Database Users

Melody [0.7 Source Uploaded]

Hey all,
I'm working on a new mp3 player for windows mobile devices. I took inspiration from the iPod function in the iPhone. This should integrate well with the existing iPhone based themes for windows mobile devices.
I'm using .NET CF, PythonCE and flash to create the app.
Here's the youtube link of what it looks like so far:
Melody 0.8 Final Sneak Peak!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNUyIHEIv-M
Enjoy .
Chad.
To everyone who has problems with current Melody:
Just to let you guys know, I've officially stopped the development of the .NET version of melody, and I've started intense learning of C++ Win32 development. Having said this, I wont be able to support any errors or problems you might have with the .NET version, in an effort to have a native version of melody out ASAP. Once this is done, a new thread will be created. However, I have posted the source for version 0.7, and anyone is free to pick it up and even release new versions if they so desire.
You can check out the C++ implementation of Melody (PocketMelody) here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1689445#post1689445
Coding Team:
Thundershadow14
Chrismrulz
Dosfan (Created the scroll routine from scratch)
gingercat (Created user control for dosfan's routine)
Graphic Designer/Layout Strategist:
Youmeus
Steph99
Updates:
Source for Version 0.7 Uploaded. You're free to do whatever you'd like with it .
Requirements:
.NET Compact Framework 2
Flash Player 7 ActiveX
Pythonce (http://downloads.sourceforge.net/py...219-setup.exe?modtime=1166570322&big_mirror=0)
Your mp3 collection.
File Releases:
Melody 0.8 PRE Release
Melody 0.8
-0.81
Post will be updated, upon every new release. Thanks for this suggestion guys.
Installation Instructions:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 1: Copy cab file to your device.
Step 2: Install cab file, to either storage card, or main memory.
Step 3: Goto: Start -> Programs -> Melody
Step 4: Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you follow these instructions and it still doesn't work, you've identified a bug. If so, please let us know by posting your results on the forum.

Looks pretty cool.. next time please use a better camera though
What phone is that? Pretty snappy.

Nice...!
Can u upload this programs for us ??
Thanks for your works...!

Very well done
good work man,
do you post the files , i`d like to try that great application , and give you feedback
can you post the files now?
i have some application whid finger scroll , search for my name and you can find posts off some applications finger friendly, and after that you may contact the autors and ask for help to improve finger scroll in your app

good program
yes please...link for the application..

looks pretty good
is there going to be landscape mode with the finger scrolling?

Files
Hey guys,
Thanks for the responses, I'll post files up as soon as I get home.
@Marcos200
Thanks as well, I'll be checking out those apps ASAP.
-Chad.

It really looks pretty cool !!! great job !! can't wait !

cant wait to try will you be posting the files soon

Man, please don't become a film maker. The phone was so blurry that I am now dizzy.
All phones really need to have flush screens like the Touch so you aren't digging your finger in the corner or hit the side when scrolling on the screen.
The application looks nice, is it heavy on system resources?

maevro said:
All phones really need to have flush screens like the Touch so you aren't digging your finger in the corner or hit the side when scrolling on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt. It took him like 5 tries to hit the X button at one point.

OMG!! faster upload it up!!!

Crap!!!
the movie i mean...the software looks promising though.

Looks promising...
any chance you could code it in native.....C+?

Seed123 said:
Looks pretty cool.. next time please use a better camera though
What phone is that? Pretty snappy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think this is a dell x30 not a ppc phone.. its a regular pda probably with the upgraded specs of 624mhz instead of 312 and its still on wm2003se no way its wm5.. i miss thesed ays but i dont miss losing my info for a depleted battery

FILES
Okay, just to answer some questions:
Coding in native C? I've done some C programming before, but doing the album art animations in C seems very near impossible for me. I'll definitely take a look at it though.
The Machine:
Yes, it's an old Dell Axim X30 High, with 620mhz. Which is why I would love to hear how it performs on phones, that usually have much slower processors. I've got some ideas for speed improvements, but looking forward to your feedback guys.
Please note though, I didn't really want to release so soon, but all the requests have made me go against what I originally thought was a good release candidate point. In other words, EXPECT BUGS! Lol. And PLEASE READ THE README file if you want things to work properly.
Download Link: http://www.sunatrise.com/iMedia_Player 0.1 Beta.zip
Thanks!
Chad.

thundershadow14 said:
Okay, just to answer some questions:
Coding in native C? I've done some C programming before, but doing the album art animations in C seems very near impossible for me. I'll definitely take a look at it though.
The Machine:
Yes, it's an old Dell Axim X30 High, with 620mhz. Which is why I would love to hear how it performs on phones, that usually have much slower processors. I've got some ideas for speed improvements, but looking forward to your feedback guys.
Please note though, I didn't really want to release so soon, but all the requests have made me go against what I originally thought was a good release candidate point. In other words, EXPECT BUGS! Lol. And PLEASE READ THE README file if you want things to work properly.
Download Link: http://www.sunatrise.com/iMedia_Player 0.1 Beta.zip
Thanks!
Chad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WM6 Wizard - NET CF2
gave a DISP_UNKNOWN error.
EDIT:Noticed it needed the OpenNetCF. Downloading....

wow
what did you use to video that? Made me sick. program looks cool!

please keep up workin on this, looks quite promising.

Merlin_reloaded said:
WM6 Wizard - NET CF2
gave a DISP_UNKNOWN error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where exactly did it give that error??

