N900 Fremantle Concepts

[elimoon8]

I just had some ideas for things that *might* make Fremantle a bit easier to use, so I spent some time today using Photoshop to make those concepts "realities."

This is a transparent keyboard concept:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3452/3873411248_2164b409fc.jpg

A lot of people are disappointed that the n900 will not have a portrait mode for the browser (as far as we know), but here is how it may look if we get a pleasant surprise:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3519/3873411214_5d9560c28d.jpg

I really like the concept of the task manager, but I want to be able to group windows based on either originating program (i.e. all MicroB programs in one group) or by arbitrary selection.

Here is a basic idea about how the grouping could possibly work.
1) Drag one window onto another.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2511/3873411286_89e410a5bd.jpg

2) Grouped windows will have a different title bar.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3873411320_375711cb09.jpg

3) Touching the window representing the grouped windows will bring up the "grouped windows" menu.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3872626583_6cf3775b13.jpg

I hope you guys have some other ideas about features you could use in Fremantle!

If someone could spend a little more time on the transparent keyboard and create a version for portrait mode, I think it would look pretty nice.

Anyone that wants to edit the images can download the:
PSD Files (http://www.box.net/shared/5xbm9ugmi5)
PNG Files (http://www.box.net/shared/7xk0rl0iod)

Have fun! :D

Note: These are ALL concepts. None of these pictures represent actual device functions. Credit for all pictures goes to mobile-review.com

[christexaport]

I don't like the grouped apps in the task manager. Web pages could be apps in the future, or even today. I want the fastest way to change apps, and adding a layer would mess that up. But love the portrait views and opaque keys.

[Andre Klapper]

Opaque keys is a nice idea if the normal view is still available too as I think having this opaque only would be bad for accessibility.

[baksiidaa]

But love the portrait views and opaque keys.
Opaque keys is a nice idea . . .

Do you guys mean transparent?

[sjgadsby]

Do you guys mean transparent?

Or better yet, translucent.

[ysss]

I've been wondering about the opaque comments myself..
I thought they're talking about the browser toolbars.

[bigr3dd0g]

i think they mean transparent not opaque :p

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2009/08/31/video-pre-virtual-keyboard-developing-rapidly-gets-easy-instal/

something like this?

[sevla]

I wanted to write a new virtual keyboard that's more reminiscent of what a typical qwerty keyboard layout would be. I've installed the sdk but I haven't got a chance to start coding yet mostly because I'm not sure where to start. Ideally I would like to look at the code for the current keyboard to see how it's initialized and to see what type of widget it actually is.

Here is a quick layout I did in Visual Studio to get a general idea of what it might look like. I did the calculations and with the current config it takes up about 40% (vertically) of the screen which is pretty good considering the spacing between keys.

If it's possible making the keys "translucent" maybe it's something I could add as a task if people think it would be useful.

What do you guys think?

[allnameswereout]

Maybe look at Enlightenment, Fremantle or Mer folks how they did it.

Usability research has shown you don't want a big spacebar you want one easily reachable with the right hand.

You also cannot put a key on the very outside of the screen because there your pointer device will never reach it. So you need some open space there.

[sevla]

Maybe look at Enlightenment, Fremantle or Mer folks how they did it.

Usability research has shown you don't want a big spacebar you want one easily reachable with the right hand.

You also cannot put a key on the very outside of the screen because there your pointer device will never reach it. So you need some open space there.

1.) Thanks, I'll check that out

2.) That's assuming the user is right handed isn't it? There's been a lot of controversy surrounding Nokia's decision to put the space bar on the right. I'm not sure how they did there "Usability Research" but from what I can tell it hasn't received a very warm welcome. I myself hate it but maybe it's just me. I'm more inclined to leave it in the middle because I think that's what people are used too and it doesn't give an advantage to right handed users.

3.) Thanks, forgot about that!

[wazd]

Transparent keyboard gives nothing but additional noise to the picture and frustration to the user.

As for portrait mode, you can see that browser became barely usable. Shrinking everything to fit is not a solution.

