The UIQ Evangelist

The the chat with UIQ we talked before, happened today.

As expected, Sebastien Peirone and Carina Dietmann from UIQ kept the same extremely diplomatic stance showed on our 10 questions to uiq feature and avoided the really tricky questions by answering its their “costumers/shareholders” responsability (meaning, Sony Ericsson and Motorola) to most of the questions.

I think we all agree its time for the aforementioned to folow UIQ´s example and start comunicating with users, so that we can have some answers.

Go after the break for a full transcrip of the chat

Carina DietmannL
Hello everybody, UIQ Technology is here and we will try to answer your questions as well as we can.
Moderator It is 3.00 pm. The chat can begin!
Moderator Please ask your questions in English! Thanks!
Welcome to the chat with UIQ , the company that has created the open user interface platform for mobile phones such as Sony Ericsson P1, G900, G700 and Motorola Z8. Here you can get answers about the interface, programs and upcoming features for the system, directly from the source. The chat is held in English. The chat starts at 3.00 pm, but you can post questions beforehand. To ask a question, click on the button to the top left. Please note that the question won’t appear until it is answered.

Question:
Will there be a new UIQ device announced on CeBIT?

Reply:
Our customers announce the mobile phones, so cannot tell.

Question:
Why is the place to switch between 3G and GSM burried so deep behind different menus? Does the new version have native support for .avi and other streams? Native support for instant message and IRC systems would make the device a lot more easier to use.

Reply:
This is a design of the phone manufacturers, following the way they group the settings in different categories, but my guess is that this setting is not frequently used, so it’s not one of the quickly accessible settings. The support for multimedia formats is provided by the phone manufacturers: they have the freedom to choose which codec (meaning which media format is recognized and rendered) is available on the phones and developed by which company. The latest version of that was released (UIQ 3.2) supports OMA IMPS 1.2 specification and OMA Client Provisioning v1.1 and enables communicating via for example MSN and Yahoo.

Question:
When will the calendar on the P1i be able to show the week view in the same style as Outlook ie bars showing my apointed time? When will I be able to press the week number in month view to switch to week view? Question refers to lack off functionality of SE P1i?

Reply:
This is just the way the UIQ calendar has been designed. I don’t know if the features you are mentioning will ever be present in UIQ. It’s not a lack of functionality, it’s a choice of what functionality should be offered to the users, motivated by studies and users’ feedback. Not everyone needs and requires the same things, and we try to accommodate the largest number of users possible.

Question:
hello, where are you from?

Reply:
UIQ Technology’s headoffice is based in Ronneby, south of Sweden. Two of the UIQ representatives don’t speak Swedish which is the reason the questions need to be in English.

Question:
Are you able to run Exchange Active Sync on the new Sony Ericsson G900?

Reply:
ActiveSync is a UIQ 3 application. As the G900 is a UIQ 3.0 device, it should be compatible, although we have not tested it ourselves.

Question:
Why is not UIQ also has VoIP client preinstalled as Nokia with Symbian Series 60 has? I have test OptiMobile UniPhone with my P1 and are very happy.

Reply:
UIQ licensees (Sony Ericsson and Motorola) decide what applications are preinstalled in their phones, so you will have ask them. But I’m sure that you will see some UIQ-based phones integrated VoIP and GPRS applications and services. We have partners offering different options for a service that the phone manufacturers can choose from.

Question:
When will the next version of UIQ be released?

Reply:
Cannot reveal this. When it is time, we will let you know.

Question:
UIQ has the worst today-screen compared to Windows Mobile (WM) and Series XX. Do you have any plans on redesigning it in the near future? I think WM has the best today-screen.

Reply:
The home screen is implemented by the phone manufacturers, as this is a differentiator for them. The recently announced G700 and G900 do have an updated home screen.

Question:
Is it possible to lock the camera button on the right side of the P1i phone. I often by misstake start the camera, very very irritating. If not, put it in your next update, please. best regards-keep up the good work, i “love” UIQ

Reply:
Phone design, camera button and the camera application are done by the phone manufacturer, so there is not much UIQ can do in that matter. But I agree with you: I also sometimes take a picture of the inside of my pocket or of the side-walk!

Question:
Where can a find a picture editor program for my Symbian UIQ 3.0 phone?

Reply:
http://www.my-symbian.com tends to have a comprehensive listing of software available for UIQ 3 phones. Always worth checking there. Animator or Pixy might be good options for you.

Question:
Why don´t any UIQ phone support hsdpa and when will we see the first UIQ phone with hsdpa support.

Reply:
The released Motorola Z8 and the announced Z10 include HSDPA. It is the phone manufacturers who decide which connection technologies to include in their devices.

Question:
Hello! I have been using both UIQ and Windows mobile. And i like UIQ better becuse it´s easier to use as a phone. But what i like about Windows mobile is that they have programs that alou you to tap the viritual keyboard with your fingers, like iphone. Is there any app like that for UIQ?

