Nokia recently announced its 2008 Forum Nokia Innovation Series champions. This group of 8 developers were screened and chosen to receive additional assistance from Nokia to get their product out to consumers and continue to build the product into something even better. I think it’s awesome that Nokia is working to help out its 3rd party developer ecosystem, and it should be really encouraging to those looking to start programming.
However, the important thing, to me, is that out of 8 developers, 6 of them are based in the U.S. Yes, that’s right. You can view the whole list (with links) at the bottom of this post, but I think this shows two things.
1. The U.S. isn’t as Nokia-unfriendly as we like to think. I’m the first one to admit that the market environment here in the United States isn’t all that great for Nokia. Between the carriers and cheap consumers, Nokia struggles with an uphill battle here. Having even 6 moderate-sized companies actively developing applications for Nokia’s S60-powered smartphones is a feat in of itself. Of course there are several larger developers who are also based in the U.S.
2. Nokia’s actually still committed, somewhat, to the U.S. It’s definitely easy to claim that Nokia hates the U.S., given the performance and complete lack of marketing we’ve seen here over the past few years. I’m glad to see Nokia putting some financial support behind these developers, especially the U.S.-based ones. Hopefully that will lead to increased U.S. interest in S60 smartphones.
What do you think about these applications? Have you heard of or used any of them? Personally, I’ve used Qik a few times, and I *really* love my HAVA player, especially. JoikuSpot is another popular one, but the rest are relative newcomers.
Application: Plusmo
Developer: Plusmo, Inc.
Santa Clara, CA
Plusmo is a leading provider of standards-based mobile widgets that deliver rich personalized experiences for consumers on a broad range of mobile devices. Supported by the Web Run Time availability for S60 3rd Edition devices, the light-weight Web applications are developed using the same well-known Web technologies used to create Web pages – AJAX, CSS, XHTML and JavaScript. Plusmo makes it easy for mobile users to develop widgets for their mobile phones, enabling them to extend social networking, track live sports, get news updates, watch videos, and play games through their mobile phones and PDAs virtually anywhere, anytime. For more information, visit: www.plusmo.com.
Application: Whrrl
Developer: Pelago, Inc.
Seattle, WA
Whrrl is a location-based social discovery tool that gives users access to more than 6.5 million points of interest in the U.S. using Nokia’s Assisted-Global Positioning System (A GPS) service. Melding the capabilities of in-depth location data and social networking, Whrrl enables mobile users to organize everything they and their friends know about people, places, and events and have that information at their fingertips on their mobile device. A Java application that easily runs on the S60 platform, Whrrl helps mobile users answer questions like, “Where should we go for dinner tonight?” or, “What fun stuff can I do around here?”, whether in their home town or traveling. For more information, visit www.whrrl.com.
Application: Qik
Developer: Qik, Inc.
Foster City, CA
Qik is a multimedia communications service that enables users to stream video, audio and IM live over the Internet, from S60 3rd Edition devices to any PC, laptop or mobile device that has Internet connectivity. Qik enables users to share moments of their life directly from their cell phones with their friends, family and the world – by pointing their phones and streaming video live to friends on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and other sites. Qik users can also use their cell phone like a camcorder and stream hours of video over their phone’s cellular network, without worrying about storage on the cell phone. For more information, visit: www.qik.com.
Application: WebMessenger Mobile
Developer: WebMessenger, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA
WebMessenger provides a native Symbian client application for Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) that extends OCS functionality to Nokia S60 devices. WebMessenger Mobile for Microsoft OCS on Nokia S60 enables mobile professionals to achieve the same collaboration and productivity opportunities in the field that they experience in the office. Microsoft OCS manages all real-time (synchronous) communications including instant messaging, , audio and video conferencing. Microsoft OCS also powers presence, a key benefit of Microsoft unified communications that unites all the contact information stored in Active Directory with the ways people communicate. For more information, visit: www.webmessenger.com.
Application: Backup-Pal®.
Developer: Advanced Wireless Solutions
Burbank, CA
Advanced Wireless Solutions’ Backup-Pal®. provides a solution to the problem of data loss resulting from lost, stolen, and damaged cell phones, as well as data transfer problems associated with cell phone upgrades and switching carriers. An external storage device that fits in the palm of the hand and backs up and restores personal information directly, Backup-Pal supports all S60 and Series 40 devices with mini, micro, or Pop-port interfaces. It also supports migration from other platforms, such as Motorola, Samsung, and others. Contacts and other personal information are safely transferred thus keeping personal information private and secure. For more information, visit: www.backup-pal.com.
Application: Hava Mobile Player
Developer: Monsoon Multimedia
San Mateo, CA
Hava Mobile Player is a TV “place shifting” application that leverages Monsoon Multimedia’s Hava device to lets mobile users watch live home TV or their own recorded content on their mobile device, wherever they may be. Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards-based multimedia products and technologies for the PC and Consumer Electronics industries and licenses its highly optimized multimedia solutions comprising applications, drivers, frameworks, middleware and reference designs. For more information, visit: www.myhava.com and www.monsoonmultimedia.com.
Application: JoikuSpot
Developer: Joikusoft Oy Ltd.
Espoo, Finland
JoikuSpot is a free mobile application that can be installed directly onto a 3G connection-enabled S60 3rd Edition device to turn a user’s 3G mobile connection into their own secure WLAN hotspot, virtually wherever they are – whether stationery or in a moving train or car. JoikuSpot also enables the S60 device to act much like a wireless router, letting multiple WLAN-enabled devices that are authorized by the S60 device user to share in the Internet connection that it provides. JoikuSpot was developed by Joikusoft Oy Ltd. is a privately held company headquartered in Garden City, Espoo, Finland, founded specifically to bring its innovative WLAN solution to market. For more information, visit: www.joikuspot.com.
Application: UbiSafe
Developer: UbiEst.
Treviso, Italy
UbiSafe is a location-based services (LBS) application built on Java technology that enables mobile device users to easily address their own personal security and emergency needs, as well as those of family, friends and individuals with special needs, such as children, the elderly and invalids. UbiSafe relies on a master Web interface in tandem with a Java-based client residing on S60 devices to let users monitor the real-time location of contacts on maps. UbiSafe lets parents or a caregiver, for example, set a geographic security radius or “safe” area within which a child or individual with special needs should remain, and alerts the user via SMS if the child or individual moves beyond the designated area. UbiSafe was developed by UbiEst S.p.A., a leading location-based services company founded in 2001 in Treviso, Italy. For more information, visit: www.ubisafe.com.
