C. Enrique Ortiz | Mobile Things

Left: Ibsen Espada, Right: Cofresí. Source Houston Press

I really believe “artist” is the one of the most difficult jobs in the whole world; and only the best can survive as true artists. People don’t buy paintings all the time, and painters are affected by hard economic times too; people don’t buy art when times are not so good.

The life of an artist is quite different from the life of developer, and at times can be quite glamorous; I’ve seen it, and it is quite amazing (as compared to the life of a developer, ha!), but getting there is very hard, and it is much harder to stay at such level over long periods of time…

So I’ve a great respect for artists who dedicate their life to art…

This is why I’ve a great respect for my first cousin, Ibsen Espada, who is an artist/painter. I’ve seen him in ups and downs, inspired and not inspired. I’ve seen him shine at painting exhibitions (openings nights are awesome), and when times are not so good. I love his art, and I’ve some of his pieces at home. He is an abstract painter.

Ibsen at his Studio

Below is an article about him from 2004 that I found on the Web (Houston Press):

For many artists, opportunity knocks once or twice. For Ibsen Espada, it banged incessantly. The part-time dog catcher was asleep with a hangover on a Saturday morning, in his ramshackle White Oak painting studio, when somebody began pounding on the door. Naked, Espada climbed out of bed, leaving behind a woman he’d met mambo-dancing the previous night, and groggily peeked outside. He saw a face that few struggling Houston artists had ever glimpsed on their doorsteps: the well-coiffed visage of Susie Kalil, guest curator for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Read the rest of the article at No Virgins, No Velvet (Houston Press).

This next painting I like a whole lot:

Welded Dancers

The following two paintings of Ibsen I found for sale at eBay:

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(I totally believe that creating and delivering beautiful software to be an art)

…or, the Network Providers/Operators must be having a blast.

The network providers are doing just fine… new cool handsets here and there, handset exclusivity on certain networks, message usage is up, data consumption is up, new services are coming up, very cool applications from web to native, developers and more developers, and prices are up…

Not too bad for the current state of the economy, don’t you agree?

• Mobile Messaging Reaches Record-Breaking Numbers (ReadWriteWeb)
• Operators to Launch NFC-Based Mobile Payment Services (PR News Wire)
• Growth In Data Revenue Nearly Offsets Plunge in Voice Revenues (mocoNews.net)
• T-Mobile USA Data Price Increases - Bandwidth Issue or Greed? (The WAP Review)

I’ll tell you, mobility is the place to be…

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Thanks to everyone who voted for Sean at the JCP elections. The two with the most votes have been elected for JCP ME Executive Committee for the next three years. Having Sean at the EC is a very good thing, as he will represent the developer community; he understands well the issues and will push for changes — lets now hope the JCP will listen, accept and implement Sean’s recommendations:

• Sony/Ericsson: 45.1%
• Sean Sheedy: 36.8%
• Aplix: 17.9%

Congrats Sean (and Sony Ericsson)!!!

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The iPhone and Android platforms have validated a number of things; below is a list with some of such things:

iPhone:

• Applications are at the center of next generation of handsets.
• That software, not hardware, is the main driver and differentiator.
• Touch-screens rock! Everyone knew it, but Apple showed the world how.
• The mobile web is important, that there is no One Web, and that handset-specific customized mobile websites will continue to be built.
• That influencing the network provider and changing their game-field is possible.
• While the mobile web is great, today richer and more integrated applications need to be native.
• That users will download native applications, if a better way to discover and download applications is provided (i.e. App Stores)
• That closed systems is a sucky idea.

Android:

• That mobile-handsets can be based on open source and Linux, and be successful.
• Integration with services on the web (i.e. application infrastructures) matters a whole lot and is huge; and that this is especially true if such is provided “out of box”.
• Keyboards rock, but a software keyboard should also be provided.
• It is going to be a hell of a challenge for handset manufacturers that use Android to differentiate themselves; how will they if the software is the same? UI? Hardware designs?
• That open systems is a great idea.
• It re-validated points already validated by the iPhone: applications (and developers) are key to success, that it is about the software, the mobile web is important, that richer and more integrated apps need to be native, that users will download native app if a better way to discover and download is provided (app stores)
• That 3G can be impractical as it sucks-up your battery dry.

