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Monday October 20, 2008

Google mobile product manager talking about Funambol

This was found absolutely by chance and it is just amazing!

http://www.kyte.tv/ch/160617-workfast-tv/228275-google-mobile

Thursday October 02, 2008

Like a bridge over troubled water

After years working on the technical side of the companies... requirements, design, programming, fixing bugs, introducing bugs, tech leading small-medium teams... I've crossed the bridge. That bridge in the middle, between engineers and management.

Actually I didn't cross, but I'm exactly in the middle... over troubled water.

Some months ago I was asked if a role as Agile Project Manager could be of my interest and I've accepted. Agile has been a topic around me since 2 years ago, working with XP people and Agile managers, so I've been really happy of the proposal.

And here I am acting like a technical/agile/facilitator/project manager, looking at both sides of the river: technical perspective and project management. Today in Funambol we are applying Scrum and I'm the Scrum Master for the teams.
We have 3 teams (18 people) and we're doing really well in my opinion.
Daily meetings (15 min. for each team), iterative development (1 month per iteration), planning games, retrospectives.... really interesting and cool stuff.

We also created the following blog to report our experience with Agile in real life: http://pragmatic-agile.net.

Note: the title of this post comes from the book that is really representing me trying to embrace agility ;-)

Monday July 28, 2008

Nokia N78 FM Transmitter

I've recently tried the Nokia N78... GPS, WiFi, 3G, Zeiss Camera... yes, yes cool...
but then... hey what's this? FM transmitter? Yes that's cool!

And so now I'm listening my favorite Internet Radio through my HiFi Stereo using my wifi connection at home.
And I'll do the same tomorrow in my car... taking care of my 3G data plan!

That's something I was missing in my cellphone: no more cables to connect it to the car radio!

Regarding the rest... the keyboard is really bad: clicking one key requires high precision with fingers and it's not so confortable.

But FM Transmitter....
Here is a demo available on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmA9L_iq7b8

Of course... yes there's one problem, at least here in Italy. Too many radio stations, so the cellphone must be really close to the radio. But it works perfectly.

Sunday July 13, 2008

Funambol is in the top 20 apps for iPhone

MacWorld put our little iPhone sync app in the top 20 for your iPhone 3G.

Who better than Fabrizio can talk about it?

Which phone do we support? What if I have:
- a Motorola RAZR or something like that? YES
- a Nokia phone or something like that? YES
- a BlackBerry? YES (use the BB PIM Plug-in from the download tab in myFUNAMBOL)
- a Windows Mobile? YES
- a Sony Ericsson or something like that? YES
- a Google Android phone even if it does not exist yet? YES (it is true, there is a Funambol plug-in for Android... we are just missing the phone to test it on...)

Friday May 09, 2008

Java is on my Pen

I couldn't resist, I've waited the last day but at the end I've got my Pen with Java onboard for a special price.
It's from Livescribe and it's called Pulse.
You can do amazing stuff with that pen and the best to let you understand what you can do is to see the demos fro their website:
http://livescribe.com/smartpen/videos.html

You can also have a look at James Gosling session (about at minute 56:15):
http://java.sun.com/javaone/sf/webcasts.jsp#k5livewebcast

I've already used while in a technical session here and you can see my notes online at:
http://www.livescribe.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/LDApp.woa/wa/MLSOverviewPage?sid=hW6hgzTRLr0w

So you just take your notes, the pen records the audio, you can upload the notes online, but have much more interesting applications. An it's all Java (JavaME).

Translators: write a word and he translates for you

Calculators: write it and it gives you the result

Music: play the piano using the paper

And many, many others. The sdk is available and all you need is just to write a Penlet (!)
The Pen supports CLDC and MMAPI and the sdk will be officially released in the second half of 2008 but is already available for downloading (a special JavaOne edition) from their website.

Everything work thanks to their paper containing microdots that are like a map and a infrared camera in the pen.
So you need their paper that doesn't cost so much, but you can also print by yourself with a good laser printer.

Any cool applications in your mind? What about crosswords or sudoku with the help of the pen?
I've some in my mind. Leave me a comment and we can start working on it.

How do you feel at JavaOne?

With this post I'd like to give you the feeling of being at JavaOne.
What happens during the day and the night inside and outside the Moscone center?

