Database Users

3D Holgram for Touch Diamond?

Heya all,
I have been looking at the iHologram app and it would be awesome to have one for the HTC...
http://adameatstilk.blogspot.com/2008/08/hologram-cat-on-iphone.html
Any Ideas?

hm...looks very nice and smooth, maybe just another fullscreen vid?

It is a fake - the designer only wanted to show a concept.

Heh, the designer did prove the idea that people think of Apple's devices as being allmighty and all powerful. Anyone wonder how the iPhone knows to whose direction this 'anamorphic perspective rendering' should be rendered? Or how it knows to render towards the videocamera instead of the cameramans eyes? How to do this with multiple people?
Somebody actually did this with the Wii, as you can use the remote control to 'localize' yourself.

It is not real!!! It is just an idea....
http://gizmodo.com/5041304/ihologram-3d-iphone-app-was-just-for-show-not-peek-into-alternate-world

to make this happen
you have to locate the sight of the user and only one user can experience the 3D effect. impossible to make it work on iphone or any ppc now (hardware limitation)
its funny but do not have that great value on the market

of course it´s a fake. how could the iphone detect moving itself around it´s own axis laying flat on the table? magical rotation sensor?

So I guess there could be a couple of problems:
- How do you tell the observer's perspective?
- Can the Diamond's g sensor tell when its rotated on a flat surface? (The lightsaber app doesn't seem to register much - but I will admit thats far from empirical testing )

Jamzb said:
So I guess there could be a couple of problems:
- How do you tell the observer's perspective?
- Can the Diamond's g sensor tell when its rotated on a flat surface? (The lightsaber app doesn't seem to register much - but I will admit thats far from empirical testing )
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Click to collapse
Maybe eye tracking using front camera?
using the wii VR demo, I experienced that the effect is reached best when the screen follows the head/eye movement instead of the other way around.

Jamzb said:
- Can the Diamond's g sensor tell when its rotated on a flat surface? (The lightsaber app doesn't seem to register much - but I will admit thats far from empirical testing )
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Click to collapse
It would need a gyroscope. But i never imagine a cellphone whit a 3axis acc so just wait six months or so

soundonly said:
to make this happen
you have to locate the sight of the user and only one user can experience the 3D effect. impossible to make it work on iphone or any ppc now (hardware limitation)
its funny but do not have that great value on the market
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not a fake. It is not magic. And no you don't need superduper hardware. It is actually working on iPhone, it assumes a fixed position of the viewer, that's why it works only for one viewer (at the correct angle). Read here about it: http://www.davidoreilly.com/blog/2008/08/ihologram-update/

Holographic effect
You can have a nice holographic effect without a gyroscope...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugoq8M2XxVE

faethon said:
It is not a fake. It is not magic. And no you don't need superduper hardware. It is actually working on iPhone, it assumes a fixed position of the viewer, that's why it works only for one viewer (at the correct angle). Read here about it: http://www.davidoreilly.com/blog/2008/08/ihologram-update/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL - that link says this....
The iHologram app was not real. It was an illustration of an idea I had which I believe could work with the technology (combining anamorphosis and motion sensing). Unfortunately I’m just an ideas person, and I can show how things should look, but I’m no hardcore programmer.
I’d be happy to collaborate with a developer or studio who want’s to make it happen, I’m bursting with ideas for the interactive world, but right now all my attention is on filmmaking.
My aim with this was to tackle the problem of 3d viewing in an original way using current technology, not fool anyone… so for those who doubted but still supported it, respect. I hope it inspires some talented programmers out there.

gerDiamond said:
You can have a nice holographic effect without a gyroscope...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugoq8M2XxVE
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Thanks for the post, this is the way i assumed something like this could work.
In the 3d world, besides being on an axis, there are virtually unlimited points to perceive an object. This guys application simply assumes the user is watching from an axis perpendicular to the screen, which is how we as people usually look at any display.
This way, no matter how you tilt the phone, it can react accordingly to you looking down on it, with gravity below it.

gerDiamond said:
You can have a nice holographic effect without a gyroscope...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugoq8M2XxVE
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Click to collapse
This is a nice ap!!!!

yeh that dice app looks nice

In the dice experiment, he shakes the phone, it isn't rotation. (I only say that for people who can think strange things xD)

I have seen the dice app on the iphone. It does look very very nice. I cant code but surely the Diamond can compete on ths level. ?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=421806

Sorry but thats not even in the same league..

