Hi, i've been browsing here alot since i got my new n900 around 3 weeks ago. I love the lil thing, however, as its been already said enough before, portrait is missing.
its a huge risk using it while driving as it doesnt even have voice commands, also, you cant just take the phone out of your pocket and immedietly make a call nor input a phone number quickly.

So after some thought i think i've found a doable way to achive a certain lever of portrait usability.
Here i state that i am not a programmer, my knowladge is limited to some C and Essembler so i cant do it myself, basicaly what I suggest is:

1. Code a small app that will be able to turn widgets, contacts and icons 90 degrees to the left.

2. put all those in the same hildon home screen.

3. [OPTIONAL] a feature to lock the device to the certain hildon screen while holding the phone portrait.

4.[OPTIONAL] make a simple numpad widget so you could type number hands on from that screen.

THATS IT! lets think, what do you really need portrait? phone & contacts shortcuts? maybe some contacts? opera shortcut? weather, clock or numpad widget? i think thats will sum up all my portrait uses.

EDIT: Brainstorm link
I hope this is helpful to someone, if not, PLEASE DONT SHOOT ME! I'M NEW!!

First of all, to the creator of this thread, I think you meant to make the title of the thread " Regarding Portrait mode," REGARDID being misspelled...I don't know if you can rename threads, but it might be a good idea.

Edit: I just looked at one of the stickies for brainstorming, and I apologize if I am not doing this right, but I guess you should link the brainstorm you are refrencing here. Since Ironm8 didn't do it, I will link the brainstorm. Actually, it looks like some of my ideas are already there, so coolio!

Brainstorm link

I got my N900 like...3 days ago. I had used a N95 8GB for a VERY LONG time...it worked like a charm forever, and then one day the screen stopped working. I will still probably fix it and then hold onto it or sell it, but i figured why not get a new phone anyway? Did some research and found the N900.

I absolutely love this phone to death! Its really quite great; the wifi and web-browser actually works super well, and having a full qwerty keyboard will undoubtedly allow the symbols on the keys to last longer [on my N95 1, 3, and zero are totally rubbed out ] and the level of customization and great number of apps/support being developed are fantastic.

But the lack of portrait mode, ESPECIALLY on the main desktop, is really quite inconsiderate and very annoying. I agree with Ironm8, driving and landscape mode don't mix, and that at the very least, some consideration into making a viable and working option for portrait-mode for the desktop, at least should be explored.

Now, I, like Ironm8, am not a programmer. My knowledge in the area is limited to some web page making, and whatever I learned in high-school is long gone...but I think some bright and motivated people are on this site and I wholeheartedly believe that it is achievable.

Now I've seen some stuff regarding screen rotation from Google searches like...

http://www.nokian900applications.com...or-nokia-n900/ ( I have not seen what the end result of implementing this is...)

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXUAM8bnkc
(here screen rotation is achieved, but for the desktop there are no boundaries to tell the phone that the limit of the "screen" has been reached, nor (apparently) is there any set of reconfiguration rules for objects on the desktop to be reorganized.)

I'm not sure what method would be easiest or possible to use to achieve a working prototype, but here are my thoughts/points:

1a. Add a settings menu for the "desktop" and/or "desktop/"views" ( you can enable/disable them...why not add more functionality?) where you can switch between default configs. for portrait or landscape mode.

1b.Identifying the screen boundaries should not be difficult, just a resizing of the numbers or some such equivalent. In this way, you could set up two modes for your desktop configuration...one for standard landscape mode, all your objects in the various views the way you like them...and the same for portrait mode! At least this way everything is clearly and concretely defined...you would essentially have a max total # of 8 screens...4 or less for both. You can setup every object the way you like it, and if you change your mind down the way as to which DEFAULT setting you prefer, you can always just switch it.

1c.Now, having some sort of protocol or guide setup that would automatically calculate surface area available on any given screen, and then account for organization of objects and relative proximity of one object to another, which would then reorganize them in the best possible way might be a easier end-user solution, but that requires lots of work and I don't know if its possible area-math-wise or from a programing feasibility standpoint.

2a. Branching out and extending the idea of portrait mode from the desktop (the home-base for all launches) should be possible for shell-like things like the applications menu, which I have to assume uses some sort of grid setup, since all apps are evenly spaced. Again a set of rules for this area could be established governing borders and max # of objects for columns and rows.

