Nokia Web Development Plugin for Aptana Studio Released
Nokia and Aptana this week started shipping the beta release of Nokia WRT Plugin for Aptana Studio. Nokia WRT (Web Runtime) lets you build native apps and widgets for Nokia S60 phones using your JavaScript, Ajax, HTML, and CSS skills -- the stuff standard web pages are made from, but installable on the phone for increased performance, less bandwidth consumption, and more capabilities. We are pleased to be expanding Aptana's support for mobile devices adding Nokia to the growing list of tools for mobile web development using Aptana Studio.
Open Standards
The Nokia WRT is based on WebKit. So there's lots of sound, open web technology there as a foundation upon which to build. Despite the "duh factor" of this, it's kind of revolutionary since mobile devices historically have required specialized runtimes, libraries and tools resulting in a highly fractious eco-system for mobile app development. WebKit's adoption by many leading mobile device manufacturers, including Apple for its iPhone, lays a great foundation at last for a mobile standard: JavaScript, HTML, & CSS -- Duh!
Extending Aptana Studio and Eclipse
The Nokia WRT Plugin for Aptana Studio is free software built on the Eclipse Plugin model. Nokia WRT Plugin for Aptana Studio extends Aptana Studio's core support for Ajax libraries, HTML, CSS and JavaScript and leverages its JavaScript debugging and other features. Aptana Studio can run standalone, or you can also plug Aptana Studio into Eclipse, or other Eclipse-based IDEs.
Nokia WRT Component Library
To get you started fast, Nokia WRT SDK (and its development plugin for Aptana Studio) include a library of Ajax components, optimized for the Nokia WRT. These controls include form elements, navigational controls, and other goodies that are pre-integrated with the capabilities of the Nokia WRT. There's also support for Flash .swf in Nokia WRT.
Nokia Preview and Nokia WRT API Emulation
A Nokia device preview is added to the generic Firefox, Safari and IE previews that are standard in Studio. One click lets you see what your app will look like on a phone at different screen dimensions for different devices. In addition, the preview supports the emulation of the Nokia WRT 1.0 APIs so that you can actually click on stuff and make it work.
Automated Project Creation and Test Deployment
The Nokia WRT Plugin for Aptana Studio helps you create ,test, and deploy projects too. The project creation wizard includes and sets up all the resource files you need, including the Nokia WRT components if you want them. Add other Ajax library support via Aptana Studio. The *.wgz packages needed for deployment can be generated by the plugin, and deployed via Bluetooth connections for testing. On Windows operating systems you can also download and install Nokia’s in the S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 and S60 5th Edition SDKs and deploy widgets to the emulator for testing. The plugin is also supported for MacOS, but without the Emulator deployment.
How to get it?
The Nokia WRT Plugin for Aptana Studio was developed by Nokia, but is being shipped by Aptana. If you already have Aptana Studio, update to Aptana Studio 1.2.1, then go to Aptana > My Aptana > Plugins > Nokia WRT Plugin > Get It. Otherwise download and install Aptana Studio, then do the above.