[APP] Anyone seen this EYE poping & AMAZIG APP??

An app for the iPhone that simulates a lighter. Yup, you heard that right. So why is it all the rage in Europe and Japan? Read on.
This is insane.
iPhone users all over Europe and Japan have been going ga-ga over a new app released by a company called Smule. Basically, "Sonic Lighter" is software that displays a virtual lighter on your iPhone; with e-flames blazing on your phone's screen. And yes, the flame "sways" depending on how you move your phone. The main attraction though is something else.
The app is location-aware: if you choose, you can display your location on a virtual globe. When you do so, and when you run the app, you show up as a flame shaped blip on this map. The more you run the app, the more "kilojoules" you burn -- which further brightens your area on the globe. When you're done for the day, just blow on the microphone to "extinguish" the flame. For those who think it's not cool enough, you can ignite other lighters on iPhones near you.
Not satisfied? Have a look at this:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2XUw6Hy4Tzk
http://www.smule.com/products/
WILL IT BE AVAILABLE FOR OUR HTC TOUCH DIAMOND????

that guy blowing his iphone is creepy.

wow
really useless

Setting fire to iPhones is great idea, nice thread.
Don't they just spontaneously combust anyway?

N3m3515 said:
wow
really useless
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+1. Can someone explain how this software make my life easier/better?

it will not make life easier/better, but its cool to know what ur phone is able to do

lude219 said:
+1. Can someone explain how this software make my life easier/better?
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Can someone explain how this software make my life harder/worse?

Zida2k said:
it will not make life easier/better, but its cool to know what ur phone is able to do
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Click to collapse
I'd like my phone to take care of the kitchen

well thats useless .. but also fun! .. i put these apps from time to time to have fun with my little brother & sister lol
i wouldnt mind to get this app on my diamond

The brilliant thing is, is that the Diamond is perfectly capable of doing this is someone was willing to create the application. The only reason we don't see as many cool applications as there are for the iPhone, is because there is little to no advertising to draw the consumers in, and there's no officially released SDK for the sensors on the Diamond.
The Diamond does actually havemore hardware based sensors than the iPhone does, and it also has the added advantage of being able to run programs made by any random user with a compiler handy.

No Accelerometer In Touch Hd!!!

Conclusion: There IS Accelerometer, only they call it G-Sensor, thanks for all the feedback!
Dear fellows,
I was unpleasantly surprised to find that Touch HD does NOT have an accelerometer, rather only a G-Sensor. (Some more detail: Accelerometer is supposed to sense "acceleration," typically in all three dimensions x,y and z. With software support, orientation sensing can be done as one usage. G-Sensor is an inferior sensor that only gives information about orientation, no velocity/acceleration sensing). Although it can be argued that most typical uses are covered by G-Sensor (like screen orientation), but the key word is "most" Accelerometer is definitively more useful in gaming, and potentially other applications. I searched several other threads and found many people equating G-Sensor with accelerometer. I hope this thread can add some clarification.
To me it looks like another effort by HTC to cut on a few bucks. Anyway I still consider it as a minor setback to me in my overall enthusiasm for Touh HD Just missing one good argument to an iphone user (no iphone debate wars intended here )
Best regards.

