Friday, May 4, 2012

Introduction to App Development with APIs for Nokia Maps and Location Services for Series 40 Phones


Source
http://www.developer.nokia.com
 
Consumers around the world are actively looking for location-based apps to make their Series 40 phones smarter, easier to use, and more relevant to their lives while on the move. The good news is that you can develop great location-based mobile applications using the Maps API for Java ME. With this API you can easily integrate Nokia Maps and location-based services into your apps aimed at a range of Series 40 phones.
This webinar will introduce you to the basic skills of displaying and interacting with a map, including zooming and panning. The session also will show you how to add your own content, icons, and markers to take advantage of the API’s versatile event-handling system, enabling users to interact with the displayed content. You’ll also be introduced to the use of related geographic services, such as searching, routing, and sharing locations.
The features of the Maps API for Java ME include:
  • Multiple map types optimised for mobile displays – street map, satellite,  transit and terrain views.
  • Reduced latency and less network traffic though built-in intelligent map caching and tiling.
  • Touch support for map panning and zooming.
  • Customisable markers for settingcolour, labels, and images. 
  • Polygons and polylines – set colours and transparency levels.
  • Map components are open to extension to customise and override standard functionality.
  • Standard “out-of-the box” support for KML parsing and for adding custom overlays.
Register now for the session most convenient to you:

Build a Series 40 Web App in One Hour

Nokia Asha 303Series 40 web apps are easy to build, and they make great information and entertainment apps that use frequently-updated content from the Internet. Using web development skills and tools, templates and information available from Nokia Developer, you can create an app in as little as one hour, start to finish. In this webinar, Michael from Futurice will show you how.
Michael suggests that you download and install Nokia Web Tools 1.5 before the webinar to get the most out of the session. That's the toolset he will be using in the presentation. You don't need to have it installed to learn a lot, but you'll learn more if you have it handy.
* Some attendees will become eligible for a free Nokia Asha 303 by publishing a Series 40 web app. We'll provide all the details during the session.
Register now for the session most convenient to you:

Samsung Unveils Galaxy S III Smartphone

Samsung Galaxy S lll Smartphone
Samsung Galaxy S lll Smartphone
Source

As expected, Samsung today unveiled the next device in its Galaxy lineup, the Galaxy S III.

The smartphone will make its debut in Europe on May 29 and a 4G LTE-optimized version will hit the U.S. market during the summer.

The Galaxy S III boasts a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 1,280-by-720 display, and runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It features an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9-megapixel front-facing one.

Samsung said you can take up to 20 shots on a burst mode, while a new feature known as Best Photo will automatically select the best photo out of a burst of eight.

Samsung acknowledged that 4.8 inches is a large screen, but the company said it significantly narrowed the bezel, so even though the S III is 22 percent larger than the S II, the unit itself did not get much bigger, Samsung said.
Samsung GALAXY S III Smartphone
Samsung GALAXY S III Smartphone

The smartphone will come in 16GB and 32GB flavors, with a 64GB version expected soon. A microSD slot can expand the Galaxy S III up to 64GB.

The Galaxy S III comes in at 5.3 by 2.7 by 0.3 inches and weighs about 0.3 pounds.

Press materials do not mention the processor, but some reports said the Galaxy S III will run Samsung's new Exynos chip. As explained last month, the ARM Cortex A9-based, 1.4-GHz processor provides double the processing power of its predecessor, the 45nm process-based Exynos 4 Dual, while consuming 20 percent less power.

"Smart" Software Features
During a launch event in London, Loesje De Vriese, head of marketing for Samsung Belgium, talked up some of the Galaxy S III's software features, including "Smart stay," which prevents the device from going to sleep.

"We want to linger on a page without touching it when reading an ebook or long email," De Vriese said. It's "annoying" to have to keep touching the screen or re-enter a password when the screen goes dark.

With Smart stay, the Galaxy S III's front-facing camera "sees us," he said, "and knows whether we are looking or not. It keeps the screen awake for us when we are awake and it sleeps when we sleep."

The smartphone also includes voice-control features, dubbed S Voice. Tell your alarm clock to "snooze," for example, respond to a text message, or launch the camera.

Smart alert, meanwhile, will keep you abreast of who's trying to contact you. If you missed calls or texts while your phone was idle, it will vibrate the next time you touch it.

The device also includes a facial-recognition component that will recognize friends' faces. If you take a photo, for example, and the Galaxy S III recognizes the person in the pic, it will ask you if you want to send a copy of the photo to that friend.

Building on Android Beam, an ICS feature that allows for file-sharing, S Beam will allow for the sharing of a 1GB movie file within three minutes and a 10MB music file within 2 seconds, Samsung said, by touching another Galaxy S III - even without a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.

Sebastian Anthony with PCMag's sister sites Geek.com and ExtremeTech was on hand at today's event in London to snap some photos (above) and get hands-on time with the new smartphone. For more, check out the live blog.

Samsung first tipped its next Galaxy device last month, when it sent out invites for today's event that offered attendees the chance to "come and meet the next Galaxy." Several days later, it released a teaser video for the device that took a shot at its top rival, Apple.

Back in February, Samsung decided not to unveil the Galaxy S III at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, opting to instead show off the Galaxy Beam smartphone plus projector, the Galaxy Note 10.1, and the Galaxy S WiFi 4.2. The company also raised eyebrows by admitting to "not doing very well" in the tablet space.

Samsung first announced the Galaxy S II at MWC 2011, where PCMag got some hands-on time. It didn't hit the U.S. until September for Sprint and October for AT&T and T-Mobile. Verizon did not sign on for the Galaxy S II, opting instead of the Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone with the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

By February, Samsung announced that it had sold 20 million Galaxy S II devices. Overall, the Galaxy lineup helped Samsung best Apple as the No. 1 smartphone maker in 2011, even with the launch of the iPhone 4S. It continued that trend this quarter, it seems, with several analysts saying that Samsung beat Apple in the smartphone race during the first few months of 2012.