Psiloc Mobile Mouse: Turn Your Mobile Phone As A Mouse

Turn your phone into a computer mouse!
This extraordinary solution transforms a mobile phone into a Bluetooth mobile mouse.When the application is installed on the phone, a PC computer with Windows XP and Service Pack 2 installed, automatically recognizes it as a mouse. There is no need for any additional PC software.

Advantages for the users of Mobile Mouse include: controlling the mouse’s position with navigation keys, using soft keys as left/right mouse’s button and setting the mouse’s speed.

PAMP: Personal Apache MySQL PHP - Server Package for Mobile

It is now possible to execute PHP, SQL scripts in your mobile phone!

Those of us familiar with dynamic web programming have most likely heard the term LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) or WAMP(Windows, Apache, MySQL and PHP). LAMP/WAMP refers to a stack of software used to run a website or server. In LAMP, Apache is the web server, MySQL is the database and PHP is the programming language. Good news is that, as the outcome of the open source research of Nokia PAMP, the AMP stack for Series60 mobile devices is now available. Now a Series60 device can be turned into a web server - LAMP users can publish their PHP sites on their mobile devices which can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

The PAMP Stack

In the Symbian Series60 environment the AMP stack is implemented over Open C. Open C is a set of industry-standard POSIX and middleware C libraries for S60 on Symbian OS. In PAMP, PHP and MySQL are both version 5.

Installing PAMP

The pre-requisite for running PAMP is a Symbian Series60 3rd edition handset having 128MB of free RAM. As per the PAMP wiki they have tested with Nokia N95 8GB and Nokia E90. But any S60 3rd edition phone with sufficient memory should work. (I used Nokia N95 8GB (thanks to Mr. Benjamin Allen H. Burgos III)).

The PAMP installation package (the one I used and test-run) can be downloaded here.

You should install the following files contained in the package (just hit "yes" for some security prompts):

1. pips_s60_1_2_SS.sis
2. openc_ssl.sis
3. PythonForS60_1_4_1_3rdEd.sis
4. PythonScriptShell_1_4_1_3rdEd.sis
5. pamp_with_htdocs_on_...sisx

NOTE: To avoid "Certificate Errors", move your date back to year 2008 (In my case, I moved the phone's date to November 2, 2008).




Figure 1: PAMP Installed

The installation will then create the following new directories:

* c:\data\apache - the ServerRoot of Apache httpd.
* c:\data\php - the location of PHP's ini file.
* c:\data\mysql - the location of MySQL's configuration file.
* c:\mysql - the location of MySQL databases.
* e:\data\apache\htdocs - the DocumentRoot of Apache httpd (In WAMP, this is your www directory).

NOTE: DocumentRoot is always on E:, so you cannot install PAMP on a device that lacks a memory card. However, after the installation, DocumentRoot can be made to point elsewhere.

Building a Network of Connectivity/Creating a LAN

This is an optional thing for you to do as I've found out that this is only a need if you're to manipulate your databases residing on your phone using your laptop via Ad-Hoc network. Importing your databases to your phone's memory (c:\mysql ) simplifies the task. A detailed description on connectivity can be found here.

Running the PAMP

Step 1: Start PAMP, MySQL, Apache



You PAMP should look like this:



(Note: I was able to setup my WLAN and so I've got this IP:169.254.185.141)

Step 2: Let's Test ....

Using the phone's native browser or Opera Mobile 10, browse to http://127.0.0.1 or http://localhost/. You should be greeted with a page that says It works!.

For Default Browser...




For Opera Mobile 10...




Step 3: View phpinfo.php file

Run More PHP Scripts

There are a number of FREE html/php editor for mobile flooded in the internet today, but LCG X-plore should still do.

Step 1: Create hello.php file



Step 2: Save the file. Make sure to save hello.php file under e:\data\apache\htdocs\ directory.

NOTE: Saving the file as Unicode doesn't work. So make sure to uncheck Save as Unicode.