waqarz said:
Dear fellows,
I was unpleasantly surprised to find that Touch HD does NOT have an accelerometer, rather only a G-Sensor. (Some more detail: Accelerometer is supposed to sense "acceleration," typically in all three dimensions x,y and z. With software support, orientation sensing can be done as one usage. G-Sensor is an inferior sensor that only gives information about orientation, no velocity/acceleration sensing). Although it can be argued that most typical uses are covered by G-Sensor (like screen orientation), but the key word is "most" Accelerometer is definitively more useful in gaming, and potentially other applications. I searched several other threads and found many people equating G-Sensor with accelerometer. I hope this thread can add some clarification.
To me it looks like another effort by HTC to cut on a few bucks. Anyway I still consider it as a minor setback to me in my overall enthusiasm for Touh HD Just missing one good argument to an iphone user (no iphone debate wars intended here )
Best regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
another victim fallen to the marketing gimmick of a "buzz word", accelerometer, despite its name doesn't necessary mean it must detect acceleration, iphone's accelerometer doesn't do that. none on the market do that. if in the future there's a similar device that can detect acceleration, then it may fall into the "accelerometer" category, or market people will create a new buzz word to highlight its features.
but g senor, motion sensor and accelerometer are the same thing as the market/technology stands now. i made the same mistake and was corrected as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=436592#7

buggybug0 said:
another victim fallen to the marketing gimmick of a "buzz word", accelerometer, despite its name doesn't necessary mean it must detect acceleration, iphone's accelerometer doesn't do that. none on the market do that. if in the future there's a similar device that can detect acceleration, then it may fall into the "accelerometer" category, or market people will create a new buzz word to highlight its features.
but g senor, motion sensor and accelerometer are the same thing as the market/technology stands now. i made the same mistake and was corrected as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=436592#7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Well if this is indeed true (that iphone and others also only have a G-Sensor) I dont think I can call it marketing gimik. It is plain dishonesty. An accelerometer is a well understood term, misusing it is... well!
But have you checked that for iphone. I will check that tomorrow with one colleague who has one. Wikipedia gives different info here, I quote:
"For example, Apple uses an LIS302DL accelerometer in the iPhone, iPod Touch and the 4th generation iPod Nano allowing the device to know when it is tilted on its side."
LIS302DL is indeed a full blown accelerometer, not just g-sensor! So lets recheck and compare our notes. Thanks for the feedback!

I think the proof is in the fact that you cant do anything with the Iphone's "accelerometer" that you cant also do with the HTC "g-sensor" If there was a fundamental difference in their capability it would have been exploited by now.

WILD9 said:
If there was a fundamental difference in their capability it would have been exploited by now.
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http://www.CarTrackApp.com/

fallenczar said:
http://www.CarTrackApp.com/
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And in response... [APP] gMeter for HTC Touch Diamond/Pro [Second release]

edit: damn beaten to it!

waqarz said:
Thanks. Well if this is indeed true (that iphone and others also only have a G-Sensor) I dont think I can call it marketing gimik. It is plain dishonesty. An accelerometer is a well understood term, misusing it is... well!
But have you checked that for iphone. I will check that tomorrow with one colleague who has one. Wikipedia gives different info here, I quote:
"For example, Apple uses an LIS302DL accelerometer in the iPhone, iPod Touch and the 4th generation iPod Nano allowing the device to know when it is tilted on its side."
LIS302DL is indeed a full blown accelerometer, not just g-sensor! So lets recheck and compare our notes. Thanks for the feedback!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These two apps prove you wrong.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=431965
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=422662
Surur

surur said:
These two apps prove you wrong.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=431965
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=422662
Surur
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Wake up ppl, all these applications discussed above are using GPS signal in conjunction with G-sensing. So this discussion is not relevant to this topic!!
Doing some more digging here and the source code shows my first post is accurate. There IS a FULL LIS302DL accelerometer in iphone, and we are stuck with G-Sensor of HD.... means we cant "shake things around" literally.

