Notices

There are two elements in this idea.



The first one is a plugin, like the Skype plugin, and the Google Voice callback plugin. If you ask to call a number using this plugin, instead of sending data thru the network tubes, it will read the number being called "out loud" in the form of DTMF tones. This would let you easilly call a contact using any landline phones just by placing the N900 against it's mic and hitting "call via DTMF" (or whatever it end up being called). And using the dialpad either thru the regular phone app (picking the DTMF account) and hitting call, or by pulling up the dialpad screen during an already initiated "DTMF call" would let you dial numbers not stored in the contacts.



The second part is an Input Method thingy, which when you pull up its "virtual keyboard" it will monitor the microfone (and optionally the waveout and other stuff) for DTMF tones and convert them into keypresses of the corresponding digits (and letters and symbols). If possible also have the virtual keyboard have a regular touchscreen mode, with the 12 regular keys plus the fourth (hidden) row, A,B,C and D, with an option to simultaneouslly output the tones pressed thru the speakers for feedback (and i guess it would also be usefull for dialing)

yea dude thats a good idea ive been wanting something that plays tones out the speakers for ages. like on them old schoow watches

Generating DTMF should be pretty trivial in python, of course hacking additional button to the closed phone UI is not...

But making a separate DTMF dialer that reads the phonebook and outputs DTMF for a selected contact would be a great real-world exercise for learning Python + Qt, so: "just do it".

(I have way too many unfinished projects already so don't bother asking me).

Isn't the API for making plugins for "accounts" open? I don't think hacking the phone app would be necessary, if you can tell it to talk directly with the plugin, just make it send the audio or data to localhost and have a server running to react to it.

Yes, you're right in that you can't edit the UI's code directly, but you can still make a plugin that's loaded by it: http://blog.barisione.org/2010-05/pl...-address-book/

In addition, the tone generator used by the phone itself when making a call appears to be open source for MeeGo