New software enables auto-rotation in the G1
The beauty of an open source platform is that it can be modified and expanded to support all sorts of new features. Last week we saw that the G1 could be hacked to accept multi-touch input. This week it is auto-rotation, a feature that the G1 and its accelerometer does not support out of the box. Rather than wait for Google to enable this feature, a developer modified the G1 source code to enable auto-rotation and has released the hack in his G1 Tweak Tools software package. The auto-rotation appears smooth and responsive and works both on the home screen and within applications. Sweet!
[Via Uberphones]
So where do we get this application or right now its not out there yet ?
So this phone didn’t already do that…
Unfortuunately, the downside to open source is that Google is still waiting for some kind 3P developer to enable “massive number of G1 sales.” The latest update is that it won’t hit until next year at the earliest. By comparison, both Apple and RIM had this feature built into each phone out-of-the-box, thus allowing them to actually move units to people that aren’t tech geeks (although with the way those Storm reviews are going, there will be many return).
@pedro yeah it would kind of be like the iPhone not having cut and paste and someone other than apple fixing it, but in a timely manner.
Actually the phone supports autorotation, but the setting is determined by the app. Most apps just don’t have this option set (it’s a one line flag you set in the app’s xml file).
Whatever, the battery life is terrible. I own and like the phone, however, the battery life darn near makes it useless.
What is the point of this?
I got this phone and had it 2 weeks before i put it back in the box and under the bed…..Bold all the way!
It’s in the Adroid Market. I guess you have to have the modified firmware from xda developers. Check this out: http://www.droidsans.com/droidsans-tweak-tools
Not trying to troll…but why couldn’t Google get off their lazy asses and include simple things like multi-touch, auto rotation, and a proper BT stack? Looks like they just got finished hardware, and rushed a core OS with little functionality out the door. Claiming it’s “open source” as a defense is nice, except people are signing 2 year contracts and paying money for this (still) subpar handset.
Hardly any company can get everything right in release 1.0. I’m sure in due time Google will get development moving in a timely fashion. WinMo is already up to version 6 and it still hasn’t gotten everything perfect. Version 7 should be the charm. Hehe.
OMG….There’s a split second lag in the accelerometer….OMG…someone start a revolt! How dare there be a lag in the accelerometer! OMG….
Sorry…just b!*#$ing the same way people did over the blackberry storm…
Interesting
@Wilson — idiot. at least ebay it.
ok, landscape view of the internet with the keyboard out has to be annoying
Say, I wonder if open-source means people can enable features Google couldn’t implement due to intellectual property issues?
Wilson, you make no sense. “I got this phone and had it 2 weeks before i put it back in the box and under the bed…..Bold all the way!”
Under the bed? Why would you not return it? You have more money than sense, I think.
its great how you people crack on a first time phone….especially when it out performs (in terms or reliability) almost everything up to a blackberry (non pearl) device.