Issue: 8

EDITORIAL

Sendo have been in the headlines again this week. This time it is because they are suing Orange for alleged patent violations over a circuit board in the SPV. Sendo are well now into developing their Series 60 phone (which we can expect before Christmas). It looks set to be the most normal Series 60 phone so far. I for one am looking forward to this. I don�t like the funky designs of some S60 phones and so for me a normal one will be very welcome.

Hayden has picked up on Sendo�s suit in his backstop which has it usual unique style! Richard has his usual software roundup (also in his normal style). He also manages to mention the SPV - Hmm Maybe I should impose an SPV quota.

Ewan talking about another thing that people don�t always like � DRM. He�s got a warning for the people thinking about using DRM.

Guest author Frank is talking about the internet capabilities of the P800, and in future issues will hopefully be looking at the best third part software for the P800 (see we listen to feedback about P800 coverage). Rafe banned Ewan from writing anymore of his P800 review after mailboxes were deluged complaining that Ewan was �off his rocker�  we already knew this, but perhaps we should implement a mad hatter warning system � let me know if you think this is a good idea.

Till next time,

Sophie

"But-but-but"

"Don't you give me but-this, and but-that. The bottom line is that the SPV is a better phone"

"But-but-but"

Ah yes, the old pretty pictures issue raises its head when someone from the Microsoft fraternity decides to tell you  how much better their smartphone is than yours. First of all, who cares? It's a phone, not a way of life. Second, when these people go on and on, ask for a demonstration - but only if you have time because it takes so long for some of these bells and whistles to actually start, ermmmmm, ringing and whistling that you'd have made a call, checked your mail and received a Fax in the time it takes them to run their profile manager! And that's also assuming that the phone hasn't reset itself, lost any messages and/or forgotten what you want it to do!

But, there was one package I saw on the PocketPC and SPV that I would have loved to see on my 7650 and/or 9210 and that is Dockware. However, my wait is over since Symbian ware (http://www.symbianware.com) have released SmartClock that acts as a screensaver and gives you a very attractive looking calendar/desktop clock. Albeit a bit late since the now famous Clock6 from FreEpoc (http://www.freepoc.org) will do something very similar for much less than the asking price of SmartClock (which is a reasonable $6.95). Anyway, you pays your money and makes your choice (or something like that anyway).

Something else that may be of use to 92x0 owners when having to deal with fangirls from the other channel is the new Advanced English Dictionary. I'm not sure if what makes it advanced is the functionality it offers, or that it has really long words in there, like 'Antidisestablishmentism' (or something like that, write in if you know what I'm on about). Anyway, it's Java based (so hold onto your RAM), and has a very attractive user interface and contains such wonderful features as linking between words in definitions, names, places, scientific terms and so on. At $24.99 you'd expect a lot and you may find that you get a lot.  There is a demo version available from Handango (http://www.handango.com) or just visit the developer's site (http://www.jdictionay-mobile.com).

Finally, users of the 92x0 unite behind the new technology that is Atomic! Well, I saw new technology, but it will drive you bonkers. It's another Tetris clone, but this one has been from 3-Lib, who is the daddy of all that is Symbian (IMHO)! Registration costs �9, but a fully functional copy can be downloaded from http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk and it will keep you occupied for hours. Though be careful if you're going to play it on the toilet because you don't want a large toilet-seat imprint around your bum-cheeks (not that anybody is going to see it of course ;-).

Over to the 7650 (I normally to the 7650 first, don't I? Well, I'm all for change this week, I even changed my socks. I mean, in for a penny, in for a pound. Next issue, I may even do this is Welsh!). If you're the type who goes shopping and ends up coming home with everything except what you went out for, maybe you'd like to get your mitts on Shopping Bee from Symbian old-timers Ximplify (http://www.ximplify.com). Slap it on yer smartphone for $16 and you can not only remember what you want to buy, but you can keep track of what things cost in different stores thus saving you money by letting you know that if you just nip next door to Woollies, you can get 10% off the marked price! It's available in lots of languages (but never Welsh!). It could save you some pretty pennies, if you do a lot of shopping and hardly limited to 'normal' shopping sprees since I suppose you could use it for other purchase-based tasks also.