Other:

• That developers will develop in whatever programming language is necessary, even if it is Objective-C.
• Fragmentation? Who cares!

Anything else?

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A good writeup by James Shore on The Decline and Fall of Agile (James Shore blog).

Software development projects are a hard thing; not necessarily because of the software, but because people are involved.

I’ve worked on the most mature (and rigid) software development process in the world, the Space Shuttle on-board software (SEI 5), and on places where no process existed (startups). And I can safely say that because not all teams and projects are created equal, not all process should be equal. I’m not religious about any specific type of process. The best process is the one that is/can be followed. The best process is the one that works for your team/people. Processes can’t be forced-fed onto developers, Agile or not. Changing or implementing development processes can kill a project, especially if it impacts the existing “culture”. It is smart to consider a phased approach to this, for example, start by exploring/adapting some of the new concepts to current projects, vs. totally diving into it and potentially putting the project in jeopardy. Know to be flexible when implementing projects and when to stop pushing for (defer) something; developers (and anyone) can easily get distracted with process-things vs. delivering a product. Time is of essence, go-to-market your first priority. Processes are overhead.

Regardless of the process used, it is about minimizing the unknowns, and this is accomplished via proper planning (as needed for the phase of the project) and visibility, and execution and control, from charter to go-to-market.

Processes are at times, OK, most of the times, rejected by developers, mainly if forced, and especially if forced at the wrong time; note: developers are not stupid and what they want is to be given clear and achievable instructions (requirements) and to build and deliver it on a reasonable time-frame. Realize that process-wise sometimes most of the times “good enough” is OK, as long as things are delivered on time and with good quality. Be flexible and use what works for you; processes like Scrum or other are really guidelines.

I like to have initial efforts at front. I like to have initial planning that allows for “good enough estimates” on time-frames and budgets early on, and then I like to go iterative with cycles or sprints that allows for quick visibility and adjustments as needed, adapting in length based on where we are in the project, and team’s needs. Same on the design, I like to have an initial take at the architecture and design that will help with planning and projections and that provides a foundation for what is to come. Then we go iterative, incremental on lower design and implementation cycles that can be revisited, adapted, delivered, better understood.

The role of the product manager who owns/defines the product, manages priorities and the expectations and communication, who keeps the work plan up to date and manages scope, change, and risk at all times (control and execution) and who works well with the development team is key to the success of any software project. Then there is the development team, who are the stars who actually make things happen. Everyone must be accountable for deliverables and quality. And it does help to have smart, passionate and capable team and developers with code good coding practices and who understand what (good) software engineering, design and development is all about, and a management team who understands that writing software is a dynamic endeavor.

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A beautiful night launch of the Shuttle Shuttle Endeavour and the STS-126 mission (PDF)… See the launch in High Definition, or in standard definition version on Spacevidcast.com’s YouTube channel.

In Endeavour’s payload bay, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo is packed full of about 14,500 pounds of equipment and supplies, making it one of the heaviest modules in shuttle history.

Also included in the payload, are additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet, an exercise device and other household-type equipment.

The prime objective of the 15-day mission is to prepare the International Space Station to accommodate six members for long-duration stays.

Four planned spacewalks will focus on servicing the station’s two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, or SARJ, which are needed to track the sun for electric power.

Endeavour and its crew are set to land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center after more than two weeks in space.

Follow the mission on NASA TV.

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This upcoming November 17, 2008 is the last day of the JCP Executive Committee elections.

This year a number of individuals have chosen to run for the SE and ME seats side-by-side large companies; see the JCP Ballot. On the ME side, we have Aplix and Sony Ericsson running for election, and Sean Sheedy (individual).

And with this post, I would like to ask you to vote for Sean Sheedy for one of the ME seats (two are open).

Sean represents the developer community. Sean knows the mobile Java space, the issues involved both technical and poltical, he is passionate about it, he is vocal, and he really means and intents to make a difference. You can read Sean’s statement of why he is running for the seat.

While I considered running for election, I felt that Sean is a much better candidate; we talked about how to better serve the mobile Java developer community and the answer is for him to run, and for me to support him by helping reach developers, help disseminate information, and gather feedback from the developer community for Sean to use, who again, will be representing the developer community, which is a very good thing.

Note that to vote, you have to be a member of the JCP, but that joining the JCP is free for individuals.

