Registration now open for the first MeeGo Conference

Registration for the MeeGo Conference taking place this November in Dublin has opened. Those interested in registering will need to have a meego.com account and fill in the information in the conference registration form. If you would like to request sponsorship of travel and accomodation, check the "Travel assistance" box when registering.

talk.maemo.org gets formal rules/code of conduct

After being overrun with on-topic, but spamming, newbies; trolls and personal attacks; the sub-community of maemo.org frequenting talk.maemo.org has enacted a set of rules, which all members are expected to abide by, lest they suffer "infraction points". "The establishment of these rules has been given much consideration by the talk.maemo.org staff, the Maemo Community Council, and feedback from long-time members, and is designed to foster and promote a healthy, helpful, and professional atmosphere in all of our forums. Anyone posting in the forums should be treated with respect and in a manner which will create an enjoyable experience for all." At certain infraction point thresholds, temporary and - ultimately - permanent account suspension occurs.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • Registration now open for the first MeeGo Conference
   • talk.maemo.org gets formal rules/code of conduct
2. Applications
   • Game Gripper review for better experience playing classic games
   • KISStester lists on device installed applications which are in extras testing queue
   • Disappearing Contacts plugins
   • ...and 4 more
3. Development
   • Building Qt debs "the easy way"
   • What's the status of the Maemo licensing change request queue?
4. Community
   • Qt Ambassador Program launches
   • Usefulness of Maemo Community Council questioned, and definitively answered
5. Devices
   • MeeGo on non-SSSE3 x86 Hardware
   • Small update on status of MeeGo-Harmattan (and its N900 "Hacker Edition")
6. Announcements
   • QPlaylist - music playlist editor
   • Wifi Assistant helps getting online with connections which require browser interactions
   • Mobile Firefox roadmap, including next version

Maemo Community Council ask for Python apps in Ovi

The Maemo Community Council, of which your editors - Andrew Flegg and Ryan Abel - are two, has posted an open letter asking for Nokia's stance towards open source libraries and runtimes, and Python in particular, to be reconsidered in their Ovi Store. Ovi only accepts binary applications, while a very large number of apps for Maemo are written in Python: "It will come as a surprise for many community members and users that Python is still not an officially supported language/runtime on the Maemo nor MeeGo platforms, despite the huge number of Python applications currently in Extras, and even though they base on the work of Nokia's own PyMaemo team, plus two Qt bindings and a GTK+/Hildon one. To put things in perspective, about a third of ALL stable Maemo applications are written in Python, both overall and those using Qt." Nokia cannot afford, when trying to garner developer mindshare, to be shutting the door on anything but the One True Way of C++/Qt. Nokia may be the leading supplier of smartphones in the world (a claim which, many argue, depends on your definition of "smartphone"), but they - quite simply - are not the first choice for developers. Nor, these days, even on the radar of the tech enthusiast or hobbyist developers. Doors need to be opened to these users, not shut in their faces.

MeeGo Conference: propose your sessions now

The first (of hopefully many) MeeGo conference is being held in Dublin, 15th-17th November; and the ability to propose full-blown sessions is now open: "Do you want to speak at the first MeeGo Conference? Now is your chance! The call for session proposals has started, and anyone who wants to speak at the conference must submit a proposal. Proposals from community members, Intel, Nokia, the Linux Foundation and others will all be given equal consideration." Proposals must be submitted by 23rd August, however a further round for birds-of-a-feather (BoF) and lightning sessions will open after.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • Maemo Community Council ask for Python apps in Ovi
   • MeeGo Conference: propose your sessions now
2. Applications
   • Display a Conboy note in a widget
3. Development
   • Introduction to Qt Web Runtime on Maemo 5
   • Qt Messaging Framework (QMF) is going into MeeGo
   • Ginge is a GP2X compatibility layer for ARM Linux devices
   • KISStester lists apps you have installed which still need voting
4. Community
   • MeeGo Greeters launched for fora
   • Apps languishing in Testing despite being promotable
   • Sponsoring MeeGo conference attendance
   • Conclusion on MeeGo Community OBS being able to target existing Nokia devices: not clear cut
5. Devices
   • Game Gripper fits to N900 keyboard to give console controls
   • Update on USB host mode progress
   • Nokia's UI for MeeGo possibly revealed
   • ...and 3 more
6. Announcements
   • New Qt-based file manager in development
   • Gnumeric port for spreadsheets on the move

