Join Now

Software architect working in Symbian/S60 area since 2000 and still being enthusiastic about mobility. Please visit my introduction page on Forum Nokia Champions web page.

Tilt-O-Mania, also known as Nokmote

tote_b5 | 15 November, 2007 15:09

Have you ever felt that your idea is stolen and "Damn, I wish I had been faster in doing it"? Now I feel exactly that way.

The first time I heard that another Nokia phone, N95, has a built-in accelerometer I started wondering why on Earth? Why on Earth is it worth for Nokia to put such a device in their phone? Has Nokia 5500 Sport (first Nokia device with built-in accelerometer) proven that it's worth making further experiments with? I haven't seen any analysis telling so, although I admit that it doesn't mean anything. Why on Earth has Nokia kept it secret that there was such a gadget in their hottest device? Is it a secret? Isn't it something that makes the device even cooler?

Then I started to think about what we could do with it? First, I thought RotateMe was a great software, I really liked the idea. But I felt something was missing. Then I found it: why not simulate joystick key presses (i.e. left, right, up, down + press) by tilting the device to the right direction? Since it's fairly easy to simulate key events in Symbian C++ just as if they had really occured, I thought it was easy to implement. The good thing in this idea that it works with existing software, no need to re-write or adapt anything: applications will not notice the difference between real keystroke and simulated.

Tilt-O-Mania

That would have been the name of my software. R.I.P. Now it's called Nokmote and it's not mine at all. :( Sorry guys behind the "sad smiley", I'm happy that you'll come out with an implementation, but I must tell you that I'm unhappy that you'll come out with it. :)

To be honest, I was always wondering why nobody had ever discovered the opportunity in writing such a software. As more and more S60 devices will come out with built-in accelerometer this feature could become such an integral part of user experience that even Nokia might want to use it. I dare to claim that even the joystick could be replaced by the accelerometer + this solution in the future. Not only could Nokia save some money by removing some existing hardware (i.e. the joystick), but they might even be able to use the new spare space for other purposes. Isn't it so cool?

And you know what? The solution is not Nokia/Symbian specific: any (mobile) device having a motion sensor could do on-screen navigation like this. Another Symbian phone, iPhone, gPhone even a laptop, though it would be funny to see a businessman tilting his computer at the airport just for the sake of navigation. :)

On the other hand, I was shocked to find that my(?) idea was not original at all. I mean not that now somebody has come out with an implementation for S60, but this idea was implemented years(!) ago on another mobile phone. You know, some of my colleagues have worked with a MyOrigo device and when I told them my idea they enlightened me that it had already been implemented. Check out this article from The Register  and you'll see that such a device is already on the market. Okay, it is a not-really-famous mobile phone and perhaps it doesn't even make use of accelerometer data, but still the idea is theirs: user tilts software navigates.

Never mind, although I'm sorry to see that I can't be THE pioneer in this area, I'm happy to see that it'll be available to us soon. Good luck for writing the software!

Originally from mobile-thoughts.blogspot.com.

Tote

Business Opportunities/Services, S60, Symbian C++ | Next | Previous | Comments (4) | Trackbacks (0)

Comments

Accelerometers & inventions

Sorcery-ltd | 16/11/2007, 10:51

I'm pretty sure the accelerometer was originally only in the N95 as a tilt sensor so it could tell which way up the camera was when pictures were taken. Then it can automatically rotate them in the gallery! It just happens to be the case that you can do so much more with it with the right driver & API. I know exactly how you feel about inventing something and then watching someone else do it before you get round to it. It happens to me all the time. A friend & I invented the entire genre of massively multiplayer online games as teenagers, years before the first one was available. We just didn't have the internet bandwidth available (or the programming skills) to do anything about it. Now I have loads of ideas for mobile applications but I'll probably never do most of them. I've been wondering about just publishing the ideas on the internet for someone else to use. That would involve being honest enough with myself to know I'd never do it though! Perhaps you could try that next time? At least you can claim credit for thinking of it first! Mark

s603rdmobile industry

Rabi | 19/11/2007, 13:02

DEAR GABOR, I very intarestig for mobile industry but INRrupees is great factar.I am asimple mobile servising shop man and i MP,vocational moblie service cross 1year,computar cross 6month . Please healp my idea ,thise idea areal piture slove many many thanks. RABI

Accelerometer n the FUture ?

Nikil | 01/01/2008, 14:39

i really doubt how fast navigation would be with multiple tilts of the phone. if two users are going to race to reaching a point,one using the movement and the other using the joystick, IM SURE the joystick fella would win. and i think prolonged period of use of nokmote would make u more tired.. shaking the phone all the time :). Its just a wild guess.. lets hope nokmote prooves me wrong.

Accelerometer n the FUture ?

Nikil | 01/01/2008, 15:47

i got an unsigned version of nokmote. Signed it and put it on my phone. Im not impressed with the beta version as its really too buggy. I tilt the phone down, and it keeps going in an endless down session. the menu selection goes out of control and keeps looping around a bunch of icons. and it has NO CONTROL at all. The beta release is so buggy i took it off my phone. Nokmote may not be as good as its expected to be. Absolutly very less control. I dont think i would use it on a day to day purpose.
You must login to post comments. Login
 
 
Powered by LifeType