Symbian in Motion

I’ve been sitting on this app for a while with the hopes that it would soon reach a state stable enough to be discussed on SiMo. Thankfully, I believe it finally has! You may have read about S60Ticker (Google translated) on some other blogs and original versions were a bit confusing to say the least. Since it initially surfaced however, a good deal of work has gone into the app though and it even received Symbian Signed status making it accessible to the masses. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m a big fan of apps that feed content to the Active Standby screen because it really is an underutilized resource.

S60Ticker is a useful (and ultimately flexible) tool that automatically publishes real time content to your Active Standby screen (and / or other screens). By default, it covers SMS but the ticker is configurable in terms of the content it can display (not easy quite yet) along with colors, active duration, position and more. A public SDK is also available if coding is your thing and you want to play with content sources.

I won’t go too deep into it because it’s the kind of thing that you really have to play with to get a full understanding of, but here’s a good example of a setup: S60Ticker is configured to be hidden when inactive. Upon receiving a new SMS, S60Ticker activates and scrolls the sender’s mobile number along with the content of the message for 60 seconds, then the app goes back into sleep mode.

In terms of content, here are some of the options that have been made available:

• SMS
• News feed
• Exchange ticker
• Mobile Banking information
• Weather forecasts
• Current music titles (playlist)

Adjusting the content fed to the ticker is still a bit tricky so we’ll save that for a later time once content adjustments can be made quickly and easily. For the time being, adventurous users with a good technical knowledge can check out the S60Ticker SDK and have a play. For the time being, just having SMS content displayed by this great freeware app will likely suffice. Make note that this is a two-part installation and you’ll need to install the server file first, followed by the GUI file. For some more good info on using the app, read through the author’s site and also check out these posts on the Symbian Web Blog.

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Joikuspot Light Beta does what many S60 users have been anticipating ever since the launch of WMWifiRouter, which allowed Windows Mobile Users to enable their handsets as a WiFi access point. Joikuspot does exactly that, but for Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices.

Essentially acting as a WLAN gateway it can be configured easily by installing the application and running it, it instantly turns your S60 handset into a WiFi access point, which can be used by any other device which has WiFi support to access your handsets net access. The best thing is the support for multiple devices to connect to that one handset.

The application can be downloaded from the Joikuspotlight website, although be aware it is in Beta stage. It is signed so no need to create your own certificate.

Enjoy!

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Sometimes, there’s nothing like an original. Many, many companies have developed security and device recovery applications for the S60 3rd platform but the simple fact is that each and every one left us wanting more. Whether there was essential functionality missing or it was just a case of too many useless features gobbling up resources, the ideal app has yet to be released. While that is still true, I’m glad to let you know that we’re much closer than you might think! Marco Bellino, Forum Nokia Champion and head developer of Symbian Toys, was kind enough to share the latest beta of their upcoming security solution with me and I’ve been impressed from start to finish.

In a nutshell, Guardian is exactly what other S60 3rd security solutions have tried to be; with a twist. It is designed to perform two core functions:

1. Greatly assist in the recovery of a device that has been lost or stolen
2. Restrict unauthorized access to any or all applications on a device

Light on resources and heavy on performance, Guardian 3rd really does attack each of the items above better than any other app I’ve seen. It’s remarkably easy to set up and my testing has gone phenomenally well. But as is my motto, talk is cheap. Let’s have a look:

In terms of setup, there are two main items that I’d like to highlight above all else. Why? Simply because they will give you a good idea of what this app is all about. It’s the little things and the attention to detail that really set Symbian Toys’ solution apart from the pack.

Firstly, as with several other competitive apps, Guardian 3rd has the ability to trigger an alarm and notification messages if the SIM is switched at any time. Of course this is essential functionality but what if you’re like me and you have several phones and just as many SIM cards? This app allows you to register multiple authorized SIM cards so dealing with changes is no longer a drill that involves punching keys as fast as possible, deafening alarms and needless SMS notifications.

The second item is with regards to application access restriction. Yes there are a few other apps that provide similar functionality, letting you scroll through a list and select each app that you would like to protect. All selected apps will then require the user to enter a password at launch before it can be utilized. The problem with these solutions is that if you use several protected apps in one sitting, you must continually enter the password as you open each app. If a user enters the password properly once, then obviously they will be able to enter it successfully for each other app. Why make it a PIA?

As you can see above, Symbian Toys has implemented an inactivity timer. Thank you! Now if you open one restricted app by successfully inputting the password, you will not be prompted for the password again when opening subsequent protected apps. This allows you to use all of the apps on your device without interruption as if Guardian 3rd wasn’t even installed on your device. When you’re done using the device and it becomes inactive, Guardian 3rd will automatically reinstate application protection after the defined amount of time has passed. Above you can see that I have it set for two minutes so once I enter my password correctly once, I won’t have to enter it again until my phone has been inactive for two minutes.