Where are those mobile Qt apps? How to move forward

Attila Csipa, a member of the current Maemo Community Council, concludes his series of blog posts looking at Qt by musing on the future, and what steps should be taken now to leverage Nokia's worldwide platform and get a critical mass of developers (and so applications, and so users, and so developers) on to their strategic platform: "As seen from the infamous PR1.2 delay, a coupled-with-the-firmware release cycle is detrimental to the platform. If multiple devices are on the market, it would mean instant-fragmentation as developers would have to code for the Qt released with the last firmware. This is eating Android alive, too, as various handsets have different upgrade cycles. A separate distribution mechanism HAS to be employed." An interesting article and one which many may dismiss, and others - more worryingly - will think they're already following.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • Where are those mobile Qt apps? How to move forward
2. Applications
   • Tour of App Search Widget for quick app launching
   • Using Monorail and Maemo's open nature to share via IM networks
   • Update for Advanced Geocaching Tool brings bug fixes
   • ...and 3 more
3. Development
   • Mailing list for following maemo.org Package interface comments
4. Community
   • Voting closes as Maemo coding competition wraps up
5. Devices
   • N900s still losing their USB ports
6. Maemo in the Wild
   • Angry Birds voted "Best Game in Ovi Store"
7. Announcements
   • Star Trek-inspired "Okuda" theme now in Extras Testing
   • Documents To Go Premium now available for Maemo 5

SSL certificate for bugs.maemo.org expired; over a week and still not fixed

bugs.maemo.org hosts the Bugzilla issue tracking system for Maemo, maemo.org and various Extras products. For security, communication is over HTTPS - so that transfered data (usernames, passwords, etc.) is protected from sniffing and replay attacks. On 17th July its SSL certificate -- the digital signature which lets your browser know it's talking to your bank, or your bug system -- expired. Typically, renewal would happen before the certificate expired so that users wouldn't see dire warnings from their browsers, unfortunately, that hasn't happened here. In bug #10951, Andre Klapper said, "There's nothing that the *maemo.org team* currently can do here. Nokia is aware of this problem since Monday, 19th. They are working on it and I ping from time to time as fixing should not take that long but obviously does (don't ask me why)." Users can bypass the security warnings from their browsers, but encouraging them to do so reduces the overall security of the web, and the users of maemo.org. If people think that invalid certificates are "OK" to ignore, they'll do so when their bank's website has been compromised. If Nokia are the hold up here (because, say, the certificates for maemo.org are purchased through a central department), they are causing excessive risk to their users and putting a barrier between developers and their users at a time when Maemo still needs active developers. One is left wondering, though, that since this has happened before when certificates expire why the maemo.org team didn't start the process with a suitable window before the certificate expired.

Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 released

Nokia's Qt SDK - previously released as a cross-platform, multi-device integrated development environment - has now been properly released at v1.0: "The Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 is available starting today, and it offers a true cross-platform development environment allowing developers to create applications for both Symbian and Maemo devices. Installation is easy, as it only requires one installation package that downloads all of the Qt and Symbian/Maemo components that developers need using the same Qt Creator 2.0 as standard Qt SDKs for use on Windows, Linux and Mac (beta). The Nokia Qt SDK 1.0 includes the Qt 4.6 libraries plus additional APIs for mobile development. With a fast, new simulator along with on-device debugging and the ability to compile to both .sis (Symbian) or .deb (Maemo) packages, it provides developers with a great opportunity to start creating amazing apps right away." This release, combined with the acceptance of Qt applications into Ovi, marks the point Nokia have been aiming at since buying Trolltech. Unfortunately, that's been a very long time; a time notable for confusion and conflicting messages (especially for Maemo developers).

MeeGo 1.0 update for netbooks arrives

A new update for the MeeGo Netbook UX has been released that brings with it several bug fixes and improvements. "Updated to the 2.6.33.5 kernel, faster usb storage finding time down from 5 seconds to 1, improved 3D performance, many enhancements in the web browser, resolution for several email client issues, enhanced netbook window manager, greatly enhanced visuals, full support for GNOME proxy configuration in the media player, more control over DNS settings." The update can be installed over-the-air on existing installs, images of the update are available from meego.com for new users.