Developing new application, need help/suggestions

MAJOR EDIT: Started over, I need fresh ideas!
I'm bored, I got Basic4PPC andI want to make a little freeware app. Seeing how much people wanted another unit converter, I dropped the towel before entering the shower (pushing the metaphor to far...) and decided to consult the experts.
What would be THE best idea for a Pocket PC application? I was thinking about a small app to launch many applications from a single hardware button with some cool UI and all, but it's been down quite a couple of times.

I don't think that a unit converter can be sold easily... I mean: I don't need it, and if I would: there are so much freeware alternatives.
And about your goals:
- only one file... why?
- Try to make it modulair: easier to extend

sounds like a good idea, but why not have currency converter, in fact what would be a cool idea is if it can download a table of exchange rates on startup so that it gives you an accurate conversion figure.

Rhapsody said:
I don't think that a unit converter can be sold easily... I mean: I don't need it, and if I would: there are so much freeware alternatives.
And about your goals:
- only one file... why?
- Try to make it modulair: easier to extend
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, who would buy a unit converter... for instance I use google to convert for me on my phone. Easy and fast to use. I don't really know why I would need to convert a number fast.

I chose a unit converter for ease of use, but since the project is a day old or so, it's the right time to tell me what to make!

N1c0_ds said:
I chose a unit converter for ease of use, but since the project is a day old or so, it's the right time to tell me what to make!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I think if you want to make something which you want to sell, you have to come up with the ideas yourself
I think you start at the wrong side. First think about what you want to make (what are you missing at the moment on your phone?), then try to create it and when it's finished you can always decide what to do with it. (shareware or freeware).
The thing is that most of the things are already available freeware.

I don't quite correspond to the typical PDA user. I'm 15 years-old, part time worker...
I can get ideas myself, but I can't really know what the average user wants. The best thing I can of right now would be a hardware button launcher.
When you'd press the button you'd be presented a big touch keyboard from which you could filter the available apps. It would launch the app then close itself. Good or no good?

Timesheet application?
Well, since you asked... This is the only app I used on my old palm device that I have not been able to replace on my PPC. It is a simple timesheet program that allows the user to record time spent on definable projects.
I have tried several of the commercial programs out there and they are all too complex or geared more for billable time and invoice generation. I just need something simple. The PALM program was freeware and can be seen here.
If you are interested in giving this a try I will be glad to give some more details on the desired functionality. The PALM program was not 100% of what I needed, just the best fit from what I could find.

Interesting. I actually made something similar in one of my Palm apps (which was never finished because I switched to WM).
I'll have a look at that. I'll try it as a filler, waiting for a great project.
P.S.: your themes are awesome!

That would be wonderful! The biggest things I would need are below:
Multiple projects with name and number (13 digit)
Ability to delete project from available list but keep past history
Day and Week summary view reports
Easy selection / clock in / clock out on main screen
Those are the main things. There are lots of ways to do this and I have ideas, but part of the fun of coding is UI design and code structuring. If you decide to take this one please let me know. I will be very happy to test for you.

Woah, calm down, I'm only about to complete the table. It looks like the screenshots for Timesheet right now (without final total, project selection and "today" button).

what about an app that can install automatically and in silent mode a big list of cabs. we should just have to select the destination : phone storage or sdcard. it would make reinstalls easier after rom updates .....
perhaps it already exist, i don't know ...

PROGRESS!!!
The thing is now useable! It saves date, in time, out time and calculates the difference between the two. When you exit it save your current data to load it when you launch.
Looks like this:
Date In Out Time
08/08/2008 17:15 17:20 00:05
And it adds one row for each in/out.
Sample coming soon.

kaiser47 said:
what about an app that can install automatically and in silent mode a big list of cabs. we should just have to select the destination : phone storage or sdcard. it would make reinstalls easier after rom updates .....
perhaps it already exist, i don't know ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting idea, but I doubt people would pay for it.

CAB File!
Here's the working version. It yet has to show total time, money owed and all, but that's a good start!
Does anyone know a better CAB making app? This one sucks.

N1c0_ds said:
Interesting idea, but I doubt people would pay for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
basically exists as user customisation... a new thing where cabs from storage card can be installed if u basically make an xml file with links to all the needed cabs

N1c0_ds said:
Here's the working version. It yet has to show total time, money owed and all, but that's a good start!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am impressed. Then again, I don't have a WM dev environment. It is running fine so far on my P4300 WM6. Thanks for taking this on! There is nothing out there right now that is simple and clean.

I'm about to cancel all that crap right now. After a hard day of work, it was all made useless because Basic4PPC can't freakin' handle tables as it should. Thus instead of getting the standard plain white tables with grey headers, I get some ugly dark gray filling where there is no data. Then thing get even uglier when scrolling is needed. That kind of crap is enough to make me quit.
Unless you guys can get me something actually worth its price, forget about my app, I'm too pissed off to continue and all the files went straight to the bin.

Thundy's Next Move!! [Let's get some ideas for a New WM GUI]

Okay,
For those of you who know/remember me, I'm back! You can read my full story among the last few posts of the PocketMelody Thread. The important thing now, is deciding what my next move will be. So, as usual, I'm leaving that up to YOU the community. So head over to the following site, and share your view. I'll probably leave the poll running for a day or so, unless the results begin to be overwhelmingly slanted in one direction . Happy Voting!
http://www.sunatrise.com/poll.html
-Chad.