waqarz said:
Wake up ppl, all these applications discussed above are using GPS signal in conjunction with G-sensing. So this discussion is not relevant to this topic!!
Doing some more digging here and the source code shows my first post is accurate. There IS a FULL LIS302DL accelerometer in iphone, and we are stuck with G-Sensor of HD.... means we cant "shake things around" literally.
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Click to collapse
No they don't use GPS for Accel, it is impossible to measure short time Accell with GPS accuracy.
G-Sensor is just another Name for Accelerometer. Both Sensors (IPhone and HD) have nearly the same accuracy in there API, so if you look to the source of the IPhone you should also look at the Sensor-API of the HTC's ;_)).
So HD/Diamond/Raphael has not only a "Tilt-On/Off"-Sensor as you try to explain, it is indeed a "full"-Accelerometer. You could just install one of the mentioned Programs to prove that the indeed are measuring acceleration .
And if you are really interested you should look at: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2008/07/using-htc-touch-diamond-sensor-sdk-from.html
to learn how to program the Accelerometer.
BTW Gyroscope-Sensors are brand new, and no phone to date has one , the should be cheaper and more accurate as the today build in Sensors.

Rivendel is absolutely right. The applications wouldn't work without a proper accelerometer.
Originally, micromachined accelerometers would have been very expensive, but now there is so much demand for them that they can be bought for about a dollar in large quantity.

Rivendel said:
No they don't use GPS for Accel, it is impossible to measure short time Accell with GPS accuracy.
G-Sensor is just another Name for Accelerometer. Both Sensors (IPhone and HD) have nearly the same accuracy in there API, so if you look to the source of the IPhone you should also look at the Sensor-API of the HTC's ;_)).
So HD/Diamond/Raphael has not only a "Tilt-On/Off"-Sensor as you try to explain, it is indeed a "full"-Accelerometer. You could just install one of the mentioned Programs to prove that the indeed are measuring acceleration .
And if you are really interested you should look at: http://www.koushikdutta.com/2008/07/using-htc-touch-diamond-sensor-sdk-from.html
to learn how to program the Accelerometer.
BTW Gyroscope-Sensors are brand new, and no phone to date has one , the should be cheaper and more accurate as the today build in Sensors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, yes I guess you are right too; Pocket GForce register lots of Gs just moving the device sideways without tilting it much, so some measurement of acceleration is there. Then may be, HTC ppl should upgrade and call it accelerometer!

waqarz said:
OK, yes I guess you are right too; Pocket GForce register lots of Gs just moving the device sideways without tilting it much, so some measurement of acceleration is there. Then may be, HTC ppl should upgrade and call it accelerometer!
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Click to collapse
Well G-Sensor does allude to acceleration if you take name to mean a sensor which measures G-Force....

G sensors and accelerometers are exactly the same thing.the former is more of layman and commercial term while the later is the more appropriate technical term.what it does is measure acceleration as its name suggest.this device can be position in any axis(x,y,z).a complete system should consist of 3 accelerometers in exact tangent to each other in those 3 axis so that it can sense vertical,horizontal and lateral accelerations.since acceleration is measured in "meters/seconds squared"the value of acceleration when integrated once will give u distance and when integrated twice will give u time.this is the basis of any stand alone navigation or guidance systems but it must be coupled with a 3 axis gyroscopic system to give attitude information.in the phone,the accelerometers measure the gravity force which has an acceleration of approx 10 m/s squared.the resultant output will determine the phone's orientation

it has an acceltomater, with diamonds vr hologram, if you lay it on a flat surface, and push it artound, it wil stil move

Rivendel said:
BTW Gyroscope-Sensors are brand new, and no phone to date has one , the should be cheaper and more accurate as the today build in Sensors.
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Some Nokia phones have had Gyroscope-Sensor for over year by now, it rotates the map in the navigating software real time when u spin around, its very handy when navigating by walking.

