JAJAH Development Blog

On January 2008 I wrote a blog entry about Google’s Android and Social Network API’s under the title ‘Developer is King’ . Recently a friend directed me to Google’s new initiative : Google App Engine . Google is actually not the first to provide and host a network based solution for developers, a well known solution is Amazon S3. But while Amazon provides Web Services for storage, payment and others, Google actually took this a step forward - Google is taking this way beyond Web Services and provide a full blown Application Engine running on top Google’s monstrous infrastructure.

I think this is quite ingenious on Google’s part, they provide a fully hosted application environment, allowing developers to enjoy Google’s infrastructure for storage, load balancing and scale, authentication and various other API’s. Google’s MapReduce and GFS probably serve as an infrastructure together with their monitoring, and hosting technologies.

Each application is running in it’s own secured Sandbox allowing distribution between multiple servers and distributed web requests. Currently only Python programming language is supported, but assuming this takes off more are likely to be supported.

This move on Google’s part should attract application developers to use Google technologies as well as create an eco-system around Google web technologies. This is a bold move that will probably take a while to mature but if you’re a web application developer this is certainly something to look at.

Thinking back, it was Larry Ellison, the legendary CEO of Oracle, who coined the term Network Computer (NC)  in the mid 90’s, while the initiative itself did not really take off it created a lot of buzz that later lead into ‘thin clients’. If Google will play this right, thin applications will emerge : applications that take into consideration their distributed and scalable nature, without worrying about the complicated setup, storage and hosting environments.

While it’s hard for me to know how strategic it is for Google internally, and how they intend to push this, if at all, I think this could make a difference in the constantly evolving  computation world. I can only bow to what Google as a software giant is trying to push. If I were Microsoft I would do some serious thinking, mostly since .NET - Microsoft’s leading environment is severally lacking an application engine, but I will leave that for a later post…

Amichay

Yesterday, Monday 12th of May, was our first event. it was held in a bar in Hertzelya Pituach.

The event was a big success. Much more people than we expected arrived. It was mostly a networking event, with an open bar and food such as sushi,  cheese and other good things. Orange, our annual sponsor also handed out gifts. Sorry for those who came late, and missed out…

As all the events (to come) of Mobile Monday Tel Aviv, the event had lectures. This time, since it was our opening event and we wanted to make it interesting to all participants, we had 2 general lectures; Ofir Yaffe, From Orange which talked about mobile product development and Yoav Lorch from Zlango, who talked about courtship, mating and reproduction with mobile operators. I hope these two lectures interested everyone, and if not, there was enough alcohol to make things happier :).

I was happy to meet allot of new people and even more happy to see old friends. It was very nice to see Michael Poppler from Gips come to our event, while he is here in Israel.

Oren Todoros from Modu came with his small toy, which was a hit. I guess in our industry, The smaller, the better.

 

 

 

 

Our next events will have a theme and will target different aspects of the mobile industry. If you would like to lecture or interested in a specific theme, let us know! you can email me or tell us on our facebook group.

Hope you had fun like I did!

See you in the next MobileMonday Tel Aviv Event!

In a previous post, I wrote about how to run a method when the device wakes up, or comes back from sleep mode. In that post I wrote about calling the CeRunAppAtEvent native function, which signals a given  event (hEvent) when the device wakes up.  I used the WaitForSingleObject(hEvent, INFINITE) function to wait until the hEvent is signaled.

The problem occurs when wanting to close the application, and a thread, which called the WaitForSingleObject()  is still waiting for the event. In that post, I wrote that in case wanting to close the application the below function should be called in order to terminate the waiting thread. 

public static void Close()
{
    _close = true;
    if(_wakeupServiceThread != null)
       _wakeupServiceThread.Abort();
}

Unfortunately, The wakeupServiceThread could not be aborted, since it was waiting due to the call to WaitForSingleObject function.

The solution was to stop waiting on the WaitForSingleObject function,  and for that the _nativeWakupEvent event needed to be signaled.

