The Symbian Foundation has released its first open-source software package, the first step in the organization's plan to eventually open-source the entire Symbian mobile operating system.
The Symbian Foundation was set up by in June 2008 by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo, Texas Instruments, Vodafone, Samsung, LG, and AT&T to oversee the development of the Symbian OS as an open-source platform, licensed under the Eclipse Public Licence (EPL). The OS had previously been developed as proprietary software by the Symbian Foundation.
On Wednesday, Symbian made available its first package covered by the EPL, the OS Security Package, according to Symbian developer Craig Heath.
"The OS Security Package source code is now available under the EPL, and it is the very first package to be officially moved from the closed Symbian Foundation License (SFL) to...the EPL," Heath wrote in a blog post.
Heath said the EPL would allow the security package to bypass export regulations in the U.K., where the Symbian code is legally based.
"There is an exemption for software 'in the public domain,' meaning that open-source software isn't export-controlled, so moving it from SFL to EPL was the most straightforward way to make sure that the complete cryptographic functionality would be available to all," he wrote.
The move is also intended to demonstrate that Symbian is "serious" about both open source and security, according to Heath. The next step will be to open source the Symbian kernel, along with a basic set of components and drivers, according to Symbian chief architect Daniel Rubio.
"It has to be accompanied by all other components and drivers to run a shell with full I/O--for example, a Board Support Package, a hardware vehicle and, of course, a freely available toolchain," Rubio said in a blog post. "The good news is that we are working hard to make this happen in the short term, which in my mind is a three-month horizon."
Alongside the shift to open source, Symbian is working to integrate several components of the old software into a new operating system that will be released under the name Symbian ^2. The new OS is to be based on version 9 of the Symbian OS and will integrate the S60, UIQ, and MOAP user interfaces, according to Symbian. It is planned to begin beta testing in the next few weeks, and could appear in handsets in the first half of next year.
In March, Symbian said it plans to release a new version of the OS every six months, with Symbian ^3 planned for the middle of this year. Symbian competes with a number of mobile operating systems, including Apple's iPhone OS, Google's Android, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile.
Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.
The developers of the LiveAndroid project have released the second alpha version of their software, which allows users to try out Google's mobile operating system without having to install it on a handset.
LiveAndroid, a project based in Beijing, released its first alpha, or prototype, in May. Version 0.2, released on Monday, added major functions such as a mouse-controlled cursor, keyboard functionality and Ethernet connectivity. Other functions, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and audio, remain to be added, according to the developers.
In a Twitter update, the developers said a version running from a USB memory stick may also be released this week.
"LiveAndroid gives you a taste of a Google phone on your computer," the project developers said on their Web site. "We would like LiveAndroid to be a real OS for your computer, but for now it is only a toy."
To use the software, a user downloads and burns it onto a CD, then reboots their PC. Android then runs directly from the CD, leaving the user's hard disk unchanged. LiveAndroid can also run in virtual environments, such as those provided by VirtualBox or Microsoft Virtual PC, the developers said.
Screenshots of LiveAndroid are available on the project website.
The system is based on Android 1.5 and is designed to work on x86 systems, such as desktop PCs or Netbooks. It is hosted on the Google Code Web site and uses an Apache 2.0 license.
Android is Google's Linux-based operating system for mobile phones. On Tuesday Google announced the creation of the Google Chrome OS project, with the goal of releasing a Linux-based OS for netbooks and other PCs in the second half of 2010.
Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.
NEW YORK--T-Mobile USA is betting big on its second Android smartphone, the MyTouch 3G, as it officially launches the device making it its flagship smartphone to compete against Apple's iPhone on AT&T.
(Credit: T-Mobile USA)The company announced the MyTouch 3G, which is essentially the same phone as the Google Ion or the HTC Magic, last month. And on Wednesday T-Mobile made the device available for pre-orders to its existing customers. The device will be generally available starting August 5.
The MyTouch is the second smartphone the carrier has introduced that uses Google's open-source mobile operating system, Android. T-Mobile introduced the world's first Google Android phone, called the G1, last fall. And so far the company claims it has sold more than 1 million devices.
Thinner and slightly smaller than the G1, the MyTouch features a large 3.2-inch touch screen with 3G and Wi-Fi support. The device comes loaded with several applications including integrated Google Apps, but it also can access the Android Market, a virtual application storefront where users can have their pick of some 5,000 applications for downloading.
Executives at an event here Wednesday made no bones about pitting the MyTouch against Apple's popular iPhone, which is sold exclusively for AT&T's network in the U.S.
