Android and iOS devices have built-in motion detectors that enable programmers to capture the motion that occurs on a three-dimensional axis. This capability enables you to detect all sorts of user motions — tilting the phone, shaking back and forth, and rotating it in a circular fashion.

Once your basic Android application is up and running, the next interesting thing you can add to it is the capability to communicate with the outside world. You may want your application to send an SMS message to another phone when an event happens (such as when you reach a particular geographical location), or you may wish to access a Web service that provides certain services (such as currency exchange, weather, etc.).

In this chapter, you learn how to send and receive SMS messages programmatically from within your Android application.

The Project Capuchin Platform Services API library, which is referenced in this chapter, can be found at the Sony Ericsson Developers website at http://developer.sonyericsson.com. There you’ll also find demos of other mobile applications and tutorials and another cool community of developers.

Project Capuchin Platform Services Overview

“Project Capuchin is a bridging technology between Java ME and Flash Lite making it possible to take advantage of Flash’s strengths in fast UI deployment and well established designer tools, meanwhile Java’s strengths are in services, security and a well developed distribution infrastructure. Project Capuchin makes it possible to create Java applications where some or all UI components are defined in Flash Lite and where all services can be accessed through Java.”

Sony Ericsson Developers Web site

Project Capuchin effectively provides another way for you to extend the Flash Lite player for Sony Ericsson supported devices. While some of the APIs have functionality that is similar to that of the APIs available for supported Nokia devices, there are fundamental differences in the way are used and implemented, as you will learn in this chapter.

The S60 Platform Services API library, which is referenced here, can be found on the Forum Nokia Developers website at http://library.forum.nokia.com/.

S60 Platform Services Overview

The S60 Platform is the software platform specially created for mobile phones that runs on Symbian OS, one of the leading smartphone platforms in the world. You’ll frequently come across references to the platform in various guises. For one, there have been several releases of the platform over the years, including: S60 (2001), S60 2nd Edition (2003), S60 3rd Edition (2005), and S60 5th Edition (2008). Between each major release and the next, there have been iterations containing significant changes or features that were updated in the platform, such as support for higher screen resolutions and increased security for installing third-party applications. One of the features introduced in S60 5th Edition was support for a higher screen resolution of 640 x 360 px, with touch input support.

The S60 5th Edition also introduced specific ActionScript extensions for Flash Lite 3.0 that give you access to specific phone features such as calendars, contacts, messaging, and sensors.

Using Soft Keys

Soft keys are a common feature on the majority of mobile devices that do not have a dedicated touch screen interface.

The Sony Ericsson soft key UI component contains three buttons and maps the key presses of the mobile device to the left soft key, right soft key and the enter key (or select key). It is made up of MovieClip assets and labels, which can be styled according to the state that they are in.

Figure 4-4 shows the Soft key component example running in Device Central.

Using Device Capabilities

It’s important to consider which environment your mobile device application will run in, since not all devices running Flash Lite will have the exact same features. If you remember, the Sony Ericsson Aino and the Nokia E71 have different ways for users to interact with software applications. The E71 has a QWERTY keypad, similar to the one found on most laptops and PCs, making it easier to write an email, for example. The Aino has both Touch UI and traditional mobile keypad capabilities, allowing a user to choose between Touch UI, by pressing the screen of the device, or using the keys for navigation. Later you’ll cover using keys and touch interaction.

In this section you will learn about the System.capabilities class, which can be used for accessing more information about your application’s environment.