[Q] Would open-sourced Eden/NI software make a viable Honeycomb alternative? - Adam General

I just got my Adam on Friday, and have been enjoying it without having done anything too hackish to it yet (thanks largely in part to the Amazon appstore).
I'm not really sold on the Eden UI system yet - it still feels a little bit buggy and not fully baked to me, but it may have potential. But if it were open source, any of us could work to improve it, and I do remember it being mentioned on the blog that the NI software would be open sourced (correct me if I'm wrong, hard to understand precisely what is meant sometimes).
notionink.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/more-updates (can't post outside links as a new member)
Source for other Notion Ink’s Application: If you are looking for the code for any specific apps on the Adam, you can directly write to developers at notionink dot com and they will add you in the priority list! All the softwares developed by Notion Ink are open source and will be shared with the community soon. As far as the SDK goes, we are migrating from 2.2-2.3 to Honeycomb and once the platform is stable, will be shared with the developers.
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Given that the Honeycomb source isn't to be released any time soon, I'm curious what people's opinions are about whether Eden/NI software could make a viable open-source alternative to Honeycomb?
Would you prefer an open-source Eden/Froyo/Gingerbread rom over a Honeycomb rom (if the Honeycomb source is closed)?
Or would you rater drop Eden and stick to Android roms? (whether they be Honeycomb or not)
Would you like to see Eden ported over to more tablets? (which may or may not support Honeycomb any time soon) Do you think it could be an effective Honeycomb alternative for other tablets?
EDIT: Had to shorten the poll answers, here's what I'm asking:
Honeycomb, even if it can't be rooted/customized - you just want Honeycomb at all costs and don't care about its hack potential
Honeycomb, rooted and customized - you want Honeycomb, but only if it can be effectively hacked/customized
I'd rather stick to an Eden/AOSP-based system - you want maximum flexibility and see Eden/latest android source as a viable alternative, or may be a purist in terms of open source
Drop Eden, latest open-source Android - you don't care for Eden, but do want your system open source

At the moment Eden sucks and gives no added value in my opinion.
Nevertheless I would like to see a Honeycomb Eden version.
If I should choose right here and know I would choose Honeycomb (and of course it can be customized and rooted - its a bit foolish to think that this will not happen...)

@rolliradi8 : +1
I really don't like eden, loving Beast or VEGAn ROMs thought..
But honeycomb would be super awesome!
Allthough I am also really excited for trying Mad Murdock's CM7 ROM..

Related

Silly Question iOS on a Android phone?

How come they got Android 2.3 on the iphone but noone can get ios on android hardware?
I would think at least partly it's due to lack of trying (doubt many Android developers would want to use iOS)... but the thing is, Android is designed to run on a lot of different hardware, whereas iOS runs on specific hardware, so they can do lots of specific checks if they really wanted to to make sure it's running on a real iPhone. This is just my educated guess of course.
The iPhone currently has a handful of carriers and only 4 hardware configurations. I'd imagine that a fair amount of information about the internals gets leaked as well.
I am unaware of the specifics of android development on that platform, but the biggest advantage their developer community has is less overlap and redundancy in their efforts (lack of fragmentation). Also note that Android is open source-IOS is not, so we only tend to see iPhone OS installed on Apple hardware.
I also have my suspicions that their grass isn't really all that green. Personally, I tend to favor fragmentation, as it fosters innovation(but YMMV!).
You didn't ask my opinion though
Cheers.
Android is open source so it can be adapted to almost all hardware. iOS is closed source so to adapt it you'd have to reverse engineer. And that is illegal. It's that simple. And been asked before. You should try searching, reading and thinking, it's wonderfull, doesn't hurt and you might learn something.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
The reason's pretty simple. In order to effectively port an OS to any particular device, you really need access to the source code.
On the one hand, with Android, Google literally gives the source code away. You know that AOSP term everyone throws around? It stands for Android Open Source Project, and is the website (source.android.com) where anyone can download the full Android source code and do basically whatever they want with it.
Then, there's Apple. They guard iOS' source code vigilantly and litigiously -- I mean, their over-protectiveness even extends to what apps they'll let run on (non-jailbroken) phones. So needless to say, they don't make it easy to take their OS apart and port it to other devices. Really, they make it as hard as possible.
Great answers guys thanx!
Yeah! Thanks for the answer Ik Desire! You Rock!