Poll Results:
New GUI:28 Votes
Pocket Melody:35 Votes
Picture Viewer: 8 Votes
Other: 4 Votes
Contact Manager: 0 Votes

Why don't you add a poll here on Xda?
More people would see and vote it.....

thundershadow14 said:
Poll Results:
New GUI:28 Votes
Pocket Melody:35 Votes
Picture Viewer: 8 Votes
Other: 4 Votes
Contact Manager: 0 Votes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like people want Pocket Melody back!

l3v5y said:
Looks like people want Pocket Melody back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For sure!!!

Chad, welcome back. We all missed you and your wonderful work. And no matter what endeavor you decide to partake in we will blessed and very grateful for your time and effort.
I'm sure us XDA-ers would like to know your vision for each pathway. Here are some of my thoughts though:
Continue Pocket Melody
For continuing Pocket Melody development, A_C's S2P covers a lot of what I remember from your threads that you and others wanted in Pocket Melody and an iPhone inspired media player. If you go down this road what vision did you have that will distinguish Melody from A_C's?
Picture Viewer
With the Picture Viewer, you have A_C's S2V and the HTC Album. A_C's is simple, very finger friendly and fast. HTC Album has some more advanced gesture support but this also adds in the complexity and sometimes I just can't get the gesture I want. A_C's has clear seperation making it the winner in my eye.
Yet I still think that there could be a need for another picture viewer application of a different style. I still have your Picture Flow beta on my Wizard, just for the effect that it had. Maybe you can continue development on that? Or Maybe you could make one that looks like a real photo album with a page flip effect? 3D style like the Diamond?
On a tangent, maybe a Theme Viewer/Manager might be a good related project. I'm using Pocket Theme Manager v2.0 which is like a 3 year old program, but nothing else is available out there to replace it. It reads the TSK files and caches a JPG thumbnail so once everything is cached it runs pretty fast. Just not finger friendly in comparison to a bunch of the other applications I have installed. Nice to have a quick way to view and change a TSK. The built-in Today Setting control panel definately isn't up to the task.
New GUI Concept
This would be great. No one will ever be happy be happy with our current WM5/WM6/WM6.1 so any improvement in finger friendliness, less clicking, etc...anything to make Windows Mobile to be as easy to use as a regular non-PPC cellphone.
What I would LOVE to see is to cut the top start/title bar in half and have a top bar and bottom bar underneath the softkeys. On the top it will include the normal start button, signal bar, battery, clock, close button. All these will be clickable and function just like the regular top bar. The bottom bar will have an expand arrow/triangle (like PointUI had at the bottom) and when you click on the arrow/triangle it will slide up and give you a floating (maybe semi-transparent) ribbon. This ribbon can contain a program launcher, today plug-ins, whatever. It could just slide up and then have pages you can flip or be able to spin like Yahoo Go!. With this setup you aren't using any more today screen real estate and yet you always have one click access to whatever is on the bottom ribbon. No need to get back to the today screen to see your launcher/today plugins.
Contact Manager
PocketCM is pretty great in my point of view. Skinnable, built-in SMS threader, field editor, filters, favorites, and more. I couldn't think of anything else I would need in a contact manager. And you have a lot of others out there to fulfill the needs of others. Even iContact is back in development. =)
Other
And now for the other category. I just see you and A_C as XDA's finger friendly innovators. I would hate for you guys to utilize your talents in overlapping apps. Then we'll have two great applications from two great developers and then...we'd have to choose. DON'T MAKE US CHOOSE!
So what I recommend is that you push the limits. Do something way out there. You did that with your coverflow and it inspired a lot of others developers. And in some way I believe helped bump up the quality level of applications we see from XDA members.
Best of luck in whatever you choose. And once again we are all very thankful.

l3v5y said:
Looks like people want Pocket Melody back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1k
.................

Votes....
As the votes continue to pour in:
New GUI:39 Votes
Pocket Melody:66 Votes
Picture Viewer: 12 Votes
Other: 5 Votes
Contact Manager: 1 Vote
@SeanFromSoCal:
I love it when users take the time to break things down in that fashion, it helps a lot! Well, taking into consideration what you've said, and the growing rate at which users are voting for the return of PocketMelody, I do worry a little:
A_C's S2P is at a state where it has fullfilled most of the aspirations I had for PocketMelody, and what the community truly needs, is great new applications that will continue to breathe fresh life into our WM platform phones. Now, if I continue to develop PM, I'll need a new path to follow, something that will stand out as different, it used to be coverflow but A_C has implemented this already.
But yet, I cannot simply ignore the overwhelming support that exists for PocketMelody (referring to the votes above), and that's basically what it comes down to for me, as a community developer.
Having said that, personally, I see the most room for improvement and FUN as a developer, in the idea of creating a new GUI. It's something I've had my mind on as I was developing even the ANCIENT Flash based version of Melody WAY BACK WHEN. Lol, but hey, if the votes point to a certain direction; I have no choice but to focus my energies and creativity towards the path of breathing new life into PocketMelody. I only worry that we'll end up with two programs, that do the same thing, but have a different *feel*.
Keep the votes coming in people!!
PS
Beta testers?!?!? You guys still alive?

File Explorer or threaded sms
I would vote for a file explorer or a threaded sms.
1st - A finger friendly file explorer with the same functionality as wm filexplorer, resco, Total commander but with an interface like PocketCM or icontact. large selections and easily scrollable.
2nd - A threaded SMS with the look and feel of PocketCM's threaded sms but as its own standalone application.
3rd - A new UI. I really like the the new PointUI but is sucks a lot of battery and memory on my device. A flash base system may do a lot better.
Curious George

I would still love to see a finger friendly file manager, something that looked and felt a bit like PCM but instead of browsing contacts it would show your files. It would have filters for stuff like favourites (any files you choose) all mp3s, all videos, all photos,all txts, all .exes or whatever you want. It would be possible to set a default action when selecting a file, ie what software would open it. I have suggested such an app a few times before and been swept under the table. I truely think an app like this would be about the most usefull thing on a WM device. If it's not new and been done before why bother. I look in this forum for new and useful stuff and am a bit bored with the lack of new developments at the moment. How many great mp3 players are there allready? Don't be swayed by the masses, as my Mum says "don't be sheep" most people just can't think out of their boxes, do something origional and great.

