g-sensor

Mozilla team aims to bring G-sensor support to Fennec

March 31, 2009 | By Surur

The above video is running in the fennec browser, demonstrating javascript support for monitoring and responding to accelerometer changes on devices that are equipped with these.

Doug Turner, one of the leading Fennec developers, is championing this, so hopefully we will see it turn up in the main release sooner or later.

Shake & Win lottery number generator

March 24, 2009 | By Surur

Having trouble deciding on your lottery numbers? If you have a HTC Touch Diamond or Pro Hermanm has the answer.

His app, Shake & Win, is a Lottery Number Generator. It works by shaking the phone and features an attractive graphical UI.

HOW TO USE
Shake the phone to generate numbers.
If you want to select some manual numbers or scroll to something, click the button under the wheel.
Click the lock button to lock all numbers in place (prevent accidental shakes)
Middle button on the NAV pad exits the program.

Read more and download the app from this XDA-Developers thread here.

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GClipper – fun G-Sensor app

March 21, 2009 | By Surur

We haven’t seen too many G-Sensor fun apps recently, but this one fits the bill quite well, being completely useless but still rather amusing.

GClipper V1.0 is a virtual hair clipper which simulated the sound hair clippers make as it moves through your hair.
Features…

Tap screen to start
Tap again to stop
3 unique sounds – Switch on/off, No Cut and Cut
GSensor enabled so that tilting the "virtual clippers" towards your victims head makes a hair cutting sound

Download the app from this XDA-Developers thread here.

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G-Trigger – launch apps by shaking your phone

March 18, 2009 | By Surur

G-Trigger is a G-Sensor based shake detector application. It allows one to start an application on shaking your HTC Touch Diamond and Pro in a particular direction.

Currently supported shaking directions:

Horizontally
- Left to right
- Right to left
Vertically
- Top to bottom
- Bottom to top
Front & Back
- Front to back
- Back to front

The application runs as a service, which should prevent it from suddenly stopping working due to the 32 process Windows Mobile limit.

It has been tested on the HTC Touch Diamond but should work on other devices. The developer is hoping to extend the application to send specific keys when specific applications are in the foreground, which should allow even more control options.

Read more about and download the application here.

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Shake and Save – Great G-sensor powered screen saver app

March 7, 2009 | By Surur

I saw this over at Pocketnow a few days ago, and thought it could do with a bit more exposure.

The main problem with using many older generation screen shot apps on new devices is that they rely on the availability of mappable buttons, something which is increasingly rare these days.

Extreme-Apps has however come to the rescue with Shake and Save, an application which utilizes the G-Sensor in many of today’s devices to signal when a screen shot needs to be taken. One simply need to launch the app, and then give a shake whenever needed – Pure genius!

The app supports .png, .jpg, .gif and .bmp formats, so it seems to have all angles covered.

Both HTC devices with accelerometers and the Samsung Omnia is supported.

Download Shake and Save from extreme-apps here.

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New G-sensor software solves in call screen blanking problem

March 4, 2009 | By Surur

A new app has been developed on XDA-Developers.com which solves the annoying problem brought on by the lack of a proximity sensor on HTC’s now older devices like the Touch Diamond, Pro and HD.

With these devices, the screen switches off soon after a phone call is started, preventing you from pressing on-screen buttons with your ear, but also preventing you from navigating various dial tone menus one often encounter. The only way to access these keys is to manually switch the device back on again.

The application, called Touch In Call Tweak, uses the G-sensor in the above devices to detects, while a phone call is ongoing, when a device is vertical (and presumably therefore held up to your ear) and switches the screen off, but also detects when the device is held horizontally, as when entering keys, and switches back on again.

According to the thread participants the software works pretty well, and is reducing annoyance levels all over the world.

Download Touch In Call Screen Tweak from XDA-Developers here.

Via FuzeMobility.com

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New G-Sensor software gets easy GUI

March 4, 2009 | By Surur

As is usual with these things, the new HTC Diamond 2 ROM has brought with it many software updates which have trickled down, courtesy of XDA-Developers, to older devices.

One such improvement is the new G-sensor accelerometer service, which now allows one to enable rotation of applications by simply adding the windows class to a list in the registry.

While this is a lot simpler than running larger apps like Gsen, and should be more reliable because it does not require any 3rd party apps, finding our the window class of your favourite app is not that simple.

G-Config by makeveral solves this problem by allowing one to add applications to the registry list rather simply. One only need to run the G-Config, remove the stylus and insert it when the app in question is in the foreground. After the app is added to the list G-Config is no longer needed and can be closed.

To download G-Config visit this XDA-Developers thread here.

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Samsung releases API for its advances sensors, puts HTC to shame

February 28, 2009 | By Surur

Samsung has one-upped HTC by releasing the specifications and API for the many sensors found on their Windows Mobile phones. This will allow developers to access for example their accelerometer, light sensor and even optical mouse sensor without having to reverse engineer the software on the device, as is the common and onerous practice currently.