Step 3: Run...




That's it...

Mobile Mouse - Phone As A Mouse

Psiloc iRemote was able to turn our infrared-enabled mobile phone into a real remote control allowing us to control our TV and other appliance sets. Psiloc Connect was then released allowing us to control our PC and other bluetooth devices with our phone via bluetooth. And Psiloc seemed to have forgotten to turn every phone into a mouse - a wireless computer mouse.

The idea came to flash in my mind when I found out that every working optical mouse has a property that is closely similar to that found in most native phone cameras. Of course, optical mouse works with a laser, but phone as mouse should still be possible and programmable using the imaging property of the phone or the built-in accelerometer.

Here's my idea on how to make phone a mouse:

Using our phone's native camera, you need to position your phone properly (with camera pointing to the ground/mouse pad). Mobile Mouse should communicate your PC via bluetooth. Movements or irregularities detected on your phone should update the current position of your mouse pointer. That is, everytime your phone is moved, Mobile Mouse should send signals or digital position to your PC alerting that the phone is moved.

Accuracy and responsiveness could somehow be a concern. But hey, isn't it cool to navigate through your computer using your phone as pointing device? I suggest, the "Call" and "Exit" key should be where left-clicking and right-clicking should be carried out.

Implementing Mobile Mouse using the imaging tools of Nokia could somehow be a very tedious job. Imagine, the device has to capture bits of data (image) and transport it to PC wirelessly using Bluetooth. Accelerometers and all sensors that come in most Nokia handsets should simplify the problem.

Again, turning your phone into a pointing device is a possibility.

The Old-Fashioned Mobile Apps Ideas of Nokia

The past weeks prior to the official release of N8 and C-series, Nokia released a voted shortlist of 13 mobile software/application ideas coming from mobile enthusiasts all over the world. The effort was a hit of course as it gave every user the opportunity to communicate with Nokia's software development team.

I thought, however, that Nokia were soliciting mobile app ideas that will surely kill every top-of-the-line mobile software of today. I was expecting that Nokia would have a mobile app ideas top picks that truly are cutting-edge and revolutionary.

Of the 13 mobile software ideas being chosen, almost all of them have been enjoyed already by many smartphone owners for years. The recently announced mobile app top picks of Nokia are no longer new and in fact most of them are already feasted by a number of cracking team.

Of course, I'm talking about the killer and must-have Symbian applications not of Nokia's proprietary, but of another software companies inspired to deliver real mobile innovations.

But then again, Nokia's business is just to provide you with handsets ready to be tamed and controlled, and not to provide you sophisticating mobile applications that would make every smartphone even much smarter. It must have been a mission of Nokia to deliver mobile devices that come with hardware and software built that takes you at the fore-front of todays' mobile craze.

Mobile Software/Application Ideas - Top Picks

Nokia's Make My App was an open competition that invited anyone worldwide to submit an idea for a mobile application and get the chance to have it turned into a real app. From more than 7691 brilliant ideas to the voted shortlist of 90, judges chose 13 winning ideas. Those 13 winning ideas were made into real apps at Nokia World event held in London, September 14-15.

Looking at the rich diversity of the applicants, Nokia were proud to announce that creative people can be found everywhere in the world. Brazil, Latvia, Kuwait, Jamaica, India, France, Egypt, Malaysia and UK all got their own Make My App –winner. In fact, India got 3.

Here are the 13 winning mobile app ideas:

Face Recognition Based Device Locks "According to me every smartphone needs some securing tool. Here i am talking about an application that will guard the device at different levels of system.take it as complete device lock,particular file lock,applications lock,phonebook lock(particular contacts or groups),and a data encryptor." Says Piyush Veere, a 19 year-old Computer Technology student of India.

Toddler Tutor "A talking app that teaches kids Alphabets, Numbers and Common Words. The app should display flash cards we can swipe through and a speak button that speaks out the displayed card. The app should also include a coloring book with lots of images where children can select different colors to fill in." Says Revathy Sreedharan, a 29 year-old Software Engineer from India.

