Related
My idea is to make a program that acts like WVGA-fix, that is, reducing the display area ( by 160 pixels in height) in order to make VGA applications compatible AND, at the same time, using the space gained at the bottom for a virtual D-Pad.
That would make many 3D games compatible and playable (becuase of the D-Pad) but also applications like Realcalculator or the SPB suite.
Does anyone want to do this? I'd donate at least 20 bucks and I guess there are lots of other people who would appreciate a solution like this.
Nice idea, but what's the point in the WVGA screen then? Might as well get a Diamond!
also thought about that. tgere is someone working on it. search for the d-pad sip thread.
the idea is to program an emulator, wich opens applications in a 640x480px Frame this way its simulates a VGA screen. the 160px left can be used for virtual D-Pad. when pressing a button on the virtual D-Pad, the direction has to be send to the frame - to the application / game.
Koffein Schluck said:
also thought about that. tgere is someone working on it. search for the d-pad sip thread.
the idea is to program an emulator, wich opens applications in a 640x480px Frame this way its simulates a VGA screen. the 160px left can be used for virtual D-Pad. when pressing a button on the virtual D-Pad, the direction has to be send to the frame - to the application / game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to go as far as having an on screen virtual keypad with the OS running at a lower resolution to accommodate it, I imagine this would need to be done through a replacement screen driver much like NYDITOT. If you've ever used NVD, you should know what I mean. They use a generic replacement for the screen/display/keyboard driver that then allows the OS display to be run at any resolution and then scrolled.
But since it replaces the entire screen driver (ddi.dll) with it's own generic version, this method is also a performance hit for more graphical apps like games. If someone can figure out something better and easier, go for it. I imagine you would only need to hack with the touch driver if you wanted an invisible on-screen dpad or something.
And it should look like this http://upload.csrune.com/files/dpadsip669.PNG ;-)
It's just another keyboard...
Hello, sorry to unburry this topic, but I consider the concept is of premium importance.
First of all, I think it should have nothing to do with resizing the screen, as it would just complicate the process and slow down the programs...
Games and other software using the HD's missing pad are generally already VGA (if not QVGA) sized (considering recent WVGA games can use the touchscreen or the accelerometer), so they already display black unused sections on the screen (and by the way, a lot of useful apps, such as WVGAFix or Hou Ming's Force Hires already manage the lost margin and/or resize QVGA to VGA).
So it should only be about using this otherwise spilled and already existing dead zone to display a pad.
There are tons of applications for such a pad, and not only games !
Just browsing through directories can just be so painful without a pad, as Windows Mobile massively relies on its presence.
For instance, you have nice thumbnails showing when you parse pictures, but they are rendered useless, as you can't browse through them ! As soon as you select the next one with stylus or finger, it pops opened (well, popping isn't really the appropriate word, if you consider how slow the process is )
Then the best way to browse a directory, is to open the SIP keyboard, but of course, not the Microsoft one, as it has no arrow keys (remember : Windows assumes a pad is present) : you have to open this nice, but oversized HTC one, you know, the one that has arrows, but no Ctrl key, and therefore is unable to copy and paste !...
As keyboard arrows do work in any situation, I really, really think we all lack a simple 4 direction pad (plus "action" button, the other four classical buttons being physically present, phew) that would take no room on the screen, and help us browsing files and menus, or playing games.
The virtual pad should be available in the keyboards and other input devices list, exactly the same way the others are.
Ideally, we could imagine a tiny one that would overlap the central button and take no room on the screen, but just occupy about half an inch in the center of the lower bar, plus the usual SIP input choice arrow, in order we can still change keyboards at will.
For older VGA ou QVGA games, a larger and more finger friendly version could be imagined, either just a thick line of buttons, or why not, a larger pad, as shown on Wolfenzi's nice picture.
Just consider that a lot of virtual keyboards are available, so It doesn't seem to be something impossible to do !
It would be just another keyboard, just having only 5 keys, and nothing else !!!
I actually really can't figure out why nobody seems to be interested by such a simple yet useful idea...
Oh, and as Maati, I'm ready to remunerate anyone who'd do the effort, too.
El_Mariachi said:
Nice idea, but what's the point in the WVGA screen then? Might as well get a Diamond!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, not as I see it, and support the need for such a utility.
This utility would allow older (no longer actively supported?) applications what were design for VGA and control (only!) thru the D-pad, to still work.
