Thus Spaketh Idd Salim

The Kenyan MobileDev Scramdown : Nokia (J2ME/QT) vs Google (Android)

by on Jun.16, 2011, under Coding, Symbiotic

Yes. I am better.

It is an interesting time indeed. Just reached home from Qz in Westlands and it is 2:17 AM. Not an ounce of sleep. An interesting day, it was.

Kwanza, Mbugua and Mutinda won (A collabo between Symbiotic and Shimba). Yes. Mezeni wembe. We pocket some USDs. Plus a trip to Silicon Valley. Gunning now to make Shimba the FIRST Kenyan firm to get SV funding.

Hope I can get a spare space and go wakilisha. Angalau nitoke Africa Once. If I can’t, well who cares. If One of us wins, all of us win. Code itaendelea.

As bystanders, we can stand up and applaud the technology, the pitch and the model, or just sit down and hate and bitch about how the winners were ‘favored’. It is your choice. A-lier tells a lie all the time.

I was manning the Google stand on Day 1of2 of Pivot25 after a request from GoogleKenya and I talked about what Opportunities Android offers. I was not talking about ‘How Android Development is Better than J2ME/QT Developers’ or ‘If one needs to switch from QT Dev to Android’. No, just what Android does. Period.

Then comes what Java Mobile and QT does on Symbian and J2ME.

I see alot of ‘developers’ and bloggers massaging their scrotums on how Symbian is Dead or will die by 2016. J2ME is Dead. Nokia Devices are old-school. Android is the new nipple. etc, etc. And I seek to shed some light on this issue. Aiming to answer these questions: “What should a Mobile Developer focus on? Who gives better value in terms of opportunity, support and incentive?“.

From GoogleKenya:

Android phones come with a faster OS. True. A developer has full control of the end-product ad UX. True. Both the OS and SDK/API are open-source. True. Amoled. Maps. MultiThreading. Sexy-Apps etc. But, how many Devices? Max 200k.

From Nokia:

Same old J2ME. Now Develop using C++ code on QT. One standard. Etc. Over 20 M devices (8M+ On data).

But then comes the Dilemma. Who do you choose as a Kenyan Coder between the Aggressive Nokia, and the Aggressive Google? Both sides have good offers. But some cons outweigh the pros.

What Nokia Says:

Put your App in the Ovi Store and we will make sure you are visible, advertised (Billboard, TV, Print, Radio and Web) and paid for the development. We support the able. No developer contests.

What Google Says:

Unlike Nokia, we will foster development from the heart, not just have a coder develop because we ‘stuffed’ money into their pockets. We will then hold a developer contest and reward the best apps. No media. No pay to non-winners.

What Kenyan developers Say:

We don’t want/need developer contests. We need someone to give us a picture of success. What happens to those who don’t win the developer contests? They wither and die. Nokia addresses this issue by treating every App independently. And they pay well. Nokia is seen as Pay+Success+Support. Google is seen as Bullish and arrogant in this case. The message being : ‘Win the contest or suffer’. This needs to change.

So, ofcourse, Nokia beats Google handsdown. A developer once told me : “So what Android has all these super powers?! How many people can use my App? How does Google support me as a developer? Just Contests? No advertising, no pay, no Incentives”.

So Questions:

  • Do you want the new and shiny, or the tried and tested?
  • Do you want to develop for 8M users in Kenya, or 100k Users.
  • Can you really code ama you want to use some fancy AppGenerators like a small girl.
  • Do you want a long-term partner, or a short term stint?

I am just reporting. Isikuwe Ohh, Salim hapendi Google, Ohh, Nokia wamelipa Salim, Ohh, Salim hapendi color green ya Safaricom ama Andoid. I don’t hate anyone. I am a TechnoSlut. I don’t blog just for traffic. I am not A-Lier. I spaketh the trutheth.

Back to code.

Wazi.

:, , ,

  • http://twitter.com/mmnjug mmnjug

    Symbian still has lots of support…..look at the Kenyans who now have apps on Ovi and the support they get…! Google have been blinded by the fact their’s is the fastest growing OS in the world and this will be bad for coders….and apps too. That may be a reason why Android apps have security issues and bugs!

  • Anonymous

    You can code for both Nokia and Android phones, nobody said you had to focus on one. And I know little girls who can code without app generators!

    But you’re right,the question is: Who gives better value in terms of opportunity, support and incentive?

  • Anonymous

    And oh, J2ME is dead, it’s now just JME. :)

  • http://techweez.com @martingicheru

    Come to think about it, there has been that stark difference, the support and the numbers to do business now, you can always redo your work on another platform if you are successful with one platform and want to utilise any advantage that may come by later.

