New KDE project aims at tablets, mixed UIs
- 12 April, 2011 10:42
- Comments
KDE's Plasma Active: The Contour activity browser
New open source projects have been launched by KDE developers aimed at bringing a consistent user interface across a varied of touch screen interfaces like tablets and entertainment devices and take data integration to a new level.
The new Plasma Active and Contour projects were developed for a new user experience for tablets, smartphones and set top boxes.
According to its developers, the overall goal is to create a “data-centric user interface which is not concerned with applications but rather offers intelligently combined data through a context-sensitive recommendation manager”.
Plasma Active runs on a Linux desktop stack, including the kernel, Qt and KDE's Plasma framework.
The concept is not unlike MeeGo which is a collaboration between Nokia and Intel. However, since Nokia announced it will use Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform, its future role within the MeeGo project is uncertain. Intel will continue to develop MeeGo.
MeeGo will be an initial target platform for the Contour interface.
KDE developer Marco Martin wrote on his blog that Plasma Active isn’t a single project, but more an umbrella of many components, including Contour.
The aim of Contour is to integrate what a user it doing on the device, what “resources” like files and contacts are open, how they are relevant to running tasks and what applications might be relevant to a running task.
So far Plasma Active is described as under development, but a working prototype of Contour has already been demonstrated (see video).
“Mobile systems are still a white canvas where we still can experiment something new, and provided we have most of the technology for it, we'll be able to have this resource centric, activity based system in a pretty good shape in a really short time,” Martin wrote.
According to Martin, Contour is designed to be highly modular, so when a part of it is ready for production, the main Plasma tablet user interface will immediately adopt it.
Owner of German software development company basysKom, Eva Brucherseifer, said mobile devices now handle a huge amount of data but rely on the user to choose an application to reach some goal.
“They have to search for data and sort the information themselves. This creates a very static and application-centric user-experience. Contour goes one step beyond,” Brucherseifer wrote on her blog.
“Contour sets out to break with this tradition and to combine the available data with personal usage patterns and context information. The project aims to provide different entry points for different situations and contexts, called activities. In a work environment for example users have different preferences than they have on the train or at the opera.”
Contour began as a research project within basysKom.
A Plasma Active proof-of-concept ISO image is also available for download from: open-slx.com.
Follow Rodney Gedda on Twitter: @rodneygedda
Follow TechWorld Australia on Twitter: @Techworld_AU
Recommended
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email CIO
- Follow CIO on twitter
- Best Practices for ERP Implementation
- Guiding the Cloud Application Decision with the IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor
- Aberden Group - Application Performance in Complex and Hybrid Environments
- Reducing Total Cost of Ownership through Vertical Integration
- Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery Software
-
Australia suspected to have PRISM data: Ludlam
-
Australia Post’s mail business to lose $200 million this year
-
Australia Post’s mail business to lose $200 million this year
-
Microsoft's ambivalence about Office on the Web gives Apple shot with iWork on iCloud
-
3 Lessons Learned From a Failed Customer Feedback Test
-
McAfee Complete Endpoint Protection - Business
McAfee makes endpoint security painless for users and easy and efficient for IT. Built for strength, speed, and simplicity, McAfee Complete Endpoint Protection - Business suite helps growing organisations get Internet security right, from turnkey installation to rapid response. Find out more. -
Can You Provide Continuous Availability in you VMware Environment?
Expectations about IT availability have evolved. For leading edge in continuous availability, download now. -
Key Factors in Modernising Backup and Recovery
There is a definite need for better data protection solutions in today’s enterprise data centres. The question is whether to continue with software-only backup and recovery solutions, or to make the move to a purpose-built backup appliance with de-duplication capabilities. This paper discusses the trends that have made modernising backup and recovery an urgent priority. Click to download.
Get exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis. 
