NTT DoCoMo SH-07B, few questions before I buy

[yamanote]

If the Sharp pedometer is like conventional electronic pedometers read this- perhaps it works the same way.

Re swing talk- so you can just swing your phone to draw strokes for hiragana and katakana? That sounds pretty cool, albeit rather useless unless you want to kill everyone in the general vicinity when typing out a text

[xaxisy]

Ahh thats neat!
Also, there are selectable backlit keys too (apperantly)


And here is the Swingtalk (aka POV display: persistance of vision)


About the pedometer, it could possibly use the tilt sensor/accelerometer in tandem.
It is true that the GPS does consume power like mad, so I'd say it would be one of those less power-hungry devices. I can assume it has something to do with the ability of the phone to measure its orientation (landscape or portrait)

But after doing some reaserch, I believe this acurately describes how a pedometer works:
@yamanote, your link was correct for a conventional pedometer, but I don't think the keitai has moving parts such as a little ball bearing ^_^

NOTE: MEMS is Microelectromechanical systems.

The technology for a pedometer includes a mechanical sensor and software to count steps. Early forms used a mechanical switch to detect steps together with a simple counter.... Today advanced step counters rely on MEMS inertial sensors and sophisticated software to detect steps. These MEMS sensors have either 1-, 2- or 3-axis detection of acceleration. The use of MEMS inertial sensors permits more accurate detection of steps and fewer false positives. The software technology used to interpret the output of the inertial sensor and "make sense of accurate steps" varies widely. The problem is compounded by the fact that in modern day-to-day life, such step-counters are expected to count accurately on locations where users frequently carry their devices (attached to the belt, shirt/pants pocket, hand bag, backpack).

Does the keitai also measure distance?

Also! I forgot to ask, how fast is the phone?
I know the Panasonic phones (as well as the later Sharp SH-10C) takes pics in less than a second (I mean from main-menu to loaded up camera to picture taken)
Thanks!

[qwerty1235]

@yamanote
Yes, you can use Japanese text for swing talk.

@xaxisy
Yep, they keypad backlight is selectable. Here are the following options:
Garnet (red)
Sunset (yellow)
Lime (green)
Mint (blue)
Aqua (dark blue)
Lilac (violet)
Soda (light blue)
Random(7colors) (randomly selects any of the 7 colours whenever the keypad backlight comes on)
Random(3colors) (randomly selects between Garnet, Aqua and Lime)

Yes, the keitai also measures distance. Here is what the external display looks like:



I have the screen set to activate the camera whenever it's rotated, it's not super fast like the newer Sharp, takes about 5 seconds to start from standby.

[xaxisy]

Thanks querty1235!
That's really impressive how it measures distance.
It's interesting how it does that. I think the GPS is out of the question, so it's either using a "general length of a step" or some forumla to get distance out of acceleration. This keitai manages to impress me more and more the longer I wait for it.
How is scratch resistance by the way?
Also, in addition, is the outside screen customizable (via picture)? I think I read somewhere that it was, just want to make sure.
How about games? Any simple games that can distract you wile you are on the bus or something?
Thanks!

[yamanote]

And here is the Swingtalk (aka POV display: persistance of vision)

Oh okay so that's what Swing Talk is. I thought it was something that used the accelerometer to detect swings strokes in Japanese characters to enter text

@yamanote, your link was correct for a conventional pedometer, but I don't think the keitai has moving parts such as a little ball bearing ^_^

Could've sworn that that article described electronic pedometers, some of which use a 2- or 3-axis MEMS inertial sensor to detect steps but I guess not. Never mind that article then.

Thanks querty1235!
That's really impressive how it measures distance.
It's interesting how it does that. I think the GPS is out of the question, so it's either using a "general length of a step" or some forumla to get distance out of acceleration. This keitai manages to impress me more and more the longer I wait for it.
How is scratch resistance by the way?
Also, in addition, is the outside screen customizable (via picture)? I think I read somewhere that it was, just want to make sure.
How about games? Any simple games that can distract you wile you are on the bus or something?
Thanks!

You have to set your height/weight upon starting up the pedometer app and using that calculates the distance of an average step I believe.

[xaxisy]

Oh okay so that's what Swing Talk is. I thought it was something that used the accelerometer to detect swings strokes in Japanese characters to enter text

That would be epic.
Kinda like drawing brush strokes in the air!
And yes, that could prove dangerous in crowded places.

[qwerty1235]

I'm not sure how it measures the distance, but I'm pretty sure that you enter your height and weight to set your goals for calorie losing.

As for being scratch resistance will depend on what colour SH-07B you got. The black one should be pretty scratch resistant as it is a matte finish and the silver and red probably a little more prone to scratching as it has a more smoother surface.

The external display cannot be customised with a picture (where did you read this?). It's an OLED display, while single colour, is absolutely a clear and vivid (what you'd expect from an OLED display) which is perfect for viewing the time and date etc. The clock can be displayed in two styles, one is just the clock and the other is like the one posted above with shows more information (battery, signal, date, steps). You can read text messages on the external display though.

There is a soccer game (or you may call it football from where you're from) which is made by Gameloft that I sometimes play to kill off time if I'm taking the bus. Usually, I would just go through the phone's menus; there are so many functions that you will discover something new every time.

[yamanote]

That would be epic.
Kinda like drawing brush strokes in the air!
And yes, that could prove dangerous in crowded places.

It would be dangerous in places with people lol.

The 'display text via the LEDs' makes slightly more sense.

There is a soccer game (or you may call it football from where you're from) which is made by Gameloft that I sometimes play to kill off time if I'm taking the bus. Usually, I would just go through the phone's menus; there are so many functions that you will discover something new every time.

Is it just a time-limited trial, or is it the full game? Most of the keitais I've used only had '10 plays only' (some soccer game) or '2 levels only' (932SH, metal gear solid). Only exceptions were ridge racer (P905i) and Gundam (P-07A), at least in my experience.

Pretty cool if it is the full game.

[xaxisy]

I want Gundam
Too bad there is no way to install other games on the phone.
And yea, I wonder if the football/soccer game is a limited time trial.

[qwerty1235]

Full game. In Japanese though.

[xaxisy]

Well atleast that's something. Sadly no way to install new games, since imode is not available in Canada.

[Lemonjai]

I can confirm it works well in Canada but the only problem is that it would lose signal easily when the battery drops below the 30% point which annoying but than that its a fun phone to play around with.

Ps: Anyone wants my sh-07b, selling between 300 to 400 CDN!!!