S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2

S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 introduces the following new features.

Open C

Open C is an extension of the POSIX libraries for Symbian OS. Open C provides a set of standard POSIX and middleware C libraries from nine well-known C libraries: libc, libdl, libpthread, libm, libz, libcrypt, libcrypto, libglib, and libssl. The implemented functions have been carefully chosen, after extensive analysis of open source projects, to provide a complete set of commonly used functions.

The implementation of Open C allows developers to reuse software assets and thereby increase productivity. Such assets may include a developer’s own library of functions and open source code. In addition, because C libraries are commonly used to create applications on other platforms, such as Linux or Microsoft Windows, the Open C support significantly simplifies the process of porting existing applications to the S60 platform. For more information, see the Open C Developer Guides and the Open C API reference.

Open C also reduces the knowledge of Symbian C++ required to create S60 applications. Developers now can create much of their applications’ business logic using familiar C library functions, while relying on Symbian and S60 APIs to create the application UIs and to provide access to native Symbian and S60 functions.

Open C was introduced as a native feature in S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, with a plug-in extension for devices and SDKs based on S60 3rd Edition and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1.

Web widgets

Web widgets are lightweight applications created using standard Web technologies that are used to create Web pages, such as HTML, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript™, and Asynchronous JavaScript™ and XML (Ajax). On an S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 device, Web widgets are executed using Web Runtime (WRT). WRT is based on the open source WebKit — the same technology that powers the Web Browser for S60.

Web widgets are delivered as a ZIP archive with the extension .wgz that S60 device users download and install in the same way they would for any other S60 application. Once installed, Web widgets run like any other S60 application and provide S60 device users with a full Web experience that allows them to personalize the content and services they access.

After optimizing for screen size and widget navigation, Web developers can easily port desktop Web widgets to the S60 platform. Tools for Web widget development have been available from Forum Nokia since the third quarter of 2007.

For more information on widgets and WRT, see the WRT page on Forum Nokia.

Application interworking (AIW) framework

The S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 introduces the Application Interworking (AIW) framework as a new feature.

Application Interworking (AIW) is used to dynamically add features and functionality to applications without (static) linking to the existing code, and without knowing in advance which services are available in the device.

Note: In S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2, the AIW framework allows you to attach context sensitive help menus in the S60 platform to your application using the Help AIW Provider. The AIW framework handles the dynamic addition of these functions to your application.

For more information on AIW, see:

Middle softkey labeling

The S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 features a new addition to the S60 UI interaction mechanism: the introduction of middle softkey (MSK) labelling. The "middle softkey" is also called the Selection key. The additional softkey labelling enables improved access to application features by offering more opportunities for function access.

For more information on MSK, see:

Roaming with destination networks

The S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 introduces automatic connection selection, application-level roaming and default connection as new concepts to supplement the existing communication features. For more information on these concepts, see:

New C++ APIs

The following C++ APIs have been introduced in S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2:

  • AIW framework APIs

    Application Interworking (AIW) allows the embedding of functionality from one application into another. For more information on the principles of Application Interworking (AIW) Framework, see Application Interworking Framework. The APIs supporting AIW include:

    Note: The API Reference guide includes the AIW APIs and the Help AIW Provider. The APIs are used by the Help AIW Provider to access the AIW framework, and you cannot directly access them when designing applications.

  • Application network-level roaming APIs

    This collection of APIs is designed to allow applications to implement seamless network-level roaming. The APIs provided are:

    • Connection Settings API — This API provides methods to read connection settings from CommsDat

    • Connection Settings UI API — This API provides a UI dialog that lets the mobile device user select connection settings to be saved in an application’s settings

  • Middle Softkey

    Support for a middle softkey has been added to the Buttons API.

  • Version Info API

    Version Info API provides an interface for querying system version information.

Changed APIs

The following C++ APIs have been changed in S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2:

New languages

S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 provides support for the following new languages:

  • Basque

  • Catalan

  • Galician

New supported formats

S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 provides support for the following standards:

  • Flash Lite 2.1

    S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 improves Flash Lite support with the inclusion of Flash Lite 2.1, again as an option. Flash Lite 2.1 delivers support for inline editing, XML sockets, metadata, and transparency. As such, Flash Lite 2.1 may not be implemented on all S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 devices. Any device that is shipped without Flash Lite 2.1 can still make use of the application, once the device’s user has installed it.