(Click here for a larger view of a T-Mobile device accessed via DeviceAnywhere)DeviceAnywhere was first launched in 2003. It is touted as a "revolutionary" service availing developers of 1,500 real handsets on which to to test their software applications. It obviates the use of emulators, instead providing live access to actual devices, says Mobile Complete.
DeviceAnywhere claims remote access to 1500 actual phones, housed in data centers (above)According to the company, the supported phones have all been disassembled and placed in the company's data centers (above). Stationed in the U.S, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan, the centers allow each rack-mounted handset live access to their respective carriers, including the following:
- 3 (UK)
- AT&T
- Alltel
- Bell
- Boost Mobile
- Bouygues
- Helio
- KDDI
- NTT DoCoMo
- O2
- Orange
- SFR
- Softbank
- Sprint
- T-Mobile
- Verizon
- Willcom
DeviceAnywhere subscribers access the devices from their desktops using a Java-based application called DeviceAnywhere Studio, pictured below. Mobile Complete claims anything that a user could do with the device in his or her hand, they can do with the handsets remotely. Examples include pressing device buttons, tapping on touch screens, connecting or disconnecting the battery, listening to ringers and speakers, and opening or closing the device.
DeviceAnywhere Studio provides remote access to any device offered by Mobile Complete
(Click to enlarge)As well as simply providing remote access, DeviceAnywhere Studio is also said to capture handset screen shots, sounds, and keystrokes as movies, automatically. In addition, it allows interacting with multiple devices concurrently so that, for example, users can test peer-to-peer applications between a device in San Francisco and one in London.
Finally, DeviceAnywhere Studio permits recording interactions with a device into a script that can be played back on demand. This allows for rapid comparison of different devices or changed configurations, according to the company.
The T-Mobile Shadow
Click image for our earlier coverage |
The DeviceAnywhere enhancements announced this week apparently provided no new features, but do provide access to more than 70 new T-Mobile handsets. A key device touted by Mobile Complete is the T-Mobile Shadow (right), a Windows Mobile phone with a proprietary interface, slide-out "QWERTY-like" keyboard with predictive typing, and four built-in instant messaging programs.
In addition to Windows Mobile, phones in the DeviceAnywhere farm run other OSes, such as Symbian and Linux.
Further informationDeviceAnywhere is offered on a subscription basis, with access to a specific collection of devices priced at a flat $100 per month, plus $16 per hour. A senior offering, DeviceAnywhere Pro, includes a bevy of scripting, reporting, and scheduling capabilities, and costs $1,000 per month for two user licenses.
Additionally, three-hour trial accounts are available
here (free, with registration). More information may be available from the Mobile Complete website,
here.
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