File Explorer + Finger-Friendly = Awesome Idea!!

Exciting stuff:
New GUI:77 Votes
Pocket Melody:75 Votes
Picture Viewer: 14 Votes
Other: 6 Votes
Contact Manager: 5 Votes
I'm reading and listening to what each and every one of you has to say. At the same time, I'd like to also mention two things.
1)Although whatever this poll
produces will be my next project, I highly doubt it will be my last contribution to this forum .
2)The Polls will be closed at midnight my time . It is now 9:22 PM.

thundershadow14 said:
PS
Beta testers?!?!? You guys still alive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Welcome back chad. I would like u to develop a new GUI or a finger friendly explorer. But whatever u go for, Im ready to be ur beta tester again.

Finger Friendly File Explorer or FFFE as i like to call it, LOL, or slide to explore or....you get the idea.
Check out the file explorer A_C incorporated in his S2V or S2P. Like large selections. Or if possible a hybrid of that mixed in with icon exploring like wm6.1 folderview.exe. Either way, large thumb sized selections with a soft interface and easy sliding. Heck you could figure out some way of expanding on album flipping for folders and program launching. Ewwww or building an interface of FFFE that does the job of Resco, total comm etc BUT that also pull info off of an ORB account. Just a thought.
What do you think of taking the idea of Face Contacts and mixing it with the new diamond interface's contact program.
Your thoughts.

for all those looking for a finger freindly file explorer (say that 5 times fast) you should have a look at resco FE. It's not free but it's pretty good, offers lots of options and big buttons.

iphone scrolling for the whole phone like a super moded touch flo or iphone like File Explorer

thundershadow14 said:
As the votes continue to pour in:
New GUI:39 Votes
Pocket Melody:66 Votes
Picture Viewer: 12 Votes
Other: 5 Votes
Contact Manager: 1 Vote
A_C's S2P is at a state where it has fullfilled most of the aspirations I had for PocketMelody, and what the community truly needs, is great new applications that will continue to breathe fresh life into our WM platform phones. Now, if I continue to develop PM, I'll need a new path to follow, something that will stand out as different, it used to be coverflow but A_C has implemented this already.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi maybe you can implement a today plugin for pocketmelody, to see like audiomanager in diamond but with a coverflow interface!!!!

If you do try the file manager could you PLEASE make sure you can edit therom files. Resco made that mistake and got blasted for it with 2008 (I beleive they fixed it) but a shareware version of a killer finger friendly file managerr, I'm up for that...
Cheers....
And thanks for those other BRILLIANT apps I've been using for sooooo long....

Results
And The Winner:
New GUI:107 Votes
Pocket Melody:100 Votes
Picture Viewer: 14 Votes
Other: 7 Votes
Contact Manager: 8 Votes
WINNER: A NEW GUI!​
Okay, this was actually quite dramatic, at exactly 11:58 NEW GUI and Pocket Melody were tied at exactly 100 votes. I began to worry: "oh no, what am I going to do if this thing ends up in a tie? flip a coin?" Lol, then with just one minute left, a flurry of seven votes came ringing in for A New GUI, hence we have our winner.
--END OF DRAMA--​
Okay, the community has spoken and I've officially got my work cut out for me. I've got some ideas, both graphically and code based, but I'd like to hear from you guys as well. In addition, this project will probably be more graphically intense than PocketMelody was, so I'm asking anyone out there with some photoshop skills to please lend a helping hand, and work with me to make this project a success.
Apart from this app's looks, I think it must be a priority to create a UI that has the most used features of our phones built into it, so that the user sees as very little of the original WM UI as possible.
I'd also appreciate it if we can now use this thread to shout out some UI ideas to work with. I'll have a name for the project by tomorrow (I won't waste more time engaging another poll for the name, once we get the project to at least a few releases, we can then think of a refined name).
Looking forward to hearing from everyone, LET THE FUN BEGIN! I'm off to create the perfect dev environment for this project .
-Chad

thundershadow14 said:
And The Winner:
New GUI:107 Votes
Pocket Melody:100 Votes
Picture Viewer: 14 Votes
Other: 7 Votes
Contact Manager: 8 Votes
WINNER: A NEW GUI!​
Okay, this was actually quite dramatic, at exactly 11:58 NEW GUI and Pocket Melody were tied at exactly 100 votes. I began to worry: "oh no, what am I going to do if this thing ends up in a tie? flip a coin?" Lol, then with just one minute left, a flurry of seven votes came ringing in for A New GUI, hence we have our winner.
--END OF DRAMA--​
Okay, the community has spoken and I've officially got my work cut out for me. I've got some ideas, both graphically and code based, but I'd like to hear from you guys as well. In addition, this project will probably be more graphically intense than PocketMelody was, so I'm asking anyone out there with some photoshop skills to please lend a helping hand, and work with me to make this project a success.
Apart from this app's looks, I think it must be a priority to create a UI that has the most used features of our phones built into it, so that the user sees as very little of the original WM UI as possible.
I'd also appreciate it if we can now use this thread to shout out some UI ideas to work with. I'll have a name for the project by tomorrow (I won't waste more time engaging another poll for the name, once we get the project to at least a few releases, we can then think of a refined name).
Looking forward to hearing from everyone, LET THE FUN BEGIN! I'm off to create the perfect dev environment for this project .
-Chad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
graphics! whoohoo! I like a good challenge!
Ill start scketching

