I've recently started settling into my newest laptop that has become my daily driver. When I do this I tend to install the latest Fedora and see what a fresh experience reveals. Fedora 23 see a lot of new KDE developments. Especially work done after very constructive criticism in comparison to Gnome 3. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=gnome-week-editorial But, unrelated to the above, is a branch off in to the world of mulit-device computing, an area that I find fascinating. What is KDE Connect? ===================== KDE Connect is a project that aims to communicate all your devices. For example, with KDE Connect you can receive your phone notifications on your computer, or just use your phone as a remote control for your desktop. To achieve this, KDE Connect implements a secure communication protocol over the network, and allows any developer to create plugins on top of it. From: https://community.kde.org/KDEConnect Getting KDE Setup ================= Under Fedora 23, finding this feature was rather easy. It kind of stands out in the KDE systems settings interface. [1]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-01-systems-settings.png [2]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-02-systems-settings.png Next I installed the KDE Connect app on my Android phone. This is where I hit my first rub. I couldn't get the two devices to see each other on the network. The Devs are at least helpful here, with trouble shooting information right on the Community website which the link to from the systems settings interface. The Fedora Packagers are great here as well, as a service definition for Firewalld is ready to go. The command line to enable a server is convoluted. But the GUI is slick and easy. [5]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-05-firewall.png After the ports were open, and a quick pairing procedure I was up and running. [3]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-03-systems-settings.png Experience So Far ================= File Navigation --------------- I've tried bluetooth in the past and I've all sort of timeouts. USB would stop working if the screen locked. With KDE Connect doing it's access over the network, in comparison it is very slick. Desktop Notifications --------------------- My Phone was on another table. I hear the new SMS bing, and there, in the notifications center of KDE is the message. I didn't have to walk over to who it was and the first bit of the message. Battery Life ------------ Again, good to be able to see this at a glance. [4]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-04-taskbar-icon.png Remote Input ------------ I can use the touch screen of the phone as a remote mouse. Works surprisingly well. This sentence was written from the phone while behind my deskchair, into Thunderbird on the laptop. Media Controls -------------- A quick test with Amarok showed that the basics work. Not sure what it will take to get it working with your media player of choice. Summary ======= A nice addition with some real conveniences. It's nice to see KDE Community Devs pushing boundaries where other desktops have yet to tread. -- Scott Sullivan