Nokia Beta Labs

Ok Update..

you can run Sports Tracker + Step counter with no problems :D
Sports Tracker's step count was 8166 while Step Counters count was 9179

There's a 1013 difference probably due to either being inside a supermarket while they were running.. But it's close.

also running Sports Tracker + Step counter + Music Player causes the phone to freeze after 13mins. I had to remove the battery to turn it off. Note MP3 playback had static bursts every 2 seconds or so only happened when all 3 were running...

my walk:
http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=182460

Will this work on N78?

Great to see some discussion here. I have divided my post into three parts according to topics.

1. STEP COUNTER VERSUS SPORTS TRACKER
- Why two separate applications? Practicalities aside, the Step Counter is not intended for the same user group as the Sports Tracker. The sports crowd is prepared to make a big effort to record their exercise as well as finding new gear that can help them improve their performance. With the Step Counter we want to reach a much larger group of people who, for whatever reasons, are not prepared to make such an effort. Let me ask you this: why are YOU reading this blog? What does a step counter mean to you? Do you want to improve your health through moderate exercise or are you a technology addict?
- Step count discrepancies. The algorithm in the Step Counter is slightly more sensitive than the one in the Sports Tracker, and that is why you don't get the same results (thanks to Solitaire for reporting some numbers). As mentioned above the use cases are different. You wouldn't use the Sports Tracker to record a trip to your local supermarket but the Step Counter is suitable for that.

2. NOTIFICATIONS FOR THE USER
- Sound. Yes, you can use sound to indicate how well you are doing during the day (suggestion by Apostol). For example, you can play some sort of triumphant tune for every 1000 steps. Personally, however, I would probably be more in favour of 'nagging' the user so that if you haven't moved for, say, two hours you will hear a nasty beep that tells you to get out of your chair and walk around for a couple of minutes. We are treading a fine line here, though, because you could easily end up making this the most annoying feature ever.
- Main screen. This is slightly off-topic but anyway, it is of course possible for a phone manufacturerto put anything they want on the main screen. My point is that different applications have different priviliges, and if you make a downloadable application for research purposes, like our Step Counter, you are not automatically given priviliges to write to the main screen. If your application is shipped with the phone it can do absolutely anything but that is not the case here.
- Sharing of data (also from Apostol). Lots and lots of opportunities here. Just wait.

3. FEATURE SET
Plenty of good suggestions have been put forward on this blog but let me again state our basic belief: the Step Counter MUST be a simple application that is easy to set up, use, and understand, otherwise we are going to put off the majority of the people we are trying to reach. We are open to all suggestions but please realise we need to be very selective about which new features to implement.

It is the same as Activity Monitor, I can't understand why can't update it. I uninstall Activity Monitor and the installation of Step Counter was OK.

Sorry for my english.

I just installed it on my N82, and am now counting my steps as I write this via my wireless keyboard. It's also compatible with Symbian screen readers if one opts to use the "individual workouts" option as the graphs themselves aren't readable.

@ Jeremy, Oli and Fedelosa - the Nokia Step Counter is indeed a new version of the Activity Monitor that was published on research.nokia.com in December 2007. You need to remove the Activity Monitor before installing the Step Counter (you won't loose your workouts, they are read by the new version). This problem will soon be listed in Known Issues on the main page but I forgot to do it at the launch this afternoon. My mistake, sorry.

@ Apostol
1. We wanted to show some status data in the main screen but the Symbian OS does not allow the application to write there. The restriction is most likely intended to prevent applications to 'fight for attention'

2. You can delete individual workouts by selecting a workout from the Diary, then go to Options -> Individual workouts, highlight the one you want, then select Options -> Delete

3. Step length: go to Settings -> User and enter your Height (in cm) and Weight (in kg), and a default Step Length is calculated for you. You can override it and enter your own value if you want. The Step Length is for moderate pace. The algorithm actually adjusts your step length according to the step rate, so if you walk fast, or run, the estimated distance and energy expenditure are updated accordingly

Why don't you integrate this to Sports Tracker ? Why 2 different products ?

Really impressed... great stuff... would love to see more apps taking advantage of the accelerometer like this.

Some more suggestions to Ole about this great application:

1. Sound notification. I want to know how many steps I have made and I want to know when I reach my goal, but I do not want to be constantly looking at the screen of my phone. Implement simple sound/notification when the user makes each X steps (where X is default 1000, but can be modified in options). Also, implement an option to have sound notification only when wearing a headset (wired or bluetooth) in order not to attract unwanted attention. Sounds can be either internal, voice synthesis ("You have made 5000 steps so far. Keep walking") or chosen by the user. I prefer the second method, but I think the third would be easiest to code.

