Download PDF Programming for the Series 60 Platform and Symbian OS by DIGIA Inc.

Sinopsis

The market drive towards advanced mobile services such as multimedia messaging and wireless access to the Internet sets high requirements for the terminals and networks. New devices (and networks) must be able to handle still and moving images, music, allow access to the Internet for messaging and browsing, and provide a diverse set of applications in addition to operating as a mobile phone.
 

As 2.5G and 3G networks emerge, the focus is turned to the terminal – what kind of capabilities are required by these new services and how can they be fulfilled? This book presents one significant platform for smartphones – devices that are designed to meet the increasing requirements of the new services – Series 60. It is a platform made by Nokia on Symbian OS (Operating System), which in turn is an operating system designed for mobile devices.
 

Owing to these requirements of the new services, the task of making the software for wireless devices is becoming increasingly complex. As new protocols, communication interfaces, services, and applications are integrated, the required R&D effort grows rapidly. This increases the development cost significantly and sets high demands on interoperability testing. Symbian was formed in 1998 by Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Psion to provide a common standard and to enable the mass marketing of a new era of wireless devices. Matsushita (better known by its brand name, Panasonic) joined Symbian in 1999, in January 2002 the Sony Ericsson joint venture took a share of Symbian, and, in April 2002, Siemens also joined Symbian as a shareholder (www.symbian.com).
 

The cost of the hardware components (i.e. bill of materials) used for making a mobile phone is one of the most important factors in making competitive devices, but the cost of developing and maintaining the increasing number of features of the software also becomes more significant as the world evolves towards wireless multimedia. When the mobile phone shipping volumes are low, the price of the hardware components, especially the most expensive ones, such as the color display, is high.When components are made in high volumes, the price of a single component is reduced. New requirements are set for the operating system by the need to open the devices for developing thirdparty applications in order to have a more diverse set of applications to attract more users and to increase volumes.
 

A typical smartphone is attractive for users looking for more features compared with the basic mobile phone. Also, for those seeking better personalization, a smartphone is likely to be a natural choice. A smartphone is, as its name states, a phone, but with capabilities such as color screen, advanced messaging, calendar, browser, e-mail, synchronization with other devices, and, installation of applications.
 

From the device manufacturer perspective, it is vital that the software is stable and reliable – especially if it is possible for the user to install new applications. A serious software or hardware defect may force a manufacturer to call back all the mobile devices. The costs of such an operation are very significant even when compared with development costs. From the software point of view, the right selection of software platform will reduce the risk of failure.
 

Series 60 Platform is particularly appealing for the terminal manufacturers, as it allows Symbian OS with multimedia capabilities to be used in devices that are only slightly more expensive than the devices equipped with a proprietary operating system. Series 60 Platform provides the benefit of open interfaces, efficient power management, and advanced multimedia capabilities. From the application developer perspective, Series 60 is also very interesting, as the compact size and reasonable price of the devices leads to large market penetration, thus making the application development worthwhile as well.
 

This book is written by the software professionals of Digia – a company that has been heavily involved with Symbian OS and Series 60 Platform and application development since early 1999. During that time, knowledge of the platform has been accumulated in demanding, time-critical projects and in developing products for Symbian OS. 

This book is a handbook of software development for the Series 60 Platform, written by software professionals for software professionals – and for individuals who want to become experts on Series 60
software development. The approach of this book is to build on top of the previous publications on Symbian OS and to provide a guide for the art of developing software for the Series 60 Platform. The intended audience is anyone interested in learning more about Symbian OS and the Series 60 Platform. It is specially beneficial for software developers who can use the code examples for illustrating the key aspects of Series 60 software development.

Content

1. Introduction to the Series 60 Platform
2. Software Engineering on the Series 60 Platform
3. Overview of the Series 60 Platform
4. Design Patterns for Application Development
5. Software Development on the Series 60 Platform
6. Platform Architecture
7. User-centered Design for Series 60 Applications
8. Testing Software
9. Graphics, Audio, and User Interfaces
10. Application Framework
11. Standard Panes and Application Windows
12. Lists and List Types
13. Other User Interface Components
14. View Architecture
15.  Audio
16. Customizing the Series 60 Platform
17. Communications and Networking
18. Communications Architecture
19. Communications Application Programming Interface
20. Messaging
21. Connectivity
22. Programming in Java
23. Programming in Java for Smartphones
24. Midlet User Interface Framework

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