"My hope and expectation is that this device will be compared to the iPhone," said Denny Post, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at T-Mobile USA.
It's easy to see the similarities between the phones. Like the iPhone, the MyTouch has a touch screen with a virtual keyboard. And it has access to a lot of very cool applications.
But executives also point out what they consider important differences between the MyTouch and the iPhone.
Personalization is the big buzzword the T-Mobile marketing folks have used in launching the new phone. They claim no two MyTouches will be the same since users can customize their devices to tailor their own lifestyles and needs. The customization goes beyond the ability to download different applications, and also includes the ability to change the background on the phone's home screen and the ability to organize application icons on the home screen.
While iPhone users can drag and drop icons and customize their sleep mode screens, the home screen essentially looks the same on all iPhones.
Whether or not this differentiator is a big deal to consumers is yet to be seen. Another possibly more important differentiator is the fact that the Android software on the MyTouch allows users to easily switch between multiple applications that are open on the device. The software also allows information from one application to be fed or viewed in another application. For example, there is a little user bar at the top of the phone's screen that shows the temperature and weather. It also has alerts for new e-mails and text messages as they come into the phone, without interrupting the application that is going.
Of course, the MyTouch is not the only smartphone that offers this kind of application multitasking. The Palm Pre announced earlier this summer for Sprint Nextel's network has gotten high marks for its ability to multitask. But Andrew Sherrard, vice president at T-Mobile, says that what sets the MyTouch apart from the Pre is the Android Market mobile application store, which already has 5,000 applications.
At the heart of the MyTouch is the open platform Android software, which was developed by Google. And because it uses the same operating system developed for the G1, the features and functionality available on the MyTouch are not much different from the G1.
And it's likely that other Android devices that will be launched on T-Mobile's network and other operators' networks later this year will also be similar in terms of functionality because they use the same operating system.
But instead of lumping multiple Android devices together, T-Mobile will be focusing much of its marketing on the MyTouch as its flagship device. This makes sense from a competitive standpoint as other wireless operators highlight their own exclusive handsets. Apple has the iPhone. And Sprint has the new Palm Pre. Now T-Mobile will focus its marketing on the MyTouch.
The G1, the first Android phone to come to market, launched in November last year and has been a major success for the carrier. But the phone has mostly appealed to early adopters, Post said. The MyTouch will be targeted at the mass market.
"It will appeal to the same consumers that are interested in the iPhone," she said. "But the applications used on this phone won't be just for show. They won't simply be a novelty. Instead they will be very useful and purposeful."
As part of its push to make the MyTouch its premiere smartphone, T-Mobile has put extra effort into training retail staff to help new customers customize their phones and add new applications.
And even though the Android Market today is only a tenth the size of Apple's App Store, it's expected to grow rapidly as more Android devices come to market. And when that happens, Post says there will be a great need to help consumers to sift through the chaos and discover new applications.
"It will become increasingly important for us to recommend and help highlight applications we think consumers will find most useful," she said. "Customers need a guide to help them find useful apps, and move beyond simple novelties. So you will see us creating bundles for recommendations to make discovery easier."
But going up against the iPhone will not be an easy task as the latest version of the device, the iPhone 3GS, seems even hotter than previous generations. In its first weekend, Apple and AT&T sold more than 1 million units. But consumers are hungry for alternatives, and Post believes consumers will also be swayed by T-Mobile's value proposition. The carrier's unlimited data package is priced about $5 less per month than a comparable data package from AT&T.
Kids from two to 11 years of age are spending 63 percent more time online than they did five years ago, says a report released Monday from Nielsen Online. Children in that age range were online an average of 11 hours in May 2009 versus just 7 hours in May 2004.
Over the past five years, the total number of kids surfing the Net has shot up 18 percent to 16 million, says the report, while the overall Internet population has risen only 10 percent. The younger set now represents 9.5 percent of the online community.
Online use among kids surged despite a projected decrease of 1 percent in the population of children under 14 for 2004 to 2010, says Nielsen, citing an estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Results were split pretty evenly by gender. For May 2009, boys 2-11 spent 7 percent more time online than did girls in the same age group, though girls surfed 9 percent more web pages than did boys.
Online video has proven popular among kids, especially boys. Among all children, boys watched 61 percent of videos on the Net in May 2009, accounting for 57 percent of the time the children spent viewing online video.
If you thought a $99 Netbook was a bargain, Sprint Nextel's plan to sell Netbooks for a buck is a real steal.
Sprint has teamed up with mega-retailer Best Buy to sell the Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX Netbook for 99 cents with a two-year service contract. The offer is good at participating Best Buy stores.
