Mozilla Ubiquity to bring mashups to the desktop
Published: 18 Nov 2008 11:05 GMT
Mozilla has put out a road-map proposal for the next version of Ubiquity, the company's user interface project that aims to mash up user-controlled shortcuts with information from the web.
Besides the promise of an interface overhaul, the plan's big hope is to integrate Ubiquity with Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird products, along with user desktops.
In Firefox's case, Ubiquity integration for everyone (not just testers) could come as soon as version 3.2, due sometime next year. According to the road-map specifications, the upgraded Firefox implementation would integrate Ubiquity into the 'awesomebar', removing the need for users to learn a new keyboard shortcut to toggle it on and off.
The drawback is that no Firefox implementation would allow third-party commands, for the sake of security. That means you couldn't just start typing a new Gmail email, for example, from your address bar. To use Gmail, users would be directed to Firefox-specific shortcuts, and be required to use a separate, non-Firefox, instance of Ubiquity to take advantage of third-party commands.
As for Thunderbird, Mozilla's email software, the company hopes Ubiquity integration could change the way people search and manage their inboxes. The spec says there's a need to "extend Thunderbird in ways that provide compelling advantages over web mail'.
This could include things such as deep integration with your system files and applications, to the point of being able to search for and add an attachment with just a few keystrokes — all without leaving the application or diving through a sea of nested folders in a pop-up menu.
There's also a mention of having Ubiquity share the same set of command feed subscriptions, so if you subscribed to a new feed in either application it would be transferred over transparently in the background.
Of all of the proposed items, one that holds the most potential is integration with the user's desktop. This takes Ubiquity out of the walled garden of the browser and into user workflow in other applications. It is the one area of the proposal with the least amount of detail; however, it notes proper implementation would be in existing launcher services such as Quicksilver (for Mac) and Enso (for Windows). When integrated with either of these, users should be able to begin to mash up items from their machine with web services that much faster.
For more information about the proposal, visit Mozilla's wiki page.
Credit: New Mozilla Ubiquity spec brings mashups to the desktop from CNET News.com
Did you find this article useful?
Digg
Slashdot
Del.ici.ous
Stumble
Reddit