For more information about how to participate see
JCP Java ME EC Election: Vote now for a Voice for Independent Developers (Terrence Barr’s Blog).

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I’ve written an article/tutorial on mobile web/widget development using Yahoo! Blueprint; see Develop mobile widgets with Yahoo! Blueprint (IBM developerWorks). The article shows how to develop a Weather widget using the Blueprint XML markup and infrastructure, PHP for server integration, and the consumption of Yahoo! services on the web.

Developing mobile applications can be a daunting task. With hundreds of handsets to develop against and support, mobile application development can be time consuming and costly.

With Blueprint, you can author a mobile application one time that can be targeted at mobile devices with a browser (or devices that support the Blueprint platform), allowing you to potentially reach thousands of users. In this tutorial you will see how to develop a weather mobile widget using the Yahoo! Blueprint platform.

This tutorial is for developers interested in learning how to develop mobile widget-based applications using the Yahoo! Blueprint platform. While this tutorial is for entry-level developers, general knowledge about Web applications, mobile applications, XML, and PHP is desirable, but not essential.

The article is dedicated to the memory of Heidi Carson:

This tutorial is dedicated to the memory of Heidi Carson. She was the editor of IBM developerWorks (dW) Wireless and Web development zones. I used to write about mobile and wireless for her; many years ago Heidi gave me the opportunity to write for dW. And she was friendly, kind, and always willing to help through the process. As I learned that she has left us, I’m saddened. But a part of her can be found in each of my previous articles at dW.

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Andrea Trasatti wrote that Everyone wants an App Store these days.

Yes, very true.

I was talking about this with Brian Fling at Mobile 2.0.

Apple, Google, BlackBerry. The number of independent vendors. Next, network operators…

App Stores are the new Deck. But a very deep deck. A searchable deck. A deck-catalog.

The new deck gives or moves the power to the subscriber/end-user, who can search (discover) and decide what application (content) to install or ignore, and even say which applications are great, OK or bad thus having a direct influence how a given application will do on the store/market.

The new deck makes developer’s life much easier and with better returns.

Next, future mobile stores will go beyond local/native applications and also offer web applications, widgets, and other types of mobile content.

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Over-the-Air (OTA) updates make sense; no need to connect to the PC to download needed updates.

At least that is the theory…

In practicality, OTA updates translate to delays, sometimes for weeks.

Because OTA updates burn resources, here I refer to bandwidth, this puts the network provider on an odd situation: should they be prompt with their updates and made them available immediately, potentially slowing down and/or consuming precious network resources at peak times? Or should they schedule updates at off-peak times or at small windows of times across all the subscribers, meaning it will take longer to hit all subscribers, with some subscribers not getting needed updates until weeks after it is available?

The answer, in addition to OTA updates, network providers also provide Web to PC to Side-loading of updates. This will satisfy those subscribers who want to install updates ASAP, with the added benefit of relieving the network provider from having to push the updates thus saving network resources, while those subscribers who don’t care or prefer automatic updates, can wait for the OTA update to occur.

As a side note: should network providers be liable for not getting updates out fast enough to handsets, allowing handsets to be exposed to hackers and whatnot?

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The Programmable Web reports that as of Nov 2008 it has 1,000 Web APIs on its directory.

You can see the distribution below (which looks pretty balanced all around) with Mapping APIs at the top:

And what is the preferred way to expose and consume Web APIs? The following chart shows REST at the top, with SOAP second:

(my recommendation, to use RESTful calls and XML Feeds, and consider JSON for mobile-to-server Data Interchange)

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The Android platform is an open platform, governed by the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). OHA has many members, and today it includes seven network operators and four handset manufacturers.

While the platform itself should be consistent across vendors/providers, thank God, I wonder what will be the differentiation challenges that handset manufacturers and network providers will face?

The handsets will all be capable of (from the S/W perspective) the same things, so will differentiation come purely from hardware design, for example, better handset footprint, layout, screen sizes, better battery consumption?

Or perhaps differentiation will come from the cost of ownership, as in monthly cost for voice/data/text plans?

Maybe it is all the above.

But I think a big part of this battle be in the User Interface. While the concepts of workspaces, and how S/W and UI is designed and written will or should remain consistent across platforms/vendors, we will see a plethora of UI designs and information architecture/organization. Is this a good thing? In theory it is, as it will allow for better and neater UIs and related innovation. I’m not sure yet the impact on the development and testing of Android applications… Also, will that UI innovation and differentiation make it back to the open source tree? Not sure yet, but I will find out soon, but my guess today, probably not.