Symbianware (http://www.symbanware.com) who I'm sure don't deliberately try to appear in the 7650 and 9x10 sections of this roundup at the same time, have released a useful little utility for the Series60 called SMSReminder. Who thinks up these ideas? How do they manage to tap into the collective subconscious of Symbian users so that they release an application nobody has thought of yet everybody thinks its a good idea (Ok, maybe somebody had thought of SmartClock (see above), and maybe someone has come up with this as well, but I haven't and I do think it's a good idea). If you've ever had an SMS and thought "Not now mate!". Ignored it and forgotten about it, then this is for you because it will keep reminding you of unread or unacknowledged messages with tones of your choosing. It's a humble $9.95, but a demo is available. If it's what you're looking for, then you've found it. If not...... keep looking.

And finally, some mindless challenges are great to while away our lives. Why do something productive like tidy the house or find new ways to skin the cat (for although there are many ways to skin a cat, you can only skin a cat once) when you could be playing games like Collapse (Tolnai Szabolcs - Downloadable from http://www.handango.com)? It a simple game with lots of colours and an addictive plot. Collect the balls and if they're the same colour, they vanish. So, typical plot, good price ($8.99), lots of time wasted, but lots of fun doing it! Can't say fairer than that (though I can type it, see? FAIRER THAN THAT).

Anyway, my watch has gone and chased the neighbour's cat up a trifle tree. I have to go. Bye!

Just after the last issue of YS was published, in came to light that version 4 of the Nokia Mobile Internet Toolkit had been released. Why is that important? Because it means Digital Rights Management (DRM) is going to become more and more prevalent on your Symbian OS phone. So what is DRM, how does it work, and what is it going to do to your phone?

The Business View

Businesses see DRM as a way of making sure they get paid for what you use. In days gone by, if 5 copies of the latest Cliff Richard song were sold on 7" single, the company would be assured of getting a percentage from the five copies out there. If I wanted to give Sophie a copy (why? - Sophie) then I would physically have to give her my copy.

Fast-Forward a couple of years, and the classic slogan "Home Taping is killing Music." Now I don't have to give Sophie my precious slip of vinyl, I can make a copy on a blank cassette tape, and hand her that. Now there are six copies in existence, and the record company has been paid for only five copies.

Come forward to today, and that slightly poor single and cassette tape are now replicated on a Compact Disc. Thanks to the power of computers, I can make a perfect copy of "Cliff Richard - Still Singing'" for Sophie with by PC and a CD Burner.

Going further, I don't even need to buy the CD in the first place. I can download it from someone on the Internet, burn a copy for me, for Sophie, and my Mum (who at least will appreciate it) and the Record Company have lost a lot of money.

They want a way where my computer will refuse to copy the CD - this is what Digital Rights Management is. It stops you copying a file because you don't have the right to copy it.

The Freedom View

Of course, that's completely against what most people want to do. What if they want to put a collection of songs together on  CD for in their Car? Or if they want to have a backup of a rare CD that might get damaged? Or even copy the track onto an MP3 layer so they don't need to cart a Pioneer Mixing Desk onto the train in the morning? To this viewpoint, DRM runs against common sense.

The truth is (as always) somewhere in between. But now that DRM content is going to be on your phone, it makes sense for the end-user to realise what this means.

The first thing to realise is that DRM is already affecting your phone. Have you a Java midlet on your phone? I suspect most of us have one or two, even if they are just the little arcade games downloaded from your Phone Company. Like a sensible person you back up your phone. Have a look in that backup folder just now for your Java Midlet.

Crikey it isn't there!!!

That's right, because the Midlets have a form of Copy Protection that stops them being copied into your backup, because doesn't want you copying that midlet to Sophie (bah humbug - Sophie). I've a big problem with this. Not because I want to distribute the app (as a software author myself I like the idea people have to come to my website to get my application), I have a problem because my backup isn't perfect!

True story coming up (I'll start playing "Our Tune" - Simon Bates). I've been testing the next Repton game from Masabi, and it's a Midlet. For various reasons, I had to have my phone exchanged. So I backed up, got the new phone, and restored my backup... with no Repton Midlet.

(1) I had to write to the developer to get a copy again, and (2) they�d released a new version. That version (and subsequent versions) never worked perfectly as the first version did - and it was impossible for them to backtrack to the older version. Lost though the vagaries of DRM.

