding, Platform Services, with the already mature and features-rich library, surely represents a simpler approach for developers who don’t want to deal with Symbian building and packaging, while API Bridge, with its plugin architecture becoming mature and open to developers, could definitely end up to be the best ally to allow widgets and Flash Lite apps access more and more features.

     

    • Trufanov 6:33 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink

      >On the other side, API Bridge promises to allow everyone to create custom plugins, through the ECOM interface, as reported on Forum Nokia Blogs.

      They just release APIBridge Plug-in API: http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/APIBridge_Plug-in_API

    • pit 6:52 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink

      Hi Trufanov,

      you’re right! Just noticed the same thing :)

    • rondo 10:24 am on August 9, 2010 Permalink

      Hi pit,
      I hava a problem using APIBridge.fileUpload method to upload a photo to the server. The method failed with error:404. The problem is driving me mad ! Do you have any suggestions?

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