New Cell Phone Applications can do lot more

Posted by max On November - 30 - 2008

Going to a holiday or working really busy in office, now the new cell phones will help you maintain your exercise routine and keep the pounds off over winter months. These cellphones also keep track of the Environmental Impacts.

Researchers at the University of Washington and Intel have created two new cell phone applications, dubbed UbiFit and UbiGreen, to automatically track workouts and green transportation. The programs display motivational pictures on the phone’s background screen that change the more the user works out or uses eco-friendly means of transportation.

The applications are designed to change people’s behavior for the better. The sensing device determines what the user is doing based on how it gets jiggled around.

According to the study: the localized motion at your waist will be different if you’re walking, jogging, or sitting in a car. The sensing device sends signals three times per second via Bluetooth to the cell phone, where the application averages these rapid signals and translates them into, for example, a 20-minute jog or a drive to work.

UbiGreen automatically logs a trip that involves walking, running or biking using accelerometer data, and uses cell phone tower signals to determine if someone is riding in a vehicle. A quick survey pops up at the end of the trip and the user chooses car, carpool, bus or train. Eventually, the application could be programmed to glean almost all this information just from the accelerometer, Landay said, because the movements of cars, buses and trains are very different from each other.