The same thing happens to ringtones at the moment as well. Which again is all well and good if you downloaded MIDI files to your PC and then sent them to your phone. But if you have a handful of ringtones (at �1 each) and a few Midlet games downloaded over the air (at anything up to �10 a go if you've got Denki Blocks) and your imperfect backup is going to cost �15-�20 to restore.

I'm not disputing the fact that DRM is a "good idea" in principle, but even the initial few limitations in the current phones can cause huge headaches - something that the average consumer is not going to (a) understand or (b) put up with. Unless DRM an be made to work in the real world, and not inconvenience the majority of users, it's going to be a huge stumbling block, and could lead to a massive increase in warez and piracy. If you force people underground to find solutions to something as a simple as backing up, who knows what Black Arts they�re going to discover?

CHRISTMAS STOCKING

Where every handset manufacturer wants their phone to be on Christmas morning. Just hope that you don�t wear out the batteries on the N-Gage before the kids get to try Sonic on it.

CIBENIX

Writers of the �Active Something or Other� applications, Cibenix (of which there are five different ways of spelling their name incorrectly) aim their applications squarely at the business end of the market, and to the power users who like to alter the interface on their machine. http://www.cibenix.com/

C PLUS PLUS

Or C++ to give it its geeky abbreviated name. Given that most of the inbuilt applications on your Symbian deviceuse C++, it�s not surprising that this is the language of choice for developing applications. Almost 95% of applications are written in C++. But it�s not for mortals, even with the help of�

CODEWARRIOR

�an Integrated Development Environment (run by hunky Americans who never write or express any emotions - Sophie).

CONTACTS.app

A very handy program that keeps track of all the people you know, their phone numbers, e-mail addresses and other personal information. Guess the phones would be a bit point less with it really. Also the thing most likely to go wrong when you sync... no I don�t want Mr. Pingu�s Chinese restaurant entered 5 times... grrr...

CUNNING PLAN # 4,543

Rafe�s world domination plan. (Oi� have you have been in my private filing cabinet again Ewan? � Rafe)

I've been asked to cover the Internet software as a part of YS� look at the P800. Partly because Ewan doesn't use his P800's internet capabilities much (that�s why I�ve got broadband at home � Ewan), but mostly because I've been putting Ewan down on the forums for not using this wonderful beast with a working SIM card. And if I don't get thrown out of the community anytime soon, I might even get to do a Part 3, which should be a "what it's like NOT just right out of the box."

An important part of the lives of not only your serious business type person, but also your average Matt Bielby, is fast and efficient correspondence � i.e. email. In fact e-mail is that much accepted today, that many companies have started their billing through e-mails rather than your old paper bills physically delivered by your local, friendly postal employee. So using e-mails will therefore also be needed "on the go", keeping up with your correspondence while on trips etc, basically everywhere you don't have quick access to a computer or don't want to log around your laptop/notebook.

So how does the P800 handle this feature? -I'd say very well, but not great.

Setting it up is a piece of cake. You shouldn't face any obstacles there, it supports both POP3 or IMAP4 based accounts and both POP3 and SMTP authentication. Sending and receiving works like a charm through either a GPRS or a Dial Up connection. It's even possible to download e-mails on your P800 through your PC's internet connection, hooked up through either a Bluetooth, IR or USB connection using the P800 PC-Suite software that comes bundled with the P800, with it's mRouter which will then act as the gateway. However, this little trick will in many cases require a little "tweaking". Just consult me in the forum if you'd like to know more about this (No, you�ll tell everyone here in a later issue � Sophie).

With the P800�s 320x208 pixels, touch sensitive screen, it�s quite easy to move around the messaging accounts. Just as in any other app, you can choose between three levels of zoom. Writing e-mails is done by using the handwriting recognition or the virtual QWERTY keyboard, but I�m still waiting for some sort of a real foldable IR or Bluetooth  keyboard, like the ones you can get for most PDA�s these days. Even the Orange SPV has it�s own cloth keyboard accessory. Or even a �Word Complete� app for the virtual keyboard, like the ones that exist for Pocket PC�s?
 