I think that's a digital compass in the Nokia phones. A lot of the recent ones don't have the compass though (N95, etc.)

Thinking of switching to G2 from Vibrant; how is the GPS/Compass?

Hey G2'ers, I've got a question: how well does your GPS work?
I (and the wife) currently own Samsung Vibrants, which are great devices save for the woeful GPS and compass performance. Turns out this is kind of a big deal; google nav completely flakes out in cities or at stop lights, and I find myself horribly frustrated with it. As a point of comparison, I find that device much worse than the GPS on my old Nokia N95 or iPhone 3G.
I'd love to know how the GPS on the G2 holds up; does it get a lock quickly? Is it accurate when recording tracks? Does google nav's arrow point in the correct direction when you're stationary? Does sky maps work?
Especially awesome would be opinions from anybody who's used both devices.
Thanks!

I have both devices. Suffered through some of the woes on the Vibrant with the GPS, locating fixes. Froyo on the Vibrant seems to fix some of the issues but truth be told, I still have had GPS issues. On the G2, I have not used tracks but I have used GPS a bit like "places" and "maps". Both seem to get locks very quickly compared to the Vibrant. The external quality of the G2 seems better at a subjective level to me since it feels "metal-ly" and the Vibrant while slick looking still feels kinda plastic.
The main issue for me was rooting and getting the latest updates. The Vibrant took awhile to get some ROMs going with Froyo and after loading a few different ones, it still seems a work in progress. The G2 comes with a "vanilla" look but they load these applications which for some reason they think I would want. There are ways to remove or disable them without getting root.
All in all, I like the G2 for its "heft" and feel in my hand. The G2 feels like you are holding something and its physically a beautiful phone to me. The Vibrant is all glossy and plastic looking. Both phones are nice. Given the choice, I would take the G2 since its been rooted permanently. I would choose the Vibrant for other reasons like a simple root path; but Froyo has taken way too long and I got tired of waiting.
I'm not convinced battery life is much better on either; but on the G2, I've been running JuiceDefender Ultimate and I get decent battery life on the regular battery. On the Vibrant with Froyo it seemed the battery just drained and I think there are processes running when the handset is in standby which drain the battery IMO.
Final analysis for me is what phone I feel the most comfortable using. I like the G2 for many reasons and have given the Vibrant to my daughter as her first touch screen phone. She likes lots of games and the display and the Vibrant will hold bunches of stuff.
I can't help with the final decision because its yours.

mpmilestogo said:
I have both devices. Suffered through some of the woes on the Vibrant with the GPS, locating fixes. Froyo on the Vibrant seems to fix some of the issues but truth be told, I still have had GPS issues. On the G2, I have not used tracks but I have used GPS a bit like "places" and "maps". Both seem to get locks very quickly compared to the Vibrant. The external quality of the G2 seems better at a subjective level to me since it feels "metal-ly" and the Vibrant while slick looking still feels kinda plastic.
The main issue for me was rooting and getting the latest updates. The Vibrant took awhile to get some ROMs going with Froyo and after loading a few different ones, it still seems a work in progress. The G2 comes with a "vanilla" look but they load these applications which for some reason they think I would want. There are ways to remove or disable them without getting root.
All in all, I like the G2 for its "heft" and feel in my hand. The G2 feels like you are holding something and its physically a beautiful phone to me. The Vibrant is all glossy and plastic looking. Both phones are nice. Given the choice, I would take the G2 since its been rooted permanently. I would choose the Vibrant for other reasons like a simple root path; but Froyo has taken way too long and I got tired of waiting.
I'm not convinced battery life is much better on either; but on the G2, I've been running JuiceDefender Ultimate and I get decent battery life on the regular battery. On the Vibrant with Froyo it seemed the battery just drained and I think there are processes running when the handset is in standby which drain the battery IMO.
Final analysis for me is what phone I feel the most comfortable using. I like the G2 for many reasons and have given the Vibrant to my daughter as her first touch screen phone. She likes lots of games and the display and the Vibrant will hold bunches of stuff.
I can't help with the final decision because its yours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, thanks for the input.
The slow pace of progress on the Vibrant is also a cause of concern for me. Even though the G2 has suffered in getting root working initially, the fact that it's an HTC device seems to be radically speeding up progress now that it's been rooted. The unfortunate lack of open source drivers for some key components in the Vibrant means that, at least for a while, a pure AOSP-based release is off the table, and waiting for Samsung is a real downer.
Now all that said, I really love the Vibrant's form factor and display. I've held a demo G2 and it feels great, but it's a bit on the clunky side for me. I know I'd be OK with it, it's just not exactly what I want; if I could have the G2's guts in the Vibrant's form factor (and with the Vibrant's display!) I'd be all over it
Ultimately, all that said, a working *good* GPS and compass are going to be the deciding factors for me though. I just rely on that stuff too much to be happy with the performance I see from the Vibrant.