[STICKY][REF] Honeycomb Info - The Only Post - UPDATED 5/14/11

This is a preemptive note about posting any new threads asking "when will honeycomb come to the gTablet?" or "why can't we do this because the Nook has it?" or "why isn't the sky blue today?"
Honeycomb is not available for the gTablet yet for the following reasons:
1. source hasn't even been released by Google yet
2. any port based on the SDK doth not a Honeycomb ROM make
3. we do not even have libraries (or source) from nVidia for Gingerbread yet
Until we have source from Google and nVidia, we won't have workable Honeycomb. There will be some ports, but until one of the above happens, we are not going to be getting Honeycomb. Best case is 30 days from now (roughly the end of March).
Any post asking about Honeycomb will be promptly closed and/or deleted.
This isn't about discouraging discussion about Honeycomb on the gTablet - it's about stopping the endless flaming and abuse and posting and complaining about something that has been answered multiple times - thus taking away from other progress and endeavors.
UPDATE 3/18/11 - We now have access to the Gingerbread libs needed for hardware acceleration, but in order to use them a complete rework of the github repo is required and a year's worth of merges and cleanups would need to be done. Slow going and no ETA.
UPDATE 4/12/11 - http://www.androidcentral.com/nvidia-stop-supporting-harmony-platform-past-froyo
UPDATE 4/13/11 - http://developer.nvidia.com/tegra/forum/honeycomb-harmony#comment-6191
UPDATE 13 APRIL 2011
A lot has been read into a very short post about a Tegra development kit. I'd like to clear up a few points.
First, nothing changes in what we’re delivering to the open source community or customers. NVIDIA will continue to post the Tegra kernel to kernel.org and publish our Android code to our public git servers. Additionally, we will continue to make our BSP (codecs, GPU driver etc) available to all our hardware partners. We will continue to do this and nothing about these processes has changed.
For our partners' Android devices, NVIDIA provides support until the hardware partner chooses to no longer support the device. So, for instance, NVIDIA will support the Xoom on all versions of Android Motorola requests until Motorola ceases to support the Xoom. The same goes for ViewSonic with the G-Tablet, Notion Ink with the Adam, Acer with the Iconia, LG with the Optimus 2X and so on.
In relation to my original reply, that was a response to a specific question about a Tegra 250 Development Kit. Given the confusion, we will work with owners of Tegra 250 Development Kits individually to determine their needs. The term "Harmony" is an internal codename for the Tegra 250 Development Kit. It is not a tablet reference design. Each shipping tablet is a custom design with varying hardware components and requires a custom OS image from the OEM who made the tablet.
Finally, while we cannot support or give out third party peripheral drivers or provide the Android 3.0 source before Google does, we do want to explore whether we can assist the open source ROM makers. We will be reaching out to them today.
UPDATE 5/10/11 - There is now a pretty hacked together port of HC that has been ported to the gTablet - it is a mashup of other, authorized by Google tablets which have stock HC on them, and thrown together for Vega, Adam and gTablet. A lot doesn't work; it is not feature perfect..... it is only recommended for testing type users who are familiar with nvflash etc. and it is not built from source specifically for our devices. It is by no means official, nor is it what would probably be called "stable" - but it is as close as we've come to HC on the gTablet. Here is the post that has more information: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1065220
UPDATE 5/10/11 - Per Google I/O's Fireside chat today there will be no Honeycomb source released. Ever. You'll have to wait for Ice Cream Sandwich which will be out in Q4 2011.
UPDATE 5/14/11 - The ADAM/VEGA/ZPAD/GTAB port of the mashup Transformer/Iconia/Xoom Honeycomb systems is coming along nicely. See the above thread for more information. Good work to the devs involved in that project.

Good news for CM fans!

