Datasheet

4
x
CHAPTER 1 GETTING TO KNOW THE WINDOWS PHONE 7 DEVICE
While resistive-touch screens de nitely have appealing user interface implications for game develop-
ment, capacitive-touch screens are currently (and are likely to remain) the only option for Windows
Phone 7.
Sensors
All Windows Phone 7 devices come standard with a number of sensors, including the accelerometer,
aGPS, compass, light sensor, and proximity sensor.
Accelerometer
The accelerometer in Windows Phone 7 is used primarily for user interface control to present land-
scape or portrait views based on the device’s physical orientation. It is commonly called a tilt sensor.
The accelerometer also provides data that can be captured and used by your games and applications.
You’ll learn how to access the accelerometer data in Chapter 3.
aGPS
Unlike a regular GPS, which can take up to a couple minutes to pinpoint your location, aGPS gets
assistance from local cell towers to determine the satellites relevant to your location. The end result
is a much faster start time and more accurate positioning.
With aGPS comes the proverbial good news and bad news:
The good news — It’s fast! Also, using aGPS typically requires less processing power, result-
ing in correspondingly longer battery life than with a regular GPS.
The bad news — aGPS does not have a single unifying standard. Several different confi gura-
tions are possible for aGPS, with actual implementation on the device largely left up to the
device manufacturers and cellular providers.
Compass
All Windows Phone 7 phones are required to ship with a built-in compass. However, as of launch,
there is no API support for the compass. The data may be accessed via device-speci c APIs or open
source libraries, both of which are beyond the scope of this book.
Microsoft would like anyone using other means to access compass data to convert
it once API support for the compass is available so as to provide a consistent user
experience for everyone.
c01.indd 4c01.indd 4 1/31/2011 3:27:13 PM1/31/2011 3:27:13 PM