Best Buy plans to sell the same Netbook for Verizon Wireless and AT&T for $199.99 with a two-year contract. Without any service contract, the Netbook costs $389.99, according to Best Buy's Web site.
Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX Netbook
(Credit: Compaq)The Compaq Mini 110c-1040DX Netbook features a 1.6GHz processor and 160GB hard drive.
Sprint's 3G wireless service is $60 a month for 5GB of data monthly, making the true cost of the Netbook with two years of service $1,440.
Verizon offers two tiers of data service. The $40 a month plan offers 250MB of data monthly. And the $60 a month plan offers a maximum of 5GB of data. With the current pricing, Verizon Netbook users can expect to spend $1,160 to $1,640 during the life of the contract for the service and Netbook, depending on which plan they choose.
AT&T offers similar pricing for its data service. For up to 5GB of data per month, the service is $60 a month, plus it offers free access to AT&T's 20,000 nationwide Wi-Fi hot spots. A service that offers 200MB of data per month costs $40 a month. In addition to the current offering for the Compaq Mini, AT&T also offers other Netbook deals. The subsidy price on a variety of Netbooks, including the Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 9 and Mini 12, and LG Xenia, ranges from $50 to $250.
Netbooks are becoming a hot business for carriers that are looking to get consumers using their wireless data services. The wireless operators are taking a page out of their old playbooks by subsidizing the devices to spur adoption.
But it's unclear so far if the plan will work. Already consumers are being asked to pay more per month for regular cell phone service. And the expensive data plans could deter some consumers who do the math and realize they don't actually need to be spending over a $1,000 for one of these mini-laptops when these devices and laptops can be used for a very low cost or even free when using Wi-Fi hot spots.
O2 will be the exclusive carrier of the Palm Pre in the U.K., Palm announced Tuesday.
The operator already has U.K. exclusivity for the iPhone. It is also set to bring out an Android phone soon, in the shape of the Samsung i7500, but that may not be an exclusive release.
The Palm Pre.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)"We are fast becoming the home of the smartphone with the addition of the hotly anticipated Palm Pre to our already extensive portfolio," Telefonica Europe chief executive Matthew Key said in a statement. "Our customers will be the first outside of North America to experience one of the most successful mobile devices of the year."
The phone was launched in North America at the start of June, and today's Europe-wide exclusivity contract with O2 parent Telefonica marks the first foray for the Pre into the rest of the world.
The Pre is also coming to Ireland and Germany via O2, and to Spain via the Movistar network. Palm has already said that the phone will arrive in Canada in the second half of the year.
O2's pricing for the Pre has not been revealed, nor has the handset's precise release date. The operator will only say that the Pre will be out before Christmas.
The Pre is a crucial handset for Palm, as it is the first to use the new WebOS software, Palm's first new operating system since 2002. The phone is notable for its multitasking ability, which allows applications to run concurrently.
Palm is hoping to attract developers with the fact that WebOS applications use Web standards such as HTML and CSS.
David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London. CNET News' Jonathan Skillings contributed to this story.
I got my first SMS spam message last week and it infuriated me.
The mortgage-related text message was more than just a nuisance, like e-mail spam is. It also was a strong indication of how marketers have managed to invade every private communication space consumers have.
And it was frustrating that I didn't know what to do about it. Being an AT&T customer, I tried to register on AT&T's site figuring I could learn what to do and take action there. Unfortunately, it kept telling me that it didn't recognize my password, so I had to call customer support. The support representative directed me to a different URL where I was able to log in and she tried to walk me through the site to the place where I could set spam-blocking settings, but was unable to because of some technical issue on her end. So she just changed the settings for me.
I called the four major U.S. wireless carriers to find out exactly what they suggest their customers do when they get SMS spam. Here is what they said, along with some other basic questions and answers people may have about mobile spam.
AT&T
Customers can block text messages or calls from a specific phone number on its Web site here, as well as restrict the sources of e-mail that reach your phone on this site. Customers can also reply to text messages by typing in "BLOCK" or "STOP" to prevent future messages from that sender, and call a customer service representative if further help is needed, said AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel.
Sprint
Sprint wants customers to call customer service to report all spam messages so the company can modify its spam-filtering technology to block the phone numbers that are sending it, said Sprint spokesman John Taylor. Customers should not reply to the messages, otherwise it verifies to the spammer that the phone number is valid, he said.
T-Mobile
Postpaid and FlexPay customers can create their own filters and block chargeable text messages, MMS (multi-media service) messages, instant messages, and e-mail from being sent to their phones by calling customer service, spokeswoman Cara Walker said.