2. Intensity Mode. In order to lose weight and burn fat, a user must burn around 300 kcal or spend about 30-40 mins using intense activity - power walking (High Intensity) or running (Intense Intensity). Step Counter can help people do this activity with encouraging and monitoring fat-burning walking/running in Intensity mode. Intensity Mode is a mode where the phone constantly encourages the user to keep walking faster or to slow down in order to remain in an intensity group of his choice (Slow/Moderate/High/Intense). The program checks whether the last 5 (or whatever period you are using) minutes are in the required intensity window and notifies the user using sound (see 1) to walk faster or to slow down. Intensity mode can have optional timer - when the user-set time's up, the application leaves Intensity Mode and notifies the user - or calories counter - once Intensity Mode starts, the application monitors all burned calories until they reach the required amount, at which point the application Intensity Mode. You can rename Intensity Mode into Fitness Mode, which is more appropriate.

3. Email to a friend or yourself or upload daily/weekly/monthly/total report in XML. It would be nice to have the results imported in a dedicated social network/social network application for Facebook/MySpace to allow sharing data. It would serve as a great viral advertising of Nokia accelerometer phones among the sports-aware active consumer base.

I accidentaly renamed some DAT files but now sportstracker application doesn't recongise them any more. Does somebody know how to rename them back (where to get the info it uses in the name from) or what can I do to retrieve information from the files.

G

Many apps I have used, like Share Online, Ultimate Voice Recorder and MobiGenie, manage to show data on the front page of the phont. I do not understand why there's limitation for Steps Counter.

I would like to ask Ole something: can we believe the calorie count of Step Counter? Does it take in account the intensity of the walking or it just multiplies each step nominal to the number of steps?

More feature requests:

Few additional views for the Step Counter main view. With Left/Right the user can switch from the standard step counter screen to alternative views showing additional data such as speed of walking, number of steps in reverse count (how many more to do), etc.

First off, great app and it actually helped me realise I was not getting enough 'steps' in a day due to sitting a a desk all day.

As for can it be fooled, yes. I noticed it recording steps in my car when ever I went over a speed bump.

As for the discussion above about data on the main screen, could it not show data as a standby app like wifi/cal/etc?

Review so far...

Been using it over the weekend. So far I've spotted no bugs.

Next test is to run the step counter with the Sports tracker side by side. First to see if they both run together and to see if the distances match up over my journey. So I can check to see if my step length is correct... ;)

I agree with a few of the posters that the step counter should be avalible in the Sports tracker. I'm not a programmer, but could the install not detect if there is the accelerometer in the device and then install / not install the step counter accordingly?

At worst there could be 2 versions 1 with the step counter for Accelerometer equipped phones and one without.

I am sure I saw a note that you can get step counter to automatically update wellness diary but I cannot find the link now, anyone know where the setup instructions are

I agree with the nagging aspect..

But would it be possible to have something like having music played that match your walking / running pace?

I know that the Nokia media player had an option to calculate the b.p.m. could something like that be tied into either the sports tracker of the step counter? set it to play a random song from your library that closely matches your pace?..

just an idea... :D

Hola,

I am working for a Non for profit Research Company that functions for the improvement of Navigation for the visually impaired and I have tried out your beta version of the Step counter and it totally blew me off. This software very efficiently in using the accelerometer as a pedometer as is very accurate in doing so .The "Step Counter" has a very high potential of being useful in the future.

But there are a few important suggestions that I want to make
1) Make the software’s display of the data accessible to talking softwares such as “Nuance Talks”. I tried the “Step counter” in my Nokia N82 and its text to speech system does not read out the data from the screen.
2) Could you make this software accessible the Nokia 6210 Navigator? {It is not out on the market yet, but I have got a prototype of the cell phone given by nokia for the purpose of accessibility research}

I would really appreciate it if you can look into these two matters

I'm loving the app so far - couple things I've noticed.
The display doesn't refresh when the keys are locked on my N95-4 while leaving the app running. I can also definitely tell that the step counter seems to count double when I'm holding it and walking. Otherwise, I'm quite impressed! Great app so far!

It looks like battery life is pretty seriously affected on my N95-3. The standby current is almost twice what it is without the application running. Have you considered powering down the accelerometer (and waking it for 1 second in 4 or so) if motion hasn't been detected in a while?

Ole,
I think nagging the user to get out of the chair and walk around a little is just not practical. What if I am in a business meeting or I am taking a quick nap at home, or I am playing World of Warcraft (LOL, okay, you get the drift)? Sometimes we cannot be bothered to stand up and walk, and we don't really benefit from walking a little all the day. People who are forced to turn ff step tracking in order to not be nagged will be the people who will eventually remove your application. I am still in big favor of sound notification and voice synthesis, and I am little sad that Fitness/Intensity Mode won't find place in the Step Counter, but perhaps it's better suited for Sport Tracker.

How do I reset the count when I want to?

I love it. I simply love it. It is very accurate and useful. It's want I wanted to have since I was 10.

BUT. Yes, there is a but.

