Software application development
This blog is intended to provoke discussion and exchange between like minded software application developers, engineers, architects, project managers - and keen hobbyists too.
Monday 1 December 2008, 11:27 AM
Symbian keen to ignite USB development interest
I guess most people feel fairly ambivalent about it as a standard – it’s good, with occasional niggles. It’s rarely a headline maker. Writing on IBM’s developerWorks, freelance author Peter Seebach says that, “Connectors are probably the weakest point of the USB spec since they are harder to use than they should be. Some people complain about USB cables coming unplugged under slight tension. A cable with a clear orientation that a user could check by feel would have been a wonderful, user-centered-design idea.”
So, what on earth am I on about if I normally blog on software application development and the manifold pleasures of a good code-related subject? Well, Symbian’s Jezar Wakefield who is a senior software engineer by trade has been mailing me to say that the company is trying to tell us that it is, “turning USB technology on its head,” and wants it to feature on the current developer radar scope.
USB is not normally something to get excited about. However Symbian OS 9.5 adds USB Host Support – potentially, says the company, opening up some fascinating connectivity options. Products such as the Behringer BCR2000 add 24 knobs with illuminated surrounds that developers can target for a range of functions. Quite why you would want to attach a 24-knob console to a mobile phone for any application is beyond me. OK, maybe this is a bad example and there are some useful USB extensions that developers might be interested in – you tell me.
But hang on, why is Symbian only talking about this now? Hasn’t Windows CE supported USB Host for around a decade already? Also, it’s a fair argument surely to suggest that this is not a overly software-focused issue anyway, but rather more a question of the cost of the hardware and the power consumption questions it will throw up.
In response to my points Symbian’s Wakefield said, “It was once true that mobile USB Hosting was irrelevant, because for mass-market Symbian phones there was nothing worth connecting to. But these new application-independent controllers offer real possibilities - such as kids mixing the content of their mobile music players, or correspondents editing and sending breaking news footage with Griffin's pocket-sized jog-wheel. People used to tell me that building a camera into a phone was ridiculous and unworkable. Now it's considered normal. It's when developers stop thinking of the device as a telephone that the innovation really begins. So it's not about the cable - it's about what's at either end of it.”
Looking for an external opinion as I often try to do, I also contacted Gartner on this issue and received the following thoughts from analyst Joe Unsworth, “Technologies such as USB flash drives are commodity products that are desperate for greater functionality in an attempt to generate additional value. If Symbian’s technology is simple, intuitive and useful for mainstream users then it does have an opportunity to gain traction through the USB drive vehicle. USB drive vendors are constantly exploring new technologies and innovation to differentiate their products in a fiercely competitive market, but of course, the Symbian technology must also be relatively inexpensive and marketed effectively to gain widespread adoption.”
This is not an issue that I’ve covered before so I’m not sure whether to suggest that a new breed of USB-aware applications is about to flourish. Replies and opinions on a stamped addressed blog reply will be read with great interest.
PreviousComments on this post
Hi there Adrian, to start with I would advise anyone putting their USB cables under tension not to! When you develop these things I expect there must be a choice for the design. Do you let your laptop drop off a table when your USB cable comes under tension or do you let the cable ease its way out, risking device malfunction or data loss.
The 24 knob console sounds like a nifty little idea, the kind of thing that could be used to mix down sound or control lights.
The thing that's really exciting for me (I use the term lightly here) about USB storage is the large capacity that is becoming possible (I've seen 64 gb). This makes it a viable storage option for audio and video for the purpose of plugging into my old acer one and keeping the main computer clean. Along with the ability to bounce data up and down from the sky straight to key without bothering the HDD too much is a real boon. Yes it's always been possible, but it's the recent increase in speed and capacity that is now making it worthwile.
I nearly forgot, there's the whole portable apps movment, so you can run no install programs straight from the key such as the sysinternals suite of tools. Hell you can even install to key as I did with burn aware and glary utilities and they work just fine.
And it was my own custom build of XP (via n-lite) that installed onto the acer one from a USB key.
I expect one day as with phones, we will have image projection from the end of our USB keys.
Hey Roger,
I hear ya on the whole plug in extra memory thing - I just got handed my press pack at the Adobe event I am at on an 8-Gig stick... very nice... and, as I'm also on an Acer Aspire One this week it makes a nice extension to the hard disk.
By the way - there's a whole bunch of press here having a really hard time staying connected to the Italian press room WLAN with their PCs and their Macs... but my little thing simply refuses to drop the connection and I am getting compliments on it like I'm sat here with a new puppy. ESPECIALLY interesting as I was in Munich a couple of weeks ago and was told that the reason I couldn't get online in my hotel was that their wireless was only built for Windows - can that be correct? Or was it all that Bavarian beer I drank.
Anyway, 24 knob consoles aside - netbooks (as well as mobiles which was the subject of the blog) could be just about to spurn even more popularity in USBs and that may have an impact on development in some form.
64_Gig though... very nice, how much does that cost I wonder?
AdrianB
I think they are a couple oh hundred quid still!! I saw a review in the good old micromart. As for the hotels wireless being windows only, I 've never heard of such a thing!! It may be possible if it was a computer to computer wireless link but even then I don't really see how.
That's nice to here about the acer one not droping its conection. It could be that the "one" throws out a strong signal to search for its connection. It could be that you linux "one" is just better at the job or stands out from the crowd, or maybe atheros have done a great job with their wireless lan driver.