From the official CM blog:
It’s been awhile since the last update and I just wanted to let everyone know about our progress with CM9. As I mentioned in the previous update, Android 4.0 contains many internal changes that require updated graphics drivers. Unfortunately, these drivers are almost always closed-source and don’t appear until a device or devkit is released with them. For many devices, our hands are tied. Some very clever workarounds have gone into CM9, but we’re still blocked on some subsystems like the camera.
Since Android 4.0 is such a major change from 2.3, we started with a fresh codebase from Google and have been forward-porting features from CM7 with an eye on design and better integration. This is a somewhat time-consuming process, but it allows us to rethink everything. We’ve eliminated the CMParts app, instead choosing to add our custom features directly into the main settings. We are also taking a “just works” approach when it comes to configuration- CM7 had too many options that just weren’t widely used. We hope to achieve a good balance between tweakability and a great out-of-the-box experience. I want your phone or tablet to feel like it should have come with CM9.
Currently, you can compile CM9 for a small number of devices- notably the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Wi-Fi and T-Mobile versions), the HP Touchpad and Motorola Xoom. The next devices to show up will likely be a whole array of Samsung phones (Exynos chipset), with devices based on the Qualcomm MSM8660 and 7×30 chipsets to follow. It’s still unclear if we can provide support for the QSD8x50 family of devices (Nexus One, HTC Evo, etc), but the answer almost always turns out to be “yes” for these kinds of things.
As our hardware support improves, I’ll keep this blog updated. As much as we’d like to stay ahead of the manufacturers, it may be a tie this time Thanks for the continued support, and please consider dropping us a buck or two using the link at the bottom of the page if you enjoy CyanogenMod.
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While it doesn't say specifically, it looks like we'll be getting official CM9 support!
The day that is released (stable) will mark the day of my first non-stock flash of the Note.

