SendoSmartphones.com is a website aimed at providing information about the Sendo X series of phones. One of the innovations of the site is a non profit scheme to certify programs as being compatiable with the Sendo X series (with the intention that this will aid users in finding compatiable software).
Press Release Details:
I am pleased to announce the launch of a new mobile phone website, called SendoSmartphones.com (http://www.sendosmartphones.com) which has been set up to address some of the bad publicity which the Sendo X and X2 phones have received due to software incompatibilities and supply issues. It is an independent website, in no way connected to Sendo International Ltd. but aims to promote their products in the light they deserve.
As part of the website, we are operating a non-profit certification scheme, whereby software which we have tested and found to work without issue on Sendo smartphones receives a special Sendo Smartphones Certified logo, which the developer is then free to use on any advertising material or on their website. The scheme encompasses all types of software, both free / shareware and commercial software. It is impartial and both free and non-binding to both SendoSmartphones.com and the software developer.
The SendoSmartphones.com website is run by a small number of people, all enthusiasts of both the Sendo X and X2 phones, as well as enthusiasts of Series 60 and smartphones in general. The site is UK based, and is not being positioned as a commercial activity.
Wirelessly posted (NOKIA: Nokia3120/1.0 (05.30) Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0)
Interesting.
It's a good initiative, although the central problem of developers being lazy and only compiling their applications for Series 60 v2 devices remains. Given that 80% of S60 apps run fine across the whole range, it's a real shame that the remaining 20% (from the bigger developers, generally) don't.
Assuming that these developers aren't going to mend their ways, though, Sendo need to adjust the X2 to run Series 60 v2 and Symbian OS 7 or 8, otherwise they run the risk of being left behind, even though it's not their fault.
Steve
That's the main reason why we're launching the SSC scheme - hopefully if developers see that is an active interest in Sendo smartphones, it will encourage them to do the necessary tweaks to make their apps X friendly. In the meantime, all those with an SSC certificate, will get a lot more hits from X users than those that don't. Occasionally, we do get some developers who are unable rather than unwilling to place an SSC logo on their site - they will still be listed in the SSC section of the site.
slitchfield wrote:It's a good initiative, although the central problem of developers being lazy and only compiling their applications for Series 60 v2 devices remains. Given that 80% of S60 apps run fine across the whole range, it's a real shame that the remaining 20% (from the bigger developers, generally) don't. Assuming that these developers aren't going to mend their ways, though, Sendo need to adjust the X2 to run Series 60 v2 and Symbian OS 7 or 8, otherwise they run the risk of being left behind, even though it's not their fault.
Steve
This is a very valid point. I don't know how possible it will be for Sendo to add compatibility for Series 60 v2 applications to the Sendo X2 - I'd have thought pretty hard. However, Sendo are not simply sticking their heads in the sand, the rumoured X3 is also rumoured to run on a "much newer" version of Series 60.
Masamune wrote:hopefully if developers see that is an active interest in Sendo smartphones, it will encourage them to do the necessary tweaks to make their apps X friendly.
I think this ambition is great. And I think the site has high potential. Sendo has a lot of the values I used to like in Psion, a small challenger with innovative - and in some cases outright visionary - ideas.
However, the site needs to reflect its ambition much better. If the site, at least partially, targets developers, why doesn't the Forum have a developer zone? And what about developer information about Sendo specifics? And Sendo specific SDKs for C++, OPL etc?
I hope this will be added over time.
No sooner had it been suggested, than it was done...
The forums are by no means finished - I plan to add a lot more in there over time.
As for SDKs etc. If Sendo would get round to releasing them (their developer program is undergoing a revamp) then we will make them available on the site.*
*where we're allowed to.
Is the site out of service? I can't access it
No, the site is still active. However, our ISP was experiencing a few network errors yesterday which made it awkward for some people to access the site.
Look out in the coming days for a new Sendo Smartphones Theming section to the site, featuring lots of information about how to make themes for the Sendo X, as well as all the currently available themes to download.
Is the sendosmartphones web site down again?
As detailed in this thread ( http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum//forum/thread/41941/ ), the site is off-line until tomorrow.
This is due to an ongoing hardware issue which we've been working to resolve for the last month - finally tomorrow the new hardware gets comissioned which will prevent any future problems!