Productivity is the Key to their Success: an Interview with SmartphoneWare’s Content Manager

I’m sure you have heard the company name “SmartphoneWare” and many of you use at least one of their applications on your handsets. After all, here we’re dealing with a company which has about 24 applications for Symbian S60 3^rd Edition handsets – not counting their products for other mobile platforms. What you read below is my interview with SmartphoneWare’s content manager, Ms. Simkovska. If you also want to win a SmartphoneWare S60 application license, consider commenting on this interview. Your comment might be in any form – suggestion, feedback of any type, the SmartphoneWare application(s) you like , and so on. This time we have four winners, and the winners will select the S60 application they want. I suggest that you take a close look at SmartphoneWare’s S60 applications or try them first. The deadline is Tuesday July 1st, so don’t miss the chance!

Q: Please talk about yourself and the position you hold at SmartphoneWare.

A: I’m Inga Simkovska and work as SmartphoneWare’s content manager ever since the company was founded.

Q: When was SmartphoneWare founded?

A: SmartphoneWare was officially founded in 2005, but our team appeared on the Symbian market during Psion times. For those who might not know, Psion was a Symbian ancestor and when Symbian emerged with its third Nokia communicator, we were among the very first companies to offer different products for this platform. At the end of 2005 SymbianWare – the company for which I worked – was split into two companies, and one of them was SmartphoneWare. We produce a wide range of applications for Symbian, UIQ and Windows Mobile platforms. We are located in Odessa, Ukraine.

Q: As a company which is active in the field of mobile applications including the Symbian S60 operating system, what is your mission?

A: Our mission is the enhancement of the functionality of the devices for which we develop different applications. Through our applications, we want Symbian and non-Symbian devices to be integrated into the everyday lives of our customers. Our aim is to provide people with the highest and the most cost-effective level of customer support.

Q: Do you have offices outside Ukraine?

A: No, but we deliver our products through our partners all over the world.

Q: How many developers do you have for your Symbian S60 products?

A: We have four developers for the S60 platform, but for the Symbian OS in general we have six engineers.

Q: You use the word “Best” to name many of your products like Best Birthday, Best Blacklist, Best FSCaller, Best Jotter, Best Profiles and Best Taskman. Do you yourself believe that they are the best Symbian applications for handset owners?

A: I most certainly hope so! Seriously, I believe that it’s not the name of our products which turn them into best-sellers on the market, it’s the functionality of our applications which complement one another on hundreds of mobile devices.

Q: Which mobile operating system do you think has the potential to transform the future of computing?

A: Currently the S60 platform is the best OS available to developers and users, and this is quite evident if you take a look at the smartphones which make use of it. However, recent smartphones which are powered by Windows Mobile are feature-rich handsets, so we should also keep an eye on this platform. The right combination of an operating system and powerful hardware components is the key to the future of mobile computing, and both operating systems have the potential to play a vital role in this process.

Q: Please name your best-sellers in the S60 3^rd Edition category.

A: Well, some of them are Best Full Screen Caller, Best Timer, Best Call Recorder, Best Blacklist, and Best Profiles.

Q: Do you have any free applications for S60 3^rd Edition handsets?

A: Of course. Both Best Screen Snap and Best Torch are free apps for S60 3^rd Edition handsets and we also have free applications for other platforms.

Q: What do you think is unique among your offerings – something which is both useful and absent among your competitors’ products?

A: I believe Tracker – my favorite – is a unique application. It’s a fully customizable Desktop-like application. You can put notes, applications, contacts, speed dials and so forth on its desktop interface for easier and quicker access. You can assign hot keys for everything in this application, and it also has a built-in task manager, app switcher, app launcher, recently accessed view and imported items view. It’s more of an organizer.

Q: Let me switch to other applications. Do you have any plans to make Best Call Recorder and Best Dictaphone capable of recording audio files?

A: It’s already in our to-do list, and hopefully we’ll release these apps with MP3-recording capabilities soon.

Q: What about Best TaskMan? Any plans for making it capable of launching installed applications by just typing the first few letters of their names, something like what Windows Vista does?

A: This is in our to-do list for the next TaskMan update, too.

Q: How can people contact you in case they have suggestions and bug reports?

A: Everyone can send their feedback of any sort to support@smartphoneware.com and all suggestions and bug reports will be passed to the developers.