Poll--Better Cornerstone build

Just wanted your opinions on which dev has the best Onskreen Cornerstone build right now. I have installed both CM9 and Eos i personally prefer Eos' build they are doing a great job with the dev so far. Great job on both roms though. And are there any other roms with OSCS built in these are the only two im aware of.
I can deal with the minor bugs I really couldn't see my TF without OSCS now im spoiled
I'd personally love a completely stock with cornerstone and stock buttons. I like the Asus quick panel and soundset
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
I like the Team EOS better.
After using Cornerstone for a day, you cannot imagine life without it. I know the feeling.
jinsoku3g said:
I'd personally love a completely stock with cornerstone and stock buttons. I like the Asus quick panel and soundset
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
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This is pretty much what I'm holding out for, a nice stock rom with cornerstone.
st0nedpenguin said:
This is pretty much what I'm holding out for, a nice stock rom with cornerstone.
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Which can't happen right now because we ain't got no source code yet.
i flashed back to ARHD to many bugs for me to use as daily (especially now with the dock) waiting for a good solid CS build screen swapping would be cool if they release the source for that (not likely soon)
Here is some important information from the CEO of Onskreen directly to Diane Hackborn of Google, I've not read this on this site, I was directed here after an email with consumer relations with Onskreen while asking if the window-swappng option was going to be re-implemented..their reply was basically "no, and here is why; read this comment" so here is what they said..
(my emphasis)
hansmeet sethi - I am the CEO of Onskreen and felt it was about time we weighed in on the public discussion. To start off with, we have been impressed by the level of discussion on this thread on the topic of compatibility. We take it very seriously and are glad that the rest of the community do as well.
+Dianne Hackborn - Thanks for sharing specific concerns and we can appreciate their gravity and the need for a dialogue. However, outside of the implementation details perhaps some background will help. Onskreen saw an obvious need in the UX of Android on larger screen devices (that is our business after all), and we worked to address that with Cornerstone. During the process, we have invested heavily to respect Android's intentions and compatibility of the Frameworks you helped build. When you get a chance to review the code, you will see that we went out of our way to not introduce app requirements, leverage the patterns already used, and treat running Applications in a way that they are oblivious to the Cornerstone experience. We rejected many features along the way to optimize for compatibility. The result is a product that we are proud of, respects the Android project, that the user and mod communities are excited about, and OEMs love. And frankly, once you use a tablet with multi-tasking there is no going back. We are the first to admit the product is not perfect, but was at a point where we felt comfortable sharing with the community to use, help improve and polish. We see the goal of this conversation as a way to come to an agreement on some of the aspects of Compatibility and deliver multi-tasking on Android.
Now - a few of your concerns:
- Orientation - Good points, and we spent a ton of time thinking through the UX here. Cornerstone adheres to the desired orientation of the Application running in the Main Panel (and rotation of the device). Cornerstone restricts the user from opening an app that won't support all orientations in the Cornerstone panel, so there is not a case where an app running there is forced into an orientation the app developer did not intend to run in (try opening Angry Birds in the Cornerstone and you will see this). There is more here but I will leave it at that for the time being.
- Screen size changes - You point out the complexity of a changing screen size on an app. We agree and this is the reason that swapping panels (applications moving from the main area to the cornerstone or vice versa) was removed from the product. Apps at this point just aren't enforced to consider this, so Cornerstone imposing it on them would be incompatible and we don't (although we all sorely miss the feature). One area we are still considering is the Config of the main app. Logically this should change when the user minimizes/maximizes the Cornerstone, however the implementation is not doing that because of compatibility issues it would introduce. To be fully compliant we are aware that we will may have to remove the ability to minimize/maximize the Cornerstone (we will miss that feature too). Perhaps you have some suggestions here?
- ProcessRecord/ActivityThread Configurations - As you mentioned, while the ActivityStack was refactored out during your exploration, other inherent dependencies on a static Configuration do still exist. Some interesting features could be enabled by expanding this, but we didn't make these changes so that the Cornerstone codebase could more easily be used in customized Android trees of OEMs and others, as well as perhaps in upcoming Android releases.
- CDD Compliance - We take this one very seriously and you bring up good points. However, our intention is that each area (the main panel and cornerstone panels) be designed as CDD compliant sizes. That is not fully the case in the .85 release that was open sourced. As we made the switch to v4.0.3_r1 and the 1280x800 reference device (Xoom), we haven't made all these changes yet. It may require that some of the panels in certain orientations run in a pseudo compatibility mode similar to how the Android OS supports legacy apps already so that their config is CDD compliant and the UX is optimized.
- CTS - One test in CTS calls for any Activity that doesn't have the focus to be moved to the paused state. This is obviously not the case in Cornerstone as Activities do stay resumed when not having the focus and still are visible on the screen. Google could ding Cornerstone for that and in truth they would be technically correct. However this would be silly considering the nature of the test when applied to a real multi-tasked environment. That is not our call however.
In short, we think about the same problems you do and we believe in the product as well as maintaining the integrity of Android applications and devices. You of all people can appreciate the complexity in working with the Android framework in the way we have to get Cornerstone built, and to call it a fork is doing the design and engineering effort that went into it a disservice. We see the point of AOSP and contributions like Cornerstone to create a dialogue, come to agreement and add great features to the platform. To that end, we are more than happy to continue this conversation. Some of us are in the bay area and happy to drop by Google if you prefer.
hansmeet.
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thats pretty cool but i will miss having the features im sure the community will implement our own twist on it though. to bad for the screen swapping though .
on a different note CM9 with cornerstone is moving along quite well a lot more stable ROM can i vote again lol
Cornerstone is just a placeholder for me until Windows 8 is released for tablets.
Definitely switching to Windows 8 unless Google adds to Android a comparable multitasking capability.
Just stock, I like stock ICS on TF101 (after reboot and pc connection issue removed...) and don't see any pro's in any other ROM for me...
Pretty much all of the concessions that they have or are discussing making to cornerstone are quickly removing the reason for having it at all. There are plenty of apps that already are not compatible with many devices and resolutions. Crippling a feature because you "can't" create new app requirements is silly. This is the area where google(and cornerstone) have the potential to destroy apple. As these devices get faster and bigger, you can't stick with the one app at a time paradigm.
I understand google is trying to remove the "fragmentation" but your OS can't evolve if that outweighs everything else.
gottahavit said:
Pretty much all of the concessions that they have or are discussing making to cornerstone are quickly removing the reason for having it at all. There are plenty of apps that already are not compatible with many devices and resolutions. Crippling a feature because you "can't" create new app requirements is silly. This is the area where google(and cornerstone) have the potential to destroy apple. As these devices get faster and bigger, you can't stick with the one app at a time paradigm.
I understand google is trying to remove the "fragmentation" but your OS can't evolve if that outweighs everything else.
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Google will add better multitasking to Android. They have to or they will lose to Windows 8.
Cornerstone is just not Google's answer to multitasking on Android. I bet Google has something better.
horndroid said:
Google will add better multitasking to Android. They have to or they will lose to Windows 8.
Cornerstone is just not Google's answer to multitasking on Android. I bet Google has something better.
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The problem with windows 8 is that a windows tablet will always cost 100 dollars more than the same android tablet. Add to that the fact that you'll have to re-buy all your apps for ARM or Metro and they have a tough battle ahead in the consumer market.
Personally I Find Metro totally annoying on my 17" laptop, I think Microsoft is having an identity crisis with windows 8. The last thing I want on my laptop is forced full screen apps. Honestly Metro is a little to Android(ish) for what I would want on a tablet once they get a little more powerful and have better rez.
EDIT: I should qualify this with the fact that I am a die hard windows fan, I LOVE windows 7, prefer coding for windows over any other OS EVER, and absolutely hate MAC OS.
gottahavit said:
The problem with windows 8 is that a windows tablet will always cost 100 dollars more than the same android tablet. Add to that the fact that you'll have to re-buy all your apps for ARM or Metro and they have a tough battle ahead in the consumer market.
Personally I Find Metro totally annoying on my 17" laptop, I think Microsoft is having an identity crisis with windows 8. The last thing I want on my laptop is forced full screen apps. Honestly Metro is a little to Android(ish) for what I would want on a tablet once they get a little more powerful and have better rez.
EDIT: I should qualify this with the fact that I am a die hard windows fan, I LOVE windows 7, prefer coding for windows over any other OS EVER, and absolutely hate MAC OS.
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I don't care. All that matters is that Windows 8 will motivate Google to add some real multitasking capability to its Android OS. We all know how competitive Google is. They will do it, and it won't be Cornerstone. It will be something better.
horndroid said:
I don't care. All that matters is that Windows 8 will motivate Google to add some real multitasking capability to its Android OS. We all know how competitive Google is. They will do it, and it won't be Cornerstone. It will be something better.
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Kinda, my point. have you used Windows 8 Multitasking? it looks too much like Honeycomb except they keep apps actually running. This is of course Metro, native apps are still good old windows. This isn't Microsoft putting out something for google to steal or envy, it's Microsoft going "OHHH everybody love android and IOS, they must all want "one app at a time" style OS.