Let's start from the Pavillion...

Breathing strange mixtures containing aroms like lemmon, strawberry... AMD offers a tour at their booth.

Playing with the XBox, watching movies, playing games like foosball (table football) in the spare time... but using star wars soldiers.

You can see Neil Young and Christy Wyatt Vice President, Software Platforms and Ecosystem at Motorola (or was she Sharon Stone?). Both Java-centric.

But getting t-shirts is why developers are here.

Then I've started to use my phone for recording some video...

Promotional ones:

Did you know Sun has a Chief Gaming Officer? With blond hair?

Relaxing ones:

and at the end of the day the concert of Smash Mouth at Yerba Buena Gardens with free beer and hot dogs... my stomach is starting an official protest.

Wednesday May 07, 2008

The day I talked at JavaOne

The day I talked at JavaOne has been great. I loved that feeling to share my thoughts to the audience and see that my daily challenges in making mobile software are the same all over the world... I don't feel alone ;-)

The day I talked at JavaOne I got many questions and hope I've answered them... if not I apologize and please send me an email and I'll find the right answer for you.

The day I talked at JavaOne I was feeling calm until my boss Fabrizio came into the room... but he appreciated my talk.

The day I talked at JavaOne there were almost 60 people in the room and only 2 or 3 left the session after few minutes.

The day I talked at JavaOne I was sure to use all the suggestions that my coach Robert gave me in the coaching training session the day before. And I think I did it: use gestures, enthusiasm, increase volume, use pauses, use the stage.

The day I talked at JavaOne I realized that many other people talk at JavaOne and some of them are really good and talk of very interesting things. But some others are marketing guys...

The day I talked at JavaOne I didn't take pictures but somebody did it with a phone...

The day I talked at JavaOne... I swear I won't talk about it anymore... until the next JavaOne ;-)

Tuesday May 06, 2008

Netbeans Day 2008 - Congratulations Fabrizio!

It has been great to see Fabrizio Giudici on the stage at Netbeans Day today.
Great presentation and enthusiastic audience for the cool Netbeans Platform features and his project bluMarine.
Fabrizio is a master with photos and software so what could you expect from this combination? bluMarine!
The coolest UI built with Netbeans platform in my opinion: geotagging and managing your photo easily, using Java.

After Fabrizio... just another talk of a Java fellow a certain James Gosling ;-)

Here some picture from today... sorry for the quality but I used my phone.

Sunday May 04, 2008

Twittering with Twitxr

Looking at my website you may have seen the Twitxer box on the right.
Isn't that cool?
I can send a photo and a message using my cell phone via e-mail to Twitxr and immediatly this blog, Facebook and Twitter pages will show it.
I'm thinking to use it to update readers about my JavaOne attendance.

Stay tuned!

Sunday February 10, 2008

Italians, Java and OpenSource

The JavaOne Content Catalog has been released and is accessible online at https://www28.cplan.com/cc191/sessions_catalog.jsp

319 sessions are available and if you perform this search (JavaME + Technical Session) you find my session at the top of the list: TS-4992.

It's my pleasure to highlight here the sessions of other two Italians and friends (ITalians with IT uppercase):

BOF-5361 - The Long Tail Treasure Trove
Brian McCallister, Ning, Inc.; Gianugo Rabellino, Sourcesense

TS-5483 - blueMarine: Or Why You Should Really Ship Swing Applications
Fabrizio Giudici, TidalWave s.a.s.

Three Italians talking about Java and OpenSource: I'm just realizing how many steps forward the italian opensource community is doing, while the italian government silently drops funds for opensource...

Sunday February 03, 2008

Speaking at JavaOne 2008!

There are times when you stay there in front of an email message and cannot stop reading it...

Two days ago was one of those times...

"Dear Edoardo,
Congratulations! Your submission entitled " Funambol Java™ Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME Platform) Technology-Based Open-Source Messaging Client: Lessons Learned " was so compelling that the JavaOne Program Committee has decided to accept your proposal to participate at the upcoming 2008 JavaOne Conference in San Francisco, California, May 6-9, 2008. As an accepted speaker, you will receive a full complimentary pass to the Conference, allowing you access to all Technical Sessions, BOFs, Hands-On Labs and the Pavilion."