I upgraded to newest firmware on Wednesday (N95-3 now with 20.2.011) and had to reinstall step counter. When the N95 restarted the first time it asked for the time and I entered 2:30AM instead of 2:30PM. That mistake seemed to make NSC a bit crazy. I corrected the time later and lost that day's activity. Later, I reinstall step Counter.

Now it's not autostarting, and yesterday's count was added to thursday's, so I "walked" 10.000 steps on TH and about 10 steps yesterday. And sometimes it simply dissappear, i think it's crashing as one day I found a message mentioning something about a step counter crash. I just re-installed but the problem seems to be still present. I wonder if there is a way to make a "clean" install, I don't mind losing these past day's count.

Also, I noticed that before new firmware the histogram was activity (from sparse to intense) vs time of day. Now it seems to be activity vs exercise time, since yesterday's has more than 40:00 ... but it could be that it recorded that day as a 40 hrs day too, I'm not sure.

I hope you can understand better what happened here

As you can see, I need some help here.

Will you make it work with N96? :) It has accelerometer but I get the 'unable to start engine' error. Is some API different on S60 3.2?

That's neat, nothing odd happened yet.

But why it isn't included in Sports Tracker? Or is that the plan?

I've installed it on my E60 and when i try to start it i get the message: "unable to start engine. exiting"

why????

I really want this for my N75...Can it be used?
Thanks!!

Hi,
Your software registers step counts only, correct?
But can this embedded 3D sensor works similar accelerometers in sport wrist monitors with speed/distance sensors (e.g. Suunto FootPod or Polar S1/S3).
Actually, these accelerometers measure accelerations (gets an integral of they to calculates speed) 1000 times per second + define vector of move direction. And calculates speed of foot (these sensors are attached on lace of shoe) based on trajectory of foot of runner.

If creating of similar processing data from nokia 3d sensor is possible, in any case - attaching the phone on shoe is absurdity. But actually, in one of running computer I see this move-measuring sensor is combined with heartrate sensor and works correctly there too - it means that accelerometer is placed on the chest, that is more potentially realistic place for phone.

Thus, my question is - can 3D sensor in Nokia phones defines acceleration and direction of movement for more exact measuring of distance and speed?

Rgds,
Ernst

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait never mind my last comment.

Ole,
I have been looking to buy a pedometer somewhere this month but I bought N82 before that and I knew I won't be sorry for the purchase. Now I have a great, intelligent pedometer on my belt whereever I go. There are few suggestions I want to make after my first 5 minutes testing the application.

1. Please allow the application to show the daily number of steps and whether I've met my goal on the front desktop page of the phone. This should be optional, not to anger purists or people who have enough ticker publishing apps.

2. Please add options to erase the total step counter history or the current history only. This is good in cases where I'd give the pedometer a try, test it whether its fool proof, but then I don't want that test to mar my true step counting history.

3. Can't you guys calculate an average step size based on weight and height so I have to actually measure it? I know you can't have perfect data based on perfect body shape calculations, but it'd help people who aren't gonna measure their step.

I hope this app gets few feature releases before you guys move on better application ideas. Thanks for the great work!

@ Yaron

The step counter is for the Nokia N95, N95 8GB, and N82 only. These have the built in accelerometer. I'm not sure if your Nokia has one of those...

Isn't it the same like Activity Monitor???

Is this a new version of "Activity Monitor?" Does it have the same feature set?

I have Activity Monitor installed, v 0.11 and when try to install Step Counter, I have an error. "Update Error"

@Ludo -- my guess as to the reason why this product is separate from Sports Tracker is that you need an accelerometer to run Step Counter and not all of the models that can run Sports Tracker have the accelerometer built-in.

@ Ole
This is really bad restriction on Symbian OS. I think people should ultimately decide whether they want applications to show information on desktop or not. This is one reason why Android OS is going to kick Nokia's ass, but then again competition is good and we'll see more development on the very stale condition of Symbian.

Just my rant here, I know people will disagree.

hi i have downloaded the step counter on my n95 8GB and when starting the application i get UNABLE TO START ENGINE EXITING i have removed the program and tried installing it but i still keep getting this message

please help asap

regards

Been using the application for a week and loving it! Only one bug I have so far managed to find though... using a Nokia N95-1 when you enter settings for the application auto start/stop - say, you enter a stop time of 22:00 as I have then the application seems to crash at that time. No data is lost so it's no real problem and it auto starts again at 07:00 (as I have set to do) but it's annoying to hear the error tone and message coming from your phone.

Its good but there is problem:

when I use car or taxi during a day it include in my step.

that mean is I walk 500 step but program show 500+5000

is there a way to ixclude it.

for example it can auto stop when step rate is more than 100 per min.

