Indeed, it seems like the main problem on these sorts of things is that we Americans have no idea where or how to get them. No sales channels, no seeing them in use on the street, no access to test devices. :(
-- brion
On Fri, Apr 15, 2011 at 2:46 PM, Quim Gil quim.gil@nokia.com wrote:
Summary: I can get a couple of Series 40 developer devices for contributors of Wikimedia mobile projects for this platform.
Most of the discussion about Wikimedia mobile projects tends to default to high-end devices. We definitely need to address those, but we shouldn't forget about Internet enabled devices pointing to lower price points.
A good example of this distortion is Nokia Series 40. It's the platform selling by far more mobile devices in the world (hundreds of millions), yet it hardly gets a decent page in Wikipedia ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_40
Anyway, there are some good developer news coming from this platform:
Ovi Browser - a proxy browser for efficient data usage http://www.forum.nokia.com/Develop/Web/Ovi_Browser/
Series 40 Web Apps http://www.forum.nokia.com/Develop/Web/Series_40_web_apps/ & http://www.forum.nokia.com/Develop/Web/
Our work in the new mobile gateway should pay attention to this browser and Opera mini, the main choices of Series 40 Internet users. It would be also great if web developers (HTML/CSS/Javascript) would step in with ideas for mobile apps targeting Series 40 (this morning I was thinking how trivial would be to develop a Wikinews app).
If you have a convincing plan I can help you getting a developer device for your work.
For those of you not knowing Series 40 check this gallery: http://www.forum.nokia.com/Devices/Device_specifications/?filter2=s40
We are talking about devices with mobile browser, many of them location aware, equipped with camera, with support for dozens of languages also in Asia and Africa, able to play music and video (Ogg support might be tricky though). The price range is very diverse but to give you an idea the price of the Internet enabled devices goes around 100€ (full price, no contract). For many people these devices are the first (and frequently only) tool to access the Internet.
Nokia plans to sell a billion Series 40 Internet enabled devices, and other companies (most Europeans and Americans have never heard of) are also incresing the sales in this competitive segment in countries like India, China and surroundings. The good news is that (with some tuning) your web apps will probably work on those as well, as well as on the higher end platforms.
-- Quim
Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l