On hand were numerous developers to provide the lucky attendees (this was an invitation only event) with a glimpse of their tools, games, multimedia/entertainment, enterprise, productivity, and distribution products. As a frequent attendee at industry trade shows, I find these “cozy” events to be of tremendous value, particularly at CTIA where walking from one end of the exhibition hall to the other can take about 20 minutes… unless of course you get drawn into a seminar, booth presentation, magic show, or some other entertaining showcase which are always plentiful at these events. Having a gaggle of developers in one room for several hours along with the requisite cocktails and bottomless pot of gumbo is indeed something that is not to be missed! So, what did I see? Here’s a brief recap of some of the applications that were on display at the developer showcase (Companies.. please excuse me if I fail to mention you here as covering 80 apps is simply not doable at this time – I’d be glad to follow up with you if you like so be sure to contact us here at SymbianOne to make the arrangements).

Please note, Symbian application developers were also on hand at CTIA 2005 at the Nokia booth, Series60.com booth, as well as at various corners of the exhibition hall and at the ever popular global smart phone summit (this took place the day prior to the start of the CTIA event).

Reallusion Mobile, a California-based solution provider (and 5 time winner in the Series 60 Asia Challenge) was on hand to show their easy-to-use dynamic 2D and 3D graphical software tools. The company's WOWScreens 3D interactive standby screens for Symbian-based mobile handsets provides users with fully customizable 3D interface and features downloadable characters, scenes, and Alarm, Timer, and Message Alert notification. Their “MOTA” (Media Over The Air) solution enables media sharing and blogging via GPRS, 3G, or over the web. The solution’s claim to fame is complete cross-platform media access. Reallusion has companies in San Jose, CA and Taipei, Taiwan. See http://mobile.reallusion.com/

Melodeo reps were on hand to tout the merits of the Melodeo Mobile music service. The company has created an all-in-one mobile music system that is provided to Mobile Operators.  This system lets users shop for music on their mobile phone, download it to the mobile phone and listen to it anywhere or any time in high quality stereo. The company’s latest win was with Telefónica Móviles España. The solution supports a Java clients, Symbian smart phones, and Windows Mobile devices. See http://www.melodeo.com/

Picostation Inc. showed a demo of the new release PicoBlogger 2, the next generation moblogging software solution for wireless carriers – this release was officially announced at CTIA. The new release of the popular mobile blogging software is an end-to-end solution that enables wireless carriers to build great dynamic mobile communities in a matter of weeks. The new release allows users to easily publish pictures, videos and audio podcasts from their mobile camera phone. Users are encouraged to try for themselves with this download http://www.picostation.com/downloads.aspx. Picostation Inc. is a Seattle-based upstart founded by Mazin & Zeyad Ramadan.

BusineSMS was on hand to promote the MercuryXMS messaging suite. This tool enables developers to build ringbones, truetones, wallpapers, video, audio, pictures, Java games and deliver via SMS, WAP Push or MMS. The product supports a number of common developer environments including .NET, C+=, VB, Delphi, and ASP. See http://www.businesms.com/ or request a free trial version from http://www.businesms.com/trial_request.html

San Diego, CA based Entriq was showing off their Entriq turn-key Mobile Solution. This from the company… “With the Entriq Mobile Solution, content owners maintain control and increase revenues from their content, while carriers benefit by making content easily available to their subscribers in a shorter period of time. Once content is integrated into the Entriq solution, it takes minutes for it to be optimized and ready for distribution, where it would take days or weeks with any other solution. The Entriq Mobile Solution provides customers with four distinct advantages-the ability to manage, monetize, protect and deliver mobile media with one end-to-end solution.” See http://www.entriq.com

We met up once again with veteran Game developer Puzzoo. These creators of high-quality and challenging games were flying high and showing off their talents. Of particular interest is the coming news of one of their innovative games to be shipped with a popular device. The company has an extensive portfolio of brain teaser and educational games. See http://www.puzzoo.com

