Thread: ICE³ - Mac Front End

hi srbatty,

I was tried ICE³ the other night - it's a great startup with some very good potentials and I liked it. It seems to be a bit slow on my 2GB, Solo Mini with 7" Lilliput attached but worked well. Although I found it's a bit difficult to use it with a touchscreen. Do you think you gonna make it touchscreen friendly ever? As with every other software, there is always a scope of improvement/revision, I think these are the couple of areas in ICE³ needs to be revised:

1. I vote for the password screen but it's a bit annoying the way it works. As it doesn't go backward form "0", for a passcode like 7894 requires too many unnecessary clicks. I suggest you turn this into a numeric pad, maybe something like this to enter the passcode:
   
2. I think, a visual warning (not just the sound) makes much more sense, as speakers could be off that time.
3. Passcode should be masked when entering.
4. The formatting of date is totally lost on my 7" display:
   
   but not on my MacBooks.
5. A page-by-page display is much more convenient than a "scroll-bar" for in-car or touch environment.
6. "Double clicks" not a good idea IMO for this type of applications.
7. The start-up directory for the "movie path" should not be fixed/hard coded. At the moment it just shows the users' home directory, and a user could put all the movies and media file to a different partition (rather than in his/her home directory), which is more practical in IMO.
8. For some reason, I'm not able to play any video.

Hope this helps. Though, these are totally based on my personal experiences; any comments for any one on this? Cheers!!!

see how the date is off those are the kinds of screen issues i am having. and movies looked squished sometimes and not all the menus fit. it has to do with running a costume screen size as everyone wants to make there screen perfect. i think it looks awesome on my 24" imac but it seems to squish on my lilliput :-/ i don't know exactly why that is. but i suspect it is because of the custom screen size (800x480) as lilliput doesn't support it natively.

Originally Posted by bikerdudepost

but i suspect it is because of the custom screen size (800x480) as lilliput doesn't support it natively.

I think it's actually the OS X, not the Lilli. I use SwitchResX to for 800x480 display and it works pretty good. I also don't understand why it's just the date & time area got affected; I'd expect the whole screen instead. Cheers!!!

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Firstly, here is the new build with:

1) m4p support
2) increased visualiser bar timer (from 3 sec to 4.5 sec)
3) visualiser bar timer reset on visualiser bar button click
4) new visualiser icon in preferences screen (OSX v10.5.5 changed the icon to "MobileMe"!)
5) very minor memory fix

If upgrading from a previous build of ICE³, delete the "Icebox" Folder from Home/Library/Application Support/.

how about the ability to scrub in movies? or remember where the play head was?

The movie player was a last minute addition so was not finished. We were planning to drop it completely, but I am getting the feeling that people do actually watch movies in the car. We will have scrubbing etc in version 2.

I vote for the password screen but it's a bit annoying the way it works. As it doesn't go backward form "0", for a passcode like 7894 requires too many unnecessary clicks. I suggest you turn this into a numeric pad, maybe something like this to enter the passcode:
I think, a visual warning (not just the sound) makes much more sense, as speakers could be off that time.
Passcode should be masked when entering.

Yes, yes, and yes. We actually started with a number pad, but it looked boring. Version 2 will be a number pad for all the reasons you just stated.

The formatting of date is totally lost on my 7" display:
but not on my MacBooks.

I notice that you have not installed the font that I put in the dmg. It does exactly the same for me if I do not use the supplied font.
You could always edit the HUD.qtz yourself.

A page-by-page display is much more convenient than a "scroll-bar" for in-car or touch environment.

We will work on that. I have an idea that might work.
p.s. you are scrolling by dragging your finger on the tracks, not on the tiny little "scroll-bar" on the side?

"Double clicks" not a good idea IMO for this type of applications.

Double clicking does not have to be used anywhere!
There is a play button at the bottom of the screen when choosing a track from coverflow.
In list view, the right arrow at the top of the artist and album screens change to a play button on the track screen.

The start-up directory for the "movie path" should not be fixed/hard coded. At the moment it just shows the users' home directory, and a user could put all the movies and media file to a different partition (rather than in his/her home directory), which is more practical in IMO.

Fair enough.
Have you tried clicking on the usb icon in the top left corner of the "movie path" screen? After pressing that you can navigate anywhere on local or external drives.

For some reason, I'm not able to play any video.

What format?
Are you able to play the movies in quicktime?
If not, you may have to install Perian.

see how the date is off those are the kinds of screen issues i am having. and movies looked squished sometimes and not all the menus fit. it has to do with running a costume screen size as everyone wants to make there screen perfect. i think it looks awesome on my 24" imac but it seems to squish on my lilliput :-/ i don't know exactly why that is. but i suspect it is because of the custom screen size (800x480) as lilliput doesn't support it natively.

What is the native resolution of your screen?
What resolution are you running?

Hope this helps guys.
Thanks again.

Originally Posted by golfguy

Most 7 and 8 inch screens (widescreen format) are 800x480 native resolution. Since Mac OS X assumes a minimum of 800x600 I sometimes have to switch to that to see OK buttons and the like, which gives a distorted desktop. I would suggest you design primarily for 800x480, as most actual carputers will use that resolution.

Actually, making ICE work at 800x600 circumnavigates the nightmare of trying to change the Macs resolution to 800x480. I currently have my mini running 800x600 because certain windows open out of reach in 800x480 and changing back and forth is a fiasco. Anyway, 800x480 is dead to me as a useable resolution with the mini.

I use 800x480 screen size via displayconfigx as a timing. It seems to work well for the most part, I do sometimes switch for some functions but it is rare as everything seems to work just fine in 800x480 but the timing curve makes my screen look messed up as it maybe I'll try switchres and see if that helps any. I agree for the carputer 800x480 is the standard.

Originally Posted by S4Esprit

Actually, making ICE work at 800x600 circumnavigates the nightmare of trying to change the Macs resolution to 800x480.

It's actually pretty easy using SwitchResX or DisplayconfigX; doing pretty well for me.

Originally Posted by S4Esprit

I currently have my mini running 800x600...

On a widescreen display??

Originally Posted by S4Esprit

Anyway, 800x480 is dead to me as a useable resolution with the mini.

Is it, really?? I didn't feel that. Cheers!!!