JeremyNT said:
Does google nav's arrow point in the correct direction when you're stationary? Does sky maps work?
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What you are asking for is impossible. GPS does not provide any information on ORIENTATION, nor is it used in sky maps any more significantly than simply finding your location on the surface of the planet. Sky maps uses the COMPASS much more than the GPS since it can actually determine your orientation wrt the planet's magnetic field.
GPS devices can only judge a direction that you are pointing by assuming that the DIRECTION you are moving in **IS FORWARD**. If you are driving backwards, google maps will turn the map upside down.
Now vibrant is a samsung phone. You realize that the nexus S is as well? It has apparently been delayed on account of THIS EXACT PROBLEM. There is some SERIOUS issue, either with the firmware or with the hardware on those devices that is leading to your frustrations... and there are apparently MULTIPLE causes coming together.
I really wouldn't worry about the GPS and compass on the VISION. HTC (unlike samsung) has a good track record with these components.

My g2 has a great gps. Locks quick and is accurate every time. I've used tracks to test and walking 100 yards and back with varying direction was mapped perfectly.
I had the captivated before (ATT version of vibrant) and it was horrible. The file system, gps, battery life, random shutdowns, cheap feel, plus ATT locks the market down and disabled sidelong of apps.
The problems of the g2 are minor compared that other mess of a phone. JMO
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Agreed with everyone. The Galaxy S gps is horribly slow.(don't get me started on the touchwiz interface)
But there have been people who liked the galaxy s more than the g2, and because you are asking this in a g2 section.. it tends to be a bit bias.
I would go to a store and check active demos and decide for yourself.

One of the best phone out there, with oc to 1.4 ghz it will be best keyboard phone out there for a while. Stock android is a only way to go. Other addons like track pad wake just make a cherry on top and I am sure that there will be more cool stuff to follow. Hope this helps.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

dhkr123 said:
What you are asking for is impossible. GPS does not provide any information on ORIENTATION, nor is it used in sky maps any more significantly than simply finding your location on the surface of the planet. Sky maps uses the COMPASS much more than the GPS since it can actually determine your orientation wrt the planet's magnetic field.
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Click to collapse
Google navigation uses the compass to determine orientation of the arrow when you're stationary. I know this because, in the case of the Vibrant, the compass is always wrong. This contributes to issues when I'm sitting at a light, since google nav will use the (bogus) compass reading on the Vibrant and decide I must be facing the wrong way, triggering a reroute.

