Last update: 2018-06-17
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Smartphone/PDA

This page contains informations about applications, that can be used on PDAs as well as Smartphones and some mobile phones powered by the Symbian operating system. You'll also find information about 3rd party applications (or plug-ins) that allow you to synchronize your Smartphone with your own Cloud...you can also call it Home Cloud (e.g. with a Zarafa installation on you Synology DiskStation as starting point).

For the applications you find here I used for example the Java Platform, Micro Edition™ (Java ME), TotalCross™ (also see the TotalCross Wiki - the successor of SuperWaba) or SuperWaba™. Maybe in the future Google Android applications will also show up. Even more likely are applications for the new Palm WebOS™ and therewith for the new Palm device called Pre.

The following is seperated into several parts. Click on the link to jump directly to the interesting section:

Java ME

Java ME is still called by it's previous name Java2ME or J2ME. Java ME uses different characteristics as for example device configurations and additional profiles. There are for example the configurations Connected Device Configuration (CDC) and Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC). Recent mobile phones support normally CLDC and alongside the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP). One of the most widespread Java ME implementations comes from IBM and is called "J9".
Additional extensions are defined by so-called JSR's. The access to the internal address book of mobile phones has been defined in JSR-75, while for example the JSR-82 allows the direct access to the Bluetooth functions of the device.

TotalCross

TotalCross™ is also Java, but it has a different function range and has also a different API. Because of this differences it's not allowed to call it Java, even if it follows the Java design. I'm using TotalCross among other things because I can use the Bluetooth-Interface on PalmOS devices. IBM's J9 implementation for PalmOS supports for example the JSR-75 to access the internal address book, but unfortunately not JSR-82 needed to access Bluetooth.
In the first TotalCross release from January 2009 the PIM functions (Calendar/Tasks/Contacts) are missing. This is because TotalCross is supporting newer devices and the API has to be revised.

TotalCross supports the following platforms:

You can download the SuperWaba VM for all supported devices here.

The development of TotalCross applications is the same as in Java and you can even use the same Java development environment (e.g. Eclipse) to create TotalCross applications. The migration from SuperWaba is easy and supported by a tool that comes with the TotalCross SDK. The SDK now also includes the Litebase database component.

TotalCross has a new licensing modell and now the end-user has to buy the VM for his device. The license is not very expensive as you can see below.
As I think no big company needing >100 licenses is reading this, here is only the price of TotalCross for 1-100 licenses (as of 2009-01-21):

A direct registration link is available at the SuperWaba website (see "buy" link at the top right).

SuperWaba

As SuperWaba™ is the predecessor of TotalCross, most things also apply to SuperWaba. SuperWaba allows you to access the PIM functions.
SuperWaba can be executed on several different devices and operating systems:

You could download the SuperWaba VM for all supported devices here, but with the release of TotalCross they began to remove the download links for the most important platforms, but the files are STILL there (as of 2009-02-18). Because of that I added the download links above for each device and processor. If the download is no longer possible feel free to contact me (see the menu on the left).

The development of SuperWaba applications is the same as in Java and you can even use the same Java development environment (e.g. Eclipse) to create SuperWaba applications. There is also an Open Source Eclipse-Plugin available called SuperWaba IDE. It is no longer maintained but still very useful.
SuperWaba is available as commercial product (matter of expense US$ 500 each year) and also in a version using a LGPL license. When using the LGPL version you are not allowed to sell your application to make profit.

Tips and Tricks

As a workaround for the missing JSR-82 on IBM J9 for PalmOS you should be able to access a Bluetooth GPS receiver by using a serial bluetooth connection. This can be done by using a normal serial port setting:
comm:rfcm;baud=9600

Other Details

Java ME as well as TotalCross and Superwaba use a Virtual Machine (VM) where the actual application will be executed. This has the advantage that the application should not be able to crash your device (at least this shouldn't happen) in case of an major application failure inside the VM. Beside that another advantage is that you can run an application written on every device where the Runtime (the VM) has been ported to. TotalCross and SuperWaba need about half of the memory for the Virtual Machine compared to IBM's J9. TotalCross is faster than SuperWaba. Starting applications written with TotalCross or SuperWaba are starting much faster than e.g. .NET Compact Framework applications on the Windows Mobile platform.

