*Image courtesy of PACA Mobile Center*

One of the biggest hurdles to developing for mobile, from J2ME to Mobile Web, is getting access to test devices. As any mobile developer will tell you emulators just aren’t useful in our industry so nothing beats testing on a live device running on a live network. Given that phones features are so diverse, getting access to enough devices to carry out sufficient testing can be quite expensive if you have to buy them. Luckily though a few services have popped up in the last couple of years aimed at taking away from the cost of testing for mobile development.

Device Anywhere

Perhaps the best service, and also the most widely used, is Device Anywhere from Mobile Complete. Device Anywhere gives you access to real devices on live networks in real-time. The devices are electronically connected to the Mobile Complete servers and the user logs onto them using a Java Application and takes control while live visual interaction is fed back to them.

The service is made up of 16 separate packages from networks in 3 geographies, UK, USA and Germany (Click here for a list of the packages and devices). In all you can get access to over 180 live devices through Device Anywhere. Another advantage is that some packages include pre-release devices for select networks and device manufacturers. I must stress that this is all Live testing not emulation, it’s as good as being there with the device in your hand.

Mobile Complete provide a free 3 hour trial for new users so giving it a go will cost you nothing. You can also get a further 5 hours free if you’re a member of dev.mobi (free to register), so that should give you enough time to try the service and see it it’s suitable for your needs.

Once your free trials are up though, subscribing to the service isn’t cheap. The average hourly rate on the service is between $17 and $18 and the packages are charged at a rate of $200/month for the first package and $100/month for each subsequent one (Included 10 hours of use). However compare it to the amount you’d need to invest to buy these devices, visit these geographies and get onto those networks and it clearly works out greatly in your favour.

PACA Mobile Center

PMC is a non-profit consortium which was set up specifically to tackle this kind of issue.

“A key objective of the centre is to alleviate the economic pressures felt by developers of mobile phone applications, which are largely due to the proliferation of phones with a wide range of different processors, memories and screen sizes.”

Developers can visit a PMC center and get access to over 550 devices. PMC currently have 3 centers all based in France near major cities, so flights should be very reasonable if you’re located in Europe.

Pricing is set-up at a daily, 10 day or yearly rate with lower rates given to start-ups (See pricing here). They add 40 new devices to their pool every month and spend an average of £100K per year on phones. On top of all this PMC also give it’s members access to Device Datasheets through their website.

Nokia Services

Nokia are the leading mobile phone manufacturer in the world so you can’t expect them to leave developers high and dry. Last year they too set-up a service similar to Device Anywhere called “Remote Device Access”. The service is available to all Forum Nokia members (registration is free) but is limited to an hours use per day to prevent abuse. There are 16 devices currently on the service, all of which are Symbian S60 devices. This service also runs within a Java application but is quicker than Device Anywhere.

If remote access isn’t your type of thing and you prefer the hands on approach, Nokia still has you covered. Their Device Loan programme will let you loan a range of Nokia handsets if you live in Europe or North America at a rate of $30/€25. The device range is more limited than those available on Remote Access but there are S40 handsets in there.

Other Manufacturers

While Nokia do provide the best service they aren’t the only player. Sony Ericssons Developer site will give you access to their Virtual Labs, which is basically a Sony Ericsson account on Device Anywhere. You’ll get access to a load of SE handsets including some pre-release devices so it’s worth getting on board. The service is a bit more than the regular Device Anywhere packages at $18 to $20 but you don’t have to do a monthly package at $200.

Motorola don’t leave developers out in the cold either and have gone with the low-tech method of a loaner programme. Devices cost between $35 and $70 for a 30 day period and the selection isn’t huge. Again, this service is limited to Europe and North America. However this isn’t really a service I’d recommend to anyone. Reading the T&Cs there are some seriously crazy charges for things like late returns and damaged devices ($1000 to replace a Motorola K1?!). I’d keep away unless you’re desperate. You might want to hold out for a Remote Access service which the MotoDev team told me about back at 3GSM. However given that this was 10 months ago I wouldn’t hold me breath.

Operators

Some network operators will also help you out with device testing however you will be limited to the devices that they have live. Orange Partners allow their members to visit their developer centers and access live devices to test. However you do have to be a partner to do this and won’t be available to everyone.

AT&T are another company that use Device Anywheres service to give developers access to devices. the package can be bought direct from Mobile Complete and includes pre-launch devices as well.

Alternate Methods

I know I started off this post by saying that emulators just aren’t useful, but there are people who swear by this “smart” emulator. Zandan have developed their own handset simulation technology which realistically emulates the actions of a real device using a live SIM. This simulation technology can then be used to automate the testing of various user scenarios. They have over 1000 devices in their simulation database and track various information such as the User-Agent, header files and max image file size.

While this might not be useful for all types of testing it’s worth a look to see if you can make use of it. A free 30 day trial is available on their website and if it’s suits you needs the full version will set you back€1000 per year.

Another alternative is to outsource the testing to somewhere like China. Companies like Dragon Ports are starting to pop up all over China and will do bespoke product testing for a very reasonable price, all on live devices (Dragon Ports have access to ~200 European devices). In fact a quick Google Search should give you a host of companies which provide similar services in the far-East.