Monday, May 2, 2011

Free app taps accelerometer to assess your driving skills























Driving-related apps are popular among smartphone users, especially programs that game DUI checkpoints. Driver Feedback is the name of the new trippy app that leverages the iPhone’s many sensors to gather driving data it then uses to score your skills and give you tips to improve your driving. More screenies, features and a video below the fold.


According to developer State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, the app records your acceleration, braking and cornering via accelerometer, an iPhone sensor popular with games where it mostly powers tilt-based controls. It also uses GPS location for an even more accurate positioning and to track your trips.

You can record trips and then compare them against each other, view all alerts in a list view or overlaid on a map and send trip results via email and SMS. The program also supports multiple users. The Driver Feedback app is a free download from the App Store.

Heavy use of accelerometer in iOS devices made Apple the world’s second-largest buyer of microelectromechanical system sensors, according to IHS iSuppli. The research firm says Apple bought an estimated $195 million worth of MEMS sensors last year, which is a notable jump from $90 million in 2009. Samsung leads the pack with a five million difference and Nintentdo is number three. MEMS sensors include accelerometers, gyroscopes and microphones. Apple uses accelerometer sensors in the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, iPod nano and MacBooks.



 








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