Verizon
Customers can log into the site and sign up for Usage Controls ($4.99 a month) that allow them to block certain numbers from calling or sending text messages to the phone. And if customers text only with a few people they can create an alias address here for free and receive only text messages sent to that address, said Verizon spokeswoman Debra Lewis.
Verizon has filed eight to 10 lawsuits against SMS spammers over the past four to five years, and 20 lawsuits altogether involving telemarketers, she said.
What can I do to prevent unsolicited phone calls to my mobile phone?
To block spam phone calls, customers should register their mobile numbers with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's Do Not Call Registry.
What are the carriers doing to block spam?
The mobile service providers said they are using antispam filters and antivirus technology to protect against the different types of mobile spam. They did not want to go into too much detail as to what technologies they are using.
Why am I getting spam?
Some people may be inadvertently opting in to receive text messages when they sign up for other services with merchants. Many free ringtone download sites are used to harvest mobile numbers. Spammers also use auto-dialers that randomly generate numbers or try them sequentially. Because mobile phone numbers do not appear in public directories people should be careful who they share their numbers with. Be wary of sites that promise to remove numbers from spam lists because they are often set up to collect the numbers instead. Also, read terms and conditions of sites and services carefully before giving out a mobile number.
Do I get charged for spam messages?
In general, consumers will not be charged for spam text messages and can get a credit if they report it to the company, on a case-by-case basis.
Is spam illegal?
While Verizon is suing companies for violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which makes it illegal to use an auto-dialer to make calls to wireless phones, there is no explicit measure outlawing SMS spam, yet. Measures in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were introduced this year to rectify that. The m-SPAM Act, introduced by Sens. Olympia Snowe, a Maine Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, would expand the regulatory authority of the Federal Communications Commission and the FTC to intervene against SMS spammers and would explicitly bar marketers from sending text messages to any mobile number in the national Do Not Call registry. A similar measure was introduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Georgia Democrat, in March after his antispam effort last year failed.
How big a problem is this?
While people in the U.S. might receive two SMS spam messages a year, things are worse in other countries like Europe where one a week is typical; India where people receive as many as two per day; and China where it's more like five to 10 each day, according to Ferris Research. Last year, Ferris Research estimated that wireless users in the U.S. received more than 1.1 billion spam text messages in 2007, up 38 percent from 2006.
The Department of Justice is looking into whether big U.S. phone companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications are abusing their market power, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on Monday.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources who said that the Justice Department is reviewing potential anticompetitive practices. No formal investigation has been launched, and the review is in its early stages, the Journal article said. It's not clear yet if a formal investigation will follow.
Part of the inquiry is likely to focus on whether wireless carriers are harming smaller competitors by striking exclusive deals with handset makers. AT&T has such an arrangement with Apple to sell the popular iPhone for its network alone in the U.S.
Other phone companies have struck similar deals with handset makers. For example, Sprint Nextel has an exclusive arrangement with Palm to sell the Palm Pre. And T-Mobile is the exclusive carrier for the first two Google Android phones made by HTC that are on the market.
Recently, lawmakers and regulators have raised questions over the practice. Doug Hutcheson, CEO of Leap Wireless, a small regional prepaid wireless provider, believes that these deals are not good for the industry.
"I don't think those exclusive deals are good for competition," he said in a recent interview with CNET News. "If it's a good phone, we generally think it should be available on anyone's network. Carriers should compete on the basis of their service plans, which is why people buy these services. "
Andrew Sherrard, a vice president at T-Mobile, said that most of the phones that it sells are not exclusive, but that having a few exclusive deals is actually reasonable. He doesn't see the practice as harmful and thinks that despite the recent government inquiries, it will continue to be a normal practice.
"I think that some devices will be exclusive to certain carriers," he said. "But the vast majority of phones, especially those below a smartphone, are pretty wide open. In the long run, we have a strong commitment to open platforms and will expand choice for our customers."
Restricting services and apps
The Justice Department may also review whether telecom carriers are restricting certain services that can be offered on devices that run on their network, The Wall Street Journal reported. Some carriers disable features on certain phones. And they also restrict different services. For example, the mobile version of Skype, a voice-over-IP calling service, is restricted from use by most U.S. operators.
Also, AT&T has been criticized for limiting the use of certain applications, such as the SlingPlayer for the iPhone. This application, which lets people use their phones to watch streaming TV from their cable service at home, is only allowed to work in Wi-Fi hot spots using the iPhone. AT&T argues it must limit usage to Wi-Fi because allowing the service to operate over its 3G wireless network violates its terms of service and would degrade service for other wireless customers.