App grouping is a nice idea but i suspect that there's something similar in Fremantle already :)

[epage]

Transparent keyboard gives nothing but additional noise to the picture and frustration to the user.

I can't remember if we've already talked about this but I have a suspicion that it is possible its just some implementations are bad. If they used a frost effect rather than straight translucency and added a border around letters/numbers/symbols, it might just work.

[barry99705]

For the love of whatever you pray to, don't make the transparent keyboard! There was something similar with os2008 on the tablets. At least with a terminal window, didn't work nearly as well as the idea.

[elimoon8]

I know application grouping isn't for everyone, but that's the beauty of linux, isn't it? There are typically options for everyone, even if not endorsed officially. I, personally, would like the grouping, since it would let me easily organize related windows into a "workspace" of sorts. It might also help to consider what happens when there are more than 6 windows open. Do you have to scroll down to view them all? If so, it might make window grouping more desirable.

As far as the transparent, translucent, opaque, whatever you want to call it keyboard goes, I think it could be extremely useful if implemented correctly. My mockup is a poor representation, but I do think it would allow a full-screen keyboard (the only way I would really feel comfortable using the keyboard) along with a clear view of the box you are typing into.

While I'm here, I might as well throw out some other "innovative" ideas I had (that I know some people will hate :p ):
1) In combination with the transparent keyboard, clicking in a text/typing field will zoom in so that the field takes up about 75% of the screen, and it will be positioned on the right side. Typically, when filling out a form, the information to be filled out (address, email, etc.) is indicated on the left, so it would be important that the text box does not take up the whole screen.

2) Many sites that the n900 is purporting to support will be flash based, meaning logins/passwords will not be saved in flash-based login boxes and others (like meebo, etc.). To overcome this, it would be quite useful if there was a "login manager." The purpose of the "login manager" would be to save login information and allow passwords to be changed if needed at a later date (if security policies force you to change your work email password every 3 months, for example). Also, the login manager could create floating "bubbles" containing login information that appear every time the main page to a site is loaded. The bubbles (containing username/password, and possibly other information) could be "dragged & dropped" into the various fields to auto fill them and allow quicker access to websites.

3) The n900 software keyboard should be customizable. The keys could possibly be changed in a method similar to how you move icons around on the iPod touch/iPhone (touch and hold until the keys start swinging, then drag to the position you prefer). There should be options to add any key you want to the "main" keyboard, so that different users can have access to the keys they want faster (ex.: A person is a stock trader, and they need the "$" more than the letter "z" on the main keyboard. They could simply drag the $ into the position the z occupies and drag the z into the other "tab"). Keys should also be customizable in size (ex.: I prefer the "enter" button to be bigger than the "backspace" key).

4) The n900 could use an alternate method of zooming. The user could place a finger in either one of the four corners of the screen for 5 seconds, until a fingertip-sized circle appears halfway between the upper right edge of the screen and the center. To zoom in, the user could drag the circle nearer to the center of the screen, while zooming out would be accomplished by moving the circle nearer to the upper right corner of the screen. If the circle is not touched within 2 seconds, it disappears (to minimize accidental zooming). The edge the circle appears near would be customizable, and would automatically reorient in portrait mode.

5) Borrowing from Apple *gasp*, the n900 could create screenshots when changing between applications, so that switching back to an application would be seamless and the animation from small window in the task manager to full screen application window would consume less processing power than a "live" preview. When I saw the video of the n900 in action, I was disappointed at how the application windows seemed to "hiccup" and not smoothly transition from the task manager to full screen view, even with all the hardware power behind it.

6) Not really an innovation, but I like the "page flipping" look to change between the desktops, like what's shown in the advertisement video, rather than the swipe to left and right we saw in the demonstration video.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2568/3876164891_4f5bea53dd.jpg

Wow. This has been too long a post. Just a side note: I was impatient & didn't have too much time when I was watching the videos, so if I got anything wrong, please feel free to tell me, and I'll correct it in the post. :)

Edit: I think the n900 does use screenshots (from what I saw from other videos) when zooming in. So forget you ever read #5 :p