I'll be at JavaOne speaking of my daily job, my company and Open Source! Ans I still can't believe it...

Following see the abstract.

Title
Funambol Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME Platform) Technology-Based Open-Source Messaging Client: Lessons Learned

Abstract
Three billion people own a mobile phone yet only a small fraction use it for mobile email -- why?
Until recently, mobile email required high-end devices, costly service and complex setup. But that is changing. Global mobile email usage is expected to grow 24% annually over the next four years, with explosive growth projected post-2008 due to rapid consumer email adoption.

An open source standards-based consumer push email solution is not just a benefit to developers. It provides mobile operators, service providers and online portals with broad device compatibility, low cost, ease of use and the flexibility required to tap into the mass market.

This session guides attendees through the main lessons learned developing the Open Source JavaME Messaging Client based on Funambol Synchronization software.

The session presents:
- Design and code samples of Funambol JavaME SDK for synchronization
- Push technologies used for Messaging and PIM notifications through SMS and TCP/IP channels
- Main issues discovered in JavaME implementations and workarounds to fix them
- Design and code samples of Funambol JavaME Messaging Client
- How Open Source is contributing during the development and testing phases, solving the device fragmentation nightmare usually occurring in JavaME development
- How to handle carriers/manufacturers security restrictions using trusted applications: i.e. Java Verified Program and the certification process.

A particular emphasis is placed on the design choices used to blend object oriented principles and developer community needs with the best user experience and performance.
At the end of the session, through code samples and lesson learned, the attendees will have a good understanding of:
- how to build synchronization clients for JavaME devices starting from the Funambol JavaME SDK
- what should be taken into account for messaging app development in the JavaME "real" world.

I appreciate any feedback or help to make the presentation more attractive for the audience.

And now... let's book the flight ;-)

Monday January 07, 2008

Funambol in TV

L'anno nuovo ci porta delle belle soddisfazioni.

Una troupe di La7 ha fatto visita nei nostri uffici di Pavia e Redwood City !

Personalmente sono orgoglioso di far parte di una realta' cosi' "unica" in Italia e se date un'occhiata ai filmati ve ne accorgerete anche voi.

Un primo servizio breve di un minuto e mezzo e' stato inserito all'interno della rubrica "A voi Milano" che va in onda la mattina.

Piu' ampio spazio invece ci e' stato dedicato alla fine dello speciale di "Reality" dedicato ai Venture Capitalists e alle realta' italo-americane nella valle del silicio in California.

P.S.

Nel servizio io ho la camicia a righe ;-)

Thursday October 18, 2007

Carnival of Mobilists #95 is out

My last post about the Java Verified Program experience is out on the Carnival of Mobilists #95 hosted at The Smartphones Show. Head Carnival 95 Barker Steve Litchfield introduces the best mobile blogging of the week.

Friday October 12, 2007

Java Verified Program: a tail of carriers, trust and certification

This is a long post and a sort of group therapy. I will appreciate any comment, specially those of you with a similar experience.

Prologue: "Why isn't it easy?"

Once upon a time there were cell phones compliant with JavaME and MIDP specs (the Most Ubiquitous Application Platform for Mobile Devices), then carrier-branded devices came in town: happy customers (lower prices), happy carriers (customer fidelity like a sort of monogamy) and.... very soon... sad JavaME developers.

If an application is perfectly working on a device, it won't work so perfectly on the same device if branded: restrictions, boundaries, security policies and standard specs violations. As the MIDP spec security domain policy is just a recommendation, some operators have defined their own security domains and API access rights.

Does your application uses sockets? Well no more on branded ones: a nice SecurityException tells you are outlaw.
Does your application create snapshots with phone camera? The same.

The list is long and changes with carriers and manufacturers... just to give you some more pathos while developing your cool features.
But it's also good to get new challenges and I like to beat them and win, therefore here we are...

