Re: [Gnumed-devel] Smartphones including Android OS

[Sebastian Hilbert]

Am Mittwoch 30 Dezember 2009 21:12:56 schrieb Jim Busser:

I would not base the choice on its suitability for GNUmed. None of those are 
suited to run GNUmed out of the box.

The screens are small. It is reasonable to determine what feature you want and 
develop a client for a set of devices.

The Nokia N900 might be more future proof then any of your choices. 

- The Iphone looks pretty but is technically not on par
http://www.strandconsult.dk/sw4031.asp

- The PalmPre is easily rooted but I am not sure how easy it is to develop 
applications for it.

- Android phones are overhyped as well. There is a big market but GNUmed on 
any Android phone is not a no brainer.

If you ask me (don't :-)) get the phone that suits your needs for daily use. 
we will see web tablets appear next year with larger touch screens.

You will most likely use your phone for tethering. Judging by recent reviews I 
would get a Nokia N900 as it seems it supports QT 4.6 and python out of the 
box which makes a nice development platform. QT is available on a few hardware 
platform and since QT has been acquired by Nokia from Trolltech is has a lot 
of potential.

My prediction is that Android will penetrate the market as it is pushed by 
Google and large phone providers. We will see it compete with the iPhone. 
Interesting times ahead.

> 
> Apparently the Palm Pre, while innovative, has some limitations

what are those limitations ?

> and this
>  leaves my smartphone choices (if I would replace my Treo) with an iPhone
>  or an Android phone. If there would be any way to run GNUmed on an iPhone
>  as might be possible with a fat binary as already exists, it would likely
>  require "jailbreaking" the iPhone and that has its own problems.
> 
> Questions re Android:
> 
> 1. Since it uses a Linux lernel, might GNUmed run on it as a fat Linux
>  binary (like what we have done with a Mac and a Windows binary)?
> 
> 2. The Motorola Droid (GSM: Milestone) phone as per
>       http://developer.motorola.com/products/droid/
> has a 480 by 854 pixel resolution (400 x 800) on a 3.7 inch screen and
>  pixel density of 240dpi.
> 
Forget about the default GNUmed gui on that screen.

> Attached is a screenshot of GNUmed after its Debian window (inside a
>  virtual machine) had been shrunk to about 480 by 854... note: my MacBook
>  pixel density is ~ 106-110 pixels per inch.
> 
> Does this help anyone to venture if  readability might be like?
> 
You want a specifically developed GUI to make use of the phone's features.