JeremyNT said:
Google navigation uses the compass to determine orientation of the arrow when you're stationary. I know this because, in the case of the Vibrant, the compass is always wrong. This contributes to issues when I'm sitting at a light, since google nav will use the (bogus) compass reading on the Vibrant and decide I must be facing the wrong way, triggering a reroute.
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Click to collapse
It doesn't use the compass. It is constantly polling the GPS to see which direction you are traveling. So if one second you are at a specific location and the next second you are 5 feet to the North, it thinks you are moving North at a speed of 5ft/s. The reason they don't use the compass to see what direction you are traveling is because what if you turn your phone sideways while navigating? Or what if I turn my phone sideways to the left but you turn your sideways to the right? Will you be traveling backwards?
It polls the GPS. And since the GPS on the Vibrant is so inaccurate and unreliable, it sometimes thinks you have moved when you are standing still. That's why it sometimes thinks you are facing backwards when you are at a stoplight. It thinks that you have actually moved backwards a foot or two.

gravis86 said:
It doesn't use the compass. It is constantly polling the GPS to see which direction you are traveling. So if one second you are at a specific location and the next second you are 5 feet to the North, it thinks you are moving North at a speed of 5ft/s. The reason they don't use the compass to see what direction you are traveling is because what if you turn your phone sideways while navigating? Or what if I turn my phone sideways to the left but you turn your sideways to the right? Will you be traveling backwards?
It polls the GPS. And since the GPS on the Vibrant is so inaccurate and unreliable, it sometimes thinks you have moved when you are standing still. That's why it sometimes thinks you are facing backwards when you are at a stoplight. It thinks that you have actually moved backwards a foot or two.
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Google maps most certainly does use the compass to determine which direction the arrow points if you're stationary.

keenerb said:
Google maps most certainly does use the compass to determine which direction the arrow points if you're stationary.
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Click to collapse
Tell me, how does the compass know what direction you are facing?

gravis86 said:
Tell me, how does the compass know what direction you are facing?
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Because it's a COMPASS, man. It's a tiny little magnet(*) inside the phone that a sensor uses to determine whether you're facing north, south, east, or west.
How do you think layar or google sky maps knows which direction you're facing if you're standing still?

keenerb said:
Because it's a COMPASS, man. It's a tiny little magnet(*) inside the phone that a sensor uses to determine whether you're facing north, south, east, or west.
How do you think layar or google sky maps knows which direction you're facing if you're standing still?
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Click to collapse
I know what a compass is. What I meant was how does it know what direction YOU are facing? I'll answer that question for you. It doesn't. A compass tells which direction is North relative to the orientation of the compass (or in this case phone) itself.
If you assume that the top edge of the phone is always pointing in the direction the user is facing, then the compass would work for that. This is how the Google Sky Maps application works - it assumes that you are facing the same direction as the camera on the back of the phone. So it works.
Assuming that any particular edge of the phone is facing forward during navigation is bad programming. Like I asked earlier, what if I turn my phone upside-down, or one the right side versus the left? The compass will know what direction the phone is facing, but now the phone is facing the opposite direction of me. So does it think I'm going backwards?

Of course, if you hold your phone upside down, or backwards, the compass may report an incorrect direction.
That doesn't really have any bearing on my comment, or the fact that google maps WILL use the compass to determine orientation when stationary.
I think you're rebutting an argument I'm not making.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

keenerb said:
Of course, if you hold your phone upside down, or backwards, the compass may report an incorrect direction.
That doesn't really have any bearing on my comment, or the fact that google maps WILL use the compass to determine orientation when stationary.
I think you're rebutting an argument I'm not making.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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I was showing you the reasoning behind why Google Maps does not use the compass to determine orientation. It does not because it can not. Google engineers aren't that dumb. The only time Google Maps activates the compass it when the user has selected StreetView.

I disagree on both counts.
The reason google maps uses derived direction of travel rather than compass orientation is because direction of travel is more useful to a moving vehicle than true orientation. That, and some devices may not have a functional or calibrated compass.
Also, on my google maps, while standing still, the arrow is currently indicating my true orientation based on the internal compass. Perhaps your version is different.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I totally forgot about the accelerometer. My bad. Google Maps uses the accelerometer to determine the orientation of the device relative to you, and then the compass to determine the orientation of the device relative to the Earth. So it actually can see what direction you are facing... I stand corrected.

