- From: <Frederick.Hirsch@nokia.com>
- Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 14:24:29 +0000
- To: <public-device-apis@w3.org>
- CC: <Frederick.Hirsch@nokia.com>
fyi, The shelving Working Group Notes have been published and the following explanation sent on the AC and chairs lists. regards, Frederick Frederick Hirsch, Nokia Chair, W3C DAP Working Group [[ For your information, the Device APIs Working Group (DAP) [0] has just published a set of Working Group Notes stating work on certain Recommendation track publications has been discontinued and that they should not be referenced or used as a basis for implementations. No further action is required on your part. The specifications are the Messaging API, System Information API, Pick Contacts, Calendar, Pick Media Intent, and "Web Intents Addendum - Local Services": http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-calendar-api-20140114/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-messaging-api-20140114/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-system-info-api-20140114/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-contacts-api-20140114/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-gallery-20140114/ http://www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-webintents-local-services-20140114/ The primary reason for discontinuing the work has been concerns related to privacy and security for a general web API with no generalized security/privacy model. The Messaging API was defined to enable API access to a variety of messaging mechanisms, including SMS, MMS and e-mail. While working on this specification the DAP WG reduced the functionality to address security concerns, reducing the scope to the point where the group decided to discontinue the work. The "System Information API" provided a wide variety of information about the user interface in one specification, including sensors, power, network interfaces and other information. While working on this specification the Device APIs Working Group decided there would be advantages to working on specifications focused on specific modules, enabling faster specification development, reduced scope of testing as well as the potential for reduced privacy and security attack surfaces. Work on the System Information API specification was discontinued in favor of the current modular specifications, including the Battery Status API [1] , Ambient Light Events [2], Proximity Events [3], and the Vibration API [4] . Based on community feedback the DAP WG attempted a shift from a device centric security model to a general web approach, based on Web Intents [5], a user-mediated model that offered a generic and promising approach. Once implementers discovered issues with this underlying approach and discontinued support, the DAP WG discontinued work on these specifications, realizing more experience is needed before standardization. The specifications in this category included Contacts (Pick Contacts), Calendar (planned to follow Contacts approach), Gallery (Pick Media Intent), and the "Web Intents Addendum - Local Services". This set of Note publications is intended to provide clarity for these publications in the TR space. The areas of work for these deliverables remain in the scope of the DAP working group charter, so if the DAP WG receives new information or interest, it may resume work on a new version of those items. Currently there is no plan to continue work on these deliverables. In addition, the System Applications WG has work related to contacts and messaging on its roadmap [6]. Thank you, For Tim Berners-Lee, Director, and Philipp Hoschka, Ubiquitous Web Domain Lead; Coralie Mercier, W3C Communications [0] http://www.w3.org/2009/dap/ [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2012/CR-battery-status-20120508/ [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/CR-ambient-light-20131001/ [3] http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/CR-proximity-20131001/ [4] http://www.w3.org/TR/2013/CR-vibration-20130723/ [5] http://www.w3.org/TR/web-intents/ [6] http://www.w3.org/2012/sysapps/#roadmap ]]
Received on Wednesday, 15 January 2014 14:30:47 UTC