Of course, new applications will be written to fully use WVGA, and have control thru means other than the D-pad.
maati said:
My idea is to make a program that acts like WVGA-fix, that is, reducing the display area ( by 160 pixels in height) in order to make VGA applications compatible AND, at the same time, using the space gained at the bottom for a virtual D-Pad.
That would make many 3D games compatible and playable (becuase of the D-Pad) but also applications like Realcalculator or the SPB suite.
Does anyone want to do this? I'd donate at least 20 bucks and I guess there are lots of other people who would appreciate a solution like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2 Ditto.
Z80-Man said:
Hello, sorry to unburry this topic, but I consider the concept is of premium importance.
First of all, I think it should have nothing to do with resizing the screen, as it would just complicate the process and slow down the programs...
Games and other software using the HD's missing pad are generally already VGA (if not QVGA) sized (considering recent WVGA games can use the touchscreen or the accelerometer), so they already display black unused sections on the screen (and by the way, a lot of useful apps, such as WVGAFix or Hou Ming's Force Hires already manage the lost margin and/or resize QVGA to VGA).
So it should only be about using this otherwise spilled and already existing dead zone to display a pad.
There are tons of applications for such a pad, and not only games !
Just browsing through directories can just be so painful without a pad, as Windows Mobile massively relies on its presence.
For instance, you have nice thumbnails showing when you parse pictures, but they are rendered useless, as you can't browse through them ! As soon as you select the next one with stylus or finger, it pops opened (well, popping isn't really the appropriate word, if you consider how slow the process is )
Then the best way to browse a directory, is to open the SIP keyboard, but of course, not the Microsoft one, as it has no arrow keys (remember : Windows assumes a pad is present) : you have to open this nice, but oversized HTC one, you know, the one that has arrows, but no Ctrl key, and therefore is unable to copy and paste !...
As keyboard arrows do work in any situation, I really, really think we all lack a simple 4 direction pad (plus "action" button, the other four classical buttons being physically present, phew) that would take no room on the screen, and help us browsing files and menus, or playing games.
The virtual pad should be available in the keyboards and other input devices list, exactly the same way the others are.
Ideally, we could imagine a tiny one that would overlap the central button and take no room on the screen, but just occupy about half an inch in the center of the lower bar, plus the usual SIP input choice arrow, in order we can still change keyboards at will.
For older VGA ou QVGA games, a larger and more finger friendly version could be imagined, either just a thick line of buttons, or why not, a larger pad, as shown on Wolfenzi's nice picture.
Just consider that a lot of virtual keyboards are available, so It doesn't seem to be something impossible to do !
It would be just another keyboard, just having only 5 keys, and nothing else !!!
I actually really can't figure out why nobody seems to be interested by such a simple yet useful idea...
Oh, and as Maati, I'm ready to remunerate anyone who'd do the effort, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hail to this simple, yet working solution.
and even include gestueres perhaps like windows and resco keyboard has.
why is it that we dont have this yet than??
sorry for my bad english
Hey, there's even worse than our good old Touch HD !
I recently tried a Touch HD 2 a friend wanted to show me (actually the guy who sold me his Touch HD ! ) and now there's an even biggest problem with HTC Sense (or maybe just Windows mobile 6.5) and the capacitive multitouch screen !
The good old scroll bars on the sides of the windows have been replaced by a thin line popping a slider when you press on it...
But, now it's all but precise !
As your finger now touches an entire area at the same time, it becomes almost impossible to scroll precisely to a desired position in a long list or directory (just try to go where you want in the Windows directory, and you'll go quickly mad) !!!
Maybe it would be better with a stylus, but there's no stylus provided with the Touch HD 2...
Or maybe it would be better using the arrows keys... The ones that should be on the pad if it was there...
Now you know why I told you that story !
I have downloaded vspainter LE from here:
http://www.virtualspaghetti.com/index.php?index=3&language=en
But when i start it it immediately crashes back to programs. It should be compatible right? its in the compatible software list on the xda wiki. Can anyone explain to me how to get it working?
Greetings.
edit: just installed vsbenchmark, and that completely froze my device... :-( really hope they fix those programs soon.
In order to use VSPainter, you have to install the WVGA Fix, and then switch your screen to 640*480, cause VSPainter doesn't work with a 800*480 resolution.
damnit! it would be soooo awesome in 800x480
I completely agree. It's a shame to see all these programs for WinMo which seem to have the resolution "hardcoded" in them, where every applications on a regular computer can adapt to any resolution you're using.
