Ubuntu 13.04 wants to let users buy music from the Ubuntu One Music Store directly from the Dash – no web-browser transactions needed.
The ‘Payment Preview’ feature, currently proposed for inclusion in Raring by way of a Feature Freeze Exception, will allow users of Ubuntu One to purchase tracks and albums from within the Music Lens with just a few clicks.
‘Payment Previews’ can, Ubuntu say, also be used by other Scopes and Lens developers.
For the transactions to work users must already have Ubuntu One set-up on the desktop, be logged in, and have automatic payments enabled on their Ubuntu One account.
Files purchased from the Ubuntu One Music Store are automatically backed up to Ubuntu One and synced with the Ubuntu desktop.
The good/bad news (it’s up for you to decide) is that this feature may not ship by default in Ubuntu 13.04 because of its late arrival. It will be added to the Experimental Unity 7 PPA for wider testing shortly, after which a final decision will be made.
Whether or not the feature does land in Raring – and given the recent delay of Smart Scopes that’s by no-means a certainty – Payment Previews do show the potential of the Dash. Not just a one-stop-search spot, but a one-stop shop spot, too! It’s just a shame that features like this weren’t introduced sooner.
You can see the proposed feature in action in the video below.