But the carrier offers similar functionality over its 3G wireless service for other iPhone Apps, including one from Major League Baseball that allows people to stream live baseball games onto their phone.
The DOJ's investigation of the telecom industry could be an indication of a heavier hand from the Obama administration on enforcing antitrust issues. The Wall Street Journal said that "the Justice Department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney, has said she wants to reassert the government's role in policing monopolistic and anti-competitive practices by powerful companies."
The Obama administration's interest in potential antitrust violations is in contrast to that of the Bush administration, which did not push forward with any major antitrust case. It was also under the Bush administration that many of the major telecom mergers were approved, starting with Sprint's acquisition of Nextel in 2005. Later, local phone company SBC Communications bought long-distance provider AT&T, and then the new company bought BellSouth. During this time, Verizon Communications also bought long-distance operator MCI.
While these mergers have not created a single dominant phone company in the U.S., as there had been decades ago with the old AT&T, it has concentrated the power of the communications industry into the hands of only a few. Over the years, the industry has consolidated down to two major forces: the new AT&T and Verizon Communications. These two phone companies control 90 million landline customers and 60 percent of the 270 million U.S. wireless subscribers. These companies also control and operate most of the nation's Internet backbone, which shuttles Internet traffic as well as phone calls throughout the country and throughout the world.
The Justice Department declined to comment for the Wall Street Journal article, and was unable to be reached for comment from CNET News.
It would likely be difficult to prove that telecom providers have violated the antitrust Sherman Act, experts say. Newer technology and new competitors like cable companies are now jockeying against traditional phone companies. But the phone companies do wield a great deal of power, in terms of both assets and political clout.
One thing seems clear, halfway into President Obama's first year in office--major phone companies may be scrutinized more than they had been during the previous administration.
The next version but one of Nokia's Maemo mobile Linux operating system will use Qt rather than GTK+ for its application development framework.
Basing Maemo Harmattan on Qt will make it easier for developers to write applications for both Maemo and Symbian, Nokia's smartphone platform, the Finnish company's development platform product manager Quim Gil said Saturday at the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit.
Harmattan will be the successor to the upcoming Fremantle, which is also known as Maemo 5. (Nokia code-names its Maemo versions after the names of winds.)
Gil said that Qt, acquired in Nokia's purchase of Trolltech a year ago, will not come "out of the box" in Fremantle, but it will have community support. This will open Maemo up to developers who work with the KDE desktop environment, which uses Qt, he said. Maemo is currently based largely on Gnome, a rival environment, which uses GTK+.
"For Harmattan, we will make a switch," Gil said. "It's not an easy switch. If you look at the platform, the Fremantle middleware will stay more or less the same, but now Qt will come as officially supported."
The Gnome community is being invited to work with the Maemo community to get Gnome applications working on this new, Qt-based version, he added.
There is a "good push inside Nokia to bring Maemo further to mainstream audiences", Gil noted. However, he conceded that Maemo-based devices such as the N810 tablet are aimed at a small, high-end market, which is an unattractive scenario for many developers.
"There is an interesting possibility of getting a common API based on Qt for Maemo and Symbian," Gil said. "If you're developing for a platform like Maemo, which doesn't bring you millions of users, with that work you can then do a Symbian port and then have a much wider reach on Symbian devices, using the common Qt API," Gil said.
Nokia will continue to contribute to the Gnome project and provide support for GTK+ libraries, he added.
Meanwhile, on Monday Nokia denied speculation it was working on an Android device, a development that would have meant the company was supporting three open-source platforms.
David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.
Nokia has strongly denied working on an Android-based handset, following a report early on Monday that it's planning to do so.
The report, carried in The Guardian, took a cue from "industry insiders" to predict the launch of a touch-screen Android device at Nokia World in September. When contacted by ZDNet UK later Monday morning, a Nokia representative issued an "outright denial" of the piece.
"There is no truth to this story whatsoever," a statement from the company read. "It is a well-known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for smartphones."
Going for Android would certainly have been a surprising move for Nokia, given the time and money it has put into opening up Symbian. Nokia's operating system (since it bought out Symbian's other stakeholders last year) is likely to reappear in its new, open-source guise next year.
Nokia also has another open-source mobile platform in Maemo, which it is actively promoting as part of its Intel partnership.
Meanwhile, fairly realistic-looking images have been leaked of Sony Ericsson's Android phone, currently code-named "Rachael." The device appears to be part of SE's high-end Xperia line and is said to run on Qualcomm's 1GHz Snapdragon processor.
David Meyer of ZDNet UK reported from London.
