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Friday, November 9, 2012

My Mail to a Mobile App guys


I know its very early to comment on the APP. I am sure the UI would be awesome and functionally the app is well tested..take care of the below things...(my english narration may not be that good, I am sure you go cool with that :) by getting the context)..Being a indian mobile testing guy, I can give you some inputs in testing point of view.
Field test:
Perform an exclusive field test with major Indian cities and urban area's (very important). atleast 5 major operators in that area. / location (Airtel, Voda, RIL, Docomo, Aircel). Execute all the basic scenarios.
Power Consumption test:
Check the power consumed by your app, in foreground and back ground mode. use agilent 8960 spectrum analyzers / dummy batter / data acquisition unit, you can be able to achieve that. make sure you are not exceeding 100 mAh. (you can also try to find the power consumed by the competitor applications, such as whatsapp, nimbuzz, line, kakoo talk, wechat).
Usability test:
I am sure you have UX designers, but not presuming that having HMI certified usability testers. (Its hard to find in indian job market). but you can engage a company doing usability testing or you can hire some usability test managers, who can invite people (such as college students, various job backgrounds etc) to your premises and perform usability testing with them and get user feedback's... this is really important to get in to the users hearts.
Device compatibility tests:
app may be working really cool in samsung galaxy S3 or iPhone 5, u must be having one :). but may not be working at all in 3GS or a galaxy tab. It may just crash or some major functionality may not work at all. so create a comprehensive device lab with almost all the major devices. (you can also go OS vise, in android most of the people use 2.3 and 2.2 OS, if you just cover that you are 90% covered). you can also give a try with nokia RDA (very effective) or perfecto mobile's device cloud (bit expensive, i never tried due to that).
Performance tests:
Standalone applications performance mostly depend upon the processor speed and the hardware make, but we can find out by benchmarking the performance constantly over a period of time. you guys might have done that already. but make sure you use android moneky or monkeyrunner (performance automation embedded tools from google). you can also try robotium to create a performance test suite (again this is for only android)
Unit Tests:
Dev team might have created good unit tests (now a days when creating project itself you will be asked by the SDK that you need to create a UNIT test suit for the product). Good unit testing will help the product to avoid most obvious defect leakages from the system.
Lab tests vs Field tests:
After many years of working in this industry, i found that in lab (office environment), you can catch hold of / or hunt down only 80% of defects. rest can be fetched only in the field or drive or from users...
Ambassador tests:
In my experience, testing team can never be able to get all the defects which the users are getting. Its not becos they are not capable of doing so, Its becos of different environment conditions where the users are. (different networks, different processor speeds, different hardware, different usage patterns). so you must maintain an active list of people (can be fetched via your social media team). where they come into picture before every major release. they can provide feedback on the product, they can produce different feature requests (where the in-house product managers never even think of). giving some goodies or paying their mobiles bills etc will keep them active and they are real Gems :)
Social media:
I am already receiving super awesome responses from your twitter account. create or maintain active facebook page (sorry if I a m not managed to see that, if its already there). Keep buzzing the social media with more news. more wishes. more moments. more contests. many people will be in. :)
And finally, you guys got a super young investor or CEO, I am sure this guy is gonna do wonders. Wish him good from Mr.R :)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Nimbuzz PC Client with Chatrooms - Chat rooms


Nimbuzz offers Chatrooms in Symbian and Java Phones, not in Android / iPhone (yet). Nimbuzz PC Client 2.2 version released with Chat rooms, but Its not available in 2.3 version.

Android users can install Nimbuzz Java Client (The must use Java Launchers for Android - Perform a Google Search please)

This post is for PC client chat room lovers. Download Old Nimbuzz PC Client with CHAT ROOMS

Let me know if the link is not working. Once you Install, If there is a software update Pop-Up comes, Dont give OK.

Keywords : Nimbuzz old version, Nimbuzz PC Client, Nimbuzz PC client with Chat rooms, Chatrooms, chat rooms


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Mobile Advertisement


<!-- URTAK EMBED CODE START -->
<script src="https://d39v39m55yawr.cloudfront.net/assets/clr.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
<div
  data-publication-key = '56f31f33cf938007ac5dc012380cd97e'
  data-post-title      = 'YOUR_POST_TITLE'
  data-post-permalink  = 'YOUR_PERMALINK'
  data-post-id         = 'YOUR_POST_ID'
  data-post-created    = 'YOUR_PUBLISHING_DATE'
>
</div>
<!-- URTAK EMBED CODE END -->

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Installing Development XAP in WP7x (Mango)

If you like to Install the XAP file (Windows Phone Executable) for the first time on a newly bought windows phone, you need to open Application deployment from your Run window. (I am assuming you had installed Windows Phone SDK and Zune Software Installed). 



