Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Because not all media files in all directories are music and video supposed to be exposed to the user. I'm surprised this needs explanation. Have we already forgotten the joys of the 2000 ogg files in Media Player from Nokia's very own Map application happily added by metalayer-crawler ? Even today I can't use Media Player and Canola properly as they play 'random' as a various mix of music and application sounds. If the solution is not to have music and application data on the same card, that's hardly not a bug.

EDIT:The same metalayer-crawler magic had to do with media player. And since MAFW will be omnipresent and a base for a much broader audience, it will be able to make or break basically all your media apps. With the 2000 aforementioned oggs, it would mean they wouldn't just appear in Media Player, but ALL your multimedia applications. Oops.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I seem to recall reading that Tracker will be monitoring the user's home directory and removable media, not the entire file system. However, I'm not immediately finding a reference for that when I search.

Regardless, trackerd supports simple directory inclusions and exclusions via its configuration file. Applications that install media files that should not be indexed into locations that otherwise will be, should add appropriate exclusions. Failure to do so will be a bug that should be reported to the application maker. And, should the application maker fail to deliver the necessary fix, I expect it would be a simple matter for someone else to make a tiny deb that adds the exclusion for the average, command line averse user.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I think they are relying on inotify, so there's no actual heavy weight on the device, unless there's big activity in the monitored directories.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

My appologies for not reading all of the 1,443 previous posts :eek:

Was printing support mentioned?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Odds are good that it was; however, printing support won't be coming from Nokia.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I dont' want to sound too dismissive, but considering the platform (number of 3rd party apps) and common use-cases (how many applications have user-exposable media ?), this is the wrong solution. I'm certain applications should opt-in media files and not opt-out, especially if you operate on SD level. This is why fremantle / trackerd integration CAN be smart, files belonging to debs could and should automatically be ignored f.e. by the application installer (either directly or through MAFW if possible). Otherwise, chances are almost all of 'extras' will do it wrong at first, have a bug filed, have it corrected by the author or the community, make a patch, distribute it, make wikis about it, make sticky posts with giant letters addressing developers, maybe even making a patch to the garage autobuilder to this automatically because all of the above failed, etc. This could all be avoided with a proper approach in the beginning and it's not that hard to do.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Since both projects are open and openly developed, why don't you go talk to their developers instead of wasting time speculating on it with too little information?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I'll take it that this means you think it has some merit ;) I'm clueless what the proper place to go to would be, as it is a platform level decision.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

No, I think it's silly to waste your and other people's time speculating on something (especially when that speculation seems to be turning into a downward spiral of negative assumptions) when the answer is but an email away.

What really bothers me is the tendency in this community to fall back on speculation (which often heads in a distinctly negative direction) even when concrete information is readily available.

Before you spend pages of posts in speculation, consider asking the devs first.

The Tracker mailing list is here, and there are lots of possible contacts on the MAFW project page.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Nah, we know you better than that, you said thank you in a GA way :) I know, I know, you couldn't disagree more and fail to see any sense in that. Don't worry, it's ok :D

Edit:
Might be tricky ! See attach :D

DailyWTF courtesy of http://blogs.igalia.com/itoral/2009/...ublic/#respond

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Off to read :)

*EDIT*
Sorry just wanted to point out that there is quite a lot of information out there. Sometimes it is easy to overlook an answer to any questions we may have.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Difficult to tell. But if I leave my NIT tethered to the phone for 3-4 hours it'll have consumed some 700KB-1MB or thereabouts. It runs the following while connected through the phone:

- gmail notifier. Checks every 10 ten minutes. I think this one uses very little bandwidth.
- telepathy (or at least I think that's what runs the chat stuff). It monitors my gtalk etc. friends (online, offline, idle etc.). Not sure how much this uses.
- email program. It checks my work mail over IMAP. This is the old email program btw, not modest. It checks every 15 minutes. I think this one is using most bandwidth. It looks like it uses some 15-30KB just to check if there's anything new. It doesn't use IMAP IDLE or any other efficient protocol. In my opinion it should really be possible to check for new mail with vastly less transfer of data (my inbox is always very small btw).

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Thanks for that, it was very helpful.

I'm thinking that I'd love the N900 to have some sort of hand-off capability when switching between WiFi/WiMAX/3G networks, though
I could survive even if this wasn't the case. It would just mean that most operations would be interrupted if I left the house as the network automatically switched. My only concern is VoIP, but I can finish up the convo before changing locations.

If I had to manually switch networks, it would be extremely disappointing. Fewer steps == better.

