Somewhere in the holiday lull, we missed this announcement going by. If we missed it, then you probably did to. In short, the Python interpreter for the Nokia Series 60 phones has been released.

Of course, T9 and hacking may not be the perfect hacking platform, but it's great fun regardless.

Previous MobileWhack Series 60 Python Posts:

* Amaretto Thoughts: Python on Nokia * Python For UIQ Smartphones * Symbian Python * Python on Nokia w/Screenshots * Something Beginning With "P"

The Symbian OS UIQ port of Python has been updated. There is now a .SIS file that can be installed on phones such as the P800. However, as a console mode application, it still requires use of an external keyboard, such as an IR keyboard. Next up, Tim is working on adding a real UI and also socket support, as well as continuing to reduce the memory footprint. The project can now also be built independently of CodeWarrior for Symbian OS, using the free tool chain.

Matt Croydon shares some of his experiences with Amaretto, Python scripting on Series 60 handsets. For the most part, he's having a ball, but there's one stumbling block of note:

There's only one problem: sockets. It always comes back to sockets. Don't get me wrong, sockets are available in Series 60 Python, but you can't do something like urllib.urlopen(url). That little thing is keeping a lot of people from doing useful things with Series 60 Python

Russ finds some analogue in J2ME:

It's just like the experience with mobile Java: Regular Java programmers start thinking of all the cool things they'll be able to do with their phone, and then suddenly they have to deal with MIDP and get really frustrated quickly because of all the limitations.

I know I did.

But Russ is also enjoying his Amaretto fiddlings:

It's just plain exciting to see Python work on my phone. It's one of those ghee-whiz events when you realize how powerful a smart phone like a 6600 is, and how really what you have in your pocket is actually a full-on connected computer, not just a neat phone with some cool features.

I had precisely the same feeling when I got to spend some hands on time with Amaretto at last year's Emerging Technology Conference. There I was in the hotel lobby at some unholy hour conversing with a 6600 in a common tongue (I've never found J2ME to be something I could get into speaking), thumbing along in the Python interactive interpreter. I've not had a chance to spend very much time with Amaretto since, despite being a tester, but what I have laid hands on, I've been more than pleased with and am looking forward to more.

(Oh, and what's Russ writing, you ask? Why an RSS reader/aggregator, of course! RSS readers... the "Hello, World!" of the 00s ;-)

Tim Ocock has created an independent port of the Python programming language to Symbian OS devices like the Sony Ericsson P900.

This is my independent attempt to port Python to Symbian OS devices. It is a new port from the generic Python 2.3.3 sources. It does not contain any code from my Amiga port of Python. The Python interpreter works in console mode, and most of the standard library modules work as expected.

I am launching the project publicly now as I have completed the first proof of concept and am now inviting ideas and contributions. There is still lots of work to do. The software runs inside the emulator, but is of no use on a real device as there is no way to enter text (except possibly with an IR keyboard, but I haven't tried that).

I have not seen the Nokia Series 60 runtime, but am aware of it. I don't know what their intentions are regarding open source licensing, but if their work is available on appropriate terms, then I would rather use that for this project than reinvent the wheel.

Currently, the Python interpreter runs and you can interactively enter Python programs or code fragments.

We've made mention of the Python on Nokia, now code-named Amaretto and in limited testing (disclosure: I'm evaluating it myself) on Series 60 devices, the Nokia 6600 in particular.

I stumbled across Jim Hughes's mention of his fiddling with Amaretto which mentions other efforts afoot to port Python to UIQ (e.g. Sony Ericsson P900)--I've yet to see anything here--and past Symbian/Epoc attempts.

Pippy is a Python port for Palm. Pity the Pippy project appears to have petered out (last release April 27, 2002). Perhaps pick Poppy?

In mid December I expressed a wish for a scriptable mobile device as part of Wired's "The Fantasy and Reality of 2004" survey of what technologists wanted and expected in the forthcoming year.

As if in answer, mid January was chock full of whisperings of Python or Perl on Nokia smartphones. But were these simply the result of a game of telephone or something we could indeed expect on our handsets in the near future?

Yesterday's keynote by Nokia CTO Pertti Korhonen at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference confirmed that we would be seeing Python rolling on Series 60 handsets (specifically the 6600 and family) via Forum Nokia.

The proof being in the pudding, here are a few snapshots of the Python interpreter and scripts running on a 6600 to get your programming juices flowing...

The classic currency converter, a "favourite" of every Web services wonk. It fetches updated Dollar-to-Euro rates over the air, caches them locally, and performs as you'd expect it to, converting one to the other. As you can see, you do have access to the usual GUI bits on the handset: text input boxes, soft menus, et al.

A list of scripts available on the handset. The filebrowser.py is just what you'd expect it to be, browsing the filesystem, "drive" by "drive": C, D, and E. FIWeather.py downloads a weather map image from some online weather source and displays it on your handset's screen. A threads.py (not shown) exercises the Python's multi-threading. And so forth.

Getting a little loopy in an interactive session. T9 and Python just don't mix, I tell you ;-).