Texrat at Akademy

Randall Arnold, ex-Nokian and current Maemo Community Council member, attended KDE's "Akademy" conference in Finland this week. In a series of blog posts he describes his experiences and thoughts coming out of the key KDE (and so Qt and so MeeGo) conference this year. "The day began with Valtteri Halla promoting Meego and demonstrating how the project has already benefitted KDE, Akademy's coordinating organization, with upstream development for KOffice and other applications. From there came talks along the tracks of community and mobility, including mine on user engagement. Even Maemo was mentioned!" This is just the first of several posts by Randall, there're many more on his site.

An open letter to Anssi Vanjoki

Randall Arnold has posted an open letter to Anssi Vanjoki (EVP of Mobile Solutions at Nokia) outlining his thoughts on some of the missteps Nokia has been making over the past months and years. "I am taking your article as a promise. As a former employee, current stockholder and Nokia community supporter I have a vested interest in you keeping it. A big part of that will be following up with the defecting bloggers. I even suggest you invite some to Espoo for some valuable face-to-face time. Listening to the community will pay off more than any ad campaign." As always, Randy provides us with some interesting insight into the dynamics of the community and Nokia's wider market, hopefully (as Anssi claims in the comments), they really are listening.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • MeeGo 1.0 update for netbooks arrives
   • Texrat at Akademy
   • An open letter to Anssi Vanjoki
2. Applications
   • FrontView turns N900 into proper document scanner
   • Scrobbler for Maemo hits version 2.0
   • Play chess with your contacts
3. Development
   • Plugging the Maemo Cross-Reference
   • Why providing custom per-contact ringtones isn't as simple as it sounds
   • MeeGo Community OBS looking for beta testers
4. Community
   • Carsten Munk makes a plea for openness
5. Announcements
   • Custom ringtones for N900 contacts
   • Maezer: accelerometer-based labyrinth
   • Exult - Ultima VII engine - now in Testing
   • Timed Silencer switches between silent/general profiles at fixed times
   • Themable Maemo 5 analogue desktop clock

MeeGo Handset project: day one

Day One of the MeeGo Handset UX is finally upon us, bringing with it the UI and many of the applications that will likely form the basis of Nokia's Harmattan release later this year. "Today, the handset baseline source code is available to the development community. This code is being actively developed as MeeGo 1.1, which is scheduled for release in October. The team has been preparing MeeGo Gitorious with all the sources and infrastructure to perform the weekly builds for MeeGo 1.1 development. The MeeGo UI team has also been busy creating the handset reference user experience and preparing theMeeGo UI design principles and interaction guidelines. This milestone marks the completion of the merger of Moblin and Maemo as major architecture decisions and technical selections have been determined." The Handset UX image in its current form requires a large amount of effort to install on the N900 (hopefully this should improve in the near future), and much of the functionality you'd expect from Maemo is currently incomplete or simply not present (cellular, for instance). So this release is really only useful to platform- or very dedicated application-developers, and not useful day-to-day.

Hopes that this "Day One" release would finally bring everything out into the open (as stated by several important project members months prior to the release) and signal an end to the big reveal mentality that has so far been plaguing the MeeGo project seem to not have been fulfilled, as many parts of the Handset UX reference set have been held back until they're "ready". This unfortunately gives weight to the opinion that openness in MeeGo is really less about being Open than being open-when-it-doesn't-interfere-with-marketing-nor-make-things-too-inconvenient-for-management. Given the strong smell of developer preview which accompanies this release, "ready" is a very relative term and holding such projects back should not be necessary.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • MeeGo Handset project: day one
2. Applications
   • Shazam coming to the N900
   • Hermes gets support for adding phone numbers to contacts from LinkedIn
3. Development
   • Complete (with pictures) MeeGo Handset UX guidelines
   • Gtk+ on MeeGo: screenshots, issues and next steps
4. Community
   • Reggie takes on third MeeGo-related forum at AllAboutMeego
   • "Mobile Freidae" in Berlin, present or attend: 16th July
   • MeeGoPortal gives overview of the week
5. Devices
   • MeeGo Handset UX day 1 for N900 problems
   • Running MeeGo Handset UX on netbook
   • Running MeeGo Handset UX on an N900
6. Announcements
   • Intelligent music player in Ovi
   • Faster Application Manager in development
   • SleepAnalyser records movements in sleep
   • Vuvuzela app to annoy your friends
   • ShipRolling records & visualises rolling of boats