I use the step counter on my N82, and i have noticed that the time is not accurate when I lock the keypad from within the application, if I tab out to the homescreen during the workout and then tab back when done, the time seems to be correct. Also, i ran 5 km the other day, and the step counter calculated the distance as 7,95 km. I wear the phone on my upper arm in a Ipod jogging strap thingy, no other applications running in the background. I hope this information is useful for you. Thanks for a great app.

@Oscar B -- context recognition
A phone such as the N95 can do an awful lot if you start to combine the information from the different sensors but it is out of the scope of our little application.

@Ernst -- speed and distance from raw accelerometer data
In our step counter we calculate the distance and speed from detected steps, and as you point out it is in principle possible to obtain similar estimates by integrating the raw accelerometer data. However, this assumes a completely clean signal. In practice, the low-frequency noise blows up in the integrated signal, and even if we didn't have the gravity component to struggle with I doubt you can make it work any better than the primitive method based on detected steps.

@Breeze -- step time underestimated
The step time clock runs when steps are detected sufficiently often. If the step time is underestimated then the number of steps is also underestimated. My guess is that if you have your N95 in the right pocket of your tracksuit trousers then the phone moves with your right leg, and in that case we have the same problem as when you hold your phone in your hand while walking. The best advice I can give you is to try to carry the phone so that it moves in sync with your torso rather than one of your limbs.

@Behnam -- rejecting false steps
The algorithm is deliberately made slightly oversensitive so that it doesn't miss real steps. If you know that you are going to drive or cycle, then just before you start that activity go to the main screen and stop step counting. You then have to remember to start it again later, though, which is something I easily forget.

@Patton -- timing information wrong
You have been bitten by the 'round midnight bug' which appears to be a lot nastier than we thought. There are some things you can try. 1) Change something in your settings since this should overwrite the old information. 2) Delete the config.dat file from the StepCounter directory on the memory card (NOT in the phone memory). That makes the settings go back to default so you have to enter your personal data again. 3) Delete the most recent workouts by using the procedure I described in post 10 (@Apostol, 2) in this thread.

@Cunni -- distance significantly overestimated
Have you entered your Height in User Settings? If yes, reduce the pre-calculated step length (last field). The step length assumes you are walking at a slow pace. The algorithm automatically increases the step length internally if you walk fast or start running.

First off, can I say that I'm a huge fan of this application!

Like some others, I have had problems with false positives, while I'm driving the car. On a long trip I can rack up thousands of steps, which is a bit misleading. What I would like to suggest is that you make the application ignore accelerometer input when the phone is charging. Whenever I'm in the car, I've always got the phone on charge, and I think it's fair to assume that nobody's going to be walking very far with a charger connected! Is this possible with the signing that you've got, or does it require low-level access and whatnot?

I'd also like to see some lifetime stats, such as total number of steps, total distance travelled, etc. You could even have a quirky feature where it tells you the distance you've walked from a particular location. For example - "From Espoo to Helsinki" when you've walked 20 km. I chose Espoo for obvious reasons ;) I remember a PS2 game, Shadow Hearts, had a feature like this, telling you how far you would have walked from Tokyo, and eventually how many times you would have gone round the world. It's just a silly feature, but it would be a lot of fun.

hi guys
I've been using the app on my N95 (with firmware recently updated to the latest version) and noticed that the battery drains faster during the day. is this supposed to happen?

regards

BUG REPORT (I think) AND Question ...

... it seems that the timer does not keep accurate time -- ESPECIALLY when the handset is locked (slider closed). FYI I use the N95-4 (NAM 8 Gb)

On a treadmill for 60 minutes, Step Tracker reported total time as 51 minutes.

QUESTION: Although I assume you use cm, how do you measure "stride"? Using short walking steps, it seems I have to calibrate the stride rate in Settings at 75 cm.

FYI as a benchmark I use a Nike+ iPod Sport Kit, calibrated to GPS readings from the US Track and Field Association.

@jon -- display refresh
Strange things happen when the display updates. It is entirely beyond our control. And, yes, if you hold the phone in your hand while walking the step count might not be accurate. You say you get too many steps but we usually find that steps are missed. Perhaps we walk like penguins around here. What is your walking style?

@Matthias, henrique -- power consumption
Having the accelerometer always on uses extra power. However, if our application is run at a lower level, which is possible if it is shipped with the phone, we can use hardware interrupts to wake up the algorithm only when it is required to do its thing. Unfortunately, the high-level implementation in the current version of the Step Counter has to run continuously, and the best we can do is to let the scheduler shut off the processing during the night.

@Solitaire -- music
A lot of user studies have been done on matching steprate to bpm (beats per minute) in music. The bottom line is that people get annoyed if you force them to sync to a certain tempo (it is like a military march) but even so some types of music are more motivating than others. 'Eye of the tiger' is an all-time favourite of exercisers but in addition to picking a high-energy tune it is an advantage if you get the tempo roughly right.

