Two independent events moved me to look into cell phone programming: I read Mark Beaulieu's July article on BREW programming here on BYTE.com, and I upgraded my own phone to a Motorola model that supports BREW.
Both Mark's article and the Verizon Wireless (VZW) "Get It Now" developer site led me to the Qualcomm BREW Developer Resources site. I downloaded and installed the current BREW SDK Tools, BREW SDK 3.1, and the Starting BREW Development Guide on the same machine as Visual Studio .NET 2003.
The BREW SDK
Then I started reading the guide. I quickly found out that BREW SDKs are not backward compatible, although BREW devices are: "To ensure compatibility with the mobile device, you should perform all development in the same or lower SDK release as the version of BREW used by the device. BREW devices are backwards compatible; that is, any applications written in a previous version of the SDK function on later versions of BREW."
I looked at my device, and found that it had BREW 2.1.1.6 installed, so I went back to the BREW site and downloaded and installed some older SDKs, thinking that I would be able to test on my phone. Then I skipped ahead in the documentation and realized that, in order to test with a real mobile device (e.g., my phone), I would have to do five things:
Buy a BREW code-signing certificate from VeriSign for $400.
Buy a Windows-to-ARM cross-compiler, or alternatively install GCC.
Buy a serial cable for my phone (about $30, discounted).
Send my phone to Qualcomm to be enabled for test applications.
Once I developed a BREW application, I'd have to submit it for TRUE BREW testing by NSTL (for more money), and once it passed I could create a price plan for submission to the wireless operators.
Extending Enterprise Value with Web 2.0 In this webcast we will talk about how to simply build and quickly remix Web 2.0 applications and the role of the IT department and how they support mashups. We will discuss how IBM can help IT teams adapt existing enterprise systems as well as develop unique ones that can support end user driven mashups in a reliable, scalable and secure way. We will highlight a simple scenario adapting an enterprise information source for mashups and how to test it. We will also cover how IBM can help you build agile, fast and simple web applications based on dynamic scripting languages that dramatically reduces development time. Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 12pm PT / 3pm ET
2008 International Mathematica Conference Dr. Dobb's interviews Wolfram Research's Theo Gray, co-founder and Director of User Interfaces, and Roger Germundsson, Director of Research and Development, about the upcoming 2008 International
Mathematica Conference.
In this volume of Best of BYTE, we explore the emergence of some heuristic algorithms. Although we have only scratched the surface of this intriguing subject, we hope we've suggested the potential of the synthesis of heuristics and algorithms.