Q: Anything I might have missed?

A: No, it was quite comprehensive. Thanks for providing me with the opportunity to talk about SmartphoneWare here. My thanks are also to our users who have supported us over the past few years.

The Winners of my Interview with SHAPE Services Marketing Manager

Well, guys and gals, it’s now time to announce the winners of my interview with SHAPE Services marketing manager. My thanks are to all those who took time to comment on the interview, especially to Jonathan who commented without expecting to get a license. At any rate, I was supposed to give two IM+ Mobile Messenger licenses and two IM+ for Skype licenses to the winners – courtesy of SHAPE Services. The winners are:

• Chris Hallsworth – IM+ Mobile Messenger,
• Edwin – IM+ Mobile Messenger,
• James Scholes – IM+ for Skype,
• Pranav Lal – IM+ for Skype.

All winners should have received their licenses by now. BTW, do stay tuned for prizes of this sort in the near future.

They Want to Connect us All: an Interview with SHAPE Services Marketing Manager

As I heard Helen’s voice at the other end of the line, I immediately recognized that the interview would be an exciting one. Not only did I receive a warm welcome, but unlike my preconceptions she was willing to talk about future application enhancements and observable bugs. What you read below is my interview with SHAPE Services marketing manager, Helen Khais. Before reading the interview, please note that SHAPE Services will bounteously offer two IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger licenses and two IM+ for Skype licenses to four individuals who take time to comment on this interview in the comments section. As indicated at the end of this post, the people who provide us with the most comprehensive feature requests will get the prizes. Alternatively, feel free to ask any questions or send your comments because you might very well get the prize in case very few people decide to swamp us with feature requests.

 

Q: Please talk about yourself and the position you have at SHAPE Services.

A: I’m Helen Khais and work as SHAPE Services marketing manager. In general, I try to organize resellers and integrate them into the infrastructure of the company. I’m not directly involved in application development, but I provide application developers with user requests and bug reports.

Q: When was SHAPE Services founded?

A: It was founded in 2002.

Q: In which countries are you currently active?

A: We are headquartered in Germany, and have an office in Odessa, Ukraine and in Ekaterinburg, Russia. As you know our users are spread all across the globe.

Q: Does the fact that you don’t have an office in North America negatively affect your sales and the provision of technical support to users?

A: The time difference is definitely a downside, but our sales stats in the U.S.A are quite strong. As a matter of fact, 60% of our products are sold in the North American market, and we’ll also be opening an office in the U.S.A soon.

Q: How would you describe SHAPE Services for us?

A: SHAPE Services is a company which offers a variety of applications for the whole range of mobile platforms. Our products can be installed on Java phones, Blackberry RIM, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC and Smartphone, and all Symbian subplatforms. Since 2002 SHAPE Services has been developing Real Time Communication software solutions for both individuals and enterprises. We want to help people connect to one another via their hand-held devices as smoothly as possible. Our mission is the mobilization of all important processes and demands, from communication and entertainment to business processes and productivity.

Q: How many software engineers are involved in the process of developing your Symbian-based applications?

A: Our Symbian development team consists of 5 to 7 full-time technical engineers and all development takes place in-house.

Q: Please talk about Symbian S60 products you offer.

A: Our flagship product is IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger, and as the name suggests it helps users Chat with their AIM, iChat, MSN and Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, ICQ, Jabber, Google Talk and MySpaceIM buddies in a convenient environment. Version 7.06 of this product was just released and costs $29.95. We also offer a product called IM+ for Skype which is aimed at satisfying the day-to-day needs of Skype users. Its 2.22 release costs $19.95. Our third product is Mobiscope which helps users monitor their apartments, offices and personal properties. It can be used in a good number of unique ways, and can also be set to record certain activities when the application detects a disturbance. It can transfer data in a highly secure way. V2.2 of Mobiscope costs $29.95. Finally, SHAPE Services offers a free application called GPSed. This location-based application is used to track and map trips and works with both internal and external GPS receivers. Routes can be shared with friends and traced on Google Maps. It’s also equipped with geotagging capabilities. More information about our products can be found on the SHAPE Services web site and all of them provide fully-functional trial licenses.

Q: Why do you offer a different product for Skype users? In other words, why not offer an IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger which would also support Skype accounts? It’s rather inconvenient to purchase and install two separate applications when, in theory at least, just one app can take care of all communication needs.