2b.This should also be possible for viewing multiple open applications in the shell. There is clearly room for the top left app. grid button and a close or back button on the top right. Sizing of each app. window seems to be regulated based on number of open apps. at the time...sizing is automatic based on that always changing number, so you could make it 1 column xrows or 2 columns xrows, etc.

3a. I have noticed that in at least the standard internet browser, and the phone section, it is possible to view them in either portrait, or landscape mode. A simple vertical reorientation of the phone while browsing will switch it to portrait. Also, while in this portrait mode, extending the qwerty keyboard will reset screen orientation back to landscape, and reinserting after this will return you to portrait. Similarly, when you go to the phone section, it starts in portrait mode, but extending the keyboard will set it to landscape...and closing the keyboard back up puts it back into portrait. Here already there are default settings that are not customizable. Browser starts in landscape, phone in portrait, but neither can be set. It seems to me like in these instances, some sort of method is used to account for the viewing mode changes...could not this method help in creating a method to switch back and forth for the desktop?

Edit: Pulling out the keyboard should signal a switch to landscape mode during the time it is extended, and a return to portrait once it is closed (if it is not already in landscape mode.)

3b. I know that thinking about this for the shell is rather easy to imagine, and when you get into other apps and how they are shown it gets more difficult or impossible(?), but couldn't something be done, where for at least the basic apps that come with the phone, so that they have a portrait mode (that would be changed along with my imagined setting for the desktop accessible via the settings menu/app?) If that is too much work to tackle for any one person, or even a team, then fine, everything outside of basic phone shell operation could default to the already established landscape mode of operation.


But if something like this was made possible, and if you had this change done to your phone, every subsequent app that you might install would need to be accounted for in that if it doesn't have a mode of operation for portrait viewing, then it would default to landscape. Perhaps some sort of marker in each app that would account for this imaged app I am postulating? Lets call it N900 Portrait Mod. The independent developer community could then label their programs N900 Portrait Mod compatible or not. And for programs already created, updates could be released (if developers wanted to tackle making them compatible) to account for the setting.

Anyways, I suppose I wrote all this because I want to start up another dialogue on something that I guess lots of people have discussed. I've seen lots of threads on the topic. I just thought that at the very least, something like this could be possible to make, and that if it was, in its base form, it might be the springboard needed to launch a real attack at making the N900 100% portrait mode compatible.

Thanks for reading.

Sytheii

Just to suggest to the OP (ironm8) and others to make an illustration.

It's easy to think and say but much better to spend sometime illustrating your expression.

So if you are doing/will do, thank you, the quality doesn't matter (infact screw it) just make it good enough to show what you mean ... ie drive the message home.

My $0.02!

hey kangal....you seem to have posted more than once...should i start a new thread on here and then link it to the brainstorm i found over at brainstorms under development? it looks like a couple of people there have similar ideas...im kind of confused as to how to go about this politely/correctly. thanks.

id rather see the phone app be extended to include a simple homescreen, potrait conversations and potrait file manager, that we you could leave it phone mode so to speak and have the basics all there in one app, rather than try to reorganize the whole ui, which aint gonna happen, simularly my idea will never happen but we can dream eh

For the file manager just press CTRL+SHIFT+R and it will rotate just fine... conversations can rotate without a problem with the CTRL+SHIFT+R but you then need a portrait vk.. which you can download one from extras-devel (although it's still very early in development)

REGARDING the subject, phone app, so i've heard it is a closed component so maybe impossible to change, however turn some pictures that a simple thing to do.

about file manager and conversations, file manager is not something i feel i need in portrait, conversations will be nice, maybe just SMS.

yeah i know, but to have it all wrapped up in one app that you don have to leave potrait mode for would be what i want. like you said though, all these things are already available on thier own, except for a potrait homescreen, and all are closed source so chances of them being added in the phone app are slim,
even though hacking the closed source parts of the device is not accepteable here, weve been hacking symbian phones for years against nokias will, i would have thought that someone somewhere would have had a look at the closed bits and done something with them by now, i dont get it?

So are you saying that changing the uh..UI? is part of the "closed bits?" Does that mean that what I am asking for is impossible? I don't understand...In the brainstorm section it says that this sort of thing is under development...

OP please link to the brainstorm sytheii mentioned in your starting post, I will fix the rest then. And welcome!