I am looking at getting a smart-phone most likely from at&t(current provider) and I am wanting to have the freedom of being able to program small apps for it. I do not want an iPhone but am open to almost any of the others.
Do you have any recommendations for which smart-phones are easily programmable or most suited to being programmed?
Please state which languages these phones are programmed in. This is not really important but I am curious
Besides the iPhone... you have... the G1 by T-Mobile which runs Android. That's programmed in Java.
Palm is coming out with the Pre (next few months), running WebOS and is programmed in Javascript?
I know Nokia is not the hottest choise for smartphones in the US, but the new Web Runtime Widgets in S60 5th edition devices makes development insanely easy! You can make really cool functional apps with just HTML/CSS/Javascript thanks to the widget runtime.
I personally have a Nokia E51 (S60 3.2) that supports WRT 1.0 that allows you to make simple widgets that can be installed like native symbian apps, but S60 5th edition devices (5800, N97) come with WRT 1.1 that allows Javascript access to the phone's internal resources (calendar, contacts etc. even accellerometer!) that provide a basis for some insanely cool apps that are dead simple to develop!
I'll be getting my own G1 soon. I'm developing apps currently for G1 in the company - in Java. I think it is better platform than iPhone, as Java is easier and more spread than Objective-C IMO. With upcoming 1.5 Cupcake update will become even more viable option.
As Tommi Forsström said, Nokia 5800 has the latest Symbian OS. Alternatively, I think the E71 is available on AT&T.
On symbian phones, you can develop using the following runtimes right now:
With the open sourcing of the platform, there should be even more/better programming languages available soon.
Shameless plug: If you want to get started with Symbian OS C++, the latest effort to introduce developers to the Symbian eco system as easily as possible is at http://developer.symbian.com/quick
I found this article to be informative: A developer's-eye view of smartphone platforms. It was written in January 2009, and covers the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia Symbian, and Windows Mobile devices.