hopbeat | # 1 | 2009-11-21, 17:07 | Report

In last three days (Nov 18-20) there was a Maemo/Qt workshop in Copenhagen. Since I had an opportunity to be there, I would like to share with you some things that we heard and saw there. Sorry if there is nothing new for You.

On the first day, there were several lectures about Maemo platform in general. Quim was doing his presentations straight from N900, which was really impressive (and by presentations I mean several pdfs and webpages open). Leave your laptop at home...

It was very much emphasized that Maemo 5 is just a step 4 out of 5 and right now it is a transition from Innovators to Early Adopters (?). On the other hand, we heard several times that next Maemo will be huge/mainstream (and we are talking Nokia huge/mainstream). It seems, that even though there was some confusion about role of Maemo (the N-series fuss), it is really supposed to be the next flagship platform. As one marketing guy said: Maemo is a game chnager and a long term investment by Nokia.


The next device, running Harmattan, will feature a capacitive, multi-touch, WVGA (800x480) screen. The core of Maemo 6, useful for testing, will be installable on N900, although it won't be fully functional (hardware difference). It will go along the path introduced by the fifth edition (multiple desktops, now scrollable in 2D, widgets, Qt, IM integration).
What I really liked is the philosophy that will be present in the next Maemo(s): you get the device with support for DRM and blocked enough to protect the system. But you will be able to unlock it/gain root and play with it as you wish. It is nice to hear, that those two paths are thought of from the beginning.

Regarding, heavily discussed OVI Store issues, I have already mentioned the things we heard. My impression is that some people inside Nokia would like to change the OVI (Store) philosophy, but for the time being it will still be aimed into medium/large companies. This is also my general observation: there is Maemo team that is focused on community and there is Nokia, The Corporation. I wonder how they get along.
Games in Ovi Store will remain separate from other applications, and we can expect building a strong brand for them, a replacement for N-Gage.

We have tried to get some info about Qt in Maemo 6, but it has proven to be difficult. Eventually we were told that we (developers) shouldn't worry about this, but just keep writing in Qt. But yes, there will be DirectUI in Maemo 6, although it is not Maemo specific. No technical details, as the guy doing the training was specifically asked not to give them. The good news is that we should see a nice documentation for Qt/APIs pretty soon (next week or so).

There were about 130 people, developers from companies and universities. The Qt training was a basic one, starting with hello world and ending with simple web browser implemented. For me, Qt is working like a charm on N900 and it was said that this will be soon the main environment for both Maemo and Symbian and we should focus on it.

Really nice event, thank you Quim and all the Nokia/Maemo team for organizing it.

PS. Everyone at the event got a nice little gift. Guess what

qgil | # 2 | 2009-11-22, 20:27 | Report

Thank *you*.

I had to take 3 slots (blame the flue that knocked out other speakers) and I solved them with the N900 + TVOut cable. 1 YouTube video streamed with 3G, 2 ppt, 1 pdf, several web pages downloaded live and a couple of Conboy pages. Except the beginning of the video streaming that was a bit sluggish due to connection, the rest behaved quite well.

I'm not taking my laptop for presentations anymore. "Mobile computer" is not a buzzword!

develofer | # 3 | 2009-11-23, 09:05 | Report

Nice review hopbeat!

I want to stress the quote:
Maemo is a game changer and a long term investment by Nokia....

It seemed that Nokia is really putting efforts in Maemo platform, but it also seemed to me that this is the beginning of something bigger.

It was mentioned as well that it is right time to start programming in Qt, so all learned during the training and in the next future is supposed to be very valid for further releases.
I'm really looking forward to it.

And I'm really willing to see what maemo&Nokia can do together.
The current step, N900 and Maemo 5 is really, (and when I say really is really) impressive.

Quim made a nice job showing us a bit of potential of our beloved N900.
Sms, emails, alarms saying him to stop talking all together during pdfs, ppts let us realise the first day how Maemo can do things.
And the best thing is that the training was not started yet...

Nice job guys. Thank you Forum Nokia, Maemo.org and all the people who made possible the training in Copenhagen.

eiffel | # 4 | 2009-11-23, 10:32 | Report

There's a new piece of information in that sentence. Previously it was "A future device", but if it really is "The next device" then we know that there are no more Fremantle devices coming.

I don't suppose there was any hint dropped about the screen size of "the next device"? Naah, didn't think so.

Regards,
Roger

hopbeat | # 5 | 2009-11-23, 10:47 | Report

Yes, it was quite clear from the presentations, that Maemo5 = N900, Maemo6=the next one something.

no info about screen size, sorry

qgil | # 6 | 2009-11-23, 10:49 | Report

I was just going through http://www.slideshare.net/peterschne...ogy-highlights

I'm pretty sure I talked about "whatever device comes with Maemo 6", or something along these lines since it's the uncompromising formula I use to stay away from such speculations. I'm sure I didn't provide details of WVGA displays for capacitive screen devices.

vkv.raju | # 7 | 2009-11-23, 11:03 | Report

Btw, there is a Nokia Developer Conference in Bangalore, India on the 7th of Dec, 09. And Maemo is very much on the agenda. http://www.nokiadevcon.in/index.php

I have registered for the event. Was wondering if anyone else from this forum is attending it. I am now even more eagerly looking forward to this.

drm | # 8 | 2009-11-23, 11:44 | Report

I’m really jealous. I can’t stand the wait…

hopbeat | # 9 | 2009-11-23, 12:19 | Report

Well, for me the idea of the 'next device will run Maemo 6 (and we are excited with it)' was present in the whole event.
But it's just my impressions, I'm not claiming any knowledge.

@drm, to be honest, this device is laying on my desk, connected to computers and charger 24/7, so I'm only developing, didn't have time to play with it (project deadline soon :/ ). But it was the purpose of giving it to us

eiffel | # 10 | 2009-11-23, 12:21 | Report

OK, but let's not muddy the waters for developers more than necessary.

Slide 4 refers to multi-touch on capacitive displays, which was also mentioned at the Maemo Summit. So was 800x480 (WVGA) resolution, so none of those are secrets.

Developers can assume multi-touch, capacitive, WVGA. At this time, it doesn't seem that they can assume anything about screen size or device form factor.

Regards,
Roger