Cingular and Nokia E62

migriffin  2006/10/02 02:50 UTC


I recently purchased Cingular's version of the E62 and I cannot seem to get WidSets to work. It asks:

"Allow application Widsets to use netowrk and send or recieve data?"

I say yes and select Media net as my access point.

Then I repeatedly get the same question. Over and over until I escape out of the program.

It appears this might be a security issue. When I download a program with the correct certificates, I am able to set my preference for each program to only ask this question once. However, for programs that are not recommended by Nokia to be loaded (Widsets and Google Maps for instance), the only two options I have are to ask every time or disable entirely.

Any suggestions on how to fix the problem?

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

Antti  2006/10/03 07:54 UTC


Hi migriffin.

Really sorry to say that this is a carrier specific problem that occurs with certain phone models that are sold by certain carriers, Cingular in your case. To overcome this problem in common, we would need to sign our application with a certain variety of certificates that would suit the needs of these specific carriers. This approach hasn't been taken by us due to various reasons, execution speed and complexity amonst many.

Since WidSets runs on a wide variety of Java-enabled phones, a phone manufacturer-specific certificate (signing) does not solve the problem either. Instead, a separate signing process for every single operator in the world would have to be done, requiring a long and tiresome process, ending in many separate WidSets clients, which would then need to be distributed to the correct phone/operator combination (i.e. users).

In addition, in some cases and phones, a signed application might not install at all, actually hindering the usage of WidSets.

What you might want to try out is the Socket connection that can be changed in the options. This connection type creates an open connection to the server and in that sense it works a lot smoother than HTTP connections, that are made each time something is fetched from the network. Socket connections can be enabled from 'Options' -> 'Client' -> 'Settings' -> 'Connection type'. There is however a slight chance, that Cingular has blocked the usage of socket connections and they're not usable.

Cheers,
Antti

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

mleary  2006/10/28 02:12 UTC


I ran into the same problem with the E62, it really sucks that Cingular crippled this otherwise great phone.

Anyway, you say it is not feasible to get your app signed because you would need a different version for reach carrier, but on my E62 there quite a few MIDP2 CA's installed (e.g. geotrust, thawte, verisign). So I'm not sure why you say you would need multiple versions.

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

Antti  2006/10/30 06:43 UTC


Hello mleary.

Signing the application with a single certificate would of course do it for a single device, as you noted. In other words, we wouldn't need multiple certificates on the application side to help the case with the E62.

In the optimal situation however, it would of course be ideal that we could reach out as many devices with each aqcuired certificate as possible. And to actually reach the masses, we would most likely have to sign the application with quite a variety of certificates due to varying support on the phone side. This approach would also require device mapping when it comes to certificate support and changes to the way we deliver our software.

Not promising too much on this front, but there might be some light at the end of the tunnel after all.

Cheers,
Antti

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

tsweinberg  2006/11/10 02:00 UTC


Hello Antti,

I'd like to voice my support for Widsets to be able to run on the E62. Cingular and Nokia are in the middle of a huge ad campaign promoting the device -- it's likely only to gain significantly more users in the months to come.

While I realize that you all at Widsets currently do not wish to sign your application with a certificate, I'm sure that having an E62 version of your application would enlarge your user base.

Just my opinion, though. (And I'd love to be able to use the application on my new phone!)

Thanks for your consideration.

Regards,
Teddy

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

lockett87  2006/11/12 21:37 UTC

tsweinberg wrote: I'd like to voice my support for Widsets to be able to run on the E62.

I'd like to echo Teddy's comments. CNET has ranked the phone in the Top 6 Business Phones in North America and Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal (probably North America's top technology columnist) has written "...the E62...gets the job done and may well be the best bargain in its category."

I can't think of a better phone for WidSets to launch in the US and Canada.

Thanks!

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

Aware  2006/12/13 01:09 UTC


Much as I hate "me too"s ... but I have to say it. Me Too!