My gps was having nasty issues pre OTA, but now it works beautifully
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I love these forums. We start with a question about the Vibrant versus the G2 handset. We end up and I learn a lot about compasses, GPS, which way I should face, and accelerometers!
Thanks wizards of XDA. You guys rule! I mean it seriously. The evolution of threads on XDA is an interesting cultural and sociological perspective.

Compass performance

I couldn't find it anywhere in here, and when I searched for "Compass" the only place I found it being mentioned outside of specsheet posts was when the Clove guy asked what we would like to know about it and I said "compass performance." Ha.
Anyway, can anyone tell me how the compass apps are getting along? I've resigned to the fact it'll never be as good as the iPhone's compass (although maybe that's just my subconscious trying to set myself up for a pleasant surprise), but I would like decent compass performance this time around. (for comparison sake, if you have a chance, check out the iPhone's compass. It's silky smooth and accurate, whereas the SGS' compass left me to wonder if I was in my own house or someone else's across the street).

I'm not trying to be snide but my iPhone 3GS compass never really worked properly. It always said there was interference and asked me to wave my hand around in a figure 8, yet no matter how much of a douche I made myself look like waving it around it never righted itself. Faulty model I know. I should have got a replacement. But still, not all of them worked well....
....I get my SGS2 tomorrow so hopefully it ACTUALLY works unlike that in my iPhone...

Please keep me posted if you will!
I did not get to try the 3GS' compass, but my wife has an iPhone4 and it is spot on. Doesn't jerk around or nothing, it snaps to the right position right away. The SGS' performance is pathetic in comparison. If I spin it around, it takes over a second to actually move, and even then, it never settles anywhere, no matter how still I hold it. Fingers crossed!

I'd give it an 8/10. It's pretty accurate in general, but moving it very fast sometimes seems to cause it confusion. Seems to be slightly off by a couple degrees when pointing directly south as well. It's about as good as any compass I've seen in a phone though, and way better than in the SGS1.

Bernardos70 said:
I couldn't find it anywhere in here, and when I searched for "Compass" the only place I found it being mentioned outside of specsheet posts was when the Clove guy asked what we would like to know about it and I said "compass performance." Ha.
Anyway, can anyone tell me how the compass apps are getting along? I've resigned to the fact it'll never be as good as the iPhone's compass (although maybe that's just my subconscious trying to set myself up for a pleasant surprise), but I would like decent compass performance this time around. (for comparison sake, if you have a chance, check out the iPhone's compass. It's silky smooth and accurate, whereas the SGS' compass left me to wonder if I was in my own house or someone else's across the street).
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Do you mean compass or GPS? I've never had compass issues on any Android device, but I don't see how a compass tells you which house you are in, unless you also have a location...

That was sort of a joke, sorry about that. No, I mean compass, if you download compass from the market and run that... I've tried quite a few compasses, and none of them are accurate, and most are only borderline usable. The G1's (HTC Dream worldwide, I think) compass was better, for comparison. And the iPhone4's is perfect.

Bernardos70 said:
That was sort of a joke, sorry about that. No, I mean compass, if you download compass from the market and run that... I've tried quite a few compasses, and none of them are accurate, and most are only borderline usable. The G1's (HTC Dream worldwide, I think) compass was better, for comparison. And the iPhone4's is perfect.
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OK thought we might have been getting mixed up between the original SGS's well-publicised GPS issues...

Yeah, don't get me started on the GPS. Needless to say I'm keeping an eye on the GPS accuracy thread.
RyanZA said:
I'd give it an 8/10. It's pretty accurate in general, but moving it very fast sometimes seems to cause it confusion. Seems to be slightly off by a couple degrees when pointing directly south as well. It's about as good as any compass I've seen in a phone though, and way better than in the SGS1.
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Thank you. Decent is good enough. BTW, I used your Z4mod for a long time on my Vibrant!