Nokia Updates the Alpha SDK for its Next-Generation Internet Tablets

Nokia and the Maemo Linux community have released a new version of the Maemo 5 Alpha SDK (software developer's kit). This new version of the Maemo 5 Alpha SDK introduces new user interface APIs and refinements to other core OS features.

In addition to the new user interface API, there are also the following additions to the Maemo 5 Alpha SDK:

• Location API: methods to build location-aware applications.
• City Information: methods to obtain information about cities, including city name, country name, and country code.
• Time management: an interface for handling time change notifications and collect relevant time and time zone information.
• Vibra service: methods for triggering and controlling vibrations.
• Device orientation: respond to changes in orientation and discover current orientation.

APIs from Maemo 4 have been improved and are now available in this SDK release. These include Alarm, Address book Access and Data notifications, Account, Battery and Logging development interfaces.

The Maemo 5 Alpha SDK is being released without documentation, and is designed for application developers who wish to get an early start with porting and developing programs for upcoming devices which would use Maemo 5. APIs are not frozen, though they do provide a means for getting started with developing applications. A sample application, MaemoPad is included to guide developers.

For more information, and to download the Maemo 5 Alpha SDK, visit the Maemo Linux website.