Reply:
I have seen some very nice prototypes of virtual keyboards, but I don’t know if you can download them yet. This kind of features need approval from the manufacturer to be able to work on the phones, that’s why you don’t see many of them around.

Question:
Where to find a general data base program for my Symbian UIQ 3.0 phone?

Reply:
HanDBase used to be a good option for this on UIQ 2. I’m not aware that they’ve updated this to UIQ 3 so you might be out of luck at the moment. If developers read this chat, you might have an opportunity here.

Question:
Hi, I want a phone like k850 but with UIQ, do you have any clye when there is going to be a phone like that by Sonyericsson or motorola. If yes, when? and how?

Reply:
Hi, all information about future phones, all phone announcements are made by the mobile phone manaufacturers.

Question:
Now, for the first time, for UIQ3 there is a chance to have the REAL MOBILE NETWORK COMPUTER on the phone. The only one thing is missing in that great application is the ability to stream from a phone the files that physically located on computer. Developers are saying that it is already there, it is already implemented! The only things, developers are saying, is needed some kind of special permission. That permission is needed during the software installation on the phone. That permission can be given to developers by … I am not sure here … from UIQ or Sony Ericsson… This more detailed explanation could help UIQ to answer my question. I guess more information can be obtained from developers site, it is http://www.telexy.com Thank you very much.

Reply:
Some applications need access to functionality which is restricted by “capabilities”. For more information about why and how developers need these, please see http://www.symbiansigned.com. It would take a bit too long to explain the entire signing process here in this chat unfortunately.

Question:
why don´t we see blogs from people inside UIQ, where they talk constantly with users, like s60 is doing???

Reply:
We’re planning this. Please check the developer.uiq.com - site on a regular basis.

Moderator: But if you’re looking for a UIQ phone with a 5-megapixel camera, the upcoming G900 might be your thing.

Question:
Are the new menys on the G700-900 gonna be avalible for w960 and P1? And is the touch focus possible on w960 and P1?

Reply:
New menus: no. Once a phone is made availale for sale, the UIQ version used in it is not replaced with new versions. Software update for the phone can bring eventual bug fixes and improvement, but no new version. What do you mean by touch focus for the W960 and P1?

Question:
Hej! Tycker min P1i fungerar rätt så bra men ibland kan den bli lite seg om allt för många program är igång. Undrar därför om det finns nått program som kan “boosta” minnet i mobilen?

Reply:
The built in storage wizard may help you free up some memory used by active applications. If that isn’t enough, you might want to check out SwissManager Pro from CellPhoneSoft. It should also be available through my-symbian.com.

Question:
Is it possible to develop software for UIQ using Visual Studio 2008 (with .NET)?

Reply:
We are currently working to support Visual Studio 2005. Please check developer.uiq.com for the latest information as additional IDEs become supported.

Questio:
Elo, regarding your touch focus question. This is a feature implemented by Sony Ericsson in their new camera application. It is up to them to decide if they can and will backport this functionality into an update for previous devices.
glacier When can we expect flash lite 3 to be available on UIQ3??? Users really need it, and its lacking when comparing with s60 v3

Reply:
It will come, but as we said before, we cannot reveal the dates and plans of the future UIQ releases. Just stay tunned, news and announcements regarding UIQ are quite frequents nowadays.

Question:
How come SE smartphones with UIQ are so slow? Even SE-developers say that the only way to make a fast smartphone is to skip UIQ. There are delays when you want to start writing a new SMS, when you want to take a shot whith the camera (you press the button but the shot is taken after about a second…)

Reply:
We and our customers are constantly working on improving performance.

Question:
why cant you run software for older uiq om se p1?

Reply:
Without getting too technical about it, as it would take more space than this chat is made for. Some of the changes that were made to Symbian OS between versions 7.x (which UIQ 2.x is built on) and 9.x (which UIQ 3.x uses) required compatibility breaks.

Question:
Why UIQ does not creat something like “UIQ labs”, much like “nokia beta labs” or “google labs”, to launch some tech demo apps that help uiq developers to push forward, and also to giver users some apps that do not appear on the market otherwise???

Reply:
The truth is that we have already our hands full developing the UIQ platform and supporting Sony Ericsson and Motorola to build their phones. The whole UIQ organisation are working 120% on delivering a world-class UI and development platform, and that gives us little time to develop anything on the side. We are counting on the active UIQ developer community to be innovative and come up with original applications and services. With approximatively 380 employees, we can’t spend resources on exotic R&D activities as bigger organizations do.

Question:
Will there be any more software updates for the P990?

Reply:
Updates to our customer’s products, such as the P990, needs to be answered by that customer, not UIQ. Sorry, but we really can’t comment on what our customers do or don’t do.

Question:
Hi Sebastien, Does UIQ realize, and its shareholders, they can benefit much if they improve comunication with end users???

Reply:
Hi uiqblog.com, I answered a similar question on the uiq blog: http://www.uiqblog.com/2008/02/07/its-here-uiq-technology-answers-your-10-questions/ To summarize it: the end users are not our main customers, and we leave it to our licensees to communicate with them. An I am sure they realize all the benefits of a good reationship.

