The eyes of all gaming freaks lit up when Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 4 will include a 3-axis Gyroscope. With a high-performance A4 processor, higher screen resolution and a Gyroscope for accurate motion tracking, the new iPhone might just be a gamer’s wildest dream come true. Add to that, the accelerometer and the [...]
The eyes of all gaming freaks lit up when Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 4 will include a 3-axis Gyroscope. With a high-performance A4 processor, higher screen resolution and a Gyroscope for accurate motion tracking, the new iPhone might just be a gamer’s wildest dream come true. Add to that, the accelerometer and the new iPhone might be too hot to handle, even for PlayStation and Xbox addicts.
The internal Gyroscope also makes the iPhone amongst the smallest motion sensing devices and the first ever mobile phone to offer this technology. The Gyroscope provides super-fine sensing of twists and spins and opens up a new avenue of apps for the new iPhone.
Steve Jobs demonstrated the functionality of Gyroscope during the keynote address using the Jenga game. If you thought the accelerometer was cool, you are in for a pleasant surprise when you use the Gyroscope. It increases the accuracy and sensitivity of the accelerometer. What’s more, it makes the iPhone 4 a true motion controller across the six axes. Here’s the Gyroscope demonstration during the WWDC keynote address.
Apple had patented the gyro technology for the mouse back in February and now we know there was a good reason for that. The Gyroscope is not only ideal for gaming, it is also perfect for developing health and fitness applications, 3-D modeling, Augmented Reality and 3-D mapping. To put it in Steve Job’s words,
“So the gyro joins our four other sensors. These phones are getting more and more intelligent about the world around them.”
Sounds interesting. Looks as if Apple has drawn some inspiration from Nintendo’s Wii MotionPlus expansion device that supplements the Wii Remote’s accelerometer. It’s fair to say that, from a gaming perspective, the iPhone 4 might be a tough competitor to the very popular PS3 motion controller, the SixAxis.
The Gyroscope is very important from an iPhone developer’s perspective as well. Developers will now be able to create applications that can sense motion on six axes – up/down, left/right, forward/backward, combined with rotation around three perpendicular axes – pitch, yaw, and roll. What’s more, Apple has opened up the new iPhone’s gaming API (called CoreMotion) to developers so that they can make the best out of gyroscopic functionality.
To learn more about the gyroscope feature, check out Steve Jobs’ demo:
So, will the iPhone 4 redefine the future of gaming on moblie phones? From whatever I’ve seen so far, the iPhone 4 is surely going to be a game changer in mobile gaming world. What do you think?
Thora Birch
Leelee Sobieski
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