A: Our products usually follow a cross-platform style; that is, they tend to offer similar features on different mobile platforms. Part of this limitation stems from the fact that not all mobile platforms support the integration of Skype into other VoIP and IM networks via one application. Also, given the special features Skype offers, we thought a dedicated application can serve users more efficiently. The smooth integration of Skype into other networks is something we’re also looking at.

Q: Why doesn’t IM+ for Skype support free Skype-to-Skype calls? Put differently, people should have SkypeOut accounts in order to call others via IM+ for Skype, and many Skype users don’t buy this type of account. Considering the fact that IM+ for Skype competitors support free Skype-to-Skype calls, don’t you want to implement it in your products?

A: The point is that some competitors offer free Skype-to-Skype calls only on handsets that support WiFi, (e.g., Pocket PC), and others work closely with Skype which allows them to have better access to the necessary technical resources. IM+ for Skype offers good quality and cost-effective calling to landlines and cell phones and is available on all mobile platforms. The support of VoIP which will make Skype-to-Skype calls free is in our feature list.

Q: Many people have been complaining for a while that IM+ All-In-One Mobile Messenger isn’t compatible with the N82 and that it makes the N82 quite sluggish to the point of being forced to close the application. Are you aware of this issue?

A: Yes. This problem seems to be related to the way contacts are loaded in the N82. We have an N82 here and are doing our best to uproot the cause, whatever it is. Stay tuned.

Q: Quite interestingly, it doesn’t affect IM+ for Skype.

A: that’s a good thing to notice. It’ll also help pinpoint the culprit more easily.

Q: What features should we expect to find in future releases of your popular Vo-IP and IM applications?

A: Application development is an ongoing process, and soon you’ll see a tight integration between our products and popular online communities such as MySpace and Facebook – something currently missing in our competitors’ offerings.

Q: Anything you want to share with my readers?

A: We’re always interested in user feedback, so if you have any suggestions for future product releases I’d be glad to take them here. You can also send us your suggestions and bug reports via the Contacts section of our web site.

The Chronicle of a Symbian Screen Reader: My Interview with Nuance TALKS&ZOOMS Product Manager

What you’ll read below is my interview with Nuance TALKS&ZOOMS product manager, Torsten Brand. The release of TALKS&ZOOMS 3.52 was the rationale behind this post; however, the interview goes beyond this specific TALKS&ZOOMS release and provides readers with information regarding the development of the product. One quick note: to get this new TALKS&ZOOMS release, either contact your Nuance reseller or visit the TALKS&ZOOMS page as the release will appear there.

 

Q: First off, why did Marcus Groeber and you decide to found Brand & Groeber Communications in 2002?

A: Marcus and I knew one another from a long time ago as we used to work on other projects, and we came to the idea that it should be possible to build a screen reader for mobile phones. We started with a product for the old Nokia 9110 Communicator, moved on to the Series 80 Communicator devices and in 2002 turned what was more or less a hobby into a serious business venture.

Q: Did visual impairment play a role in the decision you made?

A: I’m blind and Marcus is fully sighted. I knew what an impact a screen reader for handsets could have on the lives of people with visual impairments.

Q: You’ve come a long way and now have a full-fledged screen reader and magnifier for the S60 platform called TALKS&ZOOMS. However, in 2004 Nuance Communications which was at the time called Scansoft purchased Brand and Groeber. Having the experience of working with both companies, which one do you think provides you with more development facilities and freedom of policy-making for future directions?

A: Working with a small or a big company has its own positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, being under the auspices of Nuance offers a good degree of flexibility in terms of accessing new technologies, development versatility and feature integration. For instance, we have access to the latest TTS technology and can now offer TTS engines as soon as they are available. Also, Nuance develops other applications which might possibly be used to expand the functionality of TALKS&ZOOMS in the future. What’s more, the Nuance marketing and sales capabilities are at our disposal now. As such, the highly-developed Nuance infrastructure is a huge asset. On the other hand, at Nuance we have to follow well-defined processes which add some overhead and delay as we prepare new releases.

Q: As you’re located in Germany, is it necessary for you to get Nuance officials who are located in the U.S.A. involved in the decision-making process when you want to release a TALKS&ZOOMS update?