Mobile Photoshop "This is a thought for a miniature form of photoshop application or a boosted mobile image editor. A super phone like nokia n8 deserves such a creative tool." Says Piyush Veere, a 19 year-old Computer Technology student of India.

Auto HDR photography "As known N8 will feature amazing camera, so why not make it even better with app which could take HDR photos and merge them? I mean take 3 photos one after another with exposure -2, 0 and +2, and merge them together to get amazing looking photo. So far to do so we needed more equipment like tripod to keep phone steady (there should be almost no movement when taking HDR), remote keyboard to change exposure without moving phone and additional software to merge images into HDR. But it would all be solved with such app which automatically takes 3 photos and merges them together. For anyone taking photos with N8 this would be amazing addition. Attached pictures are examples of HDR pics I've made with Nokia N82 so far." Says Arvis Pukitis, a 17 year-old student from Latvia.

BioSeen "Take pictures of wildlfe with the phone's camera and the BioSeen app will be able to download info on the organism to your device while simultaneously uploading geotagging info as well as photographer comments. Usefull for locating and preserving valuable/rare species and sharing them with the world." Says Paul Heaven, a 21 year-old Civil Engineering student from Jamaica.

Document Creator Manager "Nokia should develop an app that can utilize the macro mode of the excellent 12MP camera to take optimized photos of a document and convert it into a WordPDF document which can be saved on the phone. The operation should be done on phone instead of uploading images to a 3rd party server. The app should also be able to manage these documents. This would certainly help reduce the carbon footprint and reduce the need for printing documents for reference." Says Dileep Devapal, a 29 year-old Software Engineer from India.

Emergency Geotagged Photo "This application would allow you to send in a easy way Geotagged Photos to your local Emergency unit, such as Police, Firefighters o others. This way they would know exactly with what they will be dealing, the exactly location and also would be avoiding prank calls. " Says Adamo Pinheiro, a 25 year-old Architect from Brazil.

First Aid "This app would provide users with information about how to apply basic first aid recommendations in case of an accident (Protect victims, Alert services, Aid victims !), heart attack or drowning : perform a heart massage ? Perform an Expired air resuscitation procedure.... " Says Yann Lossouarn, a 35 year-old User Experience and Usibility Specialist France.

Green News "This app should be source for environmental & climate change news & statics allover the world it should also allow widgets and may be donation to certain related organizations. " Says Omar Rafat Orabi, a 21 year-old Petroleum Engineering student from France.

I-Friend "Hi it's the time to have your electronic friend with you always A voice program using the mobile sensor, calender , GPS hardware, google answers, here & now ,and meeting reminder to be an electronic friend speaking and reminding to the owner and also answering him good morning you have a meeting." Says Amro Kira, a 29 year-old Senior Accountant from Kuwait.

Instant Voice Translation "Instant voice translation app combining voice recognition feature on Nokia phones and the huge collection of voice pronunciation in dictionary.com or Google Dictionary. Just speak to the phone in foreign language, the app will translate the words on back-end then produce the translated voice output." Says Yuen Liew, a 29 year-old Online Business Owner from Malaysia.

Sound Editor "Everyone likes music and a lot of us might wan't to make some. So what about little sound editor where you put sound samples together (like kicks, hihats, other drums, piano and such which should come with thhe app, at least some) in patterns and put patterns together to make a simple beat. WIth editing BPM (beats per minute) it would make a great, fun and useful app, which would be very useful for those who want to make simple beats anywhere with N8. Image attached of how I think it might look like." Says Arvis Pukitis, a 17 year-old student from Latvia.

Story Maker "An app that allows anyone to collaborate on making a story. You can select categories or topics, users write a paragraph or two and another user continues where the other person left off, again writing a paragraph or two. App can have friend lists, time limits etc to enhance the experience ! " Says David Lee, a 35 year-old Field Service Engineer from United Kingdom.