Someone will make $1m with this iPhone 5 app

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
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No. I recorded the spinning from my iPad mini. The app uses the vibration motor to make the phone spin. It uses the accelerometer and pulses the vibration to control the speed. Very cool.

The iPhone 4 and 4S are too heavy and they probably don't have the same weight distribution, so it only works for iPhone 5.
 
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Childs

Lifer
Jul 9, 2000
11,313
7
81
Looks like two flaws...cant be done in the case, and it doesnt look like the phone can be horizontal. It is impressive though. At first I thought it was some form of magic.
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
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That's really cool :D App description says iPhone 5, but compatible device list shows a 4/4S too. Then again the compatible list also shows a 3GS and it can't stand on its edge cause it doesn't have one :awe:

Anyone knows for sure it doesn't work on a 4S? I don't really feel like wasting money if it won't work in the end...
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
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That's really cool :D App description says iPhone 5, but compatible device list shows a 4/4S too. Then again the compatible list also shows a 3GS and it can't stand on its edge cause it doesn't have one :awe:

Anyone knows for sure it doesn't work on a 4S? I don't really feel like wasting money if it won't work in the end...

It's meant for iPhone 5. I don't know if Apple allows apps to be flagged as "iPhone 5 only." However, the author says the iPhone 4S will sometimes turn (slowly) on a perfectly smooth and level surface. It's not recommended.
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
It's meant for iPhone 5. I don't know if Apple allows apps to be flagged as "iPhone 5 only." However, the author says the iPhone 4S will sometimes turn (slowly) on a perfectly smooth and level surface. It's not recommended.

Thanks! I guess it will need to wait then. Maybe I'll upgrade to a "5S".
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
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Thanks! I guess it will need to wait then. Maybe I'll upgrade to a "5S".

The next iPhone might have different weight distribution internally, so no one knows if it will still work with this app.
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
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91
Wrong orientation.
I swear they should not even allow recording with the phone vertical. So many videos are trashed because of this!
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
Wrong orientation.
I swear they should not even allow recording with the phone vertical. So many videos are trashed because of this!

Uhh, a vertical viewfinder is always the correct orientation for wide panorama and it wouldn't work if placed horizontal.
 

Minerva

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 1999
2,134
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Uhh, a vertical viewfinder is always the correct orientation for wide panorama and it wouldn't work if placed horizontal.

It's taking video. Video in a vertical mode should just be banned, period. :thumbsdown:

The phones when in video mode should be orientation independent. This way all the videos seen on youtube and even the news would be non existent.

Personally I see this is a really dumb idea from the start.
The phone is so skinny that it will fall over easily.
It's a poor quality device (it's a phone, ok?).
For kids to play with it may be fine but what knucklehead gives a kid a $500 phone? D:
 

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
It's taking video. Video in a vertical mode should just be banned, period. :thumbsdown:

The phones when in video mode should be orientation independent. This way all the videos seen on youtube and even the news would be non existent.

Personally I see this is a really dumb idea from the start.
The phone is so skinny that it will fall over easily.
It's a poor quality device (it's a phone, ok?).
For kids to play with it may be fine but what knucklehead gives a kid a $500 phone? D:
Do you think the sensor is capable of the same maximum aspect and resolution in both orientations? It's not. That's why panoramas are taken with vertical viewfinders. The software uses the vertical FOV and resolution to trim the edges and stitch it together without seams.

The reasons for it being video:
1) New photographic panorama apps will probably fall victim to Apple's clause that excludes apps duplicating iOS functionality and be hard to get approved.
2) Apple probably doesn't have a suitable API for other panoramic photography apps to access the built-in function while running the vibration motor.
3) It's a proof of concept for a concept that needs the vertical orientation. Vertical or not, business video conferencing often uses a rotatable camera and this accomplishes that without a different device. Without the vertical FOV, you'd have to place it on something of a specific height... which means having another tool... which means you may as well have carried a video conferencing camera or a turn-table tool with you. :rolleyes: If it detected faces and cropped the video to 4:3 after determining the average level of the faces, would it make you happy?
4) Vertical videos that make a steady pan from a fixed perspective in a generally static environment are infinitely more tolerable than shakey cam vids afflicted with VVS.
5) Unlike most vertical videos, it's already known that it's going to show everything 360-degrees around it. Unlike poorly made vertical videos, the horizontal view will not be limited, so why not show as much of the vertical space as well?

Vertical videos are annoying, but even I may make one if it came down to getting a recording I wanted or not. YouTube is not Hollywood. From what I see online, it's often used to be discrete so the subject(s) don't know you are recording their spectacle. Other times it was because it locked that orientation in the haste to get the video started before missing the action. I complain only when I see one made for seemingly no reason. This app has plenty of "reason."

ZOMG! An iPhone 5 fell over on a table! :rolleyes:
That ain't gonna hurt it. OP almost knocked his down in his own video.
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Lucky, mine still hasn't actually fallen over. I almost knocked it over because I was still looking through the iPad camera app instead of looking directly at it.

The app has an option to use the front-facing camera. I didn't think to use it because that camera is inferior to the normal camera, but I think it just might have the correct aspect.

[edit]
Nope. Still vertical.
 
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Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
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Pretty cool, but does it work on something other than glass or a highly lacquered surface?
 

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
Pretty cool, but does it work on something other than glass or a highly lacquered surface?

I've tried it on various hard surfaces and it works best on one that's polished. I tried it on my mother's cheap counter and it spun around too many times. Glass seems to work great.