A year ago, i decided to replace my mobile phone. The battery had terrible durability and this was the second one that i replace. So i decided to bite the bullet and replace the phone.

I spent a little time doing some research to know what types of phones are available locally and was quickly saddened by the alternatives. You see, i wanted a phone that would do more than make calls. I wanted one that would help me with my work as a contract worker in terms of scheduling, reminders, notes and contacts. I also wanted one that can be used to check my email and do a little browsing or reading when my laptop wasn’t available so it had to have a big screen.

What i really wanted was a Nokia N770 or N800. Sadly though i found out that they were not selling it in the middle east. Too bad. I really wanted a platform that i can program on and create some useful applications for. I have a couple of applications that i personally need and who knows maybe even commercialize.

So i picked the Nokia 9300i which i purchased from Dubai after several dealers in Lebanon tried to rip me off. It’s a nice phone meant for businessmen. This means that it doesn’t have a camera and it doesn’t vibrate nor does it sing any songs or wash the dishes. It’s a phone meant for productivity.

I liked it and although there were a bunch of different things that i would have changed, it was not that bad. So i decided to go ahead and try to develop some software for it. Being a Symbian platform, it was supposed to be a somewhat manageable task. I am a programmer after all.

Let me tell you. Whoever said that Symbian is a good platform for mobile development is stupid. Developing for that platform is one of the most difficult things i have ever had to do. And even after i overcame all the initial obstacles, it turned out that the application that i am trying to develop was not possible due to the design of the platform.

So what were the problems? I’ll write about it in a later post. Get your tea cup ready.