Notice

Unfortunatley, OpenIntents was NOT selected as a mentoring organization in the Google Summer of Code 2009.

We thank all students for their interest. Feel free to drop by our discussion group if you are still interested in implementing one of the proposed features.

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OpenIntents provides an open framework and free applications for Google's Android mobile phone platform.

Our project applies for the Google Summer of Code . We will know by March 18th whether we are accepted as a mentoring organization.

Interested students are required to have strong programming skills in Java (or a strong background in C++ or C#, willing to learn Java quickly). A knowledge of SQL (sqlite) is of advantage.

Students are advised to read the GSoC students page and familiarize yourself with the student application form.

We require the following from you:

• If you are interested in participating in our project, please contact us as soon as possible (see possible mentors below).
• Before we accept you, you should already have:
• downloaded and installed the Android SDK (with Eclipse and JDK)
• went through the Android Tutorials
• tried to modify the tutorials in some way (send us a small patch or email the few lines of code that you changed).

List of Ideas

for a quick overview, see the Issue Tracker

Intents Registry

OpenIntents provides an Intents Registry for developers.

Eclipse Plugin

The Idea is to build an Eclipse Plugin, that enables developers to browse the online registry and insert a code block corresponding to the selected intents directly into their eclipse project. It should be easily accessible via a context menu or even via code completion feature of eclipse.

• Requirements: knowledge of the eclipse plugin framework, good java skills.

Online analysation / upload of Manifest files

To further ease the extension of the Intents Registry, a module for our Website should be developed that takes a given .apk file, reads the manifest and adds all included intents to the database.

• Requirements: knowledge of PHP, SQL, good java skills. Knowledge of Drupal is of advantage.

OI Shopping List

Sync List with Remember the Milk

Take the existing code fragments and build these into an extension of the shoppinglist that allows for syncronization with rtm. This requires further implementation of the REST API and a couple of settings for sync scenarions (only via wifi, directly on item change, etc).

• Requirements: good Java skills, SQL, knowledge of accessing web services through XML and HTTP. Suitable for android beginners.

Sync List with Google Spreadsheets

An extension for Shopping List that allows to sync the List to one or more Spreadsheets associated with the Google Account that is logged in to the phone.

• Requirements: good Java skills, SQL, knowledge of Google API.

Auction watcher

This would be a new application that watches the shopping list for new entries and queries online auction and shopping sites for these items. If appropriate items are found, the user receives a notification. If the user chooses to follow an item more closely, they are reminded an hour before the end of the auction. For this project, you would have to implement an Android Service that can accesses the Ebay Shopping API or the Amazon web services. Support for further companies may be added if time permits. Also, an (automatic) blacklist for frequently bought items that you usually buy in the supermarket could be added, so that these don't have to be searched online.

• Requirements: good Java skills, SQL, knowledge of accessing web services through XML and HTTP.

Skins & Themes

Currently all OI Projects use hardcoded skins. Possible Project could research and implement a way to centralize all theme settings for Applications in an intuitive and modular way.

• Requirements: fair/good Java skills, SQL. Could be easier code-wise, but a good eye for design and user interface is desired. Mastering Gimp, Inkscape, or other graphics application is of advantage.

Central Tagging

OpenIntents already provides basic CentralTagging to tag arbitrary content like contacts, notes, music, pictures, videos, in a common way. Possible projects are:

Dynamic tag cloud

Work on a basic tag cloud has already begun, but it would be really cool to have a 2- or 3-dimenional dynamic tag cloud, using either Android's 2D graphics or Android's OpenGL API. The tags in various shapes and colors would float around, with more important tags being larger. The user would click a tag to open associated content (contacts, notes, music, ...), drag it to the middle of the screen to see associated tags pop up, or drag it off the screen to have smaller tags from the background get larger. An extension may be to display the tagged information directly in the tag cloud view: For example keeping the finger on a tag would toss out the pictures associated with this tag.

• Requirements: good/strong Java skills. Experience with game programming or animation is recommended for this project. Knowledge of OpenGL or 3D transformation matrices is of advantage.

Newsreader

Social Bookmarking Tool

An extension for the Newsreader to upload selected messages to a bookmarking service of the users choice. This can build upon the old project for the now-defunct Site Ma.gnolia, implementing additional protocols and sites.

• Requirements: good Java skills, SQL, knowledge of accessing web services through XML and HTTP.

you might also want to look at our list of FeatureRequests for additional Ideas.

How to prepare your application

The most successful projects are the ones suggested by the students - that is you. So, we encourage you to come up with an idea, or expand on one of the suggestions given above, that you feel most comfortable with. Which application would you like to have on your mobile phone in half a year? (for free!)

Your idea should contain 1 KISS element that you are sure you can finish within a week (or even an afternoon!). The rest of your idea should be presented modular in nature:

• In 2 weeks, I could probably finish this: ...
• In a month, I could probably finish this: ...
• For the GSoC, I think I can accomplish this: ...
• Some related ideas that would probably go beyond the GSoC are: ...

Be as specific as possible, listing Android classes or OpenIntents code parts on which you would base your code (we can help you with that if you ask).

Note that our project is quite new and evolving at a fast pace, so be prepared and have alternatives for the case that some parts of your idea are already implemented by the time you start coding.

Don't just copy from the ideas page, but focus on one specific point that interests you most and from which you can expand more than exists already.

Why would you like to work for OpenIntents?

• OpenIntents offers you the opportunity to work on cutting-edge mobile technology
• You will get a chance to show off "your" application on a real phone
• Your application will be available to users worldwide and promoted along with all other OI Projects.
• We are still a small, but passionate team - so you will interact directly with the project initiators and project leaders in a flexible way.

Mentors

The mentors will be:

• Peli
• Ronan
• Friedger
• Isaac

Students will be assigned one main mentor, but are encouraged to interact with the others as well, as well as with our lively discussion group.

Mentors will read the advice for mentors.

Feel free to ask any question in our discussion group.