Nokia response to forced MyNokia subscription in PR1.2

The Maemo Community Council, an elected body of five representatives for the Maemo community, approached Nokia formally about a response to bug #10366 and the forced subscription of users to their "MyNokia" service - without the possibility of opting out - when upgrading to PR1.2. Nokia have engaged on the bug report, and Quim Gil is raising the issue of the missing opt-out within the Fremantle maintenance programme. However, the official reply is standard sterile Big Corp condescension and hubris: "The first use of the latest software for Nokia mobile computers include functionality preparing the device for the service use on behalf of the consumer. In this connection Nokia also provides the consumer with the possibility to receive support messages to assist the consumer get the most out of the purchased Nokia mobile computer. These messages include tips on the capabilities and features of the Nokia devices and available services and features. We believe that these support messages are for the benefit of the consumer and help those consumers who are not yet fully aware of the possibilities their devices offer to make the most out of their purchase." Graham Cobb, a former council member, has been involved in the community discussions around this and has produced a tool, "notmynokia", which can be installed prior to the upgrade to REALLY give the user the "possibility" to receive support messages. The package tricks the system into thinking the user has already accepted the terms, and so does not present a dialogue box of which the choices are, effectively, "yes; I'd love to subscribe to this useful service" and "yes; please subscribe me to this valuable service".

MeeGo Handset UX style guide unveiled early (and now hidden)

"Bananas and pears", that was the oddly chosen name for a wiki document on meego.com describing the "Handset UX" user interface guidelines. These groundrules for the MeeGo system, and third party applications, were uncovered by Reggie Suplido before the wiki page was deleted. However, things of interest on the Internet never stay hidden for long, so it's still available. From the introduction, "MeeGo is a direct touch UI, meaning that users manipulate objects, such as a thumbnail of an image, directly through touch interactions. Content is surfaced and navigation hierarchies should be shallow and accessed through simple navigation systems. In addition to direct touch, MeeGo is optimized for multi-tasking usage and provides a rich platform integrated Applications. The MeeGo interface is scalable for different screen sizes, resolutions, and aspect ratios and it supports both portrait and landscape orientations." In your editor’s opinion, the document seems to describe a nice mix of existing Maemo 5 features (top-left button, menus from the title) with new enrichments to improve the general flow. The principles about interaction speed and flow will be just that - principles, however hopefully redeveloping the stack from the ground up, and having complete control over Qt, will mean a much more fluid UI than has been achieved on the N900 to date.

The link below goes to the original Talk discussion thread, which now links to various mirrors, including Google Cache and Engadget.

Road to MeeGo 1.1

Quim Gil has pointed to the roadmap and timeline for release planning purposes of MeeGo 1.1, due in October. According to the document, marketing will receive the release the week commencing 14th October; with general availability (GA) the following week: 21st October.

Of course the realities of software development mean that plans are always subject to change, but it seems a weekly agile approach is being followed which fixes time and quality, but instead varies features.

In this edition (Download)...

1. Front Page
   • MeeGo Handset UX style guide unveiled early (and now hidden)
   • Road to MeeGo 1.1
2. Applications
   • Augmented reality on N900
3. Development
   • Nokia opening Ovi Store up to individuals rather than just VAT-registered companies?
   • MeeGo open requirements process
   • Hosting Maemo and MeeGo build systems together
   • MeeGo developer "buddy" system proposed
   • PyMaemo's guide to packaging Python applications without Scratchbox
4. Devices
   • Ultimate MeeGo Dictionary
   • PR1.2 hildon-desktop has random CPU eating bug when using menu sub-sections
   • N8x0 3D accelerator running OpenGL ES tests
5. Announcements
   • Ansel-A digital darkroom for N900
   • FastSMS: portrait, T9 SMS writing
   • rotatedaemon gives 360 degree rotation
   • ...and 4 more

Major, and avoidable, recent mistakes from Nokia

Randall Arnold, one of our Maemo Community Council representatives, has post a new blog article outlining his view on many of the missteps Nokia has made with Maemo recently. "The release of MeeGo 1.0 was accompanied by some resolution to Maemo, not all of it with positive consequences. The long-awaited PR1.2 update was officially released at around the same time, which was a welcome relief, but excitement over the improvements it brought were tempered by less-than-genius developments.There's an unfortunate legacy of dropped balls in the Maemo closet, usually involving operating system evolutions so rough that they evoked more feelings of abandonment than joy. I'm not going to rehash all of the legacy, but will instead focus on this year." Dealing with issues such as Harmattan branding, lack of communication at a corporate level and the privacy-busting "MyNokia" SMS (amongst others), Randall clearly lays out some of most eye-watering mistakes which could've been avoided.