Google Chrome gets some early device orientation 'plumbing'
By Paul Miller 
posted July 6th 2010 12:16PM
posted July 6th 2010 12:16PM
We remember well the first time we managed to put an accelerometer in our possession to good use: back when the MacBook Pros started shipping with them as sudden motion sensors to protect the hard drive, someone hooked up some light saber noises to the tilt motion. A few months later we were pretending to make light saber noises with the Wii, and then the iPhone came along and democratized the accelerometer-based light saber noise for all of humanity. Next up? The browser. Firefox 3.6 already supports this capability, and now Chromium is getting some early work in that direction as well -- and with the browser-as-OS that Google's Chrome OS represents, Chromium's support of this feature is welcome news indeed. We hear that light saber noise-producing low fat snacks are next on the docket!
Am i first ?
@tomvb
Does anyone care?
@tomvb DIE (:
@tomvb
i am weasel
@tomvb Yes, to oblivion
@tomvb
Does that look like a Simon to anyone?
@pishmish
You're first to "Highly Ranked" for that one, Sir.
@pavlindrom is this post saying that there will be some type of accelerometer support in chrome os?
@pavlindrom accept that google chrome is fricken amazing and incredibly fast
@tomvb Yep, to oblivion
@That guy 2
Yes, it does. At least it says there are talks of it. Any other questions?
@possomcrast
Scuzi, I was replying with a question to a question, not really commenting on the story. I don't have anything constructive to add to the article, but yes - Chrome is fast.
@tomvb First to be a dumb ass.
@tomvb
Get the fuck out of engadget, you fucking loser.
I want hardware acceleration on my chrome!
@Revolutionary
It's in the next version, you just have to turn it on. It's not very good yet tho.
@okok only Apple Fanboys bought i
Boohoo. Change it. It's a novel concept.
that image is making me dizzy for some reason... weeeeeee
Google just bought out a company called 'Mr. Blurrycam Inc.'
Yet another case of Chrome lagging behind Firefox in some feature.
@LANjackal Not speed, startup time, or ui sexiness, or ui usefulness
@LANjackal chrome is 10x faster than firefox and yes i know these are made up statistics but chrome is still much faster
@That guy 2
UI usefulness? The UI in Chrome is about as useful as dog shit.
@possomcrast You guys must have missed the news about Firefox 3.7 blowing the doors off Chrome 6 in speed tests http://www.devicemag.com/2010/06/25/firefox-3-7-wins-over-ie9-in-4-browser-html5-speed-testchrome-slowest-of-all/
Read and weep.
@Prevacator
you are using it wrong then.
Firefox FTW!!!!!!!!!!!
@MichaelJJackson
nay nay good sir, Chrome FTW!!!!!
" and then the iPhone came along and democratized the accelerometer-based light saber noise for all of humanity."
WTH? WinMo did it too. Before the iPhone.
@maxisma
i think symbian did too.
@nabberuk not important, iPhone started EVERYTHING. Even screen resolution comparison - but only with iOS4, in former times, screen resolution was not important at all!
@maxisma
I remember having an accelerometer lightsabre on my n95, i never used it cos starwars is shit. Yet another iphone dick suck by engadget.
@nabberuk It's one thing to have it used by like 5 people, and another to have it used by 50 million. I think that's what he meant by "democratized".
Weren't IBM Thinkpads the first to ship with an accelerometer to protect the hard disk against damage?
@ravikath
yes, but this is engadget remember? Apple - even SJ himself - invented everything.
@ravikath
Sony has also had them in their VAIO Z's for a long time..
@owdee "Apple - even SJ himself - invented everything."
Reminds me of Big Brother in 1984.
@ravikath Yes, IBM had it in the T40's which came out some time around 2004.
i think this could go somewhere, but for now, the best feature Chrome has over other browsers is the bookmark sync integrated with my Gmail account. So sweet for having multiple computers.
@Upwad0n and soo existing in every other browser (Opera and Firefox at least...)
@user47alpha arg, beer bad - sorry for my writing.
@Upwad0n really? I don't trust Opera enough with heavy flash stuff (hulu crashes?) but does firfox sync bookmarks with Google? that would pretty much make my day.
I've already taken advantage of this feature in Firefox 3.6, have a look at either
http://macoto.co.uk/labs/orient.php
for a simple accelerometer based game or
http://macoto.co.uk/labs/shadows.php
for a little experiment. I'll be looking forward to adding Chrome to the list of browsers that can handle it.
Haven't touched Chrome since Safari5 released... :D
I don't know what you guys are talking about, things that can use light saber sounds are the most critical aspect of my life. This is more important to me than indoor plumbing. Thank you engadget, this is the beginning of the rest of my life!