First Chapter: "Here is my Cool App"

After few months, developing our open source cool application for Push Email Client, we are very happy about it:

- push feature is really awesome: for any new message in my inbox I receive the notification on my cell-phone and read the message from there
- the User Interface is cool: fighting low-level Canvas and paint() fragmentation, we now have the most portable series of widgets for lists with scrollbars and stuff like that
- network connections are reliable and work like swiss watches
- contacts are always in sync with the portal http://my.funambol.com that is public available for everybody and everybody can sync from different sources (Outlook, iPod, iPhone, Thunderbird, WindowsMobile, native Cell Phone SyncML Clients, Gmail address book, Skype, JavaME devices, ...) see the complete list at http://www.funambol.com .

Second Chapter: "Starting the JVP trophy"

Now what? Well now comes the turn of carrier-branded phones. Yes the most common phones in the US and therefore a must for our application. How to bypass the above restrictions?
Easy, let's sign our application with Verisign, it's the most common CA and works on a lot of phones.... well not exactly:

- first: Motorola phones do not accept Third Party (3P) Trusted apps (Verisign included).

- second: carriers do not like 3P applications (T-Mobile and Verizon don't want any of those), Sprint require a naif method in order to unlock the device for developers, Cingular declares they can accept Verisign, but you cannot use Sockets, PushRegistry, PIM, FileSystem, Bluetooth, Location and all the coolest APIs (thanks a lot for the effort AT&T!). See a good reference at the Forum Nokia Wiki.

Well no problem guys...there is the Java Verified Program and UTI initiative!
Cool... hundreds of devices, almost all the carriers, almost all the manufacturers. Well it's our panacea.

Therefore we start to review UTC test cases in order to pass the certification. After the review, we are ready for the first submission, a sort of first attempt to see if GeoTrust certificate might help us to gain our paradise: the 3P trusted domain and therefore the access to restricted APIs.
We modify our app only introducing the Help screen (required by UTC docs)... ok it makes sense, little effort, let's do it.

So we:

- submit the app,

- submit the jpeg with the workflow of the app,

- compile a form with questions that remember me the Visa Waiver cards to be compiled on the airplane when you arrive in the US from Europe (Do you have a communicable disease? Have you ever been arrested?... see here the list),

- send a fax for NDA with the selected testing house,

- and wait...

Third Chapter: "Never say ever..."

After 3 days (quick enough) here come the results and I cannot believe it: we have one, only one, failure because our About screen is reporting "Funambol Email Client" and not "Funambol" that is the MIDlet-Name (!).
Hey, we aren't showing "Microsoft Excel for JavaME" or "iPhone UI for Motorola", it's just the MIDlet-Name followed by "Email Client". Here the explanation of the failure from the report:

I was expecting a real bug, not that one.
Of course testing house is just executing orders, but tells me that it's the only failure and that they are...

"... not allowed to grant any waivers and so you will have to contact
Java Verified directly for the waivers. Please contact Java Verified at the following for any waivers issues: admin @ javaverified.com , x.y @ Sun.com , w.z @ Sun.COM"

I've removed the names, but those are good contacts for JVP. I've sent two messages requiring clarifications... bla... bla and hopefully a free re-submission because in my opinion it's a small, small, small thing.

wait... wait... wait... hey... NO ANSWERS! nada, rien, nothing, niente. I would have appreciated a response with "Sorry but we cannot answer you on that" or "Sorry you're wrong" instead of the sound of silence...

Ok be practical, look forward, let's change the About screen and re-submit (and of course pay again)... ok let's do it.

wait.. wait... wait... hey failed again! Damn! What the hell?

The About screen now is right, but a test that we passed at first submission now failed. They discovered an incongruence between Help and features. Ok the incongruence was there since the beginning, but why didn't you (testing house) report me the failure the first time? I could have fixed for the second submission...

Nooooo too easy... now we have to fix and pay again.... crazy, sad and crazy...

The story is still continuing...

Epilogue: "Admitting mistakes"

Testing hous admitted their mistake and gave me the opportunity to submit again without any cost.

Re-submit and cross fingers...

The Happy End: "We are Java Verified!"

Yes we got it!

.... but still no responses from jvp contacts... too bad!

Friday July 27, 2007

Pixels sold!

It has been a surprise even for me when I've received the payment for first pixels... it took only 3 days to see somebody joining onemillioniphones website.

So I want to say THANK YOU to the first buyers like Thomas_McKane. Really nice pictures... some also using iPhone.... thanks Thomas and please invite your friends to do the same ;-)