Mobile Application Development with SMS and the SIM Toolkit [Paperback]

Scott Guthery (Author), Mary Cronin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0071375406 | ISBN-13: 978-0071375405 | Publication Date: November 15, 2001 | Edition: 1

Get mobile messaging going on virtually any platform, in any language

Mobile Application Development Using SMS and the SIM Toolkit is just the guide you’ve been looking for if you’re building applications for GSM or 3G networks, wish you had sample code for reality-based applications, or want to add mobile extensions to your software products and corporate network. In this straight-talking tutorial, smart card expert Scott Guthery teams with information management specialist Mary Cronin to provide you with authoritative guidance on SIM application design, integration, and management for any platform. Seasoned developers will quickly learn how to:

• Create code that harnesses the power of the SIM
• Use the micro-browsers and micro-Web servers in 3G phones
• Construct leading-edge mobile commerce applications on today's network
• Send and receive SMS messages from your server or your laptop
• Enable interfaces and other needed components
• Create secure wireless applications for corporate networks and VPNs

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

MAKE MOBILE APPLICATIONS THAT WORK

Just what you need to get mobile messaging going on virtually any platform, in virtually any language, this guide provides a thorough tutorial in the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) programming environment, today's most-used mobile applications technology. Smart card expert Scott Guthery teams with information management specialist Mary Cronin to show seasoned developers how to:

* Design, build, and integrate SMS messaging into your applications environment
* Create code that harnesses the power of the SIM
* Use the micro-browsers and micro-Web servers in 3G phones
* Construct leading-edge mobile commerce applications on today's networks
* Send and receive SMS messages from your server or your laptop
* Enable interfaces and other needed components
* Create secure wireless applications for corporate networks and VPNs

This book is for you if--

* You're building applications for GSM or 3G networks
* You know that today's 2 billion SMS messages per month are not enough
* You wish you had sample code for reality-based applications
* You want to add mobile extensions to your software products and corporate network
* You manufacture smart cards or create smart card applications
* You seek reliable answers on 3G programming interfaces and toolkits
* You want guidance on SIM application design, integration, or management for any platform
* You prefer to avoid others' mistakes

Other books offer application overviews. Mobile Application Development Using SMS and the SIM Toolkit gets you writing code.

About the Author

SCOTT B. GUTHERY is one of the best-known names in the technical aspects of smart cards. As Chief Technology Officer of Mobile-Mind, a provider of wireless consulting services and SIM applications, he was the lead designer of Microsoft's Smart Card for Windows. He also led the team that developed the first Java Card. A regular contributor to GSM and 3G standards, he holds 3 patents for smart card applications and real-time systems. He is the convener of the Architecture Working Group of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Smart Card Platform (SCP) project.

MARY J. CRONIN, Mobile-Mind President, is the author of five books on technology and business strategy, including Doing Business on the Internet, a groundbreaking work that has been translated into 10 languages. As a Professor of Management at Boston College, Dr. Cronin specializes in Electronic Commerce, International Telecommunications, and Wireless Information Management.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (November 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071375406
• ISBN-13: 978-0071375405
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,596 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No frills, fast pace and for SmartTrust developers, May 22, 2002

By 

Rachel Tozier (Brea, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mobile Application Development with SMS and the SIM Toolkit (Paperback)

Because 3G is on the verge of being rolled out in the US by major carriers I purchased this book to explore how to best integrate the next generation cell phone with system management information for our data center. Although this book will work with GSM phones as well, our company is standardized on a carrier that will be making 3G available, so if you're using GSM my comments will also apply.

This book will get you started in mobile development quickly if you're using or going to use the SmartTrust toolset, which I highly recommend. This book is about those tools, so if you are not going to use them don't get this book.

The authors do not mess around. They introduce the basics, then very quickly jump into design, development and testing. If you're a developer you'll appreciate the lack of fluff and the fast pace. The book lives up to its title in all respects and is outstanding for anyone who needs realistic information about developing mobile applications using proven tools and techniques.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get up to speed on SMS and SIM fast, April 30, 2008

By 

S. Austin "FullBandwidth" (Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mobile Application Development with SMS and the SIM Toolkit (Paperback)

Very good introduction to SMS (Short Messaging Service) and its interaction with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) in mobile devices, as of c. 2001. If you know nothing of the field (as I didn't), you can get up to date in a good day's reading. In that regard it was exactly what I was looking for.

Sure, lots of the technology has moved forward since this edition was published, but since the authors give plenty of well-organized references to the enormous body of standards covering mobile networks (not just GSM but 3G), SMS, SIM, etc. it should be easy to follow from where they left off to what's current using online resources. So I would not say this book is outdated, by any means.

While it's great that actual code examples are provided, the code is all MS Windows-based. Even the examples using web interfaces use VBScript. So if you're not savvy on MS/Windows programming (from what I read on Linux forums, there are actually some people out there like that!), you might not find the examples too useful.

A gripe about the book is the sloppy copy editing/proofreading. There are lots of typos and glitches - far more than a reputable publisher like McGraw-Hill should have let through.

For example, there's a chart (p. 123) showing the hex file names on a UICC smart card. Some of them have don't care bits in the file names, and are correctly shown as "4FXX" but one is shown as "4FSS." If you were new to this type of notation, this kind of error might cause some confusion.

And here's a real brain-twister, taken verbatim from p. 129: "No matter whose application it is, the subscriber can't figure out how to use it will call their network operator."

Trying to decipher these oddities (I finally figured out the word "who" is missing between "subscriber" and "can't") can bog you down. If it were once or twice, it wouldn't be a big deal, but there are many of these throughout the text.

So if you can breeze past those annoyances, this is a great survey book to bring you up to speed quickly.