Zaza le Nounours said:
I completely agree. It's a shame to see all these programs for WinMo which seem to have the resolution "hardcoded" in them, where every applications on a regular computer can adapt to any resolution you're using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you, you would think adaptive resolution wouldnt be that hard to create, even if its only getting bigger and bigger.
anyway, can someone advise me another drawing app, wich does work at 800 x480?
Snuurtje said:
you, you would think adaptive resolution wouldnt be that hard to create, even if its only getting bigger and bigger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must confess I don't know anything about programming. But even if the resolution of a program is not adaptive, the programs could been at least coded for the different resolutions used on telephones, as there isn't a lot of them : SQVGA, QVGA, SVGA, VGA, WVGA... and that's about it.
i know about programming (not professional) and imo its not that hard to program adaptive windows, especially because there is almost always an area that isnt fix (like a toolbar or something), which is the only thing that has to adapt.
anyways.. its a shame many programs dont work, especially vspainter which looks pretty good. there is lots of programming involved and i bet much more complex than an adaptive window
I guess they are just currently working on new versions (also for their other apps) to match the wvga resolution which is gaining momentum with the HD and the X1.
I use VirtualNotepad2 and they released a bug fix for WVGA but this leaves a lot to be desired since it just stretches the current graphics to WVGA mode making them a little bit blurry. I am really looking forward to their normal WVGA versions.
allright good to hear they are working on it. But i still need a little schetch app, if it were only to paint black lines and save it to .jpg Anyone able to recommend one that works?
Yaaaay, i found a great painting app! It's called pocket artist, it does a LOT i want a painting and photo editing to do. The only thing i havent managed to find is a layers function like in photoshop. Furthermore it does have a lot of similar functions photoshop does. Im in the process of uploading a youtube video i just shot.
here is the link its still converting though, should be up shortly:
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=vmfNqOHJxPU
this isn't so good, VSpainter is more powerful
To me Vspainter is worthless without it working fullscreen. By the way i have discovered layers in this app. You can do a lot with it what can be done with photoshop aswell. Precise selection, layers. gradient, text, diverse filters, cropping, resizing rotating.
Just curious..What is everyone's programming language of choice when developing apps for WinMo?
Ive been working (lightly) on a VB program, which is ok, but i feel it isnt as efficient as others might be, and i know efficiency and size is a big issue on mobile devices (obviously)
Depends:
A simple program or one that can be done just using the stuff in the standard system DLLs then I will go for the pain of coding it in WIN32 C++. The resulting application runs like the wind, and can be distributed as a single executable file, no CAB, no installation projects, etc etc.
If I need any web or fancy data functionality, then it is .NET, because it is not worth the hassle of getting all this to work from levels lower down.
Having had lots of previous coding experience in C/C++ then C# is the natural choice, but as far as .NET is concerned, the actual language you code in is irrelevant. It compiles down to IL anyway and the CPU 'JIT' compiles this into its own code before it runs. Hence the performance hit when the program starts and runs.
In .NET, in essence, all you are doing anyway, is creating .NET objects, setting their properties and calling their methods, in order to get them to do what your application requires. A simplistic view, I know, but that's is all there is to it!
The language that you use to do this doesn't really matter, it is just personal preference.
I guess i assumed one language had more efficantcy than another. Like im working with VB atm, and i know it simplifies alot of things to make it easier to use, not sure if it includes all that extra code in the final build or not tho.
I would like to get more pratice with C++ and i have yet to use C# so dono whats different about that.
I would like to eventually start making programs that utilize the .net code and get my programs talking though data on the phone, but im not that advanced yet.
currently im still trying to wrap my head about making a program with a local database. The program im working on currently doesn't store any data, but i would like to to. I would also like (if i get ambitious) to have that program possibly talk to a PC (parent) program and sync with it. But that i think is a ways off.
Also, do the Mobile SDK's look different? The program im working on i started in the 5 SDK, but (obviously) doesnt have Finger friendly IU tools. I haven't looked at the 6/6.5 SDK yet (as id have to start over again i think). Does it have more finger friendly options?
In .NET CF, the finger-friendlinnes and kinetic scrolling and this all isn't available for all controls. Most of them (the classic ones) are, but if you try using scrolling for whole form, it won't work, only scrollbar will. (Probably with some playing with physicsengine and marshalling you might be able to get it working here, too).
