SEVENCLICK
Mobile Technology Evangelists

Two days ago Google launched its new web browser, called Google Chrome. Quickly lots of people downloaded it to have a try and see how it worked. After some testing time I can say that it does run fast. With high probability, the reason is the new browser engine it uses, launching each website and tab like a new process and in a smart and easy way.

But after testing it I thought “Ok but, will Google provide a Chrome version for mobile devices?”. And surprisingly I got an answer from Sergey Brin, Google co-founder, who talked about this in an interview at the Chrome launch event. In the event he said that Chrome will make its way to Android, the company’s mobile phone operating system and software suite.

Brin also said that both Android and Chrome have been developed separately but that now the two projects are public and nearing their first final releases, it’s probably that Android’s browser “is going to pick up a lot of the Chrome stack”, pointing to JavaScript improvements as one area. Chrome and Android’s current browser both already employ WebKit, an open-source project for the process of interpreting the HTML code that makes up a Web page and rendering it on a screen, what makes them get closer.

With this on-working state browser and the current mobile browsers, we start to have the chance to choose a web browser for our mobile device, although in some cases it depends on the O.S. our device has. Below you can find a little table with the current mobile web browsers, the O.S. they support and the development state.

I wish all these browsers were cross platform and then we could forget about our device O.S. and choose the one we like most even if we change our phone.

Via MobileCrunch

I bet most people think in Nokia when someone talks about Symbian. Wrong!!!! Despite this is neither the place not the moment to talk about Symbian structure, a little clarification is needed. Symbian is the Operating System under the hood of two application frameworks, namely S60 and UIQ. The former created and maintained by Nokia. The latter currently owned by Sony Ericsson and licensed by several companies.

Well, Google has finally created a native version of Google Maps for UIQ3 devices.  This way, UIQ users can enjoy this great application with a version that takes full advantage of the native functionality of the device (My Location feature is only available in native versions, not java).

Via Engadget Mobile

ArcSoft, CleNET Technologies, fring™, Google, i-skoot and Mobica. These are the names of the new UIQ’s friends, who have joined the UIQ Alliance Partner Program.

This means that UIQ Technology will support the partner companies in their development of mobile applications and services on UIQ and Symbian OS. The new partners are given access to UIQ roadmap updates, joint marketing, technical support and also have the option to receive early access to UIQ releases.

No doubt, this is good news for UIQ. They are very important companies, and moreover, they are software and services companies, instead of carriers or handset manufacturers.

Via SimplySymbian

Old Palm OS users now have reasons for celebrate. StyleTap, a Toronto-based company, announced the realease of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian by the first quarter of 2008, though they have been showing the product on the recent Symbian Smartphone Show in London.

StyleTap CrossPlatform for Symbian OS is the newest member of the StyleTap CrossPlatform family of products, that already allows Palm OS applications to run on Windows Mobile and aims to support different OS.

The new CrossPlatform for Symbian will support both S60 and UIQ platforms.

Via AllAboutSymbian
Link StyleTap

From Smartphone Show that is taking place this week in London, we have new announcements about support of Office 2007 documents on Symbian.

The last file format modifications that came up with Office 2007 had provided smartphone users with a new problem: their applications didn’t support the new XML format.

But is about to change. Dataviz has announced a new realese: ‘Documents To Go Premium Edition 4.0′ for UIQ 3 by December 2007. Moreover, QuickOffice has also announced ‘Quickoffice Premier 5.0′ for S60 3rd Edition.

Both two offer full Office 2007 compatibility for creating, reading and editing Word, Excel, PowerPoint documents.

Via allaboutsymbian.com
Link Dataviz QuickOffice

This PIM (personal information manager), developed for Symbian UIQ 3 smartphones, will be released by the first quarter of 2008.

DreamSpring, the company that has developed it, is currently recruiting beta testers to check out its features:

• Integration with DreamConnect 3 contact manager
• User’s activities: To-dos, appointments, events, categories, etc.

DreamLife has an intuitive GUI, described by DreamSpring in their press release as follows:

“DreamLife makes viewing and editing your activities a breeze, with unique 2-pane editing allowing you to see your day in context as you add and edit new activities. As a first to Symbian smartphones, DreamLife allows you to drag and drop activities in the edit view, giving an intuitive, visual method for planning your day.”

More information at DreamLife website

Via Simon Judge blog we find a complete and interesting summary about the SmartPhone Show 2007.

Carbide.C++, Symbian signed, Red Five Labs Net60 and some new guides and books are some of the issues he writes.

Link Mobile Phone Development

Sony Ericsson has included P1 in the list of phones available in Virtual Lab service. The P1 is a Symbian 9.1 UIQ 3 smartphone including WiFi connectivity, JME CLDC 1.1 and CDC 1.0, accelerated 3D graphics, etc..

The most important point in this announce is that this is the first Symbian based smartphone added to Sony Ericsson’s Virtual Lab. This way, both JME and Symbian developers will be able to test their applications virtually.  Sony Ericsson has simulated stylus interaction with the touch screen using mouse clicks (obvious) and WiFi connectivity with a virtual WiFi network included in the Virtual Lab.

Great news for Sony Ericsson developers.

Link Sony Ericsson Press Note

Sony Ericsson and Motorola announced yesterday the operation by which Motorola will obtain 50% stakes of UIQ. The transaction must be reviewed by regulator bodies, but nothing irregular is expected and the contracts have already been signed.

This is an interesting movement for UIQ. From now on, the two companies will have representatives in the board of directors. In my opinion, this will serve to push forward the technology. Motorola plans to include the technology in new mobile phones, as long as only one model is available from the USA based company.

Interesting news. Let’s see how Nokia, and more concretely Series 60 faces this new rival.

Via All About Symbian