Application Launcher
From OpenAlchemy.org
We are much too familiar with the icon based application launching mechanism from the desktop idiom. Or, the hierarchical menu-driven categorization of application launching, again from the desktop idiom. It is our studied opinion that both these conventional application launching schemes are ill-suited for devices with a form factor of the Amida Simputer.
On a handheld device, in our opinion, a poster-based scheme seems appropriate. In the sense, at any time one is currently tuned in to a particular application's poster. By tuning in to another (frequency) application, one gets to know what it is and the option to launch it. This is our familiar radio station scenario.
An application's poster on the launcher occupies more than half the screen area and thus has the capability to convey a lot more than an icon or a menu item (remember, a picture conveys a thousand words). Additionally, a poster has the advantage of being language neutral if one chooses.
The Launcher, as the name suggests, is the launchpad for "registered" applications on the Amida. Each application has a "frequency" on which it is available and when the user tunes into the frequency, the application advertises its presence through a poster. Registered applications on the Amida have an entry in the local Simpware database and each application has a unique application ID.
The whole range of applications are grouped into categories. That is, every application belongs to a category such as, Productivity, Internet, Multimedia or Utilities. As is common practice, several applications are more commonly used than others and as such, we have a notion of frequently used applications (some people are more equal than others :-)). That is, keeping in view several user interface metrics, some of the most frequently used applications are just a click away instead of being nested within a category.
The Launcher is Chikki-aware. That is, applications can reside on a Chikki and operate/work off the Chikki without residing on the Amida Flash. When a Chikki with its own private Simpware database is attached to the Amida, the Launcher reads the private suite of applications onto the Amida and makes them available for the user to launch.