Here is the code:

[DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError = true)]
        public static extern bool EventModify(IntPtr hEvent,
            [In, MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.U4)] int dEvent);

private const int NATIVE_EVENT_SET = 3;

public static void Close()
{
     _close = true;
     if (_hEvent != IntPtr.Zero)
             SetEvent(_hEvent);
}

private static bool SetEvent(IntPtr hEvent)
{
     return EventModify(hEvent, NATIVE_EVENT_SET);
}

Last Wednesday I attended the HandyTech 2008 event. it was in Dizingof Center. the event was held by Handy and Pocket PC Freak. The event included various stands by companies such as Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and others and some key speakers, including Arne Hess, founder of The Unwired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The exhibitors stands were nothing special, the most interesting attraction was  the blond girls of Sumsung and SanDisk. To make things clear,  Im a girl, and a girl that is interested in technology, unfortunately there was nothing to interesting at the stands, for me at least.

The lectures were more interesting, Arne Hess And Helio Diamant (from Pocket PC Freak)  tried to demonstrate some cool things, but had some problems doing so, due to connectivity issues (the world of mobile is cool, but not 100% working… yet)

Arne Hess talked mainly about seeing multimedia files from home on your mobile device, using Place shift and SlingBox, something which I didn’t really relate to. Helio Diamant, talked about calling a specific phone number, receiving it as a VOIP call, using any SIM card, with any number and being able to exchange your SIM card, and still receive the call when calling the original phone number. (Changing SIM cards is done for  saving on roaming coasts). After talking to him at the end of the event he explained (since during the lecture I didn’t fully understand) that he was using both Gizmo and Fring to make this happen, probably something that only a gadget freak like him could do with just a bit of trouble. Gal Biran, From Microsoft, gave an interesting lecture on different new application to come out, and about cool things that Microsoft is doing for Windows Mobile. at some point during the lecture a blond stewardess offered snacks, Johnny Walker black label, and other nice alcoholic beverages.

At the end of the lectures, a wide variety of prizes where handed out to some of the lucky winners that came. I was surprised of the quality and amount of prizes, such as Navigation devices, mp4 players etc. Sadly I never win

Awaiting for next year….

I wanted to send my application to the background. Simple enough, I just wrote Form.Hide() (or Form.visible = false). this did the job, my application was minimized and running at the background. At some point I wanted to use my application again, I clicked the applications icon, but nothing happend, I went to the running programs list in the settings, but my application was not there! my application was running in the background, and there was no way for me to close or access it!

Lucky enough, I used the Remote Process Viewer to find my application and kill it.

It seems that when Hiding a form (form.Hide()), The form is hidden from the user, and not only minimized. Funny that when clicking the "x" (which for some reason is called smart minimize), the application is minimized and sent to the background, where as using the hide() or visible=false, the application is hidden from the user and is not accessible.

The  Form class has a property which is called WindowsState. This property indicates the visual state of the form. unfortunately, the states that Windows Mobile/ .Net compact framework supports are ‘Normal’ and ‘Maximized’ and there is no support for the ‘Minimized’ state.

The solution for this problem is to call the Native function ShowWindow() with the ‘Minimized’ property:

[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
        static extern int ShowWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);

        const int SW_MINIMIZED = 6;

        public void Hide()
        {
            ShowWindow(_form.Handle, SW_MINIMIZED);
        }

Hiding the application this way, will not "hide" the application from the user, but only minimize it and the application will be  "reachable" from the running programs list.

In a windows mobile device you can only view the running applications, and this is only if the application has a form. This means that you cannot view various processes that are running on a WM device, like you would be able to do on you PC, or Laptop using the "Task Manager’. fortunately, Visual Studio, has a solution for this problem:

Go to Visual Studio ->Remote Tools and select Remote Process Viewer

 

Select the device which you would like to see its processes.

you will get a window, with all process that are running on your Windows Mobile device. In this window you will be able to view the processes and kill them, just like you would be able to do with the regular Windows "Task Manager" 

In addition to a list of processes, you can also see other info as threads, and from what module is the process.