The XAP Installer will show up. you can either choose Windows phone device or emulator in the drop down box.


Select windows Phone device and browse the XAP file which you received from Development.

Connect the Phone in the PC with USB Cable

Press the Unlock button in the Phone (Application will not be Installed if the phone is locked)

Press Deploy Button and the Application will be deployed.

@ this time, you may receive Error messages like "failed to connect to device as it is developer locked"

Solution for this: 

Open the Below Phone registration app from the blow path

64-bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\Phone Registration
32-bit: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows Phone\v7.1\Tools\Phone Registration



Enter your registered windows live developer account (In INR its about 4K, and your management must be having one. Check with the Lead or Test manager)

Enter the ID and Password, and Press Register, the Application will be automatically register your phone. make sure you set a name for your phone in Zune software.

Now open Application deployment again and Press Deploy button (after browsing the right XAP file path), Walla, you are Done.

Check the Phone and your XAP will be Installed at this point in time.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Skype4Py


This Script searches for a Name / Username , more examples : https://github.com/stigkj/Skype4Py/tree/master/examples


#!/usr/bin/env python

import Skype4Py

print 'Starting...'
# Instatinate Skype object, all further actions are done
# using this object.
skype = Skype4Py.Skype()

# Start Skype if it's not already running.
if not skype.Client.IsRunning:
    skype.Client.Start()

# Set our application name.
skype.FriendlyName = 'Skype4Py_Example'

# Attach to Skype. This may cause Skype to open a confirmation
# dialog.
skype.Attach()

# Set up an event handler.
def new_skype_status(status):
    # If Skype is closed and reopened, it informs us about it
    # so we can reattach.
    if status == Skype4Py.apiAttachAvailable:
        skype.Attach()
skype.OnAttachmentStatus = new_skype_status

# Search for users and display their Skype name, full name
# and country.
for user in skype.SearchForUsers('ravindran'):
    print user.Handle, user.FullName, user.Country

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Issue ADB command anywhere u want


To use the adb command, you need to always navigate to c:\Program Files\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools and run adb logcat or adb devices etc.

But a simple tips, u never need to navigate to the platform-tools folder manually. Simply add the platform tools path as your System Variable (in Environment Variables - u want me to tell you where is it ? :) )


Do that, and Walla, u can issue adb command anywhere in the command prompt and u never need to navigate manually.  If you dont have a PATH Variable already in the System variables, Create a New One. 
If this trick doesn't work, then add the same path in the User variables as well. U must be having the Path variable in the User variables. (u must have installed JAVA or Python right) 



If you are facing any problems, please comment !!!




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Sikuli Automation on a E-Com Site


In Sikuli, you can automation anything on your screen. you can download Sikuli from here : http://sikuli.org/

In Sikuli you can directly apply python code.

Its a best open source GUI Automation tool I ever experienced.

You can even automation Android Applications using Sikuli. I had posted a similar video in youtube couple of years ago.


Friday, May 11, 2012

Mobile QA Zone

Mobile QA Zone (http://www.mobileqazone.com/) run by my friend Mr.Anurag is one of its kind in Mobile testing Industry.



This is their Objective :

The Objective of this community is to provide online platform for
all Software testers especially from Mobile/Telecom domain who are
consistently facing need to have a platform for this new unexplored
domain. The Objective is also to provide Opportunity for all
Software Testers to explore this domain.

They also have something called "Tea time with Testers", another Interesting Initiative.



We are roam around there many times a day, replying each others practical mobile application testing problems. I even announced a contest & handed over PSPs to few testers.

What more, Just jump In and sign up : http://www.mobileqazone.com

Nokia Asha 202 - Comes with Nimbuzz PreInstalled




NEW DELHI: Nokia has launched its dual-SIM touch-and-type phone Nokia Asha 202. Sporting a 2.4-inch touch screen, the device comes with a 2-megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth and has expandable memory of up to 32GB.

The phone also comes with the chat client Nimbuzz for users to stay connected on-the-go. The dual-SIM Easy Swap technology in Asha 202 allows users to personalise their phones. With a dedicated SIM manager, it allows users to save information of up to five SIM cards.

Nokia Asha 202 is available in four colours: black and gold, silver white, dark grey and dark red. The phone is priced at Rs 4,149 approximately.

Nokia Asha 202 will be the first Series 40 device to offer exclusive EA games in India. As a 60-day promotion at Nokia Store, the consumers can enjoy 40 EA game pack worth Rs 4000 absolutely free. This includes popular and classic titles like Tetris, Need for Speed, The Run and Bejeweled.

