Queue for Nokia C3

The the lines form, the crowds assemble, the excitement builds. Sure, people are going crazy for the latest Apple and Android devices. But you see, three can play at that game.

Yup, let's not forget that there are millions and millions of Nokia fans out there. They may not be lining up on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, but rather, in Jakarta, the lines snake around and around to get a chance to get their hands on the Nokia C3

Nokia's first dual sim phone

At a media conference held today in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Nokia unveiled its latest Cseries mobile phones with three new products under the Nokia C1 name, as well as the new dual-SIM Nokia C2 which will follow at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010. At the same event, Nokia also took the wraps off the Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit, an alternative charging solution built especially for people with limited access to electricity.

The most affordable of the Nokia C1 trio (C1-00) is priced at EUR 30 before taxes and subsidies and is the first Nokia mobile phone to feature a 2-in-1 double SIM solution. "By simply holding down a key, people are able to switch between SIM cards. This enables them to take advantage of reduced call rates, flexibility when traveling from one country to another, or helps with sharing a phone within a family and still use their own SIM," said Alex Lambeek, Vice President at Nokia. "This is a great added convenience feature considering the low price of the phone."

Nokia C1-00

Nokia C1 owners will also benefit from a standby battery time of up to six weeks, the longest ever for a Nokia mobile phone, especially useful in those parts of the world where access to electricity is sometimes limited. The standard flashlight - often someone's only means of bright light - is paired with a vivid color screen and FM radio with standard headphone jack, meaning the Nokia C1 is as much about entertainment as it is about convenience.

The Nokia C2 features a dual SIM with dual standby capability. Along with the many capabilities of the Nokia C1, the Nokia C2 can also keep both SIM cards active; meaning calls and text messages can come to either number while the phone is on. The first SIM card on the Nokia C2 sits underneath the battery and the second is 'hot-swappable', a feature unique to Nokia which means it can be removed and inserted when the phone is on.

Nokia C2-00

Where available, the Nokia C2 also offers a wide range of information covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment via Nokia's Ovi Life Tools, as well as the email account for the developing world, Ovi Mail. In addition to Ovi Mail, people's favorite consumer email and chat accounts can be pushed direct to the phone via Nokia Messaging. Listening to music is simple with the FM radio and music player, with a massive amount of music storage with the phone supporting micro-SD cards of up to 32GB.

The second and third devices in the Nokia C1 family (C1-01 and C1-02) are both single SIM products, and Nokia's most affordable devices offering microSD compatibility, enabling people to store up to 32 GB of music, photography, or whatever other media suits them. Both new devices bring very individual designs and exciting colors, bright color screens, web browsing over GPRS and access to Nokia web services such as Nokia Messaging. In addition, owners of the Nokia C1 (C1-01) will also be able to take video and photographs using the built-in VGA camera.

Nokia C1-01	Nokia C1-02

New alternative charging solution debuts
Providing free and environmentally friendly electricity for mobile phones, the Nokia Bicycle Charger Kit consists of a charger and dynamo, as well as a holder to secure the phone to the bike. When the kit is installed, the dynamo - a small electrical generator - uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset through the standard 2mm charging jack used in most Nokia mobile phones. Lambeek continued, "You must look at a number of things when it comes to power management - such as ensuring the phone's operating system is as power-efficient as possible. Now, with our innovative bike charger, people get even more freedom to use their Nokia without worrying about battery life. Bicycles are the most widespread means of transport in many markets around the world, so this is just one more benefit to be gained from an activity people are already doing. This is a great solution to a real challenge, whether people will use it due to limited access to electricity, or to be more environmentally responsible." The kit will be available before the end of the year in selected retailers and Nokia online and branded retail.

The estimated retail prices of the new Nokia mobile phones, before taxes and subsidies, are:

Nokia C1 (C1-00)	EUR 30
Nokia C1 (C1-02)	EUR 35
Nokia C1 (C1-01)	EUR 39
Nokia C2 (C2-00)	EUR 45

The Nokia C1 (C1-00) is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2010, with the Nokia C1 (C1-01) in the early fourth quarter, and the Nokia C1 (C1-02) and Nokia C2 towards the end of the fourth quarter 2010.

Symbian Bug Squad invites you!

The Symbian Bug Squad has been a great success in terms of testing and bug reporting. The Squad has raised over 40 bugs raised over the last few weeks. Now it's time for the Squad to take the next step and start fixing bugs. We will therefore run a Fixing Week starting from May 10th.

We invite developers of all skills and interests to take part in fixing week. This is a great way to make a valuable contribution to Symbian, get your name into the Symbian code base, get to know our tools, learn about industrial software development, get Gecko Gold (which can be turned into real goods) and much more.

