MobileApplications

Please check the status of this specification in Launchpad before editing it. If it is Approved, contact the Assignee or another knowledgeable person before making changes.

Summary

The UME will have a core set of applications. Those applications need to provide the functionality necessary to perform the following tasks:

  • Web browsing, supporting common plugins.
  • Communication (chat and email)
  • Consume, produce and share media (photos, videos and audio).

Currently, those applications are:

  • UME browser
  • Cheese
  • Claws mail
  • Moblin Chat
  • Moblin Media Player

They have being chosen taken in consideration:

  • Availability as a FOSS project.
  • Features.
  • Facility to integrate into the UME environment.
  • Compliance with Intel SoW.

Those chosen applications have to work tightly integrated, meaning:

  • They have to be aware of each other, being able to know what to do or application launch to handle the users requests
  • Share the same contacts database
  • Have the same look and feel, integrated with the rest of the UI.

Release Note

This set of applications will give the user a basic and consistent environment that will let the user perform the basic tasks an MID is created for.

Rationale

The proposed user for this kind of environment is not usually a very technology-oriented person. They see the system as a tool to perform daily tasks and, as such, the environment must reflect this need, providing the user with a smooth, easy and consistent set of applications that are focused on the tasks that the system is proposed to accomplish as a whole.

Use Cases

  • Penelope puts the device in her purse on the way out the door. Uses location services to get to kids piano teacher's house. Browses the web during piano lesson. Takes a few notes in notepad. Chats with husband about when he's coming home.
  • Svein takes MID in his pocket to the bar. Takes picture of himself with the cute waitress. Checks out the picture. Uploads picture to MySpace. Views MySpace page. Chats with buddies. Sends his GPS coordinates to them to find him. Emails his lawyer to help him on the divorce proceedings started by his wife.

Assumptions

This spec assumes that, for a full completion, a set of design guidelines that will be used as a base to how the applications should look and behavior is ready.

Design

The whole UME design will be based on a design guide that needs to be created. This guide covers not only the look and feel but every single kind of interaction, features and limitations that the project should have as a whole, giving the developer a series of parameters that an application should follow to be considered up to enter the UME. We have a basic UI style guide that can be used as a starting point after being revised by a UI designer but the full design guide need to be created before any work on phase 2 described bellow starts. Also, the applications have to follow some criteria to be considered fitted to the UME project. Those criteria are divided in:

  • Minimum: This is the absolutely minimum set of characteristics the application have to follow to be included.
  • Complementary: Despite not obligatory, following the complementary criteria will further extend the consumer satisfaction with the product and, as such, those characteristics should be followed as closely as possible.

The complete list of criteria is specified here

Implementation

The implementation will be done in 2 phases:

Phase 1

The current set of applications will pass thou a general makeover to make them usable in the MID common environment. Those changes will be done basically in the UI level, meaning they have to follow the minimum criteria as closely as possible. Current estimated time for completion, based on the current set of core applications: 3 man/month.

Phase 2

In this phase, the design guide should already exist and cover the following items:

UI Changes

Currently, we have this basic style guide proposal but it needs to be reviewed and expanded by someone with experience in UI design so the modifications on the UI and related applications can be consistent and user-friendly.

Code Changes

The basic changes on the applications and related UI code like applets should follow the following basic items:

  • Mime types/data identification
    • All the applications should be aware of each other and how to treat files and external links so, for instance, the browser should start the media player if it a media-related file is clicked or the camera application, should be able to use the email client to email a picture to someone on the user's contact list.
  • EDS - Evolution Data Server
    • The EDS will be used as the central repository for the user's information like contacts. All the applications should be able to interact with this backend.
  • Hildon
    • Hildon is the basic UI framework. All the applications and related widgets should use it's capabilities and services like UI gadgets, registration and authentication services. The libosso subsystem is also a good way to make the applications talk to each other (using DBUS) and should be used as often as possible.

Compliance

The applications should follow the full criteria list as closely as possible.

Test/Demo Plan

The system as a whole should be able to run in a simulated platform, (TODO: Add link to the pretendulator) in a way that any user or developer can test and demonstrate new features. A set of automated test tools yet to be defined, preferably integrated to the simulation system should simulate common operations and stress test the applications and subsystems.

Outstanding Issues

The biggest dependency of this spec is the design guide. Without it, it can't be completed.

Items rejected

  • PIM frontend to be covered later
  • File manager not needed, the applications themselves should cover it

Items to be discussed later

  • Separate media library and media player?
  • One media player to rule them all, or photo, music, video separated
    • That may lead to user confusion or to use the same application with different icons/modes.
  • Call for community developed apps
    • GPS mapping device (gpsdrive?)
    • Pen note taking app (tomboy + stylus plugin)
  • How to evolve the applications set?
    • Continue to use UME browser or go for something based on gecko 1.9 like Nokia's microbrowser?
    • Experiment with tinymail?
    • Provide alternatives for the chat and media player like Pidgin and mplayer?
    • How determinate if an application should enter the core UME?


CategorySpec

MobileAndEmbedded/MobileApplications (last edited 2008-08-06 16:15:16 by localhost)