> We have tried to design things to be able to address a relatively wide range > of > devices, but we are perfectly happy to accept constraints on the hardware we > run to avoid compromising other important things like usabilityand > consistence.
Understood. However, the temptation to design a device that is "all glass and no buttons" far exceeds the need for usability. :) One option would be to persistently display HOME/BACK/MENU on the TFT screen. Basically reserve a portion of the display, let's say, 20 x 320 pixels for these 3 virtual buttons. Am I the only person that has these kind of requirements or is this somethig that has been brought up before? Thank you, Andrei On Apr 2, 6:07 pm, Dianne Hackborn <hack...@android.com> wrote: > This really depends on whether you are talking about Android as a generic > system, or Android and the current applications that run on it. If the > latter: > > - Some kind of 5-way is currently required, though it would be feasible to > drop this in the future (with an ability to know if a particular app > requires 5-way nav). > - Home is completely handled by the system, so it isn't required so long as > you can provide some other way for a user to navigate through the system. > - The back key is required, insofar as there must be some way for the user > to case a back key event to the current application in order to navigate > through its UI. > - The menu key is likewise required by applications, again only to the point > of there being some way for the user to deliver a menu event to the > application. > - Given that we won't require a physical keyboard at all in cupcake, there > isn't really much requirement for it. :) > > Fwiw, Android is not at all designed to be "as flexible as possible." We > have tried to design things to be able to address a relatively wide range of > devices, but we are perfectly happy to accept constraints on the hardware we > run to avoid compromising other important things like usability and > consistency. > > > > > > On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 3:32 PM, RugBat <rug...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi all, > > > I'm looking for info on what kinds of hardware features are required > > by Android. > > > I realize Android is designed to be as flexible as possible, and > > that's great, but: > > > * Can it live (and be usable) without some kind of 5-way navigation > > device? > > * Can it live without home and back? > > * Can it live without the menu key? > > * What keys are required (if any) on the keyboard for it to be > > functional? (e.g. sym, search, alt, ....) > > > Thanks! > > -- > Dianne Hackborn > Android framework engineer > hack...@android.com > > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see and > answer them.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ unsubscribe: android-porting+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com website: http://groups.google.com/group/android-porting -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