In C++, there are numerous examples of this gestures etc directly in SDK, also many other stuff is there.
See, the main difference here is that .NET is fully equipped with stuff to get everything done fast, easy way.
In C++, you must first make this way yourself .
i am using the .net 3.5 framework tho.. Unless you mean C++ vs C#. I thought .net was an expansion on a current language, and not a language on it self (meaning i cant choose to program in .net, its an option to VB, C++ or C#)
I did toy with it, and it appears as tho your right, the forums are the same. IE drop down/combo boxes are not finger friendly. Guess id have to turn it to a button and another form with large radio button options.
C# vs C++ main difference is that C++ is compiled to native code right on first time, which makes it very fast. C# is compiled to MSIL, which is NOT native code yet. When you run c# app, the code is being Just-In-Time (JIT) compiled to native code, which makes it "longer" to load and "slower" to run (usually that makes about 20% of speeddown on classic PCs with very optimalized C++ same code - it probably already is lower, this is a bit older result of testing).
C# has those nice features that it can't get out of its memory etc, the JIT is almost unhackable, so you can't write viruses in it etc.
As far as the SDKs are concerned, there are slight differences from one version to the next but they can be quite difficult to spot.
They can become issues, when code written to run on one platform is run on one several generations away. I have a program that was written in C++ WM2003. Works under all versions of WM until 6.5.3, when the About Dialog box fails to close if the (X) button is pressed. Turns out another value has to be added to the dialogbox flags field to get it to behave properly.
This has been a feature of SDK's from WM 5.0 onwards, but the WM2003 SDK is unaware of it. You have to add it manually to the shell code created by the SDK,
Progress I suppose. The full article is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=635063
Treo 700xw Verizon Spanish language
Hello fellow .... I'm new to this forum
I have a Treo 700wx and I live in Mexico ...
My Treo is Verizon's company and is currently with the version 1.22 ...
My problem is that it is in English and I need to change the language in Spanish ...
Thank you for your support both the need
Greetings
stephj said:
As far as the SDKs are concerned, there are slight differences from one version to the next but they can be quite difficult to spot.
They can become issues, when code written to run on one platform is run on one several generations away. I have a program that was written in C++ WM2003. Works under all versions of WM until 6.5.3, when the About Dialog box fails to close if the (X) button is pressed. Turns out another value has to be added to the dialogbox flags field to get it to behave properly.
This has been a feature of SDK's from WM 5.0 onwards, but the WM2003 SDK is unaware of it. You have to add it manually to the shell code created by the SDK,
Progress I suppose. The full article is here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=635063
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed something else odd. When i run the app on my pone, the resolution is off. Now everything looks ok, i just mean that when i run it on my phone, theirs alot of "white dead space" at the bottom. I can only guess this is due to the SDK's catered to phones with smaller screen resolutions (ie Touch Pro) with buttons.. Is their a way for me to switch the resolution to ultilize the full Touch Pro 2 screen size (480x320 i think)?
Funny you should mention that. I replied to a similar post a short while ago. I'm not going to type it all in again, it's here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=637417
I was thinking while I had a long drive today about the "demo" of WP7 on an HD2 that ended up being done by remote desktop view of the emulator.
Given that the emulator roms have been hacked and the kernel there is based on CE -- how hard would it be to make an emulator rom that directly links to a program running on a TP2/HD2/etc to display the emulator image as well as allow touch screen input, g-sensor data, etc, to go from the device to the emulator.
With a sufficiently fast connection -- eg, USB -- this could probably be done with a low enough lag time so that you could fairly realistically experience the wp7 interface on an actual device (with multi-touch in the HD2 case, too).
Seems this would be a much nicer way to develop wp7 apps at the moment...
--randy
Amazing work !
Hi there,
since i'm searching for a fast and customisable ui since months (90% of them use sense what makes them kind of slow). So I decided to start such a Project on my own.
My main targets are:
- Speed (!!!)
- User-friendly design
- Customizable Widget support
- High built in application support (native support of different music players, browsers and more)
I am going to use .NET Framework 3.5 and delop it using the WM home plugin system.
Since this UI is going to be freeware i'm going to try out this graphics libary (WMGL):
http://www.mobilityflow.com/products/wmgl/
The following shows the current progress and prioritys for planned features.