Access to content and integration with the Web, which is based on applications and services, should be another differentiator. Integration to Google services have proven to be a winner, but Google services probably will be available to all Android platform vendors, providing no differentiation across Android vendors.

So differentiation between Android vendors will be a challenge, a challenge the iPhone doesn’t have, as there is only one iPhone vendor (and platform, unless you go across classes of iPods).

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The MobileMonday Mobile Peer Awards are among the most influential events in the mobile industry and, with over 1000 attendants, the point of reference in startup innovation during the Mobile World Congress (Barcelona, February 16, 2009).

There are a number of cool mobile companies in Austin, and it would be great to have Austin representation!

If your company is ready, this will give you a big opportunity to present in front of investors, operators, media companies, and everyone else in the mobile value chain, press and influential bloggers and your peer entrepreneurs.

Visit the Peer Awards Homepage (http://www.mobilepeerawards.com) and register your startup under the *Austin* chapter.

I will be monitoring the list and serve as a liaison… If you have any questions, shoot me an email…

Sponsoring

If you would like to become a sponsor of MobileMonday Austin at the Peer Awards, please send me an email. In exchange your logo will be included on the Austin’s Peer Award page and will be mentioned at the peer awards event. The collected money will be used to send Austin representation and/or help a local startup make it to the event.

/C. Enrique Ortiz, MobileMonday Austin

From Recession Delays Motorola Cellphone Spinoff, More Cuts Coming (MOT) (Sillicon Alley Insider):

8:24 Have had too much complexity. Today over 20 combinations of software, silicon, and UI platforms. This has resulted in high costs and portfolio gaps in 3G, smartphones, very low tier.
:
No longer planning to develop certain OSes. Will focus on Android, Windows Mobile, and P2K. ODM solutions for low and very low tier. Will no longer offer new OSes on internally developed Linux Java or Symbian UIQ. $370 million of charges on inventory write down.

The above is actually a very good thing. Focus, focus, focus. Less OSes translate to less maintenance overhead. And leveraging Open OSes mean leveraging others (i.e. cheaper) to build a high-quality product.

I think Android has fallen from the Sky and just at the right time for Motorola.

Motorola can focus on creating strong H/W pieces based on Android, while riding the Android wave and making things cheaper.

If I was Motorola, I would design a common platform, a foundation for all of their handsets, and drop all OSes except for one, Android, as it is (or should be) cheaper, it is based on Linux (and Motorola likes Linux), has a great UI (Motorola is not great at UIs), and leverages the Google infrastructure (GMail, Contacts, Maps, etc) allowing for highly functional handsets right out of the box. I would also use a powerful design company such as Frog Design for their industrial H/W design, and then concentrate on the manufacturing aspects.

I’ve the feeling positive things will be happening for Motorola, if they continue working on the right things: re-organizing and cutting costs/expenses, working on the right technologies, taking advantage of their strengths (manufacturing) and culture, and focus, focus, focus.

Last but not least, all of this begs the question: what is the future of MIDP3? Motorola is the MIDP3 spec lead, and the spec is pretty much ready to go, complete. But it seems for obvious reasons that MIDP3 is not on Motorola’s top/high priority list. Will Motorola drop MIDP3 or will Motorola have a MIDP3-runtime on top of Android? That would be interesting. Let’s wait and see.

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Call it 3G’s weakness, its Achilles’ heel, or 3G’s worst enemy….

==> Power consumption

Ironic it is, having a 3G device, but forcing it to 2.5G, to have a usable handset over time…

After a 1-day test running on EDGE vs. 3G/UMTS on my new Android G1, the battery did last much longer: the whole day and whole night…

The power consumption/management issue on Android really has to be addressed soon, as it makes 3G kind of impractical. In the meantime, if you’ve access to power sources, use it 3G, but if you are not sure, maybe because you on the road, force it to EDGE:

Go to “Settings” => Go to “Wireless Controls” => Go to “Mobile Networks” => Select “Use only 2G Networks”

I am hoping that very soon, we get a future Android S/W update that improves on power management so that we can use the handset on the 3G network without fear of ending up with a dead handset when we need it the most.

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