One of the strong points of the e-mail client, I feel is the way it handles attachments. You have the �Send as� option in all the built-in applications (such as the document and picture viewer, the audio/video player, calendar/tasks entries, jotter notes, voice notes, internet bookmarks etc). When you check �e-mail� you�ll be taken straight to the e-mail account where a new message with the selected attachment will be waiting for you. Or you could just select �New message�, tap the little paperclip icon and add your attachment(s) from within the e-mail client. And it�s so easy to add multiple attachments, for example adding several pictures taken with the integrated camera works like a dream.

You have the option of schedule download where you can set the e-mail client to automatically check for mails at specified times, or by intervals from 15 minutes to 4 hours. You can also set it to download just the e-mail headers and set a size limit, which saves time and money on a dial up connection.
 
Now for some bad points. There is no folder management, meaning that you can�t create folders for your saved messages. You only have the basic folders of Inbox, Outbox, Draft and Sent. A lot of people also complain about the way the messages are displayed before you open them, where you only see a very small part of the message header, which makes it difficult to separate the spam from the important mails. But the biggest flaw in the default e-mail client is that there�s no option to select whether you want to delete a message just off the phone or off the server itself, it just completely erases the message from the server when you hit that delete button. So every time you delete a message it will be gone forever. Another thing is that there�s no way of selecting a message as �read� without actually having to open that message.

All in all I will have to say that the P800 e-mail client gets the job done, but it is a little too basic. I�m sure some third party developers will offer a better alternative in the future. It might even be that this is in fact the purpose of Sony Ericsson releasing the P800 with such a basic e-mail client, leaving some room for external developers to have a go and earn some bucks, who knows. If it�s true though, it�s a bit of an evil trick...

As the next big step in the mobile communications revolution, SMS really hit it off in the late nineties, with a user base stretching from your pimpled teens, even pre-teens, to your wrinkled elders. SMS has taken the masses with storm. Even the USA has finally started to adopt the use of SMS messages as a new way of communicating. And now we are talking about MMS as the next big leap, with it�s use of moving pictures and sound added to the regular text messages. Will this be as accepted by the masses? - Perhaps with time...

I wish I could cover the MMS capabilities better, but the fact is that I�ve just used MMS a couple of times. My network just started supporting it a couple of months ago, and to be perfectly honest I find it to be a overpriced, over-hyped, kind of a silly service. I mean, none of my friends have phones that even support MMS, so who should I send the messages to? I�d rather just use e-mail if I like to send someone a picture. I find MMS to be more of a novelty thing than anything else, but from what I understand the P800 handles this �novelty� feature like a charm, with a wide variety of options.

Now, to the best stuff... Internet browsing. Who would have thought that ten years ago that logging on to the web with such a small device would be useful, or better yet, - even possible (ehrm, my Series 3a and Nokia 5.1 managed this ten years ago � Ewan).

The P800 default browser supports HTML 3.2, xHTML, cHTML, WBXML, WML 1.3, WAP version 2.0. It doesn�t however support frames, JavaScript or making the tea.

When you first open the browser, you see the cool SE logo bouncing up and down, and below that you�ll find two preinstalled links which takes you to a special P800 page (a WEB or a WAP version) where you can download some free ring tones and pictures etc. There�s even a preinstalled bookmark which takes you to live web-cams where you can see what�s going on this very moment in Paris or Times Square - How cool is that?! The streaming works quite well through GPRS, you can see cars moving in Paris with hardly any lagging at all!

Another great feature of the default browser is the way it handles pictures in web pages. By pointing the stylus at a picture you get a pop-up frame with the options; �Save image, Copy image, View image and Send image as�.  You see the web pages �as they are�, using the stylus and Jog-Dial to scroll through the page vertically and horizontally. This is however somewhat awkward for reading plain text. The browser can, in the later firmware, be used in full screen mode. It works very well as a WAP browser, but it doesn�t however work as fast as I�d like as a WEB browser, and as it doesn�t support frames/JavaScript you cannot view every site.

This brings us to the excellent Opera browser, which is available as a free download from the SE or the Opera site. The previous drawbacks I mentioned with the default browser are completely resolved with the Opera browser. Opera supports HTML 4.01, XHTML, CHTML, Cascade Style Sheets, WML 1.3, and SSL 3.0. It even supports frames and JavaScript, and provides you with FTP access! So there�s no limit as to what you can browse, just about every internet site can be accessed with the P800 now.