It would appear that I use quite a bit of bandwidth on my little unit! In the past 8 hours, I've clocked around 100MB (up and down) as displayed by the 'Connection Manager' app. Of course, this mainly includes 2+ hours of VoIP conversations that I had which I only have when I'm at home. On the road, this won't be the case, unless the situations are extreme (vacation, emergency consolation, phone meeting, etc).

So it appears as though I should be able to comfortably use HSPA with my N900 without breaking the bank (even with these ker-azy Canadian prices). It's expensive, but easily justifiable as a business expense.

I'm going to write a small cron'd script (hopefully some form a timer installed) to poll my bandwidth hourly and dump the data in a file so that I can have a definite answer as to the amount of bandwidth I consume. This is the precise reason openness rocks.


YARR!
}:^)~
UBCorrupt

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Here's something that I *know* will be on the N900/Fremantle, that I'm glad will be included. Location awareness.

It would seem that Nokia is taking this idea of apps being location aware very seriously with developer tools to help create these types of apps. In fact, it seems to be a play that they are (at least publicly) alone on. Together with the tight integration of other OVI services, the great hardware (GPS/camera), it would appear that these services will offer a new level of depth for people on the go, or local explorers.

Even the simple act of sending a quick mail/IM with your mapped location, and a picture, can have a tremendous impact in the way we interact. Amazing!

This should provide great incentive for developers to use the OVI store. With the arsenal of devices that Nokia has coming out (including the beloved N900), they are sitting in a pretty competitive position, which will have the competition playing catch-up.

This idea of location awareness is to be talked about in the 2009 Developer Summit in Monaco which is coming up in a week (April 28-29). You can read about all of the talks here: http://www.developersummit2009.com/Agenda.1459.aspx .

I'm curious:
How would you implement a location aware app on the N900 given the hardware/software?


YARR
}:^)~
Capt'n! TETSUO!!!

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I know this probably seems boring, but how about the basics in NATIVE mode:

1. OpenOffice
2. Some kind of HTML/XML/PHP Editor
3. Full-featured SKYPE not the current semi-functional version
4. Decent pure text editor. (not like leafpad or notes(which is html))
5. Image editor (gimp or something)
6. Firefox
7. Torrent Search/Download tool (like transmission but with a search tool)
8. More than one USB port and more than one memory card slot.
9. For travelers--good language translation program (for off-line use)
10. Built in firewall.
11. Make the expansion of applications from internal memory to memory cards seamless.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Full feature Skype is a must!

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

linux pink hat 1.01

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

There will likely be *some* version of Skype but with Skype's track record I suggest setting the expectations low. Really low.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

You may want to consider RTCOMM and SIP. It's a little harder to find a good provider, but the prices are swell (sometimes lower than skype, depending on the provider), and you needn't worry about compatibility as its standardised (protocol + codecs).

For example, in Toronto vBuzzer offers unlimited local plans for $50CDN/year (~$40US).

You can also buy a device to hook up your phone to your home router and 'share' your number; have your phone ring at home and on your NIT.

Plus if you're a bit of a hacker, there's little end to what you can do with an installation of Asterisk PBX on your home server.

YARR!
}:^)~
Capt'n Corrupt

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Harder to find a provider? . . . How about http://sipphone.com?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Ah yes, sipphone.com, I remember you well. Good call!

I had sworn off Gizmo mainly due to a quirky and not well supported client on the PC, though the account seemed to work quite well.

Can the gizmo account work with other sip clients? I may use this for sip to sip calling if it's the case (my current provider charges for this)....


YARR!
}:^)~
Vorrupt

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Gizmo account is just a product offered by Sipphone, they have instructions on how to use other clients on their website.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

There are also the various betamax clones (not all support sip but most do, by picking carefully you can have very good rates both calling landlines and mobiles), vyke (a flat rate of 4 cents per call to most destinations), eutelia (useful if you need a free geographic inbound number in italy).

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I'm not sure if its been made official, but I would really like to see the OVI store apps available for the N900. I feel that this will help break it out of a niche market into the mainstream. In fact, bring on the entire OVI she-bang.


YARR!
}:^)~
corrupt.ovi.com

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

yup, most sip accounts work well with the built in internet call app, for instance

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Here's a pretty neat N900 software wish:

Since the N900 (at least I think) will come stock with:

1) a compass and accelerometer (orientation),
2) GPS (location),
3) 3D acceleration (rendering),
4) a camera (view),
5) and HSPA (anywhere network),

it has all the ingredients for an amazing augmented reality system!