Current information:
- 2010/10/08 -
I will start development this weekend, for the beginning this will be a solo project. After development of the base system I would be glad about some help, but at that time there will already be progress that shows work on this project really makes sense
- 2010/10/10 -
Spent almost the whole weekend with coding and it was worth it! For now there are already 3 Desktops (configurable via XML) with different wallpaper modes (raw, fit, panorama). In panorama mode the image will be scaled (keeping proportions) over all 3 desktops. Basic widget engine is almost done, already got a first button widget that displays a free scalable graphical button (you can define a border width that will not be completely scaled). Also there is a label element to output text on a widget (the button label).
Here a few seconds of demonstration with 3 different scaled and positioned button widgets and a 1024x768 default windows desktop in panorama mode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZ2zCN2BNno
And it will be independent to the device's resolution, like seen here it already works with other today plugins together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22f3GClKC94
- 2010/10/11 -
Finished and optimized a lot of things today, most important changes are lots of font settings (color, bold, underline, italic, size, h-align, v-align), basic mouse events (down, up, click) and a few actions for those events (show/hide image, open url/file, open ui-dialog). Here a short video of the current version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk1Mgmj4HAg
- 2010/10/20 -
Debugged and cleaned the whole code, couldn't find any problems with the current features anymore. Also improved the performance a bit. Added icon's as source for widget images for application shortcuts (icon not scalable! size depends on the device, the wm5 emulator uses 32x32 modern phones usally 64x64). Added a small pager that displays the active desktop. Replaced the button graphics by high-res one's (I know they're not that beautyful ). Here's a video snapshot of that version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4KQ5s-NxtQ
- 2010/10/24 -
Done some pretty effective performance optimizations and increased the desktop scroll speed some. Replaced the button graphics again but I'm still not that happy with it. Added the most common status widgets (calls, texts/sms, mails) including the matching shortcut. Added a first small digital clock widget (160x80) somehow the clock was not correct when using the emulator, when using my own phone it works perfectly. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Ur4PrBsSA (reuploaded video, working now)
- 2010/11/03 -
Replaced the graphics again, this one will be the base for the first (stock) skin. The battery icon will be replaced by a black one later. Further added 3 status widgets showing the battery state, signal strength and memory usage. To give a better view (without problems caused by the emulator) I made a video of it running on my HTC Touch Diamond 2 (Topaz). Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIdAYtKnPA
Implemented features:
Desktops
3 Desktops (configured using xml) with independed wallpapers. (Still some todo's)
Widgets
Alert widgets (Calls, Texts, Mails)
Status widgets (Battery, Radio, Memory)
Digital clock widget (One small and one large)
Graphic button widget with text label and/or icon. (URLs, files, applications and a few system functions)
Planned features:
Desktops
(HIGH) 3 freely editable desktops with unlimited widget count / variation.
Widgets
(HIGH) Alert widgets (Calls, Texts, Mails, News!)
(HIGH) Contact widget (different layouts, supporting displaying multiple contacts and filtering)
(MID) Mail- and text-widget (incl. browsing and marking them read)
(MID) News widget (RSS)
(MID) Music widget (with multiple player support)
(LOW) Social widgets (Facebook, twitter, ....)
Tools
(HIGH) Tool for layout backups
(LOW) Update checker
PS: I know there are already many UI's out of there and coding a new one won't make sense for some of you, but imho there is still no really good one out there (at least not for a reasonable price). The most close one is MaxSense, but that mod still drains tonns of memory for sense and is also a bit buggy and limited. (e.g. there is no way to add the same widget twice)
Since i'm not expecting a fast port of WM7 to older devices this is going to be optimized for WM6. Anyway all WM5+ devices should be capable of running this UI.
Best regards
Forsaken
Developer Notes
In this section i will write down things that experienced users (and developers) might want to know.
XML structure definitions
desktop.xml
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<config>
<desktop>
<wallpaper file="relative\path.jpg" mode="raw|fit|panorama" />
<widgets>
<!-- If posx, posy, width or height are set to 0 these values
are taken from the widget.xml if available -->
<widget file="widgets\widget.xml" posx="0" posy="0" width="0" height="80" />
</widgets>
</desktop>
<desktop>
<wallpaper file="relative\path.jpg" mode="raw|fit|panorama" />
</desktop>
<desktop>
<wallpaper file="relative\path.jpg" mode="raw|fit|panorama" />
</desktop>
</config>
widgets\widget.xml
Code:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<widget width="80" height="20">
<images>
<!-- Images are currently not positionable, if another mode than raw is
set the image will be scaled to fit the widget size.
