Tired of pushing all those buttons on your cellphone? Japanese handsets slated to hit stores next month are designed to solve that problem: they respond to shakes, tilts and jiggles.
The cellphones — manufactured by Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corporation for Vodafone KK, the Japan unit of the British cellphone giant — come equipped with a tiny motion-control sensor, a computer chip that recognises and responds to movement.
Just jerk your cellphone in the air in a variety of patterns made of up of two simple moves — combining left-right or top-down movements — to programme the phone in nine different ways to scroll or jump to e-mail or other features.
It takes a bit of practice. In a demonstration for reporters on Monday, I had repeated problems getting the phone to respond to my left and then right shake, although it was supposed to jump to the games menu.
It’s far easier just to endure the hassle of pushing buttons.
The sensor, made by Aichi Steel Corporation, not only detects the direction toward which the cellphone is moving but also the speed and force with which it’s being jerked around.
This makes for new kinds of gaming fun.
In The House of the Dead, the mobile version of the Sega game, players can actually aim their cellphone in various directions like a gun to shoot the zombies who appear to be coming from all sides in the display.
Another is a golfing game from Taito. Users swing the handset like a golf club, making a virtual ball pop around on a virtual course.
You can also make the sensor work to move your cursor by tilting the phone in the direction you want the cursor to go. At least that was easy.
The phone also doubles as an electronic musical instrument.
First, you select your favourite sound from a menu that includes clapping, tambourine, maracas, a whistle blow, yelps and other noises.
Then you start shaking. The sounds play in time to your moves. Vodafone is recommending that feature for karaoke and parties.
Vodafone is not giving a price or sales target for the handset, which will be sold only in Japan for now. It said it is working on other kinds of games for the Japanese handset using movement but did not give details. — Sapa-AP