To get access to the API and the associated documentation one need only register for free with their Mobile Innovator service.

HTC, which has a much larger Windows Mobile market share, has so far declined to release the API for its own sensors, which just seem to multiply on its high end devices. The latest Touch Pro 2 for example is expected to ad a proximity sensor, which again will not be accessible to developers without hacking.

The refusal to release API’s formally is thought to be in part the reason why commercial G-sensor applications are extremely uncommon.

To register and download the API and documentation see Samsung’s Mobile Innovator website here.

Via Windows Mobile Dev.

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Aquarium app for G-sensor equipped devices

February 27, 2009 | By Surur

Hekk from XDA-Developers have written this neat little app which simulates a fish floating in a very mobile aquarium, being tossed around while you wave your smartphone.

It seems pretty good for showing of the g-sensor feature of your device, and appears to run equally well on the Samsung Omnia as the HTC Touch Diamond.

Additionally apparently the graphics can also be modified with a little skill to include anything you want.

The app can be downloaded from XDA-Developers here.

Via Fuzemobility.com

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GravityBalls: New G-Sensor Game for Diamond and Touch Pro

February 8, 2009 | By tjlikes3G

Well the folks at XDA Developers never seem to dissapoint us. It seems XDA member zehlein has designed a new game that utilizes the G-Sensor in the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro.

Here is what this game is all about:

“This game is about gravity and balls. With the movement of your hand (left/right tilting) you control the paddle that explodes the balls. Tilting up and down changes the gravitational force applied to the balls. This way you can accelerate them, slow them down or even make them fly to heaven again…”

This game is brand new, and not a whole lot is known about it at this time. It does appear from the few responses given on XDA that the sensitivity of the G-Sensor controls could stand to be more sensitive, and there may be a possible issue with the backlight timing out.

Overall though, the game looks to be very stable right from the start, and we are certain that if any bugs are identified, they will be addressed with a quickness. As far as we can tell, compatible devices are the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro.

So if you are a gamer and have been awaiting something new to pass the time, head to the original thread here to grab the download or to learn more.

Let us know how you like this game in the comments.

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PocketGravity updated to support the HTC Touch HD

January 4, 2009 | By Surur

PocketGravity is an innovative piece of software for Windows Mobile phones which allows one to create 2 dimensional objects and then run physics simulations on it. The objects can react to the real world using the G-sensor found in today’s advanced smartphones, and has now been updated to support the HTC Touch HD.

The updated software can be downloaded from this XDA-Developers thread here.

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GRemote’s Wii-like GRace module

January 3, 2009 | By Surur

We have written about GRemote before, but the software has continued to evolve at a great pace since then.

GRemote allows you to use your Windows Mobile smartphone to control your PC cursor, mouse and keyboard. The software, which now has its own home on the web, is now usable for remote input both with and without an accelerometer, and offers touch pads, keyboard and even media-centre-specific controls.

It is however when the G-Sensor gets involved when the fun begins, as can be seen below in a demo of the GRace module.

To read more about the application, which is now on version version 0.5.2, see GBM Software here.

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New Commerical G-Sensor game – Marble Worlds 2

December 27, 2008 | By Aleis

Marble World is a version of “guide the ball down the hill“- game which has been around since the ZX Spectrum. Whats different these days is that we are not controlling the ball with our joystick anymore.

Marble Worlds 2 is only the second commercial game I know of that uses the G-sensor, the other being Resco Bubbles.

In Marble World 2 you guide your Marble through the isometric 3D scenery of Marble Worlds collecting gems and solving puzzles as you go. The game is large and you can explore one hundred play areas across 5 different themed worlds.

Use features such as bounce pads, air blowers, jet holes and exploding bombs whilst avoiding the evil marbles. Marble Worlds is a highly addictive and playable challenge, and hours of fun.

The game now features full touch screen control and but also supports the accelerometer on the HTC Diamond series devices. I have tried it successfully on the HTC Touch HD, where it gives an amazing giant-screen experience. Improvements over Marble World 1 include a new gaming engine which now supports more detailed graphics, an updates user interface, and many additional new features.

Touch screen control
Accelerometer (tilt control)
Air Blowers to float on
Rebounders to bounce off extra fast
Trampolines to bounce extra high
Energy draining water
Slippery Ice
Switches and changing scenery
Bombs and exploding blocks
Bridges to cross gaps and chasms
See through fences and glass panels
Jet holes to propel your marble sky high
Portals to warp from one place to another
Evil marbles that zap your strength
Checkpoints and save game feature
Popup hints to aid puzzle solving
Practice level feature
High score table!

The game is on sale for $14.95/£9.95. While this is well within the range of most Windows Mobile games a rather contentious issue is that 4Pocket sells the same game for the iPhone for only $2.99 with essentially the same content.

We hope to have a full video review later.

Read more about the game at 4Pocket.com.

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