To contribute to bug finding and fixing, you will first need to learn build package.
Here is online session on how to build package.
The session is on 28th May 2010.

Do you want to contribute to SF Location Package?

If you wish to contribute to SF Location Package but not sure about how, please go through Roadmap for Location

If you have potential ideas, you can discuss them here.

If you wish to contribute to defects, please have a look current defects here

In general, we found out potential opportunities [though not restricted] you may like to contribute:

WLAN and Cell ID adaptation modules (Effective positioning)
We are very keen to discuss contributions concerning new positioning technologies based on improving device capabilities to obtain a fast fix in urban and indoor environments which complement A-GPS.

Satellite ephemeris projection services (Effective positioning)
Services that extend the "life" of satellite orbit data to more accurately determine positioning without requiring the device GPS hardware to re-establish a new positional fix can be beneficial in enriching many types of mobile applications. A standard protocol module would exist to specifically support extended ephemeris data supplied by the chipset.

New GNSS assistance data classes (Effective positioning)
The SUPL v2 specification allows up to 6 different classes of GNSS to be supported. Galileo, GLONASS are planned to be supported plus other constellations are potentially available so contributions are welcome which enable any class of GNSS to be supported.

API libraries available for preferred runtime environments (Vibrant developer community)
The present roadmap features a number of interesting APIs which are available to application developers as native enablers. These enablers can also be available to many other application developers if bindings can be defined for different runtime environments. Contributions are required to define these bindings to support application developers who are unfamiliar with Symbian's native programming environment.

Map and navigation framework (Mapping provider services)
The existing Map and Navigation API is available for any mapping content provider to contribute an adapter module to more easily allow service providers to access 3rd party content which supports mapping applications. There is an opportunity to contribute extensions to the framework to enable any content provider to more easily make its services available to application developers.

Location updater defined for 3rd party applications and location service platforms "(Vibrant developer community)"
The Symbian platform is capable of updating 3rd party applications with occasional positional data without requiring any action from the user. This enabler can improve the performance of applications that need to be "location aware" and we are interested to define different use cases that use this feature.

If you have an idea not listed, kindly leave me comment here.

Create design prototypes, no coding required

Have you seen Flowella? Flowella allows designers and developers to create design prototypes — without writing a line of code.

With Flowella you start by creating a series of screen mock-ups, using any image-editing package you like as long as it produces PNG or JPG files. Then define links between the screens. Flowella uses your images and defined links to create an Adobe Flash Lite 3.0 application or Web Runtime (WRT) widget. Now you can walk through the Flash Lite or WRT prototype, show it to your supervisor or client, and make sure everybody buys into the basic operation before you commit the time to actually coding the app.

• Start with the Introducing Flowella video
• Read the tutorial
• Check out the example Flowella project file and images for the prototype of a podcast widget.
• Or jump right in and download the free tool.

New Mobile Video Apps Innovation Challenge - $10,000 Prize!

Dialogic Corporation is calling upon mobile application developers to participate in the Second Annual Dialogic Innovator Challenge. The theme of this year’s Innovator Challenge is to create the ultimate sports application based on video. The grand prize winner of the Challenge will receive a cash prize of US$10,000, while the first runner up will receive a cash prize of US$5,000 and the second runner up will receive a cash prize of US$2,500. More details are available at: www.dialogic. com/innovator. Submissions for the contest will be accepted from April 21^st through August 31^st. Winners will be announced at the end of September.

Applicants are also invited to download software from the Innovator Challenge portal to develop their video applications. The developer platforms include Dialogic IP Media Server, Dialogic Host Media Processing Software and the DiaStar Server, as well as to use the Dialogic® Vision™ Servers and Gateways. Dialogic is also offering access to a developer network that will allow developers to use and test Dialogic products for the development of trial applications. Additionally, in-person or online training courses are available to help developers gain proficiency in evaluating, developing and deploying solutions based on Dialogic products.

The contest is open for developers who are ready to trial, go to market or have recently deployed a new video or social networking application, for any kind of smart mobile device, that is sports related. All entries will be featured on the Innovator Challenge web site, where the general public will be invited to rate the applications. The winners will be determined by online rating in conjunction with a global judging panel of independent representatives from telecoms, media, analysts and industry institutions.

Ovi Maps Racing Game Lets You Speed Around Your Neighborhood

A sneak preview of the Ovi Maps Racing game (coming soon to the Ovi Store) was unveiled at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas by Nokia earlier Thursday.  

In a truly unique experience, you use the GPS in your device to find your location (or use Ovi Maps to choose any location in the world), then customize a track around your neighborhood, and finally fire up those engines! --Nokia Conversations 

As pictures are better than a thousand words, check it out below!   Enjoy!  Leave me a comment.