The border attribute is optional and will only be used for fit_border -->
<image file="relative\path.png" mode="raw|fit|fit_border" border="8" />
</images>
<labels>
<!-- Labels are currently not positionable, too. ;)
The text is just centered into the widget. -->
<label text="About" />
</labels>
<events>
<!-- Coming soon ... -->
</events>
</widget>
+1 for sqvga!
This sounds great!
Looking forward to see your work
I wouldn't say they are slow because they "use" Sense (though I personally hate this tendency to write UIs emulating Sense... not everyone has an HTC phone!) they are slow because they are .NET/C# and unoptimized. If you ask me C# isn't fit for anything that needs to be fast or run permanently... Nothing beats native code in terms of performance. If you want optimization you'll have to go with C/C++... Good code eliminates the need for exaggerated phone specs.
As for renders RawFramebuffer seems to be the best generic bet (GDI is slow) it's not optimal there's no consensual best... Intel Xscale is the best for phones with good old CPUs (not HTC) and OpenGL ES is the best in most new phones.
Homescreen++ is C/C++ but renders in GDI... AFAIK it's the only free today screen plugin in native code (making it one of the lightest) while still being very flexible (though lacking some of the recent features in this sort of UI... which Mortscript can somewhat compensate for). One of my all-time favorite free apps (together with Mortscript, TCPMP, GSFinder+ and WKTask).
Just my 2 cents anyway...
Good luck.
..so this topic is about another manila/spb bs?
shame.
for conscoius users i can recommend: hs++ + mortscript.
rest - go and buy iphone/android.
I am going to use .NET Framework 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude, wake up. you must be fresh or kidding for bump.
regards,
nothin.
pupakota said:
..so this topic is about another manila/spb bs?
shame.
for conscoius users i can recommend: hs++ + mortscript.
rest - go and buy iphone/android.
forsaken said:
I am going to use .NET Framework 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dude, wake up. you must be fresh or kidding for bump.
regards,
nothin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right about .NET 2.0, i will definitly need 3.5. And i won't use only .NET libarys, of course i will try to say native
About iPhone...
About Andoid, i dont have money for a new phone yet And it's about time for a free powerful ui
Only the behavior of the desktops is like andoid, i will definitly not just copy another system. Especially the widgets will be a lot different than those i saw so far.
Anyway coding is my hobby and i'm really motivated for this project. It's fun so far and I'm already making some progress. I got already 3 smoothly slideable desktops with a hard-coded wallpaper, even there is nothing on it yet
I also decided to support any possible resolution, maybe i will even get it working with other (smaller) today plugins together.
Since 2AM here i'll take a rest for now
Wish me luck for tomorrow, I will start to implement a XML-Parser for the desktop-configs and widgets.
Best regards
Forsaken
Good luck, then
And sorry for tone of my previous post.
Have you thought about your project license? If you decide to go open-source you could find TodayLife a big help for ideas/examples/code...
frmariam said:
Have you thought about your project license? If you decide to go open-source you could find TodayLife a big help for ideas/examples/code...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm it will definitly be freeware, personally I would like to go open-source but first I will have to check out the licenses of the two libarys I am going to use.
WMGL, a very fast graphics libary: http://www.mobilityflow.com/products/wmgl/license
Free to use with a linked hint that the app uses it. (For freeware)
A small native C++ XML Libary unter CPOL: http://www.codeproject.com/info/cpol10.aspx
I would be glad about an advise, regarding licensing I really don't have a clue yet
PS: Some first videos of my current status above The progress already exceed my expectations for those 2 days of work ^^
I'm wondering how you want to use .NET 4+, when for WinMo is available only .NET CF 3.5 (and something called 3.7?).
For this stuff, I'd really drop any .NET part and do it purely in native code. On the other hand, .NETCF isn't slow actually. What is slow, even in native code, is the GDI+. You MUST use OpenGLES, otherwise you'll fail pretty hard. TouchXPerience is all built in .NETCF using OpenGLES and it runs quite fast.
You can take a look at TigreSDK, but I found out that with few objects on screen, it runs slower (2D text object). I had working physics engine for that though. That's where I ended because of the speed of rendering. Next time I will go for native even myself.