[GAME] DiamondTris - Tetris with support for VGA, stylus & wheel sensor

Updated: 2009-01-03, 21:05 (GMT+1)
Me and Swoop2 is creating a Tetris game for us HTC Touch Diamond users out there in need for a great one! Why I wanted to create a new Tetris game for the HTC Touch Diamond was because all of the Tetris games out there got some flaws (imo); not supporting VGA resolution, visually looking bad, running slow etc.. The closest thing I got was TeKnowMagic Tetris, but I wasn't satisfied either way. There's simply no Tetris game out there filling my requirements.
DiamondTris so far:
VGA resolution
Moving pieces - with the wheel sensor or via the on-screen buttons
Rotation of pieces - with the enter button or via the on-screen buttons
Line completion and destruction
Statistics: score, hi-score, level, lines done/remaining
Difficulties: easy, medium, hard (different speeds)
What needs to be done:
Some minior GUI tweaks
Sound effects
Settings (sounds, controls)
You'll need .NET Framework 3.5, which you'll find here
Changelog:
DiamondTris_20090103.cab:
Installs on device or internal storage
Creates a shortcut in Programs\Games
Pause function implemented
DiamondTris_20090102.cab:
New, better looking on-screen buttons
Added some statistics
Disabled piece rotation by tilting the device (needs further tweaking)
Application icon added

+1
sounds like a fairly simple and easy project... if only i had listened in class...

Why don't you get some pledges to encourage a developer
I would pay around £3 for a tetris game designed for our device
Not loads, but if enough people were too pledge their support...

hays said:
Why don't you get some pledges to encourage a developer
I would pay around £3 for a tetris game designed for our device
Not loads, but if enough people were too pledge their support...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good idea.
i'll let hays pay £3 for a Tetris game
(and i suppose i could chuck a few quid in as well )

Of course I'm in for some donations if this game is created

I started a very basic Tetris app for my touch diamond a while ago - just as a play around as my first Windows Mobile application. It uses the wheel for moving the current piece left and right and I was going to have a go at using the accelerometer to turn the piece clockwise/anticlockwise (i.e. a flick to the left or right).
I've never used OpenGL or anything so it was just done using a timer and the graphics object off the OnDraw event. I got as far as creating the grid, drawing the pieces, moving them around and knowing when lines were completed, etc. Still had a lot to do but it was a proof of concept more than anything else.
I'm just a normal application developer and develop form based applications and back end stuff. If I can get to where I am with my effort in the time I have, then someone who knows how to write games properly could easily do something really good.

Swoop2 said:
I started a very basic Tetris app for my touch diamond a while ago - just as a play around as my first Windows Mobile application. It uses the wheel for moving the current piece left and right and I was going to have a go at using the accelerometer to turn the piece clockwise/anticlockwise (i.e. a flick to the left or right).
I've never used OpenGL or anything so it was just done using a timer and the graphics object off the OnDraw event. I got as far as creating the grid, drawing the pieces, moving them around and knowing when lines were completed, etc. Still had a lot to do but it was a proof of concept more than anything else.
I'm just a normal application developer and develop form based applications and back end stuff. If I can get to where I am with my effort in the time I have, then someone who knows how to write games properly could easily do something really good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, that sounds great! Got any plans on continuation of your work? Onscreen buttons instead of accelerometer sounds even better imo, and is easier to do I think..?
Care to share your source? I can have a look at it myself and see if I can get into Mobil application programming too... or at least someone else here can continue on your base work.

I do plan on finishing it at some point - though I'm not 100% sure when! I don't mind sharing the code anyway, so once I'm back home I'll try and remember to put it on here.

Swoop2 said:
I do plan on finishing it at some point - though I'm not 100% sure when! I don't mind sharing the code anyway, so once I'm back home I'll try and remember to put it on here.
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Sounds cool. Looks like I might get a good weekend after all! Do... not... forget... the... add... the source code!

Here's the source code. It is VERY much a work in progress. I started it as a windows application and ported it over to WinMob6. Here's a list of things that I know I still needed to do:
1. Optimise the graphics to get rid of the irritating flicker.
2. Add the piece rotation.
3. Add the score and level display, etc.
4. Decide on the size of the grid (considered leaving it customisable).
5. Add score saving and option saving, etc.
6. Add some backing music.
They're the things I can remember off the top of my head anyway. Lemme know if you have any ideas or questions, etc.

Swoop2 said:
Here's the source code. It is VERY much a work in progress. I started it as a windows application and ported it over to WinMob6. Here's a list of things that I know I still needed to do:
1. Optimise the graphics to get rid of the irritating flicker.
2. Add the piece rotation.
3. Add the score and level display, etc.
4. Decide on the size of the grid (considered leaving it customisable).
5. Add score saving and option saving, etc.
6. Add some backing music.
They're the things I can remember off the top of my head anyway. Lemme know if you have any ideas or questions, etc.
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Sweet! I'm at home now, downloading all the requried applications to put up a proper environment here... big packages, so it'll take a while until I'm set.
I'll see if I can manage to do anything, and in case - I'll get back to you

Hi there again Swoop2!
Just tweaked the grid some, added some stats + onscreen buttons (stretched until later ;P) and changed some minor stuff. Here's my latest source. Thanks for sharing!
There's still bunch of stuff to tweak and add. Adding rotation to the game would make it fairly playable. The screen flickering is quite annoying, but perhaps we'll manage to get it working right in the future
Also adding a screenshot of how it looks with the current source.
EDIT: removed the source code, since there's a newer one out there.

