[Idea] for an app: a replacement desktop
 

So portrait mode is a common request by some users on this forum. And of course the N900 is not designed for portrait mode use. And of course it would probably take alot of work to take hildon-desktop and create a portrait friendly mode.

So taking an idea from Android and iPhone apps (though Apple is now disallowing this). Why not just create an app that replaces the desktop? It would have weather, contacts, a search engine (like TouchSearch). And this app could be used in landscape and portrait mode. Future applets/widgets could interface with this new app or the existing desktop.

Even better, it can include a feature I desperately want ;). Type to search to launch applications, run searches, filter contacts, etc..

But am I just re-inventing the wheel (IE: someone else had this idea on maemo already?). And of course this would be a programming challenge. But maybe it'd be a great GSOC project or maybe an app that can be entered in a challenge.