TamsS60 - the S60 Blog

So far, S60 phones were like most Palm OS handhelds - theyx supported just one external memory card. S60 FP2 is said to change that(seeing that the N96 will have 16GB of flash and a MicroSD slot), and developers should begin to adapt their applications now to avoid problems later on.

Forumk Nokia has now released a so-called Multiple Drive Support plug-in that allows you to test your apps on multicard devices and also contains loads of example code.

Developers - you are hereby officially encouraged to get this asap!

P.S. The boys recommend to use this only on non-patched SDK’s - there always is virtualization if you don’t feel like tainting your baseline carbide setup…

Mike Trujillo(the Carbide.c++ project manager) has just informed us that owners of Carbide.c++ v1.3 can now install an update via the Automatic Update Manager. Version 1.3.1 is a small maintenance update that fixes over 180 bugs in the product - a complete overview is here:
http://tools.ext.nokia.com/video/v1.3.1%20Update/Carbide%20v1.3.1%20Update.html

Furthermore, Nokia invited all beta testers of Carbide.c++ 1.3 into a private chat forum to discuss version 2.0 of the program(due November 2008)…

Mike Trujillo, the project manager of Carbide, has just informed us about the availability of a free update for Carbide.c++ version 1.3. The change log is as following:

We will be providing a patch to Carbide.c++ v1.3. The beta form of the patch (v1.3.1) is available now.

To get this – you can update your product using Update Manager in your IDE:
* Help –> Software updates –> Find and Install
* Select “Search for new features to install” and click NEXT
* Select Carbide.c++ Update Site and click Finish

Many bug fixes and a few minor enhancements to the product are available:
* Bug reporting tool –plug-in that will allow you to report bugs to the Carbide Bugzilla site directly from the IDE
* TRK Improvement - –a pretty useful utility that checks the TRK connections and validates that the user has the most recent version of TRK
* ABLD support –- we added support for a number of ABLD options that were removed in v1.3
* Select an MMP or BLD.INF file and right click –> ABLD. Select options for target, export, resource, etc)

OK - the 1st of April passed, and no Windows Mobile powered Nokia phone materialized. Just like I expected it. However, a source close to Nokia(who has provided me with loads of interesting information on the future of S60…more soon) has sent me the following bit of text:

I don’t remember seeing a “Windows” division on any of the org charts I saw. They don’t seem too stuck on “not in invented here” syndrome and I suspect the devices group could put Windows on Nokia hardware without causing a fuss. If they haven’t done it then I’d guess that they don’t consider it worthwhile to do a Windows phone (eg. Symbian/ S60 has the same features?).

It looks like people have been “demanding” that Nokia does a Windows device since 2006. There’s a rumor from Feb 2008 that Nokia is going to make a Windows device. I can’t see why they’d bother when they’ve got a technically superior system of their own. Do the needs of a handful of “enterprise” companies that can’t be bothered to teach their programmers how to use something other than Windows really need to dictate how Palm, Nokia, Apple and the Blackberry guys run their business? Palm folded and look at how well that’s worked out for them. Meanwhile Nokia, Apple and the Blackberry guys are doing just fine with their “non-Windows” systems.

In the end, it is exactly as I expected it to be. Nokia could have a few prototypes in-house(given the similarities…for example, my QTek 8500 WMS is almost a 1:1 knockoff of the N71 spec-wise). However, there is little need for them do release these - why should they give up their privileged position?

Any more questions?

The beta of Carbide.c++ v1.3 seems to end very soon - Mike Trujillo from Nokia has just posted the following to the newsgroup:

Hello everyone,

Thanks again for making this a terrific beta program. I will be sending out a summary of the project to you, including the results of our user survey. Here are a few details on the release that I want to bring to your attention.

* Build 24 is the very latest. If you downloaded Carbide before March 14 then you don’t have the latest version. Check Help –> About in the IDE to see what version you have.