@Апостол -- nagging the user
If you are in a meeting you most likely have selected the profile 'Meeting' or 'Silent' so it would be easy to reset the 'nagging counter' under those conditions. Having said that, I think the logic behind a 'nagging timer' is non-trivial, and it would take some trial-and-error experiments to make it work well in practice.

@Neil Boothman -- crash when application shuts down
That is news, and very bad news, to us. What is your firmware version? Do you have anything else running in the background on your phone?

@Breeze -- Step time underestimated
More bad news. The step counter should not miss steps when you are running. How do you wear your phone on the treadmill?

You're right, it does count fewer steps when you're holding it. What threw me off was that it doesn't always show each step (due to how it refreshes), so it looks like it skips quickly by two or three. When I counted in my head while walking, it was fairly accurate in my pocket, and it counted fewer when in my hand. Just seeing those numbers jump by quickly made me think it was counting more.

I was thinking to make a similar app to step counter in Python.

When I'm walking I use to be on the street, so I would like to change my profile automatically from normal to very loud, and hear incoming calls easily.

I think it could be great to use the ambient light sensor on the phone to detect if the device is inside the pocket or a handbag, to improve the situation detection.

Does anybody know if the steps data can be downloaded to my computer or website via any kind of API or other interface?

Not sure if this is related to Step Counter but since turning off 'autorun' on step counter I seem to get 'invalid access point' messages 2-3 times a day. I'm running it on a N95 8GB, v20 firmware.

Hi!I haveinstalled step counter on my n95.but it does not work.should i turn on the accelerometer or something?

I think the application is signed with nokia's root cert? I was unable to intsall this on my samsung S60 phone. Would you guys be considering signing with cross platform cert so all S60 users can use the softwares?

Ole:

The problem does not SEEM to be "missed steps", but the clock not recording time properly.

On the same treadmill workout, the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit registered a workout time of 60 minutes, 1 second.

The Nokia Step Counter registered a workout of ONLY 51 minutes. NOT registering the proper time WILL result in incorrect page and average speed.

FYI I have Step Counter running in the FOREgroud ... but the keypad is locked (slider of N95-4 is shut).

On a treadmill, I wear the N95-4 in my right fromt pants pocket of a pair of track pants, screen face down against the thigh. Also be aware that I WALK, not run.

While I know that missed steps is important, you must remember that time is an ABSOLUTE measurement. To lose NINE minutes out of a given hour doesn't make sense. Time passes regardless!

So, I'm into my 7th week of using Step Counter. A couple of feature requests/observations:

1) Can we have a memo field for each day and/or workout? It'd be nice if I could make a note about my activity for the day, etc. (Why didn't I hit my goal today? Why so many steps today?)

2) Would it be possible to have a separate schedule for autostarting for weekend days? Or not have it start at all on weekends?

3) When using a certain theme on my N95-4 (Silver, by Taieb, available here: http://www.symbian-freeware.com/download-silver-leather-by-taieb.html), there's a graphical glitch on the Diary view where moving between days will not clear the highlight on the day squares. It's kinda hard to describe, but it's obvious if you try it. Other themes don't have this issue, so it may just be a bug w/ the theme.

Other than that, I'm still very happy with the app, and not only is it useful to me, but it's a cool app to show off to my friends!

Some people have made posts about problems with the Step Counter on certain devices. Let me make it clear which models that are supported. The current version of Step Counter runs on N82, N93i, and all versions of N95. It does not work with newer devices such as 6210 Navigator that come with S60 release 3.2. We plan to support S60 release 3.2 with the next version of Step Counter which we hope to put out sometime during the autumn.

Now some detailed comments.

@Ben -- 'invalid access point'
I seriously doubt it has anything to do with the Step Counter. It sounds like it is related to the network settings, and our application does not use the network in any way.

@adnroutar -- your question is related to the Sports Tracker, not the Step Counter

@Ghazan -- step count reset
Not possible, sorry. It is a daily count.

@amnipar -- S60 3.2
Yes, we plan to support S60 3.2 in the next version. Unfortunately, for our purpose S60 release 3.1 and 3.2 are mutually incompatible so there has to be two Step Counter applications.

@Benjamin -- application 'does not work'
You should be able to use it immediately after installation. What exactly do you mean when you say 'it does not work'?

@Jon
- memo field. Perhaps it could be done through the Wellness Diary rather than the Step Counter. It is a good idea, we need to think about that.

- more advanced scheduling. I also find that my daily pattern of physical activity depends on whether it is a weekday or a weekend. And how about if you work nightshifts, as a nurse, for example? Then the daily scheduling, which is locked to the diary view, is not appropriate. It is not a trivial problem.

- graphical glitch in Calendar view. It is a bug and we are aware of it. That part of the code is taken from an early version of another application. We hope to include a more recent version without this problem in our next update.

@mscomms -- syncing with Wellness Diary
Wellness Diary should read your step data from file without you having to do anything. No setup procedure is necessary.

