Since Nokia released a preview video for their upcoming S60 Touch UI, developers have been targeting devices with built-in accelerometers. It all started thanks to a short clip in Nokia’s S60 Touch demo video showing a woman flipping her phone face-down on a table to silence an incoming call. Manufacturers such as Sony Ericsson and Apple have implemented accelerometers in a variety of ways out of the box, but the only factory implementation of the accelerometer in most S60 devices is to note image orientation while using the camera. Small private developers have since given us a variety of applications including an app that automatically rotates the orientation of the display, an app that allows you to mimic directional-pad button presses by gesturing with the phone, and even an inclinometer for off roading. With his latest addition to the fray, developer Tong Ren has been making quite a splash thanks to his freeware app Flip Silent. In a nutshell, Ren’s app brings it back to the origin of the development rush; Flip Silent will automatically silence or disconnect an incoming call when you flip your phone face-down. The latest version also adds the ability to snooze or disable alarms by flipping the device. Sure, this isn’t really ground-breaking stuff but it’s pretty cool functionality that could easily be implemented on plenty of devices, S60 and others. How would you like to see your device make use of an accelerometer?
Flip Silent for S60: Silence Calls by Flipping your Phone
Published Jan 14th, 2008 11:50AM EST
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Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.
His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.