Hi Sibbor
That's looking pretty good mate - I like it! I already have some ideas on how to fix the flicker - for the majority of the time anyway. Rendering the image as a bitmap in the background and then just drawing that should hopefully work like a double buffer or something. Also, only invalidating the relevant part of the screen instead of all of it should make a difference too. It worked for my other application anyway.
I'll try and have a play with it this week and send you an update

Swoop2 said:
Hi Sibbor
That's looking pretty good mate - I like it! I already have some ideas on how to fix the flicker - for the majority of the time anyway. Rendering the image as a bitmap in the background and then just drawing that should hopefully work like a double buffer or something. Also, only invalidating the relevant part of the screen instead of all of it should make a difference too. It worked for my other application anyway.
I'll try and have a play with it this week and send you an update
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Sounds great! Made a few more changes but haven't got the latest source available here at work. I'll see if I can get time to upload it later. Otherwise it doesn't matter too much.
I reacted at the code where the grid updates, but have too less experience with WM6 and .NET to actually optimize this to a grade where we'll have no flicker at all. So with other words: I'm looking forward to your anti-flicker code !

I should finally have some time to look at this at the weekend so if you have an updated version can you post it on here?

Swoop2 said:
I should finally have some time to look at this at the weekend so if you have an updated version can you post it on here?
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Hi again mate! Good to hear. Sadly I haven't been able to get too much done since last time, but I'll attach the current source now.
Thought about the rotation and how to create it. Had an idea where you could destroy the current piece when rotating, and creating a new - rotated - piece at the given location. You got any ideas about it otherwise?

I've been looking for a decent Tetris game for Diamond/TP myself.
Question: are you planning on implementing the scrollwheel to move the pieces? I think that would be a nice touch.
Good luck on this. I'll donate to the cause when you guys have something.

hefman said:
I've been looking for a decent Tetris game for Diamond/TP myself.
Question: are you planning on implementing the scrollwheel to move the pieces? I think that would be a nice touch.
Good luck on this. I'll donate to the cause when you guys have something.
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The requested function is already supported We'll make sure to setup donations when we're ready

this is definately a worth while project, i wasted my time for about 3 hours looking for a nice tetris game 4-5 days ago and came up with very nasty looking basic tetris clones.
which all sucked, id donate £5-7 just for saving me the time!!
thanks

CDMA Tetris
I am so all about Tetris.
I also spent some time looking for some decent versions of Tetris but they all flopped.
I cannot wait till you guys complete this.

Under Dev - CAD application for Android

My team has been vigorously working on a CAD application for android. I will post some screenshots of the tool if anyone is interested, so please let me know.
It's currently being tested and developed using a Motorola Droid running 2.0.1. Although we can run the emulator and test different screens using it, we find great difficulty in knowing if the "feel" is nice on a smaller screen.
Anyway - current features that are working:
Objects: Line, Circle, Ellipse, Rectangle, 3 Point Arcs, Text Areas
Drawing Modes: Orthographic (including 45s), Grid On Off, Snap Mode On Off (Endpoints, Centerpoints, Midpoints, Quadrants)
Other Things: Undo, Redo, Erase, Modify (reshape & move), Pan, Layering System, Linetypes, Colors & Text Sizes.
In The Works: Zoom (Option for Pinch), Configurable Toolbar (Add/Remove Tools), Export to DXF & Linetypes.
We are looking for a few people that would be willing to get in on a "PRIVATE Beta" to assist us with the continued development. We have our day jobs, so this is a project that when we have time to work on, we do. However, we do spent quite a bit of time working on it .
Anyway - We want to be picky about the testers, simply because we need to have a nice round group of people. Not plumpy, just round. We need a couple guys that are good with input, finding problems, etc. And we also need a few that dont know anything about CAD and can help us to see if the average joe can figure it out.
We also need a couple good mathmeticians or programmers. Or even one would do. We are having some trouble computing certain boundaries (ellipses to be more precise) that we need to understand so that we can build in other commands like Trim or Extend. (Plus our select option on ellipses is a bit hokey, but knowing how to find an ellipse will solve that for us)
For now, the only assistance I can give you is through the board here, and help you get started. The tutorial will come soon, once we get the basics figured out as to how we want to make it really work.
Anyway - To make a long story even longer - let me know if you might be interested. I would be more than happy to post some screenshots if you like of its current state. So let me know if you are interested.
Thank you very much for sticking through the long a$$ read, or even for skipping through to the "thanks" is enough for me.
That being said - LMK! Thanks!

A capacitive touch screen doesn't seem a good candidate for controlling a smooth CAD experience. However on second thought, when coupling together this technology with a trackball, the possibilities really open up. Harness these well and I know you'll be onto something here.
Post some screens to show everyone the progress of your development and I'll let you know if I'd be interested in testing.
Cheers

Well if your looking for anyone with CAD knowledge, I have a degree in engineering with CAD, and Pro Engineer. I don't have much time to devote to beta testing, but I do have time every now and then. I run a ION with 1.6. Good luck on your software!

