[neilep (OP)]

Dear Ipodologists.

As a sheepy I am of course an expert at remaining upright and on the level when needed.

My son's Ipod has a nifty little function....

It looks like this..

 [ Invalid Attachment ]


Nice eh ?

How does the spirit level function work ?..As a firm believer in empirical study I gently opened his Ipod with a sledgehammer but could find no evidence of some oil and bubbles. Knowing how much my son loves jigsaws I can't wait to see the joy in his face when I present him with the bits and pieces that is his Ipod.

So, until I am greeted with elational joy, can ewe help me and explain how an electronic thingy can act as a spirit level ?

Thankin Ewe for your kind consideration in the matter


hugs


Neil
Ipod, therefore I am !
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[RD]

Accelerometers are increasingly being incorporated into personal electronic devices. Some smartphones and personal digital assistants contain accelerometers for user interface control. Prominent examples include the Samsung Omnia, Nokia N96, Nokia 5800, Sony Ericsson W910i, the Palm Pre, Blackberry Storm, HTC Touch Diamond, Apple iPhone, the Apple iPod touch, the Apple iPod Nano 4G, the Google G1 and the new Microsoft Zune HD, scheduled for release in the fall of 2009.

Gaming devices like the Wii Remote [35] for Nintendo's Wii game console contains a three-axis accelerometer from Analog Devices to sense movement which complements its pointer functionality. This provides more realistic game control.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer#Consumer_Electronics

[chris]

That's correct; the devices incorporate detectors that can sense the orientation of the camera so that the correct aspect is displayed when viewing or taking pictures or reading information from the screen. This "keystone" function is quite commonplace and the application on the iPod is reading the output from the orientation-sensors and displaying them visually. I'm actually quite surprised that software has access to this because I never realised it was possible, but there you go!

Chris

[neilep (OP)]

Thank you RD & Chris.

These things are that accurate ?..or are they in fact the quintessence of accuracy  ?

[RD]

Unlike a real bubble I think it could be susceptible to accumulated error and could drift.
(the user has to calibrate it on a "true" horizontal surface).

[Don_1]

More's to the point, why would one desire a spirit level in an Ipod? Is Apple trying to emulate the Swiss Army knife with an electronic version. I have never found anyone who genuinely uses a Swiss Army knife except for the knife blade.

[neilep (OP)]

Unlike a real bubble I think it could be susceptible to accumulated error and could drift.
(the user has to calibrate it on a "true" horizontal surface).

Thanks RD. Presumably the use of a real spirit level would be best to calibrate it then ?..the instructions refer to a public building etc etc...! I'm surprised by that. I will have to take my real spirit level and check all public buildings now !

[neilep (OP)]

More's to the point, why would one desire a spirit level in an Ipod? Is Apple trying to emulate the Swiss Army knife with an electronic version. I have never found anyone who genuinely uses a Swiss Army knife except for the knife blade.

I agree Don. I was most surprised to see it on my sons Ipod. Next thing ewe know they'll have these things playing music and stuff !  []

[Don_1]

What a good idea, I think you should patent that without delay, before some other bugger nick's your wonderful idea and makes a fortune out of it.

[neilep (OP)]

Dear Patentologists,

Blah blah blah Ipod blah blah blah MP3 blah blah blah music & stuff blah blah Itunes ? blah blah podcasts blah 79p blah.

yours sincerely

Blah

[Don_1]

That should do the trick!

[neilep (OP)]

Yep,

That'll learn em. Ewe gotta get up pretty early in the morning to get the better of me !!

[RD]

... why would one desire a spirit level in an Ipod?  

I think this "spot the difference" i-phone applicaton will be more popular than spirit level.

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

http://www.posimotion.com/index.php?argv=apps&opt=bikini

[lyner]

lovely sunset.
Outstanding, even.
Only one of her armpits is hairy - 'strordinary -  strordinhairy, even.