@Heiko
- text-to-speech. We have not tried it and I don't know what it takes to implement it. We will have a look at it.

- 6210 Navigator. The next version of Step Counter, which should be out sometime during the autumn, should run on the 6210.

@Claudio and jAi -- battery consumption
It drains my battery in about two days which I would classify as somewhere between bad and not great. I consider it is acceptable considering it is a research application without low-level power management.

@Natalie Browne
It should work with all versions of the N95. Perhaps there is a problem with the most recent firmware, which would be news to us. Check your firmware version by entering *#0000#. If it is a version >20 you are in unknown territory.

Hi, any chance that Nokia Step Counter will support also Nokia e66?

Regards
Luca

Hi,
I've recently started getting Error Kernel 23 on my Step counter.
The schedule is set to run from 12.01am to 11.59pm and the error happens at 11.9pm every night? I'm using an N95.

This application is incredibly useful. Please continue to develope it.

Here is a quick update. It would be nice to say that we are working on lots of great improvements to the application but the unglamourous truth is that we are mainly looking at how to make the step counter work with the next wave of Nokia products with built-in accelerometers, and in particular how we can improve the power management at the hardware level. A cautious prediction is that sometime before Christmas we will be able to support E66 as well as some early S60 3.2 products, so please be patient.

@Danny, Rob -- export of step data
It is not possible at the moment but we hope to include this facility in the next version.

@Jeffrey -- installation on non-Nokia S60 phones
I am not sure what the procedure is for signing an application so that it runs on a non-Nokia phone. Assuming that the signing is taken care of, we would also need to know something about the hardware in order for the step counter to be accurate. For a start, does the phone have an accelerometer at all, and if yes, what is the resolution, scaling, and sampling frequency. A fair amount of testing is necessary. At this stage we have no experience with running the step counter on non-Nokia phones so I am reluctant to comment on how well it would work.

@Jason Evans -- crash when scheduled daily from 12.01 to 11.59
There might be some timer overlap that causes trouble. I tried it on my N82 but it didn't misbehave. Try to set to run from 12.10 to 11.50, and see if the problem persists.

@Laurence Lowe
-- steps can be rejected if phone is charging. Good point. I suppose this means you have a proper hands-free kit in your car? Judging by the people I see driving around in the Helsinki area, you are an exception! I agree, we should support this. We will have a look at it.
-- stats that cover longer periods of time. Yes, a 'walk to Beijing' kind of progress chart would be a good entertainment feature, and we have considered it. I would probably prefer to implement this kind of functionality in a web service and not in the mobile client.

@Michael -- attaching notes to work-outs
Yes, good idea. It would also be very suitable for documenting progress if you are on some sort of rehabilitation program.

@Rob -- step count synced to calendar days
Yes, it is a limitation. It doesn't really make much sense if you work night shifts. I am not sure how to implement it, though. It would make the Diary view and the Progress View awkward to interpret.

I would like to export data from the app. to xls

Could you please add the ability to add a note to each work-out, for example so people could add "walked to the shops", "ran to the library", "walked home from grandparents", etc...

This would be a great additional feature as it would allow users to go back to specific workouts and view notes. The notes' benefits would be unlimited as different people would use different notes. If notes are not added then they wont be displayed, so everyone benefits from such a simple feature.

I will be checking back here regularly for updates, i hope this feature will be added soon!

Hi! The software is working fine!! but major problem is the drain on the battery! if i keep it running in the backgorund the battery drains very fast.pls help

@Ole
Thanks, found that it was conflicting with the email beta(thats now gone). All working fine now apart from the calendar takes about 30 seconds to load??

Nice application! I installed it and tried it for few days; it seems to work very well, it is full of nice features and easy to use. Yes, sometimes I noticed the fact that it can be "fooled", but in general its behavior looks reliable enough to me.

I just have a concern: is that just my impression, or it affects quite much the energy consumption of the phone??! I realize that keeping an application contantly running in background affects for sure the duration of the battery, but this seems to drain it much faster than I expected...

It makes my phone battery running out so quickly!!!!!!

Ole,

thanks a lot for your last post! I was desperately trying to make ANY accelometer application work on my E66 but got no luck...

just let me comment on your "A cautious prediction is that sometime before Christmas we will be able to support E66 as well as some early S60 3.2 products, so please be patient."

... does that mean that only stepcounter will be running on S60 3.2 or all [well, most] accelometer apps will start working on 3.2?

Will this be a new firmware release or just a patch to stepcounter? I hope option one is the answer... Thanks a lot for your afford guys, you're doing a great job!

I haven't really started to use this yet, but I plan to start running soon so this will be a great tool.

One thing I was wondering is whether or not the app autostarts if it isn't running... Will it start in the background as a hidden app?

I really want to buy N85 to replace my N82, but I would like to continue using Nokia Step Counter. Is there any chance that the new version (with N85 supportwill be ready shortly (in the next few weeks at least)?

