ContextPhone: A Prototyping Platform for Context-Aware

Mobile Applications

Mika Raento, Antti Oulasvirta, Renaud Petit,

and Hannu Toivonen

Pervasive Computing, April – June 2005

Presented By: Alex Kotchnev

ContextPhone Overview

● Mobile phones as the platform– Store private information– Personalizable– Follow the user and have clues about the current

situation– Programmable

● ContextPhone: 4 modules between OS and apps

Design Goals and Philosophy

● Provide context as a resource● Incorporate existing applications● Offer fast interactions and unobtrusiveness● Ensure robustness● Let users control seams● Emphasize timeliness● Enable rapid development

The Platform● Sensors● Communicati

ons● Customizabl

e

Applications● System

services

Sensors

● Location● User Interaction● Communication behavior● Physical environment

Communications

● Local ● Remote● File Upload● Presence information and communications

System Services

● Automatic startup● Disconnected execution and queuing operations● Retry and recovery strategy● Persistent stack traces

Architecture Decisions

● Robust and extensible● Unobtrusiveness and rapid development● XP : “Build the simplest thing”● Publish-subscribe model within a single process● Data type extensibility

Applications & Research Tools

● ContextLogger: Studying Mobility Patterns● ContextContacts: Automatic Context Sharing● ContextMedia: sharing mobile media

Obtaining ContextPhone

● GNU GPL Licence● Runs on Nokia Series 60 (v1 and v2)● Symbian 6 and 7● Source and Binaries:

www.cs.helsinki.fi/group/context/