Times of India : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/gadgets-special/Nokia-launches-dual-SIM-Asha-202/articleshow/12936652.cms

Nimbuzz Developer Program




Chat app company Nimbuzz has unveiled its messenger API and launched a new initiative called Chat Buddy Developer Program (CBDP).The CBDP allows developers to build chat buddies across various verticals such as cricket, astrology, shopping, games, news, besides utilities such as ticketing, movie reviews, classifieds, etc.

“This initiative is expected to help brands, publishers and independent developers get access to the 90 million Nimbuzz users from across 200+ countries,” says the official blog of the company on the announcement.

Nimbuzz has collaborated with several brands and publishers to increase its catalogue of Chat Buddies. For instance it has tied up with IBNLive for news update, Cricbuzz for live cricket update, Twitter for tweeting from within Nimbuzz, Vantagetrade for stock updates, Wikipedia for ready-information, YouTube for searching & viewing videos, IMDB for movies reviews, Car Dekho for car prices and reviews, Price Dekho for price comparison and Future Dekho for astrology updates.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

How IM is killing SMS - Times of India





The recent report that telecom operators lost $13.9 billion in revenue to social messaging applications has got many wondering if SMS is dying. It may be early to write off SMS, but it's a fact that IM apps like Nimbuzz, Fring, WhatsApp and others are gaining popularity.

Their biggest advantage is messaging and calling friends who are using the same app free of cost. Even if the other person is not using the app, the cost is minimal. Fring dropped call rates last week.

Nimbuzz Ping helps users save on even data charges. Says Vikas Saxena, CEO, Nimbuzz India, "It allows users to appear online and available to their contacts even when the Nimbuzz app is closed. When contacts want to reach them, Nimbuzz Ping delivers free SMS prompting users to log in to Nimbuzz and communicate." Users can also play games, compete with friends, check live cricket scores, get astrology forecasts. You can also video chat and chat in groups.

IM apps are booming --WhatsApp users sent more than 2 billion messages daily, up from 1 billion in October; Pinger users sent 2 billion messages in January, up from 1.7 billion in December; some 150,000 new users register daily on Nimbuzz, which has 15 million users from India.

One reason for the popularity of IMs is convergence -- you can add Google Talk, Facebook,Yahoo IM, Windows Live IM etc - - a huge convenience when your buddies are on different platforms. For example, you may be a regular Facebook user, but your close friends are on Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger. You can still chat with all of them via one app like Nimbuzz, even if they are not on Nimbuzz -- "a one-stop shop for all communication needs of a user," as Saxena puts it.

But there are downsides. One, many apps are heavy and if your mobile is low on space and memory, they could slow down the device. Two, since they need a data plan, IM apps are only as good as the connectivity, which in turn depends on the device and network provider. Three, keeping the app on for long could drain the battery. And four, shared files could be infected, harming the device and compromising information.

In a fight back, telecom operators in France, Italy, Germany and South Korea are testing a messaging system called Joyn. This will come embedded on all phones, and users can chat, and share files. But Joyn is a long way off.

SMSes will be around, but its usage will drop as data plans become cheaper and sophisticated devices become affordable.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/personal-tech/computing/How-IM-is-killing-SMS/articleshow/12341370.cms

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Nimbuzz for iOS




Nimbuzz for iPhone 4 (iOS4) compatible devices has been upgraded, which includes a good number of enhancements, bunch of new featuers, some minor bug fixes and tweaks, as well as the interface and functionality improvements. The just released version of the Nimbuzz client brings online presence to phonebook (see which of your phonebook contacts are online with Nimbuzz), free SMS invites (Invite all your friends for free to Nimbuzz via SMS). However, since Nimbuzz uses your internet connection, incremental data charges from your provider will apply. We therefore strongly recommend to use the mobile client only with a flat-rate data plan or free Wifi connection.
Here is what you can expect from the new update: 
  • Be online 24×7 - so all your friends can get in contact with you at any moment
  • Multitasking – run Nimbuzz in the background while listening music, watching a movie or checking your email
  • Answer the calls you get on Nimbuzz while it runs in background.
  • Continue the call – while navigating through other apps.
  • Hide call screen - to continue chatting
  • Super fast app switching – only 2 clicks to access Nimbuzz, whatever you do!
  • Very fast push notifications - no more reconnecting
Download Nimbuzz update for iPhone 4 
Another cool thing about the new app is a new feature in the keypad tab. If you dial a number it will automatically show the NimbuzzOut calling rateso you know how much will you pay per minute before you hit call