Hey all,
a very short time ago - at least compared to most others here - I've have started playing with 'additional interfaces'. The Cube, PointUI, S2U2, HTC Album, additional helpers like FTouchFlo, etc.
These are all nice things, that goes without saying, and props to the devs. We got some really good software devs here, software hackers, tweaks, graphics guys, just good thinkers, etc.
Now what is the problem, you might ask. The problem is, it's all so very disconnected. Yes, you combine them all and make nice things, but setting it up isn't always easy (though some cooks do a great job of it), configuring it all to work nicely together is tiresome, the interfaces are not consistent with eachother, etc. We're all messing and mucking about as one man shows (or few men shows).
Now just think if we all put our efforts together, I think we could make the future ourselves.
Let's take gesturing for instance. Instead of how it works now, a general gesturing library could be made, which first off, provides more gestures, diagonals (instead of just horizontal/vertical), curves (like rotating in HTC Home), circles, etc. And now instead of just using these for general commands like now (keep that for unsupported apps), make this something each app or screen can configure/assign themselves. No more conflicts between different 'touch apps', and also very important, the gestures are the same, unlike the somewhat different gestures that are now used for the different apps.
Another thing is the interfaces. A consistent look (to the already consistant feel from above) would make the whole experience better. A general interface library could be made providing all the code for the transitions/animations, and interface parts like buttons. Everything graphical goes here, so we can all use it. Skinning everything would then also be a breeze.
With these two basic parts we could already go a long way, but the ultimate goal would be taking all the good of all projects, improve on those, and leave out the bad. For example, the cube is nice, but it's awfully limited. There could be a lot more in it. There's nothing special about HTC Album, it's just 'nicely done'.
I hope you can all imagine a bit what I mean with all the above (I try not to go into too much detail). We would all have to work together on this, but if we did, I'm quite sure we could build something that could completely replace the WM shell and would leave the iPhone as well as WM7 (if it ever comes) biting the dust. In the end, everybody who'd work on it may even get payed if we license it to a provider. I truely believe that the whole would be a lot bigger than the parts are now.
I'd expand more on 'my' vision (I'm sure other people have it as well), but it's not much use at this stage yet.
The furure is now, the future is XDA!
yess!! amen!! <3
anyway, why don't we all make open source apps? i mean i think it would be cool to make everyone work on one amazing thing..
It's an exciting notion for sure. I definitely have 100x more faith in the people here to come up with something worthwhile than I do in Microsoft, that's for sure.
That's the problem with the new applications: consistency.
personally I'd love to see pointUI release an API for its interface library. I think they have one of the most responsive and usable touchUIs. I posted this on their forum but didn't get a response.
I think this is a good idea as we have so many different gesturing projects reinventing the wheel. With a unified starting point, it could help new projects get off the ground faster.
Biggest problem: Not everybody is willing to share source codes.
Does anybody knows Xbox Media Center (XBMC) for the Xbox 1? Something like this for PPC would be the breakthrough imho..
Yes i totally agree. Having libraries that other developers can use is a great idea, or sharing code would be good. I made a post few days back about sharing the libraries but i didn't get any reply. I think i didn't make my point as clear as you
I am currently developing some apps (fringer friendly), but i am having lots of touble researching, developing POC, etc to make gestures, transitions and animations etc, which is really time consuming and takes more time from concentrating on the core functionalities of the applications.
So yes developing reusable libraries is definitly a great step that this forum can take.
Might i add, why dont we start a developers group here limited on devs who want to contribute with their code, idea to build these libraries? Where we can discuss the design and architecture of the libraries, export functions etc, needed controls etc.
We might also come up with great framwork that devs can use and sell it (as u mentioned). OpenNetCF did that, they created a large number of controls, .Net wrappers for Win32 APIs, etc, it started out as an opensource project, but then they started selling these their framework.
Hope other developers here become enthusiastic about this idea as we are
TacoLoco said:
Does anybody knows Xbox Media Center (XBMC) for the Xbox 1? Something like this for PPC would be the breakthrough imho..