Also, a couple of more feedback notes.

1. I think it should be possible to add a manual deviation into the statistics. With this clumsy statement, I mean that you should add a feature to add subtract the total amount of steps for a day. I had two occasions where this would have been useful last week. One day I stopped step counting while taking the bus to work, and forgot to re-enable it. Now, I know that I would have gotten 6-7000 steps in total for walking from the bus stop to my work place and back home, and it would have been perfect if I could've added 6000 steps to get closer to the reality, instead of getting that day's and week's statistics ruined.

I had another simular case the same week, where I had reset the phone the evening before, and forgot to restart the step counter. I did not discover this until the evening, and I had walked to and from work during the day. I know that this alone gives me 6000 steps, not counting steps on other occasions that day. Now, although I probably would have gotten a total of 8 to 9 000 steps that day, I would like to have the possibility to at least add the certain steps (the 6 000), to get the statistics more correct.

I have not checked the possibility to do this by editing the data file

2. When I turn of the phone with the power button, the software recognizes this as a system crash. Nokia N82 (03.01), FW 30.0.019 (23-07-08), RM-313.

Hello,
I think this application has tremendous possibilities for academic research (I am an MIT student and this applies directly to mine). Do you have any statistics about its accuracy?

If anyone could send me his step count chart(s) i would be extremely happy to do some work based on that and give accurate feedback about the application and how it can be improved.

I have a question for people who are using this application, if you use it with the GPS turned on, how long does the battery last ?

Thank you

This is a great tool, I have one 'annoyance' to register however, and that is the arbitrary labeling of midnight as the end of a day. My current lifestyle has my average day ending at 1AM and is off-putting to see steps that I consider part of yesterday included in my steps for today. Perhaps the application could look for a long period of inactivity (say 4+ hours) as the end of it's day?

Also working on the theory that no modern application is complete until it sends email, will this app be able to email its stats page etc.. out?

Ole,

I am one of those who work a lot of night shifts. Could some other way to define a day be implemented? I agree with Rob, for my lifestyle - not only with regards to the night shifts - midnight to midnight does not fit.

Rob suggests a solution where an amount of time would be defined as sleep. I disagree; I think this would be too fixed. However, there could be a possibility to integrate a timed trigger where the program asks if I would like to define the idle time as sleep, thus resetting the counter.

Would a time offset be possible to implement, perhaps as a provisional solution? E.g. to set a time offset at 4 hours. Although this does not solve the problem properly, it would at least reduce the problem with evening/night walks past midnight. Either that, or an option to manually move specific workouts to the day before.

Bjørn

Hi,
I loved this application on my N95. Always used it! Now since a few days I have a N96 and it seems unable to start the application(unable to start engine. Am I doing something wrong?

Help! (please)

Sounds good but will a version for the N96 be released anytime soon

Tremenda aplicación, la recomendo.

It might be obvious for some people for it is not for everyone. How to measure step length? heel to heel? heel to tip of toes? Maybe include it (a method or suggestions on how to measure your step lenght) on a help file will help a lot of users (including me).

hi,I installed Step Counter on my Nokia 5800 express music.It worked fine for about 5 days and now its showing me a message "unable to Start engine" I do not have activity monitor instlled on my phone.I really need this software to work for my daily step count and also for my gym exercise.Please help.

Hello,
Will it work on E63?? it has S60 version 3.3
Thanks in advance

Whenever I restart my phone, NSC doesn't automatically restart. I've enabled "Application autostart", but it never does after I restart my phone. Any reason its doing this?

Hi.

You are all the time talking about S60 3.2 support. But what abou E66 (S60 3.1)? I've read that it has the same API as N96 etc., so will be E66 supported too?

Thanks.

Thank You TUFF that did the trick I am very greatful :)

Is there a version for the N96? I had on the N95 8GB until someone took it and found it very useful.

Also, will the new version be improves with regards to power management? I am of course aware of the fact that it is a beta version, but I think power consumption is important. The battery life is one of the main reasons as to why I am upgrading from my N82 to N85, and I therefore hope that the new beta version will be less power hungry.

I use this all the time, and have used the data overnight to let me know when I've been up at night (since I grab my phone and put it in the pocket of my robe first thing) and have been able to use it to work out how much sleep I've had at night based on when I've been up/down.

It is the step counter I have wanted for ages. I have it in my pocket all day and find it gives me numbers comparable to other step counters I'd been using (now tossed in a drawer since I no longer need them).

Oh, and for feedback purposes - I'm a woman. I'm looking to find a slide on pouch of sorts so I can wear it when I don't have pockets.

Cheers.

Ability to edit/correct data where phone or software is switched off, (maybe add edits in diferent colour) to correct statistics.
What does switching Automatic on do?
Having to charge battery each day to run application.
Looking forward to new version, when is it coming out?

