MOBLIN ZONE

The new Moblin Project v2 UI provides a much richer and enjoyable experience for developers and end users because it is easier to use, more flexible and visually appealing.  Developers can get creative with it.  End users can get fast access to web-based information and services.  “The experience you get with Moblin is not just graphical,” said Peter Kronowitt, Software Strategist at Intel.  “You get the information you need in one or two mouse clicks.”

The Moblin Project v2 UI is based on Clutter, an open source software library designed for the development of fast rendering, visually rich and animated GUIs.  Clutter uses Open GL and Open GL ES (the embedded version) for rendering but hides the underlying complexity via an API which simplifies and speeds development. 

The new UI uses Clutter to create superior user experiences that are both aesthetically pleasing and efficient.  From an end user perspective that means the interface is extremely easy to understand and use. 

It’s no accident users can get access to information in “one or two mouse clicks.”  It’s all part of the design which required the rethinking of process flow.

The new UI is helping users get more out of their netbooks especially Internet surfing, social networking and media playback. 

“Because Moblin technology devices are Internet-centric, browser functionality has been integrated into the UI so users can aggregate instant messaging and social network statuses,” said Kronowitt.

At the present time, myzone a core UI element that provides a snapshot of netbook and social network activity, displays the most recent files, the most recent activities, the most recent files accessed and the most recent social network statuses which addresses mobile device users’ desires to stay current and “live in the moment”. 

A logical extension of the UI (which is open source) would be to allow customers to receive information feeds based on relevance rather than reverse chronology such that the most accessed files, the most played media files, the most relevant activities, or the statuses of only the closest buddies were displayed, based on a user’s behavior or their preference settings.  (Note: the Internet panel already supports favorite websites.)

Intel’s OpenedHand team spent five years developing and refining Clutter which is now the basis for the Moblin Project v2 UI.  The latest version combines unusually rich aesthetics with ease of use and is optimized to suit the high performance standards that differentiate the Moblin framework and the Atom chip to which Moblin technology is targeted. 

Specifically, the new UI is lightweight, power-intelligent and fast.  To maximize battery power the Moblin stack was optimized from the kernel to applications.  As a result, end users get rich experiences on mobile devices without sacrificing battery life.  And, because the UI takes advantage of Moblin v2’s Fast Boot feature, devices and applications are available in a timeframe more akin to phones or TVs which moves it closer to an “instant on” experience over the typical desktop or notebook computers which provide “boot-and-grab-a-cup-of-coffee-while-you’re-waiting” experiences. 

“The UI allows designers to apply elements from the physical world to items within the UI, “said Kronowitt.  “Effects like rain, wind, water and light can be applied and as a result [of the characterization] they behave more naturally than your average klunky graphical environment.”

The current version of the Moblin v2 UI is optimized for netbooks and nettops, and a new version that supports MIDs will be unveiled within the next year.  All three devices are Internet centric; however, the devices differ in form factors, resources, input mechanisms and more.  For example, MIDs are smaller and have less memory than netbooks or nettops, and MIDs use touch-screens or soft keyboards while nettops and netbooks use hardware keyboards.  The hardware designs affect the optimization of the UI and vice versa. 

Innovation is continuing at Intel and among third party Moblin developers alike.  The basic idea is to expand the Moblin platform and UI in ways that further reflect user lifestyles and work styles, and can be customized to suit individual preferences.

Because Moblin is Linux-based, thousands of Linux desktop applications will run on Moblin devices even though they haven’t been optimized for Moblin devices. 

“With Moblin you get access to a rich application environment that reflects the breadth and depth of the industry,” said Kronowitt.  “You can run Adobe Flash and Java runtimes unmodified on top of Moblin with the graphical UI.”

The explosion of Moblin devices is fertile ground for application developers who want to extend their applications to additional hardware types and developers who are developing next-generation applications specifically for mobile devices.

In the future, seamless integration among disparate devices will become more commonplace for the purposes of communication and new forms of user convenience.  Already, Bluetooth and WiFi integration are on the map, albeit unannounced, which will provide quick and easy connection to standardized devices.  The possibilities open up opportunities for software and device innovations that have the potential to shift customer expectations as they relate to adoption and use.

“When you add more storage, content and connectivity to a device you can do more things with it,” said Kronowitt.  “Some things will be game-changing.”

Already the stars are aligning for some interesting developments with out-of-the-box thinking underway at Intel, as well as within hardware manufacturer, OEMs/ODM and software development organizations.  Some OEMs/ODMs are also pairing up with service providers to offer new types of hardware and service bundles to end users.

If recent trade shows and Moblin-based device sales are any indication, the new Moblin v2 UI is a hit with developers and end users because it’s easy to use, aesthetically pleasing and designed to enable rich experiences, “your way.”

Moblin v2’s Three Main UI Elements

There are three core customer-facing UI elements which include myzone, Toolbar, and panel items.

Myzone displays recent activities, files, and websites as well as the latest social network updates from Twitter and Last.fm. 

The toolbar has three buttons that provide one-click access to the time and date, system information, and task item panels. 

Panel items include:

• Myzone – a snapshot of netbook and social network activity
• Status – allows instant status update postings to social networks
• People – contacts
• Internet – currently running, favorite and recently viewed websites
• Media – recently played and viewed media files
• Pasteboard – provides copy and paste functionality between applications and stores and manages multiple copied items from netbook activity
• Applications – fast access to all netbook applications
• Zones – manages, organizes or switches to currently running applications

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­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Lisa Morgan is an independent high tech management and marketing consultant who creates content and provides commentary to print and broadcast media.

Related Links

Moblin.org                                                                                                                        

Linux Foundation                                                                                                   

Intel Open Source Technology Center