OndraSter said:
I'm wondering how you want to use .NET 4+, when for WinMo is available only .NET CF 3.5 (and something called 3.7?).
For this stuff, I'd really drop any .NET part and do it purely in native code. On the other hand, .NETCF isn't slow actually. What is slow, even in native code, is the GDI+. You MUST use OpenGLES, otherwise you'll fail pretty hard. TouchXPerience is all built in .NETCF using OpenGLES and it runs quite fast.
You can take a look at TigreSDK, but I found out that with few objects on screen, it runs slower (2D text object). I had working physics engine for that though. That's where I ended because of the speed of rendering. Next time I will go for native even myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you're right it's going to be 3.5 ^^ I started to mix up the .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework. The project is set to the 3.5 version. I just corrected it in the main thread, too. Thx for the hint
good Luck!
Forsaken,
Good luck on this! I don't code, so feel like a leach sometimes. BUT, I am willing to sacrifice (dont tell the wife) my phone for testing, and have helped a few guys over here and currently am doing some testing as well with thier themes and UI's.
I am too old of a dog to learn a new trick (my last one was called COBOL!), but at least I can offer testing information.
With that said, if you ever need a tester for another phone, I am running an HTC Imagio with Stock Verizon ROM, running WM6.5 and Sense 2.1 on a WVGA screen.
Good luck, and looking forward to what you can come up with!
JerryA said:
Forsaken,
Good luck on this! I don't code, so feel like a leach sometimes. BUT, I am willing to sacrifice (dont tell the wife) my phone for testing, and have helped a few guys over here and currently am doing some testing as well with thier themes and UI's.
I am too old of a dog to learn a new trick (my last one was called COBOL!), but at least I can offer testing information.
With that said, if you ever need a tester for another phone, I am running an HTC Imagio with Stock Verizon ROM, running WM6.5 and Sense 2.1 on a WVGA screen.
Good luck, and looking forward to what you can come up with!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your kind offer, I will come back to that for sure
But for now testing won't make much sense, it's just too early.
-- Update:
I just finally finished another chapter (extracting the icon of other applications for shortcuts) and spent much time with cleaning and commenting the code.
Also added a more detailed update to the first post, for lazy one's here a video of the current state: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4KQ5s-NxtQ
Like the updates. Like I said, its just cool that you guys can do this stuff!
Thanks for keeping me in mind, drop me a PM whenever your ready. If I cange phones or anything, I will be sure to let you know!
Here I go again, did some bugfixes causing a high system load and made some new graphics again . Added 3 status widgets showing the battery level, signal strength and memory usage.
For more details see the first post, here the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIdAYtKnPA
At the current rate I will release the first beta version in a few weeks. Until that I will have to figure out a problem that occurs after unloading / loading the interface a lot (desktop process crashes, regular restart needed to get it working again). While testing the normal usage this didn't happen so far. Further i will implement the remapping of application buttons before releasing a beta version.
For now those shortcuts are set up using the xml configuration file.
Hi, really appreciate your efforts, and I encourage you.
What I can tell as a user of TG01 and Acer S200 phones : WVGA phones with 256mo of ram doesn't run well because of lack of memory.
Everybody knows that WM built-in startmenu is very very RAM hungry, on WVGA devices, it can easily hit the 20-35mb of ram usage due to icons caching and other things... thats incredible!!!!
So in my mind, the must have of your UI is a complete WinMo UI replacement, that completely overhads startmenu and kills his memory usage, this would make your UI the best one.
looking good!
Forsaken said:
Here I go again, did some bugfixes causing a high system load and made some new graphics again . Added 3 status widgets showing the battery level, signal strength and memory usage.
For more details see the first post, here the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cIdAYtKnPA
At the current rate I will release the first beta version in a few weeks. Until that I will have to figure out a problem that occurs after unloading / loading the interface a lot (desktop process crashes, regular restart needed to get it working again). While testing the normal usage this didn't happen so far. Further i will implement the remapping of application buttons before releasing a beta version.
For now those shortcuts are set up using the xml configuration file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking good! Like the speed and smooth transitions. Again, keep up the good work!
May be too flippin early for this, and again, I can't code. But here is a sugestion regarding the battery and signal meters. What about making certain widgets or icons 'lockable' so that whenever you switch screens, they remain (like the signal meters or clocks?).
Like the advances so far, and really like that background image. Great to see how far you have come along!
any update for this great UI? is there posible to get rid the winmo bottombar later?