A: Since I’m the Nuance product manager for TALKS&ZOOMS, it’s basically my duty to define the releases we are going to have. I also take into account the opinions of TALKS&ZOOMS resellers. Working with the responsible development team, we then define a plan, estimate the potential revenues versus the costs for the resulting product releases, and present it all to our management to get a final decision. This leads to a well defined schedule of releases, with very high stability and overall product quality assurance. Other processes exist when urgent issues have to be solved quickly.

Q: Apart from Marcus and you, how many people are actively involved in the development of TALKS&ZOOMS?

A: Marcus is the main active TALKS&ZOOMS developer, and we work with a partner company to outsource a great part of the TALKS&ZOOMS development. Other Nuance engineers are involved in the development of TTS engines we offer.

Q: As someone who holds the title of “product manager”, are you also involved in development cycles?

A: My TALKS&ZOOMS development activity primarily involves enhancing the serial number generator which resellers use to deliver demo or full licenses for customers; the serial number generator is also used for the recently announced SMS News subscription. Apart from that, I’m the link between the development and the marketing and sales departments, and am involved in new business development and support of our resellers.

Q: Please talk about the features and bug fixes customers can find in the newly released TALKS&ZOOMS V3.52.6. What does it offer?

A: The major fixes this release offers are related to application stability and audio responsiveness. In the past we had issues specially when audio and magnification were used at the same time, and those have been resolved with this new release. We have also worked on better TALKS&ZOOMS responsiveness when either Bluetooth or wired headsets are used and this release provides a high degree of compatibility with stereo Bluetooth headsets. We have also resolved compatibility issues with certain phones like the E51, the 6120 Classic and the N81 on which TALKS was a bit sluggish or clunky. With this release users should install a new release of Eloquence, V6.1.117, to take advantage of these improvements. Besides, the problem which prevented users from entering text in the S60 web browser on some handsets has been fixed, and TALKS now provides web-specific keyboard help in the S60 browser via the Training Mode. The screen saver timeout no longer kicks in when TALKS is reading a long block of text. And with the cursor mode set to original, users can now access all hyperlinks, phone numbers, or mail addresses in text messages, when the auto-find feature is turned on. TALKS can also now start automatically on the N95 8GB.

Q: Is this release available for S60 3rd Edition handsets only?

A: Yes, because we didn’t have these issues with 2nd Edition handsets. I should add that some of the features we’ve made available for 3rd Edition handsets are also suitable for 2nd Edition devices, and we’ll try to offer them for that platform in the future if customer demand justifies it. In the past, we have made such a release available for 2nd Edition handset owners to help them create application-specific settings and access the newly-added Automation tab sheet.

Q: Would TALKS 3.52.6 be a free upgrade?

A: Yes, those who are using TALKS 3.51 can upgrade to TALKS 3.52 free of charge.

Q: Currently different methods of providing TALKS&ZOOMS demonstration licenses to customers are at work. Please clarify them.

A: The idea is that whenever an end-user uses an automated service to get a demo license – such as SMS or a web site – the trial period is restricted to 10 days which usually appears to be enough to evaluate the product. End-users can however still get the 30-day demo license by going through a dealer.

Q: You introduced the Vocalizer TTS engine with the release of TALKS 3.51. Are you going to replace RealSpeak voices with Vocalizer ones, or will both of them be co-developed?

A: Vocalizer Mobile uses a new technology which makes the engine more intelligible and responsive, while requiring significantly less memory compared to RealSpeak Mobile. Although both engines are now available to users, our plan is to gradually move towards a single engine (Vocalizer Mobile), because of the advantages outlined above. Currently Vocalizer Mobile offers high-quality female voices and in the future you’ll see good male voices too.

Q: Do you have a plan to provide a TALKS release for the Persian language?

A: Currently, We don’t have a plan for a Persian TTS to be used with a product like TALKS. And I am not aware of another Persian TTS running under the Symbian OS. This would be a requirement for the Persian localization of TALKS.

Q: At the end, anything you want to share with my blog readers?

A: It’s great to see the number of TALKS users increasing so rapidly, and we’re always interested in user feedback via the TALKS mailing list, or in trade shows. We are reading quite a bit of user comments, suggestions, and bug reports, though we really do not have enough time to answer much of them. We have a lot of new features in mind — based upon your feedback — to be implemented in future TALKS&ZOOMS releases, and we’re sure our users will be satisfied when they receive the resulting product updates.