For a long time now, there is a try to incorporate artificial smells into our computing experience, this field has known lots of ups and downs, but was never really solidified into a consumer product. There is a new try from NTT that enables mobile phones to receive smelly massages: More info

In most of the High-tech companies, as a part of the selection process, it is acceptable to carry out a number of interviews. Those interviews are one of two kinds: Professional interviews conducted by professional managers, and HR interviews conducted by human resource members. While the Professional interview is structured and it is very clear how to succeed in it- this is due to the fact that it contains a knowledge test and/or logic test which have an unambiguous objective answers- the HR interview is fuzzy and unclear with no correct/wrong answers. For this reason, when we are applying for a job in a high-tech company, it will be useful to know how to be successful in this kind of interviews. What are the HR interviewers looking for when they are interviewing for a job? (And I should know as a candidate) Beyond the known elements of impression formation (for more details see: www.prospects.ac.uk/links/Appsbodylang or http://jobsearch.about.com/od/interviewsnetworking/a/interviewimpres.htm), The interviewer is searching for a matching between the characteristics of the candidate and the properties of the organization, and between the personality and the abilities of the candidate and the quality of the designated job. To find out about the personality of the candidate, the interviewer is using the curriculum vitae (C.V) and a different set of questions as a part of a depth interview. Matching between the candidate and the organization The interviewer is trying to find out how the candidate will be integrated into the organizational surroundings: the organizational culture, the atmosphere of the appointed team, the character of the supervisor et cetera. For instance, if we are applying for a job in a small startup company, which has frequent changes, we should emphasize the ability to cope with those changes and even to want the challenge and excitement. On the other hand, if we are trying to be accepted into a large established organization, we should emphasize the aspiration for a job security and our ability to cope with the routine. As a candidate you probably don’t know much about these subjects, but try to do your best in achieving this information (for example: via the company web site or via acquaintance who work there). But more than likely, you would have some information and influence on the job characteristics (because it is easy to guess). Thus, the next article will explore the matching between the candidate and the job characteristics. The writer is an organizational psychologist working at a large selection agency in Israel

There are many PMP players in the market that offer wide-screen video playback, a Wi-Fi Internet browser, the ability to play Internet video content from YouTube, wireless music purchases, a music player, photo viewer, video player, and much more.However we can say that the kings of the superplayer domain right now are the iPod Touch (IPhone) and the Archos 605 WiFi . What Specification the IArchos will have ? In order to answer this question I put in a table all the specification of both products: IPhone and Archos and I selected in each criteria the best one

