Not a lot of news since PR1.2.

The cornerstone of this project is still a modified version of hildon-desktop package providing a few enhancements. Description of the enhancements is here: http://my.svgalib.org/repo/Modified_Hildon_Desktop.html

It can be installed by installing modified-hildon-desktop package from my repository. Or by installing the package http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb

If you install this package (or any of my enhanced packages with same version number as original Nokia packages, please note that apt-get upgrade overwrites the new packages with the original ones. Either use package pinning or don't use apt-get upgrade. HAM update feature seems to be safe.

Other enhanced versions of system packages:

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : adds a d-bus signal for opening and closing the status menu. This allows opening this menu from the keyboard. New: The status menu now takes keyboard focus, so menu items can be selected and the menu can be closed by the keyboard.

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : This allows using up to 9 desktop views. Not strictly related to keyboard, but it is a popular feature of modified-hildon-desktop.

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/...+0m5_armel.deb : This is the new and most experimental enhancement. This adds: Ability to close application menu with escape or backspace. Ability to select button in application menu by pressing corresponding number (no need to press FN). Ability to scroll hildon pannable areas with arrows/pageup/pagedown/home/end. This does not always work, due to focus issues that still need to be worked out, but very nice when it does work.

Older packages that work unchanged:

keyboard-shortcuts: using dbus-scripts and modified-hildon-desktop to provide global shortcut keys.

longpress: allows for selecting profiles (or offline mode) by long press of lock key.


I am still looking for help in mainly to forms:

1. Ideas how to make the keyboard more usable.
2. Implementation of such ideas.

The main cause I find for touching the screen right now is for selecting links in web pages. If someone can get LoL extension ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/8781/ ) or equivalent ( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/879/ ) to work in microb or fennec, it will be really great.


The packages and sources for PR1.3 are here:

http://my.svgalib.org/770/n900/pr13/