One of the most important features offered by the Opera browser is their small screen rendering technology. The Opera browser automatically renders the web pages to fit the small screen for a much easier internet experience, allowing you to scroll through the pages without having to fiddle with the horizontal scrolling. This lets you navigate through a whole web site just using the Jog-Dial to scroll down the page. The bad side is that in some cases the writing and images will look distorted and unnatural, however this doesn�t bother me much, and you can always just disable the Small Screen Rendering feature.

One down point however, is that saving pictures doesn�t work in Opera like it does in the default browser. In Opera you have to save the entire page and use file manager to pick out the picture you want to save.  And unfortunately Opera cannot be set to be the default browser, so if you receive a link in an e-mail you want to check out, you�ll have to copy that link, rather than just clicking it, and paste it in Opera.

As a summary, Opera is a very fast and stable browser, way ahead of the default browser, much more advanced, and about 10 times faster!!! This, coupled with the Email client makes the P800 a great internet capable device, and that;s before adding in some third party software.

Sophie, can I talk about that in the next issue?

Smartphone Turf War Massive

Since the falling out of Sendo and Microsoft there have been various other niggling things.  Sendo are now taking Orange to court over patent infringements in the SPV.  Palm and Handspring are combining.  The first watch PDA is being released.  And the mobile phone doesn't just make calls anymore.

Various players are currently marking out their patch in the smartphone world, Symbian have the biggest patch at the moment with the major phone manufacturers licensing their OS.  Microsoft are marking their territory with hot air, and using an odd tactic of using the network operators to make a device by farming out the production to companies that already make Pocket PCs.  Palm are not seeming so much to be pushing the smartphone market, but more keeping their PDA market ticking over while other manufacturers see fit to combine Palm PDAs with mobile phones.  Linux mobile phone cum PDAs are also hitting the market and although may not be hugely popular to start with should pick up in sales.

It seems the people making the most noise about the smartphone revolution are Microsoft.  It also seems that the people making the least headway into the market are Microsoft.  Microsoft are repeatedly telling us how good their Smartphone OS is, yet phone manufacturers seem to be crawling over each other to avoid it.  Whether this is a follow on from how Sendo got burned or a look to what happened previously in the PC market is anyone's guess, but according to Microsoft they have the best software, just no-one wants it. 

On the flipside most mobile manufacturers have looked at or are releasing a Symbian based smartphone, or PDA phone.  Linux is mostly taken on by Asian companies and Palm's effort is pioneered by Handspring adding phone capabilities to one of it's PDAs. 

You could assume that the Smartphone industry is a 2 horse race, Microsoft vs Symbian, US vs UK, although personally I wouldn't rule out the others yet.  Although for the time being Symbian build up a marked dominance while Microsoft talk the talk.  Looking to the future, the idea of wrist based communication devices has seemed a bit Star Trek until recent years, but now the size of modern phone technology could allow just this, the last week has seen a Palm based wrist PDA be released in the US and although it's primitive by modern standards of the PDA, it's not hugely more limited than a smartphone, so in a few years we may see a combining of these technologies.  Linux is hugely modifiable and cheap as chips to base an implementation on, and as the Sharp Zaurus proves it's possible to create a very well featured PDA with, as well as the smartphones circulating in Japan.

Despite the current state of play, there's plenty of running left to do and the race is far from over.  Most companies have staked their claim, and with wildcards like Sendo keeping a very careful watch on their IP, and the opposition the race could be set to become more interesting.

Comment on this article at http://www.thesoundlab.co.uk

And that�s issue 8. I hope you�ve enjoyed reading and if you have any feedback, you know where to send it.

Let me know what you think! A short email to [email protected] with what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you would change, would go a long way to making a better magazine.

Your Symbian was brought to you by the letters "Y" and "S" and the
number "8"

Copyright (c) Your Symbian 2003. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be coped in any form without written permission.

Some trademarks are referred to in this publication; these are for information purposes only. All trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. The views expressed within are not necessarily the view of Your Symbian, but rather the individual authors. The accuracy of the contained information is not guaranteed. Penguins will inherit the earth.