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  • pit 6:29 pm on March 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: 10x10, , news, , touch   

    New Flash Lite application: explore the world by images with 10×10™ Mobile! 

    Leonardo recently released a new, cool Flash Lite app for S60 touch devices: 10×10™ mobile!

    10×10™ (‘ten by ten’) is an interactive exploration of the words and pictures that define the time. The result is an often moving, sometimes shocking, occasionally frivolous, but always fitting snapshot of our world. Every hour, 10×10 collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale, and presents them as a single image, taken to encapsulate that moment in time. Over the course of days, months, and years, 10×10 leaves a trail of these hourly statements which, stitched together side by side, form a continuous patchwork tapestry of human life.

    The app is available for free on both Ovi Store and GetJar. Here is a short video of 10×10 Mobile running on a Nokia N97: smooth, isn’t it? :)

    Good job Leo!

     

  • 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.

  • pit 5:51 pm on February 12, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , testing, tips   

    How to speed up deploying and testing of your API Bridge-based applications 

    When working with API Bridge applications, you need to package them with the API Bridge engine within a Symbian SIS package each time you want to deploy it on a device. This could actually be a big drawback when developing a new app, since it greatly slows down all the building and deploying process.

    This is right, but luckily enough there’s an alternative, really easy approach to test your API Bridge-based applications on your devices. The picture below should say it all:

    It couldn’t have been simpler:

    1. Deploy the APIBridge SIS (APIBridge_v1_1.sis for API Bridge version 1.1) on the device, only once
    2. Deploy your application (Web Runtime, Flash Lite or Java ME) as you would have done without API Bridge, all the times you want
    3. Done!

    By deploying the APIBridge engine separately, you can actually save tons of time during all the development phase, since you don’t need anymore to package your apps in a classical Symbian package. Hurrah!

     

  • pit 7:32 pm on February 11, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    API Bridge version 1.1: plug-in creation package released! 

    The announced new version of API Bridge is out! With the new 1.1 release it is finally possible to create custom plugins that access all the Symbian functionalities, so practically opening up the doors to a new generation of Flash Lite, Web Runtime and Java ME applications.

    Start downloading the new release from Forum Nokia: API Bridge release 1.1.

    Then, check out this informative Wiki articles, that explain how to build a new, custom plugin and how to use it from JavaScript:

    For more information about API Bridge, check out its Forum Nokia page.

     

  • 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.

     

  • pit 12:38 pm on February 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    How to capture photos in a Web Runtime widget using APIBridge 

    One of the best features that APIBridge brings to Web Runtime widgets is, without doubts, the ability to capture photos, videos and audio.

    If you don’t know how to build a widget that includes APIBridge functionalities, you should read this article: Build your first Web Runtime widget with APIBridge.

    Now, let’s start with photos, and create a very basic widget with a button that will be used to take a snapshot.

    This is the HTML code used to create this simple widget:

    <body onload="init();">
 
	<img id="capture_button" src="images/capture.png" />
 
	<img id="captured_photo" />
 
</body>

    The ‘captured_photo’ <img> tag will be used to show the captured photo, so it is just empty at the beginning.

    Before proceeding, it is necessary to include the APIBridge JavaScript library to the widget:

    <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript" src="js/apibridge.js"></script>

    Now, in the init() function, that is called when the widget loads, attach the ‘onclick’ event to the above button:

    document.getElementById('capture_button').addEventListener(
  'click',
  takePhoto,
  false
);

    Now, the interesting part: the takePhoto() method has to call APIBridge, and start the photo capturing. This is done by using the newFileService method, that accepts 3 arguments:

    • the type of file (it can be: APIBridge.NewFileType.Image for photos, APIBridge.NewFileType.Video for video, and APIBridge.NewFileType.Audio for audio files)
    • the onSuccess event handler
    • the onError event handler

    So, the takePhoto() function calls the APIBridge.newFileService method as shown below:

    function takePhoto()
{
  APIBridge.newFileService(
    APIBridge.NewFileType.Image,
    photoCaptureSuccess,
    photoCaptureError
  );
}

    Now, what remains to do, is to define the onSuccess and onError event handlers.

    The photoCaptureSuccess() function receives as argument the full path of the new image or, if no image was taken, it just receive NULL.  The following function check if its argument is defined, and then sets the source of ‘captured_photo’ by using the image path.

    function photoCaptureSuccess(photoSource)
{
  if (photoSource && photoSource.length)
  {
    document.getElementById('captured_photo').src = photoSource;
  }
  else
  {
    alert("No image taken...");
  }
}

    The error handler receives as argument the Ajax request used to perform the call to APIBridge. In this case, it is enough to display an error message, informing the user that an error occurred:

    function photoCaptureError(ajaxReq)
{
  alert("Error " + ajaxReq.status);
}

    Now, all is ready to test the widget. Let’s build and package it as described here, and here it is in action on a real device!

     

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