Cloudberry: Mobile device-oriented HTML 5 cloud mobile phone platform

In the field of computer and software, few can like the development of intelligent terminals, significantly affect our world. Consumers seem to have endless enthusiasm for running a variety of tasks and services. At the same time, the emerging speed of new applications is impressive. If you travel a lot recently, anyone who looks at the people around them in any one of the lounges will surely be able to spot a scenario where they are using mobile services, not only in the process of mail, but also in shopping, paying, watching movies and even mortgages. (There are rumors that some devices are even making calls).

The software industry model is turning to web-based software. Applications that have been developed for specific computer architectures, CPUs, operating systems, and devices are increasingly turning to the web and will be in a browser or a compatible run-time environment. The future of most end-user software, both personal and corporate, will be web-based. For average computer users, Web browsers are a major software environment that fits most of their uses, effectively replacing the core roles that traditional operating systems have played in the past. We believe that the transition to web-based end-user software will have a huge impact on the desktop and mobile devices in two areas. Although there is considerable momentum in the writing of this article for local mobile applications that are written and combined with the web for a particular device or operating system, it is clear that web-based software will also play a crucial role in the mobile device sector. In fact, we expect competition for the next decade to unfold between local applications and pure HTML5 open Web application 1. In this article, we introduce the cloudberry developed by the Nokia Research Center, which is a cloud mobile phone software platform based on HTML5.

One of the core values of the cloud phone is that almost any user-oriented application or feature on the device can be changed from the server side, and can be applied immediately to the potential millions of devices worldwide. This will accelerate the lifecycle of deployment and update of applications and services, and simplify the work of customizing devices for different users and purposes. Another key point of value applies to people with multiple devices-that is, the ability to use the same applications and data from different devices effortlessly.

Cloud Mobile phone

The cloud phone is a mobile device that downloads and caches all user-facing features from the web, including all applications and even the entire top-level user interface (UI) of the device. To learn more about mobile cloud systems, read the "related work in the mobile cloud system" at the end of this article. The cloud handset will have several key features as follows.

User experience-driven Web runtime

On traditional mobile devices, the user experience in the top layer of the device is generally written locally, and the Web browser is only one of the many applications provided by the system. In Cloudberry, the Web Runtime is the core of the system, which drives the entire top-level UI and all applications. Any local software is not exposed directly to the user.

Application development as a Web application

In Cloudberry, all mobile device applications are used as Web applications, including phone calls, contacts, calendars, SMS, music players and maps, and other core applications.

The application development model based on Web

The application development model in Cloudberry is based entirely on web technology-specifically based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In Cloudberry, there will be no binary applications (native applications), and applications need not be statically compiled or linked, and developers can use standard web-based development tools.

Web-based deployment model and transparent updates

Cloudberry is a "0 install" platform-there is no traditional concept of installation in Cloudberry. Logically, each application is like a Web page: It's just a link, and the Web runtime dynamically loads and caches the necessary data and code that needs to be executed. The update of the mobile device will be completed automatically after the server-side software changes. In fact, the complete set of applications for each device is dynamic and frequently changed as needed (by the service provider or the user itself).

Master copy on the cloud

All applications on the cloud phone and master copies of user data are stored in the cloud. This allows users to easily switch between different devices because all of his or her devices have access to the same applications and data. The user's data on each device is automatically backed up to the cloud.

Offline use via HTML5 implementation

For any mobile phone, a key element is the ability to use it without a network connection available. The Cloudberry system uses the HTML5 feature 2, which supports off-line applications, as well as proprietary data caching mechanisms, to ensure that applications and application data are available when the device is offline. In general, because we use HTML5 for running applications, most of the code is typically applied to the client using the CPU power and memory of the mobile device.

Figure 1. (a) Cloudberry2011 desktop with four active applications that are minimized to the desktop. (b) Application of initiators/stores. The store recommended three "featured apps". In addition, users can select applications from different columns or list of recommendations.