In terms of device recovery, no other app can come close to touching the effectiveness of Guardian 3rd. It supports a variety of remote SMS commands just as competitive apps do, in terms of operation at least. Specially formatted messages come in to the device silently so that a thief is not alerted to their arrival. Let’s take a look at the current list of commands:

• Delete: Deletes SMS/videos/pictures/records/contacts
• FakeSMS: Receives an SMS using a fake sender as specified
  
• Forward: Forwards sent/received SMS and the incoming/outgoing calls list
  
• Alarm: Sounds a loud siren
  
• Config: Modify Guardian’s configuration parameters
  
• Localize: Continuously sends (at a defined interval) the device’s current GPS location or the device’s cell-id retrieved from network.

Each of the above commands is quite useful but wait, what was that last one? That’s right, Guardian 3rd is capable of utilizing your device’s internal GPS (or external if available) to transmit the current location of the device at time intervals that you specify! Plug the data into Google Maps or a similar service and you can see the exact location of your device. But what if the device is indoors or does not have access to GPS, internal or otherwise? Guardian 3rd will instead utilize cell-id data to determine approximate position and transmit that data. Even still, the app will continuously attempt to retrieve GPS data and once it becomes available it will transmit; even if that is hours after the command has been sent! Also noteworthy, cell-id data will also be transmitted automatically with the initial SMS in the event of a SIM change.

Once available, Guardian 3rd will be offered in three different variants. Platinum (includes all available functionality), Gold (some limitations) and Free (basic functionality). For a better idea of what each version entails, check out the December 16 entry on the Guardian 3rd page. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If you have the option to spend a small amount of money on a security utility this advanced and it will assist in protecting your investment of $400 - $800+ along with all of your private data, you would be crazy not to take advantage of it. Guardian 3rd is still in private beta but I’m fairly confident that we’ll see a public release soon enough. Once this great app does become available, rest assured I’ll post a notice.

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Note: This post is mirrored from my BGR post. Why? Because I really like this concept from a business standpoint and thought that you guys might want to check it out!

Added value, brand awareness, and customer loyalty are just a few of the concepts behind the latest business product offering from mobile developer Psiloc. SoftVariant is a brand new solution for Symbian devices that will automatically customize a S60 3rd Edition handset simply by inserting a memory card. Psiloc’s software will install applications, install and activate themes, create contact entries and contact groups, automatically add Wi-Fi hotspots and much more. Carriers, marketing firms and handset retailers are some of groups that will take particular interest in this solution. As a distributor, imagine being able to pack a cheap memory card with each handset you ship. When your customer inserts the card in their new device for the first time, SoftVariant will automatically install a few custom themes, add a few complimentary apps and automatically bookmark your company website and blog. The customer will appreciate the themes and apps, you will appreciate the word of mouth marketing and repeat business and the world will be a better place. Of course this is only one of a thousand potential uses for SoftVariant. It’s worth mentioning that in the wrong hands, this technology has the potential to be quite a nuisance. We can only hope that companies understand the concept of “less is more” and don’t do anything overly annoying that would have an adverse affect on recipients.

Learn more about their solution on Psiloc’s dedicated SoftVariant site.

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Flip Silent, the awesome app that I spoke about in an earlier post, has just received a very important update. For those who missed it, Flip Silent makes use of the accelerometer allowing you to silence your ringer by simply rotating your phone face-down (like the S60 Touch demo video). Version 1.01 was great as we all know, giving us a good amount of flexibility and control over operation. Version 1.02 adds two simple change log entries but they make a huge impact on the app.

1. Save Battery Power: you can activate the sensor when a call coming in!
2. Full control of switch between profiles, both flip over and flip back!

As much as I enjoy this app, the older version was a battery hog. Typically when I wake up in the morning, my N95-3 has the same number of battery bars it had when I went to sleep. With v1.01 of Flip Silent running, I would lose 4-5 bars! That’s a bit much and I suggested to the author (as I’m sure many did) that he enable a sleep mode where the app sensor “awakens” only when activity is detected.

Version 1.02 brings us half way there. Flip Silent can now be configured to “go to sleep”, and the difference in battery life is hugely apparent. The new problem however is that only incoming calls wake it up. This means that when an incoming call rings through you can flip your phone over to silence it, but later when you turn your device face-up again it remains in silent mode. Any activity, even simply sliding your device open / unlocking it should re-enable Flip Silent and once it senses that the device is not face-down it should revert to the profile (as configured) and go back to sleep until another incoming call wakes it up.

Rest assured, this functionality will be added in upcoming versions. Developer Tong Ren is really making a splash with this app and each new version brings further refinement. If you have ideas for Ren, make sure you leave a comment for him!

Get the latest version of Flip Silent

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