Question:
You answer alot of questions giving responsability to the shareholders…we understand that…however, UIQ management does not discuss the kind of questions the users are putting here with the shareholders???

Reply:
Internal discussions between UIQ management and shareholders is of course also something we cannot comment on in public like this. Sorry.

Question:
hope we can modify the media player here same as walkman phone!

Reply:
You can download and install several different media players on your UIQ phone. With a bit of luck you will find one that satisfies your needs.

Question:
I know this is decided by SE, but will there be any more pen-style phones, like the P990? Pen-style provides much better PDA-like usage than the currently “fashionable” softkey-touch style.

Reply:
I am sorry but we cannot tell about any future phone releases.

Question:
Hi again I was asking about turning off the camera button on the P1, isnt it possible to make that a software thing?

Reply:
If you are developing an application it is best that you ask your question via the C++ development forum on developer.uiq.com, where we have more time to help you and provide technical assistance

Question:
There is nothing like this existed ever before for the UIQ3 platform, even with wires! That is what the real wireless network computing is all about! How come Nokia is calling their phones the Mobile Network Computers if: 1) It is not Mobile, because Nokia is offering the _cable_ for file transfer between phone and computer; 2) It is not a Network without file sharing; 3) Its not a Computer by modern standards, if there is no normal file access to outside world.

Reply:
Abirvalg, that is a long question! And from what I understand, you wonder why Nokia does this or that… well, we really can’t answer that!

Question:
What´s your reaction to the fact that SE in their new X1 is using Windows Mobile instead of UIQ?

Reply:
For us it is business as ususal. We cannot disclose our roadmap but could just say we are not worried at all.

Question:
are there any anti virus program for uiq?

Reply:
Yes, you can find a couple of anti-virus software, SimWorks Anti-Virus is one that I can remember straight of my head, I know there is at least another one. It’s worth noting that no virus has been reported on UIQ yet.

Question:
Hi Sebastien, this is Michell Bak from from USEB and also uiqblog: will UIQ be represented on CEBIT? Also, @Mats: the slowness on some UIQ3 phones is due to slower CPU when compared with latest s60 v3 phones, not the OS itself

Reply:
The question about UIQ at CeBIT, no we don’t intend to exhibit at CeBIT.

Question:
Back to the uiqlabs question…giving that you are developing the platform, like you say…is it so hard to release some usefull little apps to users??? At least the shareholders could do it. Two examples: a podcast client; a threaded sms app. I can´t imagine this being so hard. If not, at least you could do something to help freeware apps development

Reply:
It’s not hard, it’s just not a priority. What do you suggest we could do to help freeware development, beside we already do: free development tools, free development support, free documentation? We welcome any realistic suggestions.

Question:
Why should I choose UIQ instead of S60? Whats the benefit of UIQ? Both are based on Symbian.

Reply:
UIQ is an open user interface and development platform, making it possible for manufacturers to create different kinds of phones. Then it is entirely up to you what kind of phone you would like. Have you tried both UIQ and S60 phones?

Question:
Hi First i would like to say that i love my p1i phone I wonder if your are working on web radio program for using live web radio. And are u improving the support for internet streaming pod video?

Reply:
I believe you might want to have a look at VirtualRadio. According to Ninj’s webpage, http://www.ninj.com it’s available in a free version as well.

Question:
Firmware updates. You seem to think they should be only to correct bugs. However, what we see on competition, like Apple, S60 or even winmo, is firmware updates that efectively add new functionality to phones, and users like this alot. Why UIQ should be behind in this?

Reply:
What our customer’s choose to include in firmware updates is for our customers to decide.

Question:
Will be UIQ supporting SymSMB 3.00 application in order to give us the ability for wireless media streaming from network computer to our UIQ3 phones? Why Wi-Fi usage should be limited to Internet access only? Same about 3G! I read on developer site forum that it is easily possible once UIQ will give this developer some kind of permission to use during installation of that application. So, why not? That will be one of the greatest feature on the phone ever! Lets have something that Series 60 doesn’t! Lets show Nokia what is The Real Network Computer is all about! UIQ, we are all praying for the good answer!

Reply:
“possible once UIQ will give this developer some kind of permission”. This is not entirely true. Without going into details, there is a security system in Symbian OS (the Operating System UIQ is built upon) that protect sensible areas access to the system, and this application probably need one of those. Most of those accesses can be obtain once the application has been automaticaly tested and checked though the Symbian Signed process. And there is one access that must be manualy granted by the phone manufacturer. All this is done for the safety of your data and your money. In any case, it’s completely out of our hands.

Carina Dietmann:
We know we haven’t been able to answer all questions, but time is running out and we need to finish. Thank you everybody and hope to be back soon again.

[thanks to masseur from esato formating this transcription]

Categories: Events, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, UIQ, UIQ 3.0, UIQ 3.1, UIQ 3.2, Web
Tags: Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Symbian, UIQ, UIQ 3.0