(Unfortunately - my account has not been enabled for posting outside links or images - so this is the best i can do for you until that is enabled)
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/11.jpg
Above is a screen shot with a couple drawn elements, and the right side of the toolbar tools.
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/09.jpg
Above is a screen shot with a couple drawn elements, and the left side of the toolbar tools.
There are a handful of more screenshots posted up on my site, the links are as follows:
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/01.jpg - Layer select screen
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/02.jpg - File Operations
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/03.jpg - Display Settings
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/04.jpg - Samle Help Screen (Line)
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/05.jpg - Snap Settings
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/06.jpg - Color Picker
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/07.jpg - Snapping to Midpoint
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/08.jpg - Selection of Ellipse
talon-designs.net/android/andcad/10.jpg - Text Input Screen
That should be plenty of screens to keep interest.
@Lancealot - Thank you very much, and I completely agree, that when we started this, there was some doubt as to how precise you could actually be using a "touch based" screen. The good news, through playing with it, and given ability to set tolerances based on the size of your "touch area" as well as snapping options, we found that you can actually be quite precise.
Ill fiddle with it a little today, put together a drawing and give you a nice example of something that can be made with this.
Keep in mind, this is a work in progress, and although much of the functionality that is currently built into the tool, is at a "finished" state, there is certainly room for input and comments from others that may find use in this tool.
Anyway - here are the screenshots as promised, let me know if you have any further questions.
(Again - sorry about the inconvenience on the links)
(edit to update image types to jpg instead of png)

@zul8er - we are certainly interested in your input. Check out the screenshots and let me know if you are still interested. We dont need a huge commitment, but anything that you might be able to provide would certainly be a big help.
Android 1.6 is the minimum OS currently supported. We need to do some work on the graphics to go as far back as 1.5 to compensate for screen size, and we intend on doing so.. Just not at this current time.

I would be interested in trying out your CAD program. I've been doing CAD for ove 10 years now, started with AutoCAD but have been using Solidworks for the last 8 years.
In addition to using the touch screen for input, will you be able to enter X and Y coordinates using a keyboard or virtual keyboard?
What format will it save the files? DXF, JPG, or what?

Noob Squared said:
I would be interested in trying out your CAD program. I've been doing CAD for ove 10 years now, started with AutoCAD but have been using Solidworks for the last 8 years
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Seems there are more and more of us creeping out of the woodwork on a daily basis
Noob Squared said:
What format will it save the files? DXF, JPG, or what?
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Currently the file format is a proprietary format. But we are currently (today actually) working on saving out to a DXF format to be able to reload your files into AutoCAD or other supported softwares.
The ability to import is also in the works, but will require some massaging on the users end to make sure the DXF file is not binary etc. (MTEXT may not be supported either)
Noob Squared said:
In addition to using the touch screen for input, will you be able to enter X and Y coordinates using a keyboard or virtual keyboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We have toyed with the idea of being able to put in specific dimensions on objects, and also work with x/y coords, but at this time, it only supports point to point drawing. We arent completely sure if we intend on building a "FULL ON CAD" application, or an application for people to use to simply get an idea of what they need to do for a job. The other key, is to keep the application at a price range that is reasonable for people. Most "PocketCAD" applications run around 50 bucks a copy - and rightfully so. To keep the tool at a reasonable range (below 10 or 15 dollars) it may need to be a bit lighter weight than those. Most people cringe at a 2.99 app..
IF we could devote our time 100% i am sure we could build a really nice full blown cad app Unfortunately as with most of us, the day job prohibits some of that time.
Its a WIP I'll put you on the list. Thanks for the input.

Are you looking for beta testers?
Hi, are you looking for beta testers. I'm a long year CAD user, and I'm sure I can help with the app development.
[email protected]
Have you tried using some of the java based cad software as a source for your project? There are many and some might be open source.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ycad/

Yeah I am still interested. It will be neat to play with and see how it works. The coordinate input is a good idea, also, ever play with Pro Engineer? They have a cool way of building an initial drawing. You just sketch, regen, and then input your dimensions to make the object to your liking. Makes things a lot faster and easier to edit a shape if changes need to occur.
I dont know how in depth you want to go, or if that idea can be used.
My email is [email protected]

Nice
Give me a couple more days to get a good product out for you guys to test. Currently we are cleaning up a few little "we'll get that later" issues, and should be good to go by mid/late next week.
Thanks for providing the contact info, I will shoot you a message through email shortly.
Thanks agian for the interest.
@zul8er: nice. Look forward to hearing how you like the feel of it. I havent had a chance to play with ProE, as AutoCAD has been my forte for the last couple decades. Ill see if i can any kind of demo for ProE, and get an idea of how it works. Who knows Anything to make it easier for everyone is a good thing.
But yah - the indepth thing is the issue. We keep tossing with ideas and putting them "on the list" in case people start asking for them. I guess it just depends on how people really want to use this tool. (and of course, how much time we can continue to devote to it) - bah i hate day jobs

I enjoyed the screen shots that were posted. Any idea whether you guys will support rendering/raycasting, or physics with inverse kinematics? Either way it looks great; Sign me up!

haha Not sure if we are going to go the IK way. Maybe as a different project, something more suited to 3D, but for this app, we are only intending on running the 2D route.
My lack of knowledge about the OpenGL portion, really limits us with regards to 3D implementation. I spent a good 3 days just trying to get ahold of loading in a 3D model.. Still never got there (or would have probably released a 3D model viewer first).
At any rate, its hard to say where this will go. It mostly depends on the overall interest i suppose. Its certain that the sky would be the limit, if time were as available as the sky
But cool.. Glad I was able to keep your interest.
Currently (as I type even) I am finishing up all of the help documentation for the app, the inline tutorial, and what not.. A couple more days on the file handling (DXF in particular) and should be set to go for a BETA run. ('couple more days' - like we all havent heard enough of that)
@lancelot - can you send me your email address via private message? That way I can do the BETA communications through there (link to files etc). You are welcome to email me as well:
support AT talon-designs.net
cheers!