Projects

After this entering guide to the used virtual machines I'll finally introduce you to the different applications I've written in table form. By clicking at the name of the application you will be forwarded to a detailed description.

Overview

Name Version Releasedate Target platform Compiler Description
FinchSyncSW Client 0.45 work in progress (no release date determined) -PalmOS
-Pocket PC &
 Windows Mobile
-Symbian

planned with TotalCross:
-iPhone
-Blackberry 		SuperWaba v5.85/ TotalCross v1.x FinchSyncSW Client is synchronisation client application written in SuperWaba. It will allow the synchronisation of contacts and appointments with Mozilla products like Thunderbird (Contacts) and Sunbird (Appointments).
More information can be found below.
Z-Push 2.0.6-1616
2.0.5-1541
2.0.3-1467
2.0.2-1437		 2012-12-23
2012-12-04
2012-09-20
2012-08-22		 Zarafa on Synology DiskStations (tested: DSM 4.1) - Z-Push is an Addon for Zarafa to Sync your Smartphones (Contacts, Calendar, Tasks,..) with Exchange Active Sync (short: EAS).
More information can be found below.

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Here are the application details

FinchSyncSW Client (Update: 2009-01-28)

FinchSyncSW Client is a client application for the data-synchronisation written in SuperWaba™ (currently in early development stage). When completed it will synchronise contacts and appointments with the Mozilla products like Thunderbird™ (Contacts) and Sunbird™ (Appointments). To transfer the data you need a TCP/IP connection using GPRS, Bluetooth, WLAN or any other technology.

I had problems with the stability of the network connection which I could finally solve while I was experimenting with the TotalCross Beta4 release in January 2009. The work on the client has been picked up and will continue to use SuperWaba until TotalCross will be able to access the calendar, appointments and tasks. You can find some more information about TotalCross in the news section (January 2009).

Beside the TCP/IP connection you need on your PC the FinchSync server component (a Java application). This application has been written by Markus Rahlff, who has been so kind to give me the necessary information to develop a client for PalmOS. He only offers a client for Pocket PC and Windows Mobile powered devices.

The FinchSyncSW Client will communicate with the FinchSync server component that will in turn interact with the Mozilla products.

FinchSyncWorking

The main focus of this development is to provide a solution for PalmOS™ powered devices like e.g. the Treo™ Smartphone series. Because of the nature of SuperWaba, it should be possible to use this appliction also on Pocket PC™, Windows Mobile™ and Symbian™ powered devices. As I don't own any devices (except a Treo™650) I can't guarantee that those operating systems will work. Make sure you always have a backup of your data before using this application (especially on a non PalmOS powered devices)!

Here we have some screenshots of a version running on my development machine. The application basically should look like the C# version from Markus Rahlff. The colors vary depending on the platform you run the application, this is only the look when I run it from inside my development IDE.

Main dialog Server list dialog Server configuration dialog
File menu Info menu
Screenshots of FinchSyncSW Client -- Date: 2007-08-08
(click to view larger image)
File menu Info menu
Screenshots of FinchSyncSW Client running inside
PalmOS (Treo 650 Sample) and MS-PocketPC WM6 Emulator -- Date: 2007-08-08
(click to view larger image)

Summary and Features

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Z-Push Zarafa Addon for Synology DiskStations (Update: 2012-12-23)

The Z-Push Addon available here is from Z-Push and itself hasn't been modified. The unmodified original code has been put into another new archive where additional extended scripts based on the older official Z-Push v1.5.10 (Synology Z-Push version by Julian Dohle) have been applied. With this it is possible to install this Addon directly using Package Manager of the Synology DiskStation.

Note: The latest version of the Z-Push package available here hasn't been tested by me beside the basic installation process and a simple sync of contacts!

Download Z-Push v2.0.6-1616 [2012-12-23]

Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS SPK package (0,5 MB) Download

Download Z-Push v2.0.5-1541 [2012-12-04]

Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS SPK package (0,5 MB) Download

Download Z-Push v2.0.3-1467 [2012-09-20]

Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS SPK package (0,5 MB) Download

Download Z-Push v2.0.2-1437 [2012-08-22]

Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS Z-Push Zarafa Synology DS SPK package (0,5 MB) Download

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