Silverlight browser plug-in ( Adobe’s Flash replacement by Microsoft) will be bringing his multimedia power to Nokia mobile devices. Microsoft Silverlight will be available for Series 40, Series 60 and Nokia Internet tablet devices.  Silverlight support will extend the opportunities for developers to create rich, interactive applications that run on multiple platforms in a consistent, reliable way. Silverlight will also expand the range of development environments that mobile developers can use. The strategy, which Microsoft detailed at last year’s Mix conference, hinges on creating tools that let traditional Microsoft developers write Silverlight Web applications with familiar products like Visual Studio and ASP.Net.

Java™ ME Developer’s Library, a new aggregation site within the Forum Nokia community, is a complete resource package for developers. It includes introductory, getting started, tutorial, and API-level information for developers wishing to use the S60 or the Series 40 platforms for developing mobile Java applications or services. This library is available in three formats: HTML online, stand-alone, and Eclipse plug-in.

Forum Nokia has launched Problem of the Month, a competition for S60 developers. This month’s problem: Design and implement a framework that unifies S60 runtimes. The goal is the intercommunication of runtimes, such as Symbian C++, Java, Flash, Python, and Web Runtimes. With this kind of runtime interaction, it is possible to access new features and reuse existing solutions in new and exciting ways.

To enter, provide your framework implementation and at least one working example of the runtime’s internetworking. If you don’t have time to implement all the necessary parts, at least present your ideas and planned design to score more points in the contest.

Solve the S60 problem of the month; the deadline is February 15.

Good news for developers, who use to work with open-source IDEs NetBeans and Eclipse. The latest Nokia Series 40 and S60 SDKs now supports integrations with both of IDEs. Combined with Nokia PC Suite and a Series 40 or S60 SDK, NetBeans offers an easy route to mobilizing your Java skills.

Download NetBeans and the NetBeans Mobility Pack here (http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/resources/technologies/java/netbeans.html?cp-1207A&entry=NetBeansArticle3CTA).

At this week’s Symbian Smartphone Show in London, UK,  Nokia introduced a touch user interface for the Series 60 on Symbian OS. The S60 touch UI offers developers the opportunity to create applications and content that use a variety of input methods, including touch screens with traditional keypads, touch screens with full messaging keyboards, and touch screens with finger or stylus input. All existing S60 3rd Edition applications will run on touch-enabled devices without modification. New touch UI comes with support for tactile feedback, which means that there is a some kind of pulse (physical feedback) when the user taps on the screen. This improve the user experiencebetter with ability to perceive  the device’s response.

Also, Nokia soon plans to offer tools that will help developers optimize the touch experience of their S60 applications and content.