I just picked up my E62, found some great software recommendations and Widset looks to be one of the greats. But I cannot use the software! This is certainly one fo the tools that can justify the purchase of the phone and also elevate the phone to greatness ...

<crossing fingers>

Steve

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

ilium  2006/12/21 16:44 UTC


Hi. I have good news for E62 users.
I wish I could cross-post this, but I don't know if that's possible.
This good news probably works for other (Nokia 6630 maybe) phones.

First, the quick-and-dirty fix that is E62-specific.
1) Quit all applications *INCLUDING IM*.
2) Go to Settings -> Config -> Connection -> Access Points -> MEdia Net
3) Change the connection name to "XMEdia Net" (or whatever) and hit "back"
(If it won't let you edit the Access Point because it's in use, see #1)
4) Power phone off and on
5) When asked for which Access Point to use, pick E-mail Settings
6) Rename the Access Point above back to "MEdia Net"
7) Enjoy (except for the constant popup questions in WidSets about "Allow WidSets to connect to the network?")

There is probably a way to accomplish this on phones other than the E62, but I don't have any other phones :-)

What you're doing is changing the system-default Access Point. Changing the Access Point in particular applications (like the "MEdia Net application, the Browser application, etc.) don't help. I figured this out by changing them, running Google Maps, and going to Settings -> Connection Mgr. There I saw that although *NO* apps on my phone were set to use "MEdia Net", every time Google Maps accessed the net it caused an open connection to "MEdia Net".

The system-default Access Point is used by installed applications (built-in apps like "Navigator" and "IM", as well as all J2ME apps and downloaded .sis apps).
Having them use "E-mail settings" means that these apps will not use Cingular's proxy. It's unfortunate that you can't make application-by-application choices about which Access Point to use, but "E-mail settings" is definitely the most appropriate for things other than "MEdia Net" and "Browser", because the traffic they request is highly unlikely to benefit from a proxy cache.

ANYWAY, to answer the issue that's in another thread (about the HTTP headers causing the problem), it is Cingular's Proxy (not the handset itself) which has problems with WidSet's HTTP response (or maybe request). Running with no HTTP proxy works just fine.

An alternative solution (for those who can't get J2ME to stop using "MEdia Net") would be to tell the "MEdia Net" and "Browser" app to use the "Multimedia" Access Point (which is identical to the "MEdia Net" access point, at least in my phone). Then edit "MEdia Net" (as above, quit all apps first), go to "Advanced Config", and change the Proxy Server address to (empty) and the Proxy Server port to 0. That should accomplish the same thing.

FINALLY, regarding app signing.
If the WidSets app was signed with a code signing cert from Verisign, GeoTrust, etc., that MIGHT help, but would be a bad idea (IMHO).
It WOULD eliminate the constant prompting to allow WidSets to access the net, but that's a battle being fought on behalf of unsigned apps in the Cingular forums right now anyway.
It would not help unless you configured WidSets to use Socket rather than HTTP, and even then I'm not sure it would bypass the proxy.
Meaning you'd still need to make the changes above.

The reason I say it's a bad idea to sign the app is that I don't know enough about the security implementation inside WidSets.
If I allow WidSets to run signed, it gets more privileges on my phone. But WidSets in turn runs some code (I assume) from the various Widgets, whom I don't necessarily trust.
Which means that WidSets would be obliged to come up with some sort of permission-granting methodology for Widgets, and that's a pain.

Bottom line: If the HTTP requests/responses can be "fixed" such that they work successfully with Cingular's proxy, NO configuration changes OR signing will be necessary.
Signing would only eliminate the nuissance prompting which already plagues Google Maps, GMail, and other unsigned apps.

Regards,
Troy

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

Aware  2006/12/30 15:32 UTC


Troy,

I could not get this to work. Widsets never prompted me to choose a connection profile :-(

Re:Cingular and Nokia E62

Aware  2007/01/21 19:08 UTC


Don't supposed anyone here has reflashed thir E62 as a non-Cingular branded phone, then tried Widsets?