DataViz Inc. was presenting their RoadSync Viewer Edition product. Designed to communicate directly with Microsoft Exchange 2003 and keep users in synch with their Outlook email. RoadSync currently supports Symbian Series 60 and selected Java MIDP 2.0 smart phones, with support for Palm OS and UIQ devices coming soon. A free 90 day evaluation of this product can be accessed Here

Ever-present Appforge was on hand to describe Crossfire to the attendees. Crossfire enables ease of development and deployment of enterprise, multi-platform applications on mobile and wireless devices including PDAs, smartphones and industrial devices. AppForge Crossfire uses industry standard tools and languages such as Microsoft C#, Visual Basic .NET, and Visual Basic 6.  Welcomed news from the crew is that support for Symbian series 80 is coming soon! See http://www.appforge.com/products/enterprise/crossfire/

VoiceSignal, provider of speech solutions for mobile devices were promoting the coming release of VoiceMode for Series 60. This solution enables voice activated text messaging via a symbian series 60 smart phone. Users can address email or SMS messages by voice and then use voice commands to create and send the message. Say it, See it, Send it is the company’s tagline for this solution! See http://www.voicesignal.com

Image Chef gave us a glimpse of their “fun based messaging” and customizable ringpics. Here’s the concept, the user selects an image template from a predetermined list. The user previews the image (for example, picture a license plate). The preview is presented with some default text and the user then customizes the text accordingly (imagine changing the license plate text to display your name). The user then confirms the selection and saves the graphic as wallpaper or alternatively, can send to a friend as a message along with an additional text note. http://www.imagechef.com

No developer showcase is complete with some LBS applications! Luckily gate5 was on hand to show off their popular smart2go mobile navigation solution for series 60 and series 80 devices. I was pretty much blown away by this affordable application (only $299) which comes with bluetooth GPS support, comprehensive North American maps, and some 2.5 million POIs! This solution is very simple… turn on the device, insert the memory card, turn on the Bluetooth GPS receiver, follow the directions. In the words of the company spokesman, this solution not only gets you to where you are going but it helps you make sense. The application also comes with a PC client to support pre-trip route planning. See http://www.smart2go.com

If predictive text is of interest to you then be sure to follow the development of projects from OpenMind. Not your traditional open source solution, Open Mind relies on collecting, and exploiting large sets of data, such as the identities of millions of handwritten characters and spoken words. The Open Mind Speech project is part of the Open Mind Initiative and aims to develop free (GPL) speech recognition tools and applications. The group’s latest project is known as Visix. See http://www.openmind.org

Game developer Center Score was showing off Amy’s Hangman – a popular game which is up for a Mobi Award. Launched in December 2004, this game takes you back to the olden days when you played hangman as a child. The classic game is now optimized for mobile handsets but has the classic paper and pencil look and feel. See http://www.centerscore.com/

Let Amy walk you through a game of hangman!

Well, I could go on and on... to the extent of describing about 70 more applications and services. This is but a small smapling of some fine efforts that developers are going to to mobilize services, games, and the user community at large. In my mind the apps that garnered the most attention at CTIA were those that satisfied one or more of the following criteria: they were easy to use, viral and eoperator brandable; then connected users with their enterprise apps and back office (PIM & Synch); they entertained; and perhaps most important they stimulated use. Entertainment and Enterprise are the key target groups and will drive revenues in the yers to come (my take). With 3G now a reality, 3D gaming now possible, interoperability being addressed (we hope), and powerful handsets with loads of memory now shipping this is just the tip of the ice berg. Keep it simple and make my life easier... that's what I'm looking for.

These are but a few of the cool applications on hand at this year’s Forum Nokia Pro developer showcase at CTIA. Exhibiting at these Nokia sponsored events is truly a fine benefit that comes with membership in “PRO”. Nokia does the legwork, getting carrier reps, media, publishers, and other important industry contacts in attendance so developers can show off their apps. More information on attending or exhibiting at future showcases can be obtained by contacting a Forum Nokia Pro rep. From an attendee of several such events I can assure you that I’ve found these events to be truly valuable, entertaining, and informative. More info on coming events and developer showcases can be found at http://forum.nokia.com

Comments? Feel free to contact Glenn