	Archos 605 Wifi	IPhone	Who’s better?
Capacity	Up to 160 GB	16 GB	The Capacity of the IPhone is really low and the archos here can be up to 160 GB
Display	800×480 pixels, 4.3” TFT LCD, 16 million colors Touch screen	480×320 pixels,3.5 TFT	The screen in the archos is really Good. You can enjoy the movie.
Video	Mpeg 4, WMV, H.264,MPEG-2, Copy and Past	Mpeg 4, WMV , H.265 and more. Max Resolution is 640×480, Using IPhone software	The Archos support much more resolutions and files type. The same As Archos. Just copy and Paste your movie to the device
Audio	Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 Kbits/s CBR & VBR, WMA, Protected WMA, WAV (PCM/ADPCM).	Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV	I like more the sound in the IPhone. There are some people that might say otherwise but this is my opinion.
PDF viewer	Can read PDF File	Can read PDF File	Can Read PDF File
Video recording	Via the optional DVR Station/ DVR Travel Adapter. Records NTSC/PAL/SECAM in MPEG-4 AVI format with stereo sound, VGA resolution (640 x 480) @ 30 or 25 f/s	Can record video but with very low quality	You can use your archos like a DVR or VCR. The recording is in good quality
GSM	Doesn’t support al all	Quad-band (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)	This is a really cool feature. No Doubt the IArchos should Have it
Connections	WiFi	Wi-Fi EDGE Bluetooth 2.0+EDR	The IPhone has much more connections.
Browser	Opera® Web browser and Adobe Flash® Player - support flash 7 at present.	Safari Web Browser Don’t support Flash	Both browser are good. The fact that the Archos support Flash is a big Advantage.
Camera	Don’t have	2.0 megapixels	This is a nice feature and the IArchos should have it.
Battery life:	Music playback time: 17 Video playback time: 5.5	Talk time: 8h Standby time: 250h Internet use: 6h Video playback: 7h Audio playback:24h	The IPhone has a better battery.
Dimensions & weight:	Avg 122 x 82 x 15 mm/4.8” x 3.2” x 0.6” (For 4/30GB* models) - 150gr/190gr Avg 122 x 82 x 20 mm/4.8” x 3.2” x 0.75” (For 80/160GB* models) - 260gr	Height: 4.5 inches Width: 2.4 inches Depth: 0.46 inch Weight: 135 grams	The Archos is too big. I think that the IArchos need to be in the middle (The IPhone has small screen that you can’t really enjoy a movie). The IPhone is very slim and has low weight and this is a big advantage over the Archos.
Operation System	customized version of Linux	OS X	There are much more Appz for the IPhone therefore I would say that the IArchos should have the same Operation system as the IPhone
User Interface	Nice	Amazing	There is no doubt. The IPhone look much more attractive and has a great User Interface.
Prices	160 GB - $399 80GB - $349.99 30GB - $299.99 4GB Flash - $199.99	8GB - $399 16GB - $499	The price differences are huge. In the price of IPhone 8GB , you can buy an Archos with 160GB.

The IArchos Specification:

• Capacity - Should be between 30-100 GB.
• Display - 800×480 pixels, 4.0” TFT LCD, 16 million colors Touch screen with scratch resistant
• Video - Mpeg 4, WMV, H.264,MPEG-2 - Should support up to Full HD Resolution.
• Audio - Frequency response: 20Hz to 20,000Hz Audio formats supported: AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 1, 2, and 3), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV.
• PDF Viewer should be included.
• Video Recording is a cool feature and it’s important that the device with external device can record like a DVR movies and clips.
• GSM - Should support calling and getting a call
• Connections - Should have WIFI, Bluetooth, EDGE and HSDPA (Missing in both products now but should be included)
• Browser - The browser should support the current flash version.Safari and Opera are both good browsers so I don’t really care which one we will use.
• Camera - The Camera should be at least 4.0 megapixels.
• Battery life - Due to the fact that this product will be used all the time ( phone calls , video, audio and surfing the net) ,the battery life should be extremely good. The IPhone battery life is not bad but it should be better like :Talk time: 12h, Standby time: 250h, Internet use: 8h, Video playback: 8h, Audio playback:24h
• Dimensions & weight: This device should be slim like the IPhone today and shouldn’t weight more than the IPhone.
• Operation system - Due to the fact that the OS X system is more common there are more appz and games for this operation system therefore the IArchos should have it.
• User Interface - The IPhone Interface is really attractive - It’s clear that the IArchos should have the same or a better one.
• Prices - There is a big differences in the prices of two products. Anyway for a good product I am sure that many of the people will agree to pay more.
• Missing Feature : GPRS - This is a feature that we don’t have right now in both product. IPhone plan to release the next version of the IPhone with it.

I hope that Archos and Apple will read this Article and we will see soon a product that has these specifications. There is no doubt that when a device like this will come out many of us will be happy to have one.

A portable program is a piece of software that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any other computer. It can be your anti-virus , email program, system tool and even Operation system.

The program run directly from your external device (USB, IPOD or memory stick) and not require any installation on your computer.

What are the benefits of using such “Portable Software” ?

• Leave a zero “footprint” on any PC \ Mac. After the program shut down All registry \ temporary files should be removed.
• All Data can be saved in the external device.
• These programs don’t mess our computer - they don’t take space \ affect the registry files and other components.
• We can use this program in any computer , no matter if this software is installed there.

You can find many program that are portable like:Bablylon , Word ,UnInstaller 2008 ,Nero and even windows XP