* Download Carbide v1.3 at http://www.forum.nokia.com/carbide_cpp

* We will be closing this beta group soon - it’s been open for over a year now and its time to formally close it out and recommend that you use our traditional forums for support:

- Please continue to use Bugzilla for bugs and feature requests:
https://xdabug001.ext.nokia.com/bugzilla/

- Please use Forum Nokia Discussion board for general information:
http://discussion.forum.nokia.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=95

* If you OWN a Carbide product (you paid money for a license) then you should be able to update your license at the Estore:
- Log on to https://pro.forum.nokia.com
- Click “Manage my licenses” to see what products are eligible for upgrading.
- Contact sales.carbide@nokia.com with any questions

* Your temporary licenses will be expiring soon - which means that you will revert to Express Edition. You can purchase a new license at the the Forum Nokia Estore:
https://pro.forum.nokia.com/estore

* Contest Winners - we will be reviewing the contributions of the beta users and awarding phones.

Please let me know if you would be interested in a wrap up session.
We could be a conference call or run as a webinar. We would review the program, discuss what went well and what can be improved. We could also use the time to discuss our roadmap with you and get your views on future features. Drop me an email (mike.trujillo@nokia.com) with your thoughts on this.

Thanks!

/Mike Trujillo
Carbide.c++ Product Manager

However, Carbide 1.3.1 is said to be upcoming soon - stay tuned to TamsS60 to stay on top of the news!

This has just been posted to the carbide.c++ beta group:

Dear Beta User,
We are one big step closer to the final release of Carbide.c++. Our last major milestone of our project has arrived.

We now have Release Candidate 2 (RC2) ready for download. This will be the last major build that users will see until the production release. We will continue to post developer (daily) builds.

We have also reached Code Freeze – meaning we’ve started our “final validation” phase.

Please continue to post bugs on our Bugzilla tracking tool and feel free to post your general comments in the Google discussion area.

Thank you so much for your support – we are weeks away from shipping.

Regards,

/Mike

As always, please visit the beta group to find the download link!

The folks at UIQ’s have just posted a beta of their long-awaited UI Designer for Carbide.c++ to the official beta group:

The latest beta of the Carbide.c++ 1.3 IDE includes a UI designer for UIQ 3. The UI designer is a graphical tool in Carbide that makes it possible for developers to create a UIQ 3 application, or at least the foundation for one, by clicking and dragging commands, controls, editors, list boxes etc. to a design area. The tool generates all the necessary files for a UIQ 3 project (source code, header files, project files, resource files etc.) and places them in an appropriate folder structure. The generated source code is essentially a skeleton code in which the developer can add his/her own code to provide functionality.

….
Make sure you download build 19 (Carbide.c++_v1.3.0.019_rc1.zip) or later.

In case you are interested in a how-to for getting Carbide, please consult this post!

Mike Trujillo, the product manager for Carbide.c++, has just declared an ETA for the release candidate of version 1.3 of Nokia’s Eclipse-based Symbian development environment(passionately hated by Resco’s Michal Sartoris):

1. Release Candidate 1 is Jan 28. This is our proposed final
product! This also means that users need to report their bugs. Get
your bugs reported early!

In case you don’t feel like joining the beta test team, rest assured that we will keep you posted!

For all those of you currently using Carbide.c++; a new beta of the program has just been posted to the Google Group. From now on, new releases can be downloaded with the “Update” facility built into Carbide - no more need to reinstall everything to stay current.

Here’s the text of the original announcement:

Okay you beta users – here is the newest Carbide.c++ Beta.

The feedback on the first beta was very good so far – this time we really need some stress testing.

I am looking for a few prizes to provide to the top Google Groupies in the following two categories:

Most bugs reported (these need to be new ones that are not already tracked in the Bugzilla database). Any of your posts for v1.3 are eligible. We need to be able to reproduce these somehow.
Best (quality) bug reported. Quality counts more than quantity.

These will likely be a shiny Nokia new phone – your choice of an N95 and one other model.

…

P.s. For all Carbide haters out there - most beta users report that v1.3 is significantly better than its predecessors. Giving it another whirl could really pay out!

The Carbide beta team has just posted a page containing a changelog for all betas of Carbide.c++ ever released in the current beta process. In case you wish to know if your favorite “most-hated” bug has already been busted, take a look at the “release notes” here:

http://groups.google.com/group/carbidecpp-beta/web/carbide-c-v1-3-beta-1-release-notes