Imagine holding the N810 as if a transparent piece of glass in the open, and seeing floating markers in the distance over the landscape, or information about what you're pointing it towards (description, history, position markers, etc). With HSPA, the tablet can automatically download the augmented reality objects from a centralised server, for a seamless user experience. It can also grab the positions of visible 'users' for neat social apps or form the basis of 'geo-games' (consider this term coined). For virtual graffiti, users could 'tag' an area with art or information.

This would also make an AMAZING star gazing app. Imagine being able to aim the tablet and 'zoom' in on distant nebulae as if it were a telescope, or see the surface of the moon in high detail! My heart beats at the thought!

Just start the app, aim the tablet, and view a virtual world juxtaposed with reality!

What do you think?


YARR!
}:^)~
AugmentedCorruption

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Dude, you're trippin' me out. I like it. Then I want my room covered with OLED wallpaper for playback.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Nokia research center has already done work with augmented reality, so it might even come directly from Nokia whe the devices are actually up to the task.

Of course it's also a possibility that they already have the tech ready, but haven't been able to make a viable business out of it, so they're holding it back :rolleyes:

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Sounds interesting, though you'd probably need to do starmap recognition to know which way you're pointing (azimuth should be ok from the accelerometers, but depending on which way the compass is orientated (and assuming it has one) it might not work properly when held up like that).

In any case it sounds doable and pretty cool (assuming the camera is able to see at least some stars tpo do the direction matching, which depends on its internals)

There's already a star map app isn't there? I wonder how hard it would be to hack heading and azimuth input into (from compass, accelerometer, starmap watching, etc.) that....

Anyway, cool idea :)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I think QGil actually mentioned something similar in a thread some time ago. While it should be fairly easily done as a generic application, within it's own reference system (as a 'window'), it might not be that easy to link it with actual coordinates - e.g. point at a planet or star and see the relevant star map/info. The N900 lacks a compass you have on your list, AFAIK and that makes establishing reference points hard, especially if you're not moving.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

I just wish the n900 was forsale already !!!

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Not I. The OS isn't ready for primetime yet. Not by a longshot.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Interesting about the compass. I just assumed that it would include something similar as the N97 has this functionality and it seems that there is a lot of crossover between the two devices. I would guess that the compass would be included as part of a multi-function chip.

Without a compass (magnometer), I agree, this proposition is next to impossible to pull off convincingly. In fact, everything on the list is required for a seamless AR experience.

However, I suppose we'll have to wait before determining the final aspects of the hardware!

As for a AR system. It would be REALLY GOOD if someone made a comprehensive API layer on top of QT with this functionality. It would empower designers to include this type of AR functionality without having to design it ground-up every time!


YARR!
}:^)~
Donkey korrupt

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Thanks!

I completely agree! The starmap proposes many issues especially in light of hardware quirks.

Another issue with the stargazing app, is that when zoomed in, small movements of the device will result in HUGE movements across the sky. Still, I think it could be pulled off in a novel and educational way, with a clever enough interface!

As per my previous post. I would hope that it would be implemented as an API rather than an all inclusive app, as the uses are potentially far reaching!

Keep the ideas comin!


YARR!
}:^)~
Corrupt, eh?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Doesn't GPS functionality automatically imply compass capability? (well, a compass capability that requires GPS signal, not like a literal internal compass)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Until we see some specs, it's anybody's guess. It might very well be inertial compass (e.g. gets an estimate from GPS while moving, and then if no movement or GPS signal is presents, just adds accelerometer data to guess the heading). Unfortunately that compass drifts and isn't very accurate - might be enough for walking and general directions but not 'real' navigation. But let's not speculate :)

Not directly. If you're moving, you can cheat and use the position difference to guess north/south. If you don't want to cheat, you can, in theory, make some guesses based on the visibility/signal properties of the satellites. That, however is very-very low resolution (not to mention unreliable). For applications as suggested above you would need a FAR more accurate compass.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

You're basing this on, what, your extensive experience with internal Fremantle builds?

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Only if you're moving, and only assuming the signal isn't bouncing 100s of feet in every direction. A digital compass will give you that information even when you're stationary, and even with a weak fix.

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

Run across an N97 manual excerpt by chance - the calibration process hints a magnetometer powered compass. Now, the question is just if anybody ran across anything compass-related in fremantle ? :)

Re: What woud you realistically like to see in the N900?
 

No, I haven't seen or heard anything.