Acclerometer controlled screen lock?

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So my buddy was just showing me his iPhone and one thing I LOVE and ENVY... He puts the phone to his ear and the keypad locks out...pulls it away? Comes back on (in order to dial for automated systems)

Could we set something up like this using the accelerometer? Perhaps when it lies flat-X number degrees, screen is on?

Know this *could* be an applications, however, being it is something that would need to be integrated into the OS itself, figured I would post it here. Mods move accordingly. Thx!

the iPhone has a..for lack of a better term... "Proximity sensor" that let's it know your head is close to the phone, I don't think you can simulate that with just an accelerometer. People aren't always standing upright while answering the phone.

The G1, in case you didn't notice, does do something similar, it turns off the screen so your ear doesn't accidentally do something, and if you have the lock set up you have to unlock the phone if you want to do anything other than use the keypad.

Originally Posted by punkzanyj

the iPhone has a..for lack of a better term... "Proximity sensor" that let's it know your head is close to the phone, I don't think you can simulate that with just an accelerometer. People aren't always standing upright while answering the phone.

The G1, in case you didn't notice, does do something similar, it turns off the screen so your ear doesn't accidentally do something, and if you have the lock set up you have to unlock the phone if you want to do anything other than use the keypad.

Suppose you're right, but I loathe having to unlock it every 5 seconds to enter new numbers. Perhaps an adjustable time-out? The time it takes to auto lock seems way too short.

Originally Posted by momentarylapseofreason

Suppose you're right, but I loathe having to unlock it every 5 seconds to enter new numbers. Perhaps an adjustable time-out? The time it takes to auto lock seems way too short.

Wouldn't your cheek make a much larger contact then a finger? I would think the most efficient would be to have the screen not recognize an large prolonged touch.

That and have it display the keypad to begin with and not lock.

Originally Posted by punkzanyj

the iPhone has a..for lack of a better term... "Proximity sensor" that let's it know your head is close to the phone, I don't think you can simulate that with just an accelerometer. People aren't always standing upright while answering the phone.

The G1, in case you didn't notice, does do something similar, it turns off the screen so your ear doesn't accidentally do something, and if you have the lock set up you have to unlock the phone if you want to do anything other than use the keypad.

The Diamond and Omnia use a light sensor to turn off or lock the screen. When you hold the phone up to your head while in a call, the light sensor, which is next to the earpiece, is covered, and the phone turns the screen off.
Unfortunately, the G1 does not have a light sensor. Which is kind of weird, since almost all HTC devices are shipping with one these days.

On the G1 when you're on the call screen the only thing you can touch is the little tab on the bottom that brings up the dialer... Unless you're doing something really odd in your phone call your face probably isn't going to accidentally swipe it enough to have the dialer come up. Which brings me to the point that locking the phone when it goes to a phone call is completely unnecessary.