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I started working on an similar application sometime back but dropped it cause i didn't have much time and development resources (especially cool graphical effects) to do it. Actually it was more of the MS Media Center clone.
Well this is a great place to start... we can group together and start working on an application like that....
mrabie said:
Yes i totally agree. Having libraries that other developers can use is a great idea, or sharing code would be good. I made a post few days back about sharing the libraries but i didn't get any reply. I think i didn't make my point as clear as you
I am currently developing some apps (fringer friendly), but i am having lots of touble researching, developing POC, etc to make gestures, transitions and animations etc, which is really time consuming and takes more time from concentrating on the core functionalities of the applications.
So yes developing reusable libraries is definitly a great step that this forum can take.
Might i add, why dont we start a developers group here limited on devs who want to contribute with their code, idea to build these libraries? Where we can discuss the design and architecture of the libraries, export functions etc, needed controls etc.
We might also come up with great framwork that devs can use and sell it (as u mentioned). OpenNetCF did that, they created a large number of controls, .Net wrappers for Win32 APIs, etc, it started out as an opensource project, but then they started selling these their framework.
Hope other developers here become enthusiastic about this idea as we are
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Click to collapse
You are saying pretty much what I mean. Though the gesture thing wouldn't really be like a library, more like a service with an interface.
Anyway, setting up a dev group like this would IMHO be great (and I was thinking this myself) - we do need a larger group though. After all, if we don't want to, we don't have to share the source code, we can keep it in the group, or use a 'read-only' licence, or LGPL or something (though I'm personally not too fond of the GPL license).
I am convinced, that given enough time, I could do all of this myself. I am also convinced, that many other coders here could. But why should we?
WOW
well im no programmer or developer,just a guy with a titan, but I think you guys are talking about the perfect ui. sort of a modular system where the base ui has all the key functions and you could just plugin the core features of your choice without the need of base code for things like scrolling and gesture,etc... this makes me wonder why no ones done this yet. maybe I can learn abuot developing so I can help. incredible ui idea. thanx
I'm a designer and i'm in for this project!
Let's beat the crap out of the iphone and wm7!
Let us use the good parts from that interfaces and make it better, slicker, more beautifull!
gr. bram
Chainfire
i think there are more people getting interested in the idea... hope that more devs, designers gets interested too
Totally agree, maybe we should start getting the developers/designers (thanks bram_smulders!)/cookers and so on in this project...we could list apps, that are developed in and through this community and maybe - with a little moderation - the developers could agree on some standarts...i think that would be first step...
I'd be willing to help as well, I haven't done too much on the PPC. I've messed a little with the minshell and mintask examples in the wince6 sdk; they compile and run but don't function as expected btw.
help needed ?
Hi all, chainfire as said what i was thinking about thoses different and very nice UIs.
I'm not a developper, just a system IT, if i can help to beta-test the products of your project on my trinity..I'll do it w/ best feedback.
Hi,
I'm a french VB.net developper (even on WM, of course) and I can help that way. if u want !
let me know ( cyril [at] rebreyend {dot} com )
Input
I wouldn't mind working towards the goals outlined for a project like this. I'm especially fond of a gesture library of sorts, as well as a fully functional kinetic scrolling lib.
You can always PM if anything gets started .
I think also that instead of starting from scratch and make another PointUI Home we can try to expand an existing project... Maybe PointUI could have wrote a simili-SDK ? (or someone else ?)
I'll try to contact them, and come back here to tell how far i've been trashed
Anyone have an idea of who has already written something open source ?
P.S: Sorry for my english.
This site was great back when I first started loading custom WM images and touchflo on my HTC Apache, thanks for all the info, I've been lurking forEVER, lol.
Thought I'd drop this in here in case anyone's interested, hope to pass around some test images in a couple weeks. There's still quite a bit that DOESN'T work, I've been maintaining the details on my blog at http://chillaxin.net no spam, reg, or ads.
Regards
Proof of concept build is up on my blog, feel free to check it out.
