Weiqi Gao's Observations - mobile tag

Eric Burke: Amazing Android At The JUG

Sat, 15 May 2010 01:48:33 GMT

At yesterday's St. Louis JUG meeting, Eric Burke gave a presentation entitled Amazing Android.

Eric showcased the Android version of Square Inc.'s mobile payment app, which Eric and Bob Lee have been working on, and which has just been released on Tuesday.

It was a well attended session with lively discussions. Eric went through some of the challenges they faced while developing the application and showed how they solved the problems with ingenuity and unrelenting quest for both artistic and technical excellence. As has always been the case with Eric Burke presentations in the past, I can never convey the atmosphere with mere words. You really have to be there!

Check out the presentation slides here.

Eric Burke: Android At The JUG

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:34:18 GMT

Once upon a time, a blog post a couple of hours after a JUG talk was considered a fast news reporting.

Not anymore!

For Eric Burke's Android talk tonight at the St. Louis JUG, twitterers (@codetojoy @kylecordes @scottbale @MarioAquino @puredanger) were out in force. And tweets were flying during the talk.

Eric showed up with his signature "Angry Pitchfork Guy" T-shirt:

Tonight's talk is a follow up to the OCI Java lunch talk that Eric gave four months ago when Android 1.0 was just released. (Find it on YouTube: 1 of 3, 2 of 3, and 3 of 3.)

We had a big crowd today. Some people came just for the Android content. And Eric did not disappoint (well, maybe Kyle). He showed the Android app he wrote and put on the app store.

Like always, the pre- and post- talk chattering is just as interesting. I overheard:

We are working on a JavaFX project.
They started a long time ago, when JavaFX was called just JavaF
They started so long ago when it was still called OakFX
What's up with Google? They compile Java code to anything but the JVM
JavaFX was demoed on Android in JavaOne 2008, but no one is talking about it
I took out my G1 and scanned the bar code on a TV while talking with a sales person. He's not pleased
We had Lambda Lounge last week, No Fluff Just Stuff last weekend, Matt Taylor's Griffon talk at Groovy Users Group yesterday, and Android today. A very geeky week
"Force Closed", that's the opposite of "Use the Force"

I gave away a few coupons for a free copy of the "Pro JavaFX Platform" ebook that is available in Apress's alpha program now. I still have a few left, if you would like one, send a private email to weiqigao at speakeasy.net.

Nokia Acquired Trolltech

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:20:59 GMT

Trollteck Press Release: The acquisition of Trolltech will enable Nokia to accelerate its cross-platform software strategy for mobile devices and desktop applications, and develop its Internet services business. With Trolltech, Nokia and third party developers will be able to develop applications that work in the Internet, across Nokia’s device portfolio and on PCs. Nokia’s software strategy for devices is based on cross-platform development environments, layers of software that run across operating systems, enabling the development of applications across the Nokia device range. Examples of current cross-platform layers are Web runtime, Flash, Java and Open C.

As a long time GNU/Linux user, I know Trolltech mainly as the company that makes Qt, the fundation of KDE, a desktop environment for Linux.

As a reluctant cell phone user, I know Nokia as a cell phone maker. I have never owned a Nokia phone. I had a Qualcomm and then a Sanyo

So why is a cell phone company buying a Linux desktop environment company? It turns out, the Trolltech also has a mobile device line of product called Qtopia. It is that line of product that Nokia wants.

What does this acquisition mean for KDE? I don't know. I myself am not a KDE user, so this really doesn't affect me. However, with Qt owned by a cell phone company, I doubt they will care too much about the KDE users. So my prediction is that KDE evolution will slow down, which will also slow down the evolution of its competitor GNOME, which is the desktop environment I use.

I don't think I'll like that.

Now I have a question for all the cell phone companies: How many development platforms do you want? I mean, there are already plenty of them out there, why are you buying up PC desktop environment companies?

My guess is that they are making too much money.

Wait a minute! There are money to be made in the mobile devices space? I'll take a look there.