mostly to rod... how soon until mokomakefile is updated? On 8/20/07, Sean Moss-Pultz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dear Community! > > A top ten complaint that we have received is directed at our user > interface. Many people feel like the current interface doesn't address > their exact needs. The organization is not "intuitive"; the colors are > not pleasing; there is no simple way to navigate "exactly" where you > want, exactly when you want. > > All Hardware has limits. All FOSS runs on hardware. Our current > interface (OM-2007) was drawn almost in it's entirety before our > designers had seen a working Neo. We had to live without an embedded > stylus in the current version. And we had to learn to adapt to the lip > on the touch screen preventing us from using interface elements on the > edge of the display -- prime real estate regions. It was tough. We > pressed on, faithful in our belief that our community would overcome > this limitation and begin exploring our new found oceans. > > Personally, I feel that one of the most important areas for this project > is the development and exploration of the mobile user interface. The > human-machine interface is the intersection of art and technology. Great > interfaces blend the visual with the technical. They balance simplicity > with complexity. Often times, I feel, really great new interfaces are > not immediately intuitive. They are not instantly natural. In fact, I > would even argue this can be detrimental to improving interface design. > If an interface is to be superior it must be different. Therefore it > can't be intuitive, that is, familiar. A better metric, perhaps, is the > learning time it takes until the interface feel's natural and intuitive. > > Now that we have freed phones, everyone can contribute to an improved > baseline interface. This is our collective challenge. Can we create > something truly different? Can we lead this incredibly important field? > > Recently, emails have been pouring in, questioning the community's > ability to make our user interface into something insanely great. While > some doubted, others stepped up. Thomas Wood, of our extended team (AKA: > OpenedHand), sent an email, entitled, "OpenMoko Design Suggestions" > proposing -- in detail -- a redesigned interface concept that was > totally finger-based, optimized for GTK+ at 285ppi and, might I add, > very cool looking. > > We went back to the drawing board with OpenedHand -- lead by their vast > experience with GTK+, Matchbox, and mobile user interfaces -- and > redesigned an incredibly promising new interface. > > Today I'm extremely excited to announce that everyone can find this, > right now, in our subversion repository, under the name OM-2007.2. We > have already converted the following applications to the new framework: > > * Dialer, > * Contacts, > * Today, > * Calculator, > * Feedreader > > You can find an official snapshot here: > > http://buildhost.openmoko.org/snapshots/2007.08/ > > The remaining applications and wiki specifications will be converted as > we approach phase 2. We have new style guidelines here: > > http://wiki.openmoko.org/wiki/GUI_Style_Guidelines > > Here's a list of the major changes we've made with respect to this new > interface: > > 1) We redesigned the user interface to better fit both the hardware > capability of the Neo and its physical form factor. > > 2) Performance was improved by streamlining the visual appearance, still > keeping it attractive, but at the same time lessening the resource > impact. The current design allows for further future performance > improvements. > > 3) We vastly simplified the UI design and optimized the available screen > real estate and physical characteristics. This included the following: > > * Improved the interface clarity by taking into account the screen's > ultra-high DPI. > * Allowed functions to be accessible using less accurate finger > methods with requiring the stylus. > * Placed common functions on easy access prominent buttons and > increased the button target areas. > * Reduced the number of objects on screen at once by splitting > applications into tabs and redesigned the application layout. > * Added more natural interaction methods, such as finger scrolling. > * Removed some unnecessary elements such as the footer. Improved > usage and accessibility of existing ones. > > 3) Application management and navigation is now improved by with a > completely rewritten today app and by using the Neo's hardware keys. > > 4) This is now an interface that uses the strengths of our toolkit so > that we can keep the extra framework and developer learning curve to a > minimum. > > Please keep in mind that this new interface is still, very much, a work > in progress. This is the earliest possible stage than we can release > something with enough of a framework for you all to start exploring. > It's a huge advancement in balancing simplicity with it's digital > antagonist -- complexity. > > Also, thanks to Jon Phillips help, we've finally got around to licensing > our artwork for this new interface under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). > > The introduction of OM-2007.2 goes hand in hand with merging the > OpenMoko OpenEmbedded overlay into the upstream repository > org.openembedded.dev. We are now based directly on the upstream metadata > found in OpenEmbedded and synchronized with the most recent developments. > > Here are a few examples many of you have requested: > > * dbus 1.0.2 > * glib 2.12.12 > * Cairo 1.4.10 > * Gtk+ 2.10.14 > * GStreamer 0.10 > * ... > > Finally, we are very close to publishing our extensive software roadmap > covering plans for adding more exciting software components and > detailing areas where you can get involved and help us reach our goal of > freeing phones around the world. > > Stay tuned for more information! > > > Sincerely, > > > The OpenMoko Team. > > > _______________________________________________ > OpenMoko community mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community >
-- Jeff O|||||||O
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