Is the Bar of Soap Tomorrow's Smarterphone?

Barence writes "Researchers at MIT have developed a gadget that knows whether you want to use it as a camera or smartphone, just by the way you're holding it. So, if you hold the device, dubbed the Bar of Soap, out in front of you like a camera it will automatically bring up an LCD viewfinder. However, if you then switch to holding it as you would a mobile phone, it will bring up a touchscreen keypad instead. The Bar of Soap utilises a three-axis accelerometer and 72 surface sensors to track the position of the user's fingers and its position."

Comments

Re:Great

[Firehed]

Less than 10 seconds is fast? I know I'm used to the responsiveness of an SLR, but IMO camera-phones are still worthless until they can at least match the start-up speed of a normal point and shoot.

Why?

[StormySees]

Why does the general populous feel the need to have a 14-in-1 device that can save your life, take family photos, keep you entertained, tell you how to get home from the place you work everyday, make sure your mom knows you didn't crash your car into a ditch on the side of the road when you don't call her the instant you pull into your driveway, give you directions for making supper, and, after you cycle through 5 layers of menus, call your best friend?

I don't get it. I'm all for cool new trinkets, but if you want a phone, buy a phone. The cameras are great for emergencies or cute moments, but even the best ones can't compete with a real camera.

So, what is my point? Since the camera isn't why you're going to buy the thing, why waste money on it? Get the free phone or one with a rebate from your carrier (they come with decent cameras now) and get a real camera. The "smart phone" aspect is just going to drive you insane with this one when it doesn't work, anyway.