Guest tdp Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 I have been reading up on the fact that Symbian (and it's partners) are now looking to incorporate OPL in it OS for mobile (and other portable devices). This means that the OS is going to be very open. It is already Java enabled. What does this mean to users and developers? OPL (and Java) is an easy to learn yet powerful language. Because of its very easy to understand syntax it can be quickly and easily absorbed by almost anyone, allowing ordinary users to create fully-featured applications for Symbian OS. And this means only one thing: hundreds or thousands of applications made by enthusiasts, hobbyists and individual developers. A true community and rapidly growing software selection. Microsoft released its MS Smartphone 2002 OS so that it has the ability to be heavily crippled by its certification system. The use of certication from what I understand is upto the SP providing the phone/device. Unfortunately, Orange has opted to go this route. It is only possible to install applications with valid security certificates. Certification takes time and costs hundreds USD/GBP. Moreover, developers have to certify not only new products, but also every update! Even changing one byte in binary code requires passing certification again (and paying or the use of prepaid certifaction rights). We can forget about small developer companies and individuals creating software for SPV and its followers. We can forget about freeware when you have to pay hundreds for making it installable! No cheesy apps, and no emulators. For example, Mame has already been developed for the P800, and this before the device has even been released!!! If you think about it, the Symbian OS has now got a unique chance to go the entirely opposite way! To become a system widely open for every hobbyist, student, developer. Where everyone - for free - can put his ideas into a program for own or public use. This gives units like the P800 an instant advantage before it has been released. It's sad that a phone like the SPV, that is really powerful has been locked down in this way. Have you noticed that all of the little hacks that people have noticed are now not working. The phone's OS is being updated all the time, but not for our advantage, but to further lock down the phone. It almost seems like Orange is spending more time locking the phone down than addressing the multitude of problems highlighted in this very useful forum. What do we do now? Are we really going to get the plethroa of software promised by Orange? Why would a company produce software for a format that costs them this much money, and restricts them in this way? If I was a software house I would go for the P800 due to the fact that I will not have to pay for the "privilege" of developing on that format? Well...... that my 0.02p worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest adrianfox Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 The problem is that at the moment the SPV does not have any real competition. It is the first real smartphone to market. So all we can do is whinge. As soon as a comparable device is realeased without certification restrictions we can all vote with our feet and switch networks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HelloDave Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 Unless all the networks decide certification is a "Good Thing". Then I assume if I get an o2 smartphone, all my paid-for Orange signed apps won't work :evil: Apparently the P800 will have certification too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spacemonkey Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 If O2 doesn't force certification then your Orange signed apps should be fine. The issue is that if O2 does require certification do you think they're gonna allow Orange signed apps or only O2 signed apps... But then if you look at the posts about Baltimores signing it seems they are a level above Orange so Baltimore signed apps should run on any Smartphone 2002 system whether it requires cert or not. That's the theory. Anything else would be ridiculous and I'm sure the whole thing will calm down and become annoying but reasonable livable once the right structures are in place... we're still very early days in this whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Monolithix [MVP] Posted January 9, 2003 Report Share Posted January 9, 2003 i'm very interested to see what orange do once more competition comes about. i also really like the smasung smartphone offering, it'll be interersting to see how and if certification changes once some decent competition comes about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DJHope Posted January 15, 2003 Report Share Posted January 15, 2003 P800 is symbian and that is going to have cert (in the white paper) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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