Hey, I'm a high school student that has just started learning CAD, does that count as average Joe? I'd love to help beta test, I really want android to overpower iPhone 3.0 lol. My e-mail is [email protected] I use g1 with cyanogenmod 1.6...so idk if that qualifies. But anyways, Good luck!

This really sounds promising. In the last few weeks, I really had the need for a good drawing software on my mobile device. But my Tytn II lacks of power. As I soon will get the Desire, I will hopefully have a quite powerful device for all day use (my Tytn II really sux atm). And because I have the re-occurring need of a drawing app, this could be it.
I mean I don't need it for simple drawing, but for constructing things CAD style and on the go Graphics of furniture or something with measures and all that stuff.

Hey guys.. just wanted to pass you an update on status (which is so much more than I seem to be getting from Verizon on the 2.1 update).
Small rant, but its done now.
Ok - status..
DXF Export is working now, supporting layers, linetypes, colors, and elements throughout the drawing. Am having some issues with getting ellipses to export via DXF (and im not alone - faulty specs are at fault), and that combined with the other issues regarding the math behind finding ellipse edges, we decided to comment out the ellipse alltogether for now. Not that it wont be back, but having so many rules with "you can do this to anything - except an ellipse" left us with no other choice.
It's coming back, just not right now.
We have saving and opening completed (simple proprietary ascii format, but it works for what we need it to do).
Zoom is currently partially working (difficult to complete the recalculation on the elements, but its really close) touch events for zoom are coming up as well. Maybe a pinch zoom even, considering that all devices are getting the 2.0+ upgrade - but we will see.. We dont want to keep anyone excluded from being able to use the tool.
@Balrog82 - we have definately taken this tool a long way since its initial conception. We hope to be able to bring more features that are more "CAD Specific" to the application, and will if it becomes a tool that gets used. We want to release it initially as a "basic" drafting tool, and see what kind of input we get. If we see that a lot of people are using it, and would like the ability to put in dimensions the same way that cad does (within limits) we will certainly look into it.
That being said - I hope the tool is still something you would be willing to try out. I find a lot of enjoyment with working with a tool at its early conception (started using paint shop pro at version 1.42) and now its on to version 14 or something and owned by corel. I just kinda get into that sort of thing, and hope that you all will do.
Good thing is, we hope its a draw to the tool, we plan on releasing it at the market both as a free version (no saving abilities) and a full version at a low price. As the tool grows, the price may increase a bit.. Keeping of course the original buyers at a place that they can keep updating the software at no cost to them. We think that will help the advancement and development of the tool quite a bit.
Anyway - It is right around the corner for initial testing. Please to all interested - send me a PM with your contact information (just an email would be great) I am going to see if i can start a private discussion here to invite you all to as well.
@Lancealot - i got your PM.. Am very happy that you are interested in helping. Expect to hear from me again soon..

Until we can see a working model of this app, I thought I would throw out an app that has some great drawing capabilities. The paid was is called "Picso" by Tiki Move, but I used the free version to try out; it's called "Picso Lite".
It's not a CAD app, but it's different from the other Paint apps on Android in that it has tools the other ones don't. It has the usual tools a CAD user would need, such as Rectangles/Squares, Circles/Ellipses, and Lines. You can change the colors and widths of these entities.
What I like about your program is that it has snaps, and the tools are on the bottom of the screen so they are easy to get to: /talon-designs.net/android/andcad/07.jpg
A feature Picso needs is a Zoom tool so you can zoom in to an area and draw whatever you need to and then be able to zoom full screen. It also needs a text tool. Since there is no dimension tool, you could put a text for the dimension.
P.S.,
I want to try your app, but I am only posting this to show how someone else has put these tools on their app and also to have a comparison on ease-of-use. One other thought, you mentioned the files your CAD app will create will be proprietary file types. Will you be able to save-as .jpg or .png so you can email or text-message a sketch to someone? That way if your on-site you will be able to send someone back at the office whatever it is to explain your ideas, and also they would not have to have an Android phone to view it.

Idea sounds great. Good luck with it!

Sorry for being away for so long.. but we had something going on that we had to attend to..
http://developer.att.com/developer/index.jsp?page=event&id=6.3_v1_9700324
More news as it allows.

Android Category Winner
Talon Designs, AndCAD
This application allows users to create simple geometric shapes, combined with notes, to describe plans associated with the art, architecture, engineering and manufacturing industries. Many of the tools familiar to CAD users are incorporated into this utility, meaning that fluent CAD users will feel right at home using this tool. However, the interface for this tool is simple enough for even the most novices of users to understand. This enables certain users (Contractors, etc) to be able to take notes while on a job site and associate them with vector elements within the drawing.

talondesigns said:
Sorry for being away for so long.. but we had something going on that we had to attend to..
More news as it allows.
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AT&T Open Call-Apps for All! Contest
Thank you to all the participants in the 2010 AT&T Open Call—Apps For All! Contest. This year's contest was filled with many great entries. AT&T reviewed over 90 applications this year ranging from games to business applications. The winners from each category will receive $10,000 and co-marketing opportunities with AT&T.
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Did you get $10,000?