LuneOS (WebOS) Request

Maybe I'm the only one, but I am a long-time fan of the now-dead WebOS, (formerly PalmOS). Back in 2011-2013, I probably had 6 or 7 different WebOS phones, and found the hardware and the software to be superior in user experience than any others. The problem was that that was the big explosion era for Android and IOS, so WebOS got pretty overshadowed, and HP, (the new owners at the time), decided to axe any further development, and ended up selling the OS to LG, who has developed it further for TVs and stuff, (I don't have all of the technical details straight, but that's a superficial summary). Anyway, recently, out of nostalgia, I pulled out an old Veer, and bought a new Pre 2, and went back into the WebOS forums realm to get a fix of my old favorite, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the work of the community to keep WebOS alive. There is an archive of hundreds of app files available on ftp, (all abandonware available for free - even the paid apps from HP catalog), ongoing development of apps and patches to keep WebOS working with all of the changes in technology, (including updates to Preware - the unofficial dev app catalog, started way back then), and LuneOS, an open developers version of WebOS, which can be built for modern phones, and which was just updated - https://pivotce.com
I think the XC is a perfect candidate for LuneOS, being small, currently affordable, (one upside to the short lifespan of official support), and having pretty good specs. Plus, there's already plenty of foundational development needed for supporting porting, (Lineage, AOSP, and even a partly-working Halium - https://github.com/Halium/projectmanagement/issues/103). For anyone familiar with building/porting, the work needed to be done to build LuneOS for XC is minimal.
My problem(s): I am not familiar with building/porting. I am happy to test and learn, but I also currently don't have any regular access to a Linux computer, and even if I did, it would take me a looonng time to figure out from scratch what someone else could probably do in no time, since all of the elements are in place, (I checked with WebOS devs, and they said with what's available, building for XC is '... mostly a matter of configuration').
So, anybody out there with an XC want to do a build for us?
@harryharryharry @oshmoun ...?
Sorry, I'm not even remotely close to having the capabilities to pull a stunt like this, I think I'm currently in the same boat as you (minus the linux part)
Having said that, here's hoping someone more knowledgeable jumps in and picks up this interesting project. I'm willing and able to test and provide feedback as well of course.

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