Status

Ubuntu Mobile current status

Tollef Fog Heen led discussion on the status of Ubuntu Mobile. This was held the morning of 29-Oct-2007 (Monday) during UDS Boston summit.

  • Attach images of whiteboard here

Priorities: P1: most important, P2: medium important. P3, can wait.

FP == Features, Polish (the shiny stuff, not people from Poland)

Working

  • Python apps/bindings
  • Kernel
  • Terminal

Needs Work

  • Hildon input method (on-screen keyboard) - P1
  • User Interface - P1
  • Themeing - P2, FP
  • Performance (boot time) - P1, FP
  • Network - P1
  • Power Management (suspend) - P1
  • Home Screen/hildon desktop - P1
  • Usability -P1
  • Web Browser -P1
  • Footprint -P2, FP
  • Graphics drivers (2D/3D acceleration) - P1
  • Bluetooth -P2
  • Media Framework (gstreamer/Helix) - P1
  • Maemo Mapper (GPS Navigation) -P3
  • Chat/VoIP -P2
  • Media playback /Plugin - P1
  • Cheese (camera application) -P2
  • NTP support (date/time applet) -P3

Missing

  • Software updates - P1
  • Software Developer Kit (SDK) - P2
  • Handwriting recognition - P3
  • Accessibility -P3
  • Testing - P2
  • Application criteria P2
  • Synchronisation - P3
  • Supportability P2
  • Gesture support ("iPhone scrolling") - P3
  • Email (not web based email) -P2
  • Documentation on Device - P3
  • Help Infrastructure - P3
  • Bling - P3
  • Zoom - P2
  • Initial user setup (name, l10n) - P2
  • Backup/restore Implementation - P1
  • Import/Export of data/media - P1

==Not for MID==

  • Multi-user

Notes

  • Boot
  • Usplash
  • Managing upstream (Who is upstream?)
  • Bug-tracking (a howto)
  • Releases
  • Branch management
  • Working hardware platforms (developer/reference hardware)

Use cases

  • Use cases
    • What do we want the user to be able to do
    • Not to do
    • Eg. take a picture of themselves drunk at the bar and upload it to Flickr
  • Websites that must work
    • Facebook

    • Youtube

    • Google

    • Flickr

    • Myspace
    • Ebay
    • Amazon
    • Orkut (Brazil)
    • Yahoo homepage
    • Hotmail

    • Gmail

    • Twitter
    • Wikipedia
    • Wall Street Journal
    • Weather.com
    • New York Times
    • lastfm
    • Live365
    • Ubuntu.com
    • Launchpad.net
  • On line music sites (must work in background while continuing to browse)
    • Panel volume applet
    • Hardware volume control
    • Incoming phone calls (pausing music)
  • Media

=== Priority 1 ===

  • Calculator
  • GPS nagivation
  • Stock market
  • Note-taking
  • Other iPhone applets
  • Other N810 applets

Explicit Use Cases

  • 18-30?
  • "digital parent" (the people who ask how to add things to the phone)
  • Surf the web
  • Chat (instant messaging)
  • Consumer not business
  • High-powered executive "boys-toy"
  • Single user only (not designed for multiple users)

  • "Just works" (should not have to return to the control panel)

Discussed

  • open ended applications (web browser)
  • take and upload a picture to flickr
  • MID: task-oriented device (not a computer)
    • Reduced functionality optimised for specific tasks
      • Sports Scores
      • Email
      • Driving directions
      • Surf.
      • play music
  • Make the web-browser work
    • Flash
      • Alternative (swfdec, gnash) or Adobe supported?
    • Media playing
  • Queuing off-line email
  • Flight-mode
    • Feedback to applications that the network is off-line
    • Visual feedback to "prove" to the flight attendants they are off
    • Power-saving mode
      • Driver issues, deep sleep.
  • Location-based retrieve (eg. all images taken in "Boston" "2 weeks ago").

Second board

Hildon

  • SDK

General

  • Acceptance Tests
  • Applications
  • E????
  • Intel input (??)

Network access

  • User want an internet application

    • User doesn't care how they get it
  • Picks the last one used (eg. Nokia N770, N800, N810)
  • Network Manager is the only choice (as Nokia solution is not available)
  • Must cover
  • Turn the network connections off when not needed (no apps)
  • Ad-hoc networks (IPv4/IPv6 links so Avahi/zeroconf work)
  • Between all Linux devices close together
  • Network Manager; for the wimax; work arounds for different devices
  • Netconf (Python scripts "quick hacks")
  • Who handles the user experience (UI code)
  • Intel have a "resource" (Todd) dedicated to "control panel"
  • NM asks you what type of key (and yet, iwlist knows)
  • Automatically connect to open-wifi?
  • Sensible decisions
  • Use Flat-rate UMTS in your own country, but not abroad
  • Policy
    • "Should I automatically connect"
  • Network Manager vs. Reimplement Nokia network solution
    • "Network Manager doesn't fit on the screen"!

Talked about but not written down

  • Packaging issues/releasing:
  • Meta-packing issues (getting packages added to the meta-package)
  • Should be a Launchpad project for 'ubuntu-mobile'
  • Standardisation, LSB-like
    • minimum set of libraries
    • LSB came out last month and is broken
  • Input transformation
    • Voice input
    • Handwriting
    • On screen keyboard
  • USB-mass storage
    • VFAT emulator

  • Thought-free WiFi

  • Target market

Not discussed

  • ARM support

UDS-Boston/Mobile/Status (last edited 2008-08-06 16:21:22 by localhost)