-Joey
good job man! android is the future!
we have a basically fully functional (minus gps and bluetooth, with camera almost done) version of android running on htc vogue's.
check it out if youre interested...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=382265
great work
thanks
Hi Guys,
I have come to you with great news: Pebbles, the remote control software, goes (probably) open source. At the moment, I am in contact with Brad Myers, the former head of the development team involved in Pebbles. The Project has been stopped a long time ago, but I am trying to convince him, that a release of the source code to open source under a GPL License is way better than simply abandoning such an excellent project.
I also told him that the best programmers concerning Windows Mobile Devices can be found here. So I hope that there are some experiences programmers with a bit free time in here. I can deliver all necessary graphical elements as I am familiar with this subject for over nine years now.
A quick information for all of you who do not know what Pebbles is:
It consists of some sub-tools, for example Shortcutter, which allows you to define your own buttons. These can send keystrokes and commands to the PC via Bluetooth ActiveSync. Basically, it is a remote control tool.
Furthermore, there is Scribbles, a tool which is used when you are holding a presentation. You write on your device and it will generate an overlay onto your presentation.
And there is also RemoteCommander, a kinda-VNC which also supports Scribble.
There are some more, to be found here.
Hopefully there are some programmers willing to put their efforts and experience into this great project. I am sure that the base of the software is well-written, as it still runs smoothly and without a single problem on my current hardware specs, which are Windows 7 (x64) on 8GB RAM and an HTC Touch Diamond with Windows Mobile 6.1.
For any further questions do not hesitate to post in here. If the project is opened on Sourceforge, I also can give you my ICQ and E-Mail details if needed.
I am looking for your responses, please also do vote the poll.
Regards,
Zuzler a.k.a. Stefan
Below, you can find an excerpt of my recent contact with Brad Myers from the School of Computer Science in Pittsburgh:
That is an excellent idea. We will look into the legal issues and get back to you. It will probably take a few weeks to work out.
Are there lots of windows mobile devices still? Does software for old devices work on newer ones?
Any recommendations for where to put our source code so people can work on it? Like sourceforge or something? What do people mostly use?
Brad Myers
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My reply on this was:
Yes, there is a whole new generation out there. I for example got an HTC Touch Diamond, which has a resolution of 640x480 pixels, over 500 mhz and 4 GB storage. It has a touchscreen (it has just four keys, e.g. for answering calls and going back to home), GPS ans WiFi support. My Operating System is Windows Mobile 6.1 whereas my regular OS (i.e. at home) is Windows 7 (64 bit), and Pebbles runs smoothly on it. So I think Pebbles already has the best start as there are no OS issues with Windows as far as I am aware of.
For more information on the GPL you can have a look at the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License). On the bottom there are more links to the original text. I would recommend he GPL Version 3, which is the latest one.
Sourceforge would also have been the platform of my choice. I will create a topic at the xda-developers.com forums to collect peoples responses on this subject.
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Reserving this post for future updates.
I am interested in this. I'm using an old Qtek 9100 (HTC Wizard, OMAP180 200MHz) upgraded to Windows Mobile Professional 6.5.
I'm already using SallingClicker which offers similar features, but I'm always willing to try something new...
Hi,
yes, Salling Clicker is a similar tool, it offers many features but the knowledge you have to have on order to create a working script is way too much.
I hope that there are some programmers here, which are willing to support this project. Then we also can create a wishlist, new features which should be added in 'our' first release.
Regards
An open source project would be awesome!
Looked at the specs of the original program, and it looks nice! Make it up to date, implement full touchscreen support, and this would be a winner!
I hope that I will receive a confirmtion by the end of this week.
One problem however is, that I do not have any experience in coding, the only thing I can do is graphics.
So my plea to all of you coders out there is: When time has come please have a look at the source code and tell us, if you can help us.
Maybe we also can create an "award system" - users request features, when they are implemented they can donate to the developers.
Maybe a mod can move this thread to the new created subforum "Windows software development"?
Regards,
Zuzler
I'm really looking forward to this software! It is bookmarked and I hope that we will have a nice new version...