December

[koan]

I would like to announce a new project that I have been working on for a little while now: December.

For a long time I have been taking the SD card from my camera to browse photos using my Zaurus. I'm not keen on PhotoStorage (clunky interface even if it was translated). I'm been using the Qtopia imageviewer but I have always suspected it doesn't take advantage of the EXIF thumbnail. Furthermore, if the photo is in a different orientation to the screen then it always comes out bad: squeezed to fit rather than rotating it because a user can just use his hand to turn the Zaurus.

I was thinking it would be cool to have something like a camera OS on the Zaurus to flip through images quickly. Also, whenever I go somewhere with my other half as soon as I take a photo she wants to check it out and make sure it is "satisfactory". If you go to get a coffee or lunch she wants to get the camera out and review all the images. This kills the camera battery so if I could do this on the Zaurus then it would save battery and the screen is better too.

So here it is, the first release of December. It's not perfect but it doesn't crash and it's mostly complete. Please be aware that when opening the grid view December has to load up to 16 thumbs into memory and Zaurus memory is not particularly fast. Video files don't have thumbs so they must be generated and opening the full screen view means generating a scaled image which can be slow if you are looking at a several megapixel image.

[koan]

December 0.2 is released.

In case you missed it, please check out a screenshot:
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[njefferies]

December 0.2 is released.

In case you missed it, please check out a screenshot:
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Will give it a go, especially since we can now use SDHC on Zaurii!

[koan]

Will give it a go, especially since we can now use SDHC on Zaurii!

My thoughts exactly.

I should note that December can browse any mounted memory card, so CF or something using an adaptor is fine. Also, if you have photos from your camera on any filesystem you can navigate to them and browse thumbnails as long as they are JPEG-EXIF.

[koan]

December 0.3 is now available to download.

I noticed that in the detail view you have to use the cursor keys or jog wheel to browse through the images so I added some back and forward buttons to use with the stylus.

A feature that I planned from the start is bookmarking. Tap the star icon to add a bookmark, tap and hold the star icon to get the bookmarks menu. You can rename bookmarks, delete them or adjust their order.

I decided that I needed to add support for JPEG-JFIF images. If you open one in the detail view you can see the size but no thumbnail. If you open in full view mode a thumbnail will be created and stored in memory (never stored on disk). Remember that December caches thumbnails so if you load a lot of image thumbnails (e.g. by using the grid view to page through a directory) then it will be dropped from memory. This may sound complicated but in general usage you probably won't notice it unless you keep hundreds of images in a single directory. Besides, December is meant for DCIM, not really general purpose browsing.

[koan]

New version released, 0.5: Now with refresh function and facility to clear cache manually.

I didn't mention version 0.4 that was released a few weeks back. In 0.4 a new function to delete files was added.

There have also been various small bug fixes.

[Varti]

Hi,

I have installed and tried your program, I like it! It's fast and intuitive, now my Zaurus is even more useful than before. I'll use it too to check the photos done by my camera. I'd have a couple of feature requests:
- it would be nice if it would be possible to switch between the photos using the cursor keys also when in full screen mode
- again in full screen mode, a small icon, overlayed on the displayed photo and indicating that the photo is loading would be handy.

BTW why is it called that way?

[koan]

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

I already started work on the next version of December but at the moment I can't spend a lot of time on it.

I've already implemented half of the mechanism for a progress indicator. This will be shown while waiting for the grid view to load and when the photo is being scaled for full screen mode.

I plan to implement a basic slideshow function. At first, it will just be full screen mode with forward/back and a timer. In the future I would like to support the DPOF standard. It has a slideshow function called "Autoplay". The idea for autoplay is that you choose the photos you like on your camera and then you can transfer the memory card to a projector and watch a slideshow without needing a computer.

If you have a camera that can create slideshows, a file will be created on your memory card at /MISC/AUTPLAYn.MRK. I don't know the format of this file; if your camera can create slideshows then please send me a copy of this file and I will try to support it.

December <- DCIMbr <- Digital Camera Image BRowser

[Omicron]

Koan,

I have been meaning to install your countdown timer... I love the fact that it appears to countdown upto 99+ hours (at least it looked that way in the screenshots).  Plus the important buttons look big enough for fingers (instead of a stylus)... and that's a big plus IMHO.

Unfortunately, I think I first have to set aside some time to blast a new OS on it as many apps are not working anymore...  Not sure why, but I think they might have gotten installed on the CF instead of the SD, so they are not available due to different CF installed (smacks forehead...argh!).

[Varti]

Hi, thanks for the feedback.

I already started work on the next version of December but at the moment I can't spend a lot of time on it.

I've already implemented half of the mechanism for a progress indicator. This will be shown while waiting for the grid view to load and when the photo is being scaled for full screen mode.

That's nice, looking forward to it.

I plan to implement a basic slideshow function. At first, it will just be full screen mode with forward/back and a timer. In the future I would like to support the DPOF standard. It has a slideshow function called "Autoplay". The idea for autoplay is that you choose the photos you like on your camera and then you can transfer the memory card to a projector and watch a slideshow without needing a computer.

If you have a camera that can create slideshows, a file will be created on your memory card at /MISC/AUTPLAYn.MRK. I don't know the format of this file; if your camera can create slideshows then please send me a copy of this file and I will try to support it.

I have two cameras, an older Kodak Easyshare and a Samsung PL170. I have studied their functions, but so far I have been unable to find a way to generate the AUTPLAYn.MRK file you mention on both cameras.

Kodak Easyshare:
I have seen that the DPOF standard has been patented by Kodak, but still my Easyshare camera seems to not be able to generate it; this page seems to confirm that Easyshare cameras don't handle this type of file. The only files I could make were AUTPRINT.MRK (via the Printing function) and FAVORITE.MRK (via Favourites). The camera has a Slideshow function, but after starting it it doesn't generate any file, nor it has a function to choose which photos to show.

Samsung PL170:
It has a menu called DPOF, but it generates an AUTPRINT.MRK file only. It has a Slideshow function too, but it behaves like the one on the Kodak camera. Searching for "autoplay" in its PDF manual didn't produce any result.

I have also a Nikon D50 which supports DPOF, I'll try with it and I'll let you know the results.

December <- DCIMbr <- Digital Camera Image BRowser

Nice idea

Varthall

[koan]

If your camera has the printing functions, i.e. it generates AUTPRINT.MRK, then it is DPOF. I can't imagine that Kodak copied the filename convention but didn't implement the standard. The way to check would be to select some photos to print and take your memory card to a store that has a self service photo printing machine and see if it recognises the photos you selected.

If you can't select photos for the slideshow then it probably doesn't support the DPOF slideshow feature.

Thanks for checking.

[koan]

December 0.6 is now available.

New features:

• Slideshow mode (adjust the viewing time in settings)
• Progress ticker when opening Grid View and Full Screen
• Filter function for Directory List View: select images, videos; show hidden files
• More detailed information about sound codec in an AVI file
• Fixed bug that caused a crash when you browse to an AVI with unsupported video codec
• Fixed a weird bug opening Grid View for JPEG-JFIF images that could cause a blank screen and/or crash

Updated screenshots are on my website.

[koan]

December 0.7 is now available.

Key features:

• Use arrow keys to browse in full screen mode
• Double tap on an image in grid view to open full screen
• Option to automatically generate thumbnails for JPEG-JFIF

[Varti]

Thanks for the update, the "browse via arrow keys" has been for me the most useful addition. I'll have a high school reunion this evening, I'll bring my Zaurus there to show some photos using your program

I hope I'll soon find the time to check for the slideshow functionality on my Nikon.

Varthall