  • http://twitter.com/muriithijames James Muriithi

    As a dev, Nokia at this point doesn’t inspire confidence. The majority of those 8 mil phones you talk about run Symbian, which the Nokia GM of East and Southern Africa at Pivot25 said would be phased out in 2016. Nokia just started shipping their smart phones with Windows Mobile, and those phones are said to not support Qt (which I think is brarry fantastic). Just look at this blog for instance: http://bit.ly/fGkYIl – more questions than answers.

    Android on the other hand is like an oncoming, unstoppable train – you either get on it or get flattened. The Samsung Commercial director of East and Central Africa mentioned at Pivot25 that they will be tripling Samsung devices that ship with Android. Plenty of other manufacturers are jumping onto this bandwagon. People WILL and ARE moving from feature phones now that (Android) smart phones are going for less than $100. Google in partnership with Huawei just launched the IDEOS this year and guess what, it already has 45% of the smart phone market here and growing.

    While it’s only prudent to develop for the now, don’t bury your head in the sand about the near future.

    Not blowing Android’s horn, just reporting.

    wazi.

  • Anonymous

    Actually you don’t have to write c++ to build apps based on qt framework anymore. There is a new declarative language developed by Nokia called qml (Qt Markup Language) which allows you to write fluid interfaces very easily. If you’ve ever written object oriented code in JavaScript, qml looks like JavaScript object literals. It’s easy pick up and get going and does not have a steep learning curve like Symbian c++. There is also a project called android-lighthouse, which i believe is still under development, that allows you to run qt apps on android. 

  • Anonymous

    Yes. 2016. 5 years from now. Until then, make MONEY on the 8M Kenyan devices… Ama go for the new and shinny and make money off 200k people.

  • Anonymous

    True… Semantics

  • Kirubikariukik

    so true ihave actually tried to upgrade and root my android and succeeded but with the help of a friend who had the same curiosity and had done it before me, therefore coding in android is NOT childplay,its not for everyone if you want to enjoy its full potential, then again what phone in this category is?you have to know what features you are looking for and many kenyans just go with which one is the chic-est phone they can get. however i think android is the TOYOTA in this game.>> theres something for everyone with it. nokia before u can actually tell theres a difference uve cut off an arm and a leg!

    ANDROID anyday everyday!!

  • Dee

    To be honest, Nokia have lost their worldwide dominance in as much as their platform is concerned. This is why it has launched an aggressive attack on the African market where their main source of revenue streams from (and part of Asia). Therefore I would partly agree with Salim that the opportunity is currently there for Local developers. However, looking at the bigger picture that is Android, more and more users are picking up these devices daily. the worldwide opportunities are also endless though their App store does not make as much revenues as for example Apple store. There are more ways to market android apps rather than this store and therein lies the greater opportunities.

    It is up-to a developer as he put it to decide whats best and with drives by both these companies, the ball is in our courts

  • Anonymous

    @jmwai:disqus Let us assume you are coming out of Uni this month. What language should you come out taking seriously?

    The mobile platforms are obvious. In the next year, now that Airtel and Orange have gone 3G, its expected (by me) that 50% of 20-30 year old people will replace their ‘Mulika Mwizi’ mobiles with a smartphone. Choices are cheap Chinese or HTC/Samsung

    Orange is going to begin pushing iOS proper because they are the ‘official’ Apple partners for the iDevices.

    Samsung are going to push Android, and because TIA and zero legacy, Android 2.2/3 is center stage for them.

    Nokia are going Windows and we really can’t say there is a serious Qt/Symbian future in Africa. .NET is king.

    So that leaves Java and cross-platform king and and from the sounds I am hearing, Python…

  • Anonymous

    Also, we can all decide to sleep til 2016, then wake up and develop for Android. By then they should have hit about 4M people, I think.

  • Anonymous

    If I ever was to advise someone to learn 2 languages, the would DEFINITELY be Java and Python. 3 Languages? Java, Python and Objective-C.

    Want money this year mpaka 2015? Java. Want Money After that? Java. Want MassMarket? Simple. Nokia (Java)

  • Anonymous

    So for me,I got the Java 2 book (1990′s edition), x years ago [where x == large number] and never took it seriously and that train left the station.

    Now with Python in my future, what do you think of this … http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/10940 ?

  • http://alaninkenya.org Alan Orth

    Good run down… made me think, can you buy apps from the Android Market in Kenya yet?

  • Savvy Kenya

    Yes. If you have a Paypal account/credit card(s), you can buy apps from the Android market.

  • http://alaninkenya.org Alan Orth

    Yes, I am American and my google account uses an American credit card, so I buy things on the Android Market quite often…  What I guess I meant to ask was, does the average IDEOS-holding Kenyan have a credit card that works with the Android Market?

    That’s an honest question, by the way.  I have no idea about the state of Kenyan credit cards.  And last time I heard Paypal wasn’t available in Kenya yet (and I wouldn’t know, my Paypal goes to my bank huko states).

    Cheers.

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