GSOC

Welcome

On this page we collect ideas for students projects for the Google summer of code. Feel free to contribute to this page.

Requirements for students

• For each of the ideas you need Java knowledge, since the whole TV-Browser project is written in Java. The Google summer of code is not intended for learning this programming language, but to support open source projects by doing "real work" in the context of the project.
• Communication is done using the TV-Browser forum, email, the TV-Browser issue tracking system.
• You need to communicate in German or English with the other TV-Browser developers.
• In addition to the detailed tasks for each project idea we expect the following from you
  • enough spare time to be able to really tackle the task. This is not done in 2 weeks.
  • motivation to really reach something and not just to try and get the money (which is not possible btw.)
  • proper documentation (where necessary). We want to see that you don't just start hacking, but follow good engineering practice by discussing possible solutions and so on.
  • user documentation in our wiki

Topics

If you have an idea for a topic on your own, please just add it to this list or discuss it with us in the forum. As a starting point we have added some topics below.

Recreate Filter GUI

The User Interface of the filter settings should be rewritten. At the moment only people with deep knowledge about computers are able to add new complex filters. The new GUI should it make possible for everyone to easily add and create filters, even if those filters represent complex conditions using AND, OR and NOT. The task shall not only include the implementation of a new user interface, but also a proposal and usability rating for different UI approaches.

Enhance Firewall detection

At the moment the firewall detection is not very good. At the beginning the tvbrowser tries to connect to the internet. If this fails a dialog box without hints is shows. This should be enhanced to show the most common problems with the common firewalls (e.g. Norton, GData). The task should also consider using Universal Plug and Play for detection of network ressources.

TV-Browser downloads the data from different server-groups. If one of these server-group fails, a very cryptic message is shown. It looks more like a defect on the user side than a defect on the server side.

Preselected channels for setup

If you start the TV-Browser for the first time, you have to select all channels for yourself. It should be possible to select a country (or other criteria) and get a list of channels preconfigured for that specific country, which matches the needs of that specific user. This means that even users from the same country may have very different program lists because of the region they are in, or because they use different ways to receive their programs (e.g. satellite versus DVB-T). Find a way to calculate a useful initial channel list for the user by using as less criteria (region, country, receiver type, ...) as possible.

Add new way to display the program table

The program table is shown like a German TV guide. US citicens are not used to that style.

• Investigate the US program table style by examples of other tools, websites or by interaction with US program table users.
• The program table should have a feature, so that the user can switch seemlessly between European and US layout style.
• How does this influence the presentation in other lists or tables (e.g. search results, program lists in plugins)?
• Assure that existing plugins still work fine with the changed layout.
• Do tests with real users from the US whether their expectations are met.

Accessibility improvements

TV-Browser is used by people of all ages and abilities. We want to provide better support for handicapped people. This task may include:

• case studies with users to find out where TV-Browser doesn't provide full support for handicapped people
• research of other software projects and their accessibility support (so we don't reinvent the wheel)
• investigation of the APIs that are available in Java for improved accessibility
• implementation of general accessibility improvements in the main TV-Browser application and the core plugins
• creation of a new plugin to provide better accessibility

Speech plugin

In the context of improved accessibility we also have the aim to provide machine speech for TV-Browser. This task may include:

• investigation of the available API in Java for speech support
• implementation of a Speech plugin
• test of the Speech plugin with several speech engines on different platforms (you can do this with beta testers, no need to do everything yourself) to prove the robustness of the solution

New plugin ideas?

As TV-Browser has a plugin interface, you are able to add features we never imagined. Have a cool idea for a Plugin or other stuff concerning TV-Browser ? Just tell us...