Also, I think the "daily target" feature should be somewhat different. When I change my target, I would not like it to affect previous days. The green/red indicator in the diary should reflect if I reached the target I had that day, not the target I have two months later.

Bjørn

Looking forward to the new version for N96 :)

Using this all the time as I need to get fit but battery drain an issue. Any news on that update?

The update is finally out. We are exhausted and looking forward to the Christmas break. We will be back in action just after the New Year.

@jannnn -- E66
The E66 includes elements of both 3.1 and 3.2 so we are most likely going to have to make a separate release for it. It should be feasible but I'd better not put a date on it, considering how I underestimated the effort required to get the 3.2 version ready.

@Gaelyne, Lonely Coder -- lots of flattering words
Thank you, thank you. Gaelyne, can you tell us why it is so difficult for us to reach women through Beta Labs? What sort of distribution channel should we use instead?

We are making some serious progress with the power saving, and we have just started testing of the S60 3.2 version on the N96 and 6210. A couple of bugs have popped up we need to spend some time on. Please be patient. We are almost there.

@Simon Argent -- background mode
Our application does not run in background mode but it is obvious that this is a good way to implement it from a usability point of view. The user shouldn't have to think about collecting the step data, the application should just show the data when the user wants to look at it. However, if the step counter is on continuously in the background it must be extremely power efficient, and in addition we would have to make absolutely sure that it never, ever crashes the phone, otherwise you could have the nigthmare scenario where the phone boots, then crashes, and there would be no recovery except by flashing it.

@Bjørn H
- daily target a function of date. We actually considered that during development but rejected it because we couldn't figure out how to display the extra variable in an appropriate way. I agree with the idea in principle. If somebody is serious about using the Step Counter to get fitter, then clearly the daily target should be increased with time
- adding workouts. Yes, I also find that I sometimes forget to start Step Counting, or I forget to bring my phone with me when I go shopping but I am afraid we are not going to have time to implement this. As an alternative you can create the workout in the Wellness Diary. It is not terribly elegant but at least the Wellness Diary would then contain an accurate summary.
- application crash reported after power on. This happens if you switch off the phone without exiting the Step Counter. I do that just about every time I get on a plane. Even though the error message looks nasty the problem it reports is harmless.

@Sten Feldheim -- export data to file
Should be in the next release if all goes well.

@Patton -- step length
I have commented on this earlier in post 10 on this thread.

@igracek -- Step Counter for S60 3.2
Our experience with 3.2 so far has been very good. I am optimistically predicting that the same version will work fine across all 3.2 products regardless of the firmware version.

@Ron, christine, Chris S, Bjørn H -- support for new S60 3.2 products.
We expect the next S60 3.2 release to run on the 6210, N79, N85, and N96.

@anwar -- GPS and battery life
I would rather not get into a discussion about the GPS but as a rule of thumb you can assume it uses significantly more power than the Step Counter.

Excellent piece of software. I was really inspired by Step Counter. Miles to walk and Miles to walk before I sleep. Thank you nokia labs.

I have same problem with 5800
it worked ok about 3-5 days dont remember when it crashed because havent check every day.
today i try to check how many steps is there.. but step counter says cant “unable to start engine”
also tryed reinstall but not working now.

i deleted that memorycard:/stepcounter/config.dat but i get same error, when try to start(“unable to start engine”) onlything it goes little more time when error message comes.
i will try later today if it helps uninstall and try remove all step counter files if exist.

to Tuff
Has the same problem on my 5800 SOLUTION : Try deleting the file config.dat in the step counter folder(where you have installed the step counter application), using the file manager app in your phone. yo will need to input again your personal settings(age, height, etc...) but that way you don't get the error anymore and it works again!

Wov, i came here to ask you guys when is the version for FP2 phones going to be released and the latest comment is from the team itself!
Now only if you release it quickly :) Cannot wait

funny... I start it and stop it each day without problems now : I just deleted the config.dat file once and since then I haven't
got the error again.

Hi, anything new on E66 support?

Kind regards

Superb, I just found out about the nokia step counter & it made me the happiest man ever since I were very close to buying one of the latest sony phones due to that function.

but I really didn't feel like giving up my Nokia N82.

I've had no problems with the software so far, but you guys should really market it a bit more. it's great!

i am also looking forward to the version for fp2 devices like the n79

Since my last post I was able to reinstall the application. I am not sure exactly why I could not do so before, but my best guess is that, despite completely removing the app and deleting all the associated files I could find (including the config.dat file), I may have still had a shortcut to this program in the multimedia menu. I cannot be sure that this was the problem because I cannot remember if I deleted this shortcut before or after my last post, but in any case if anybody else experiences this issue it is probably worth checking that any shortcuts are deleted.

N82 user for past 7 weeks, achieving target of 10,000 steps per day. Been walking with predometers off and on for past 3 years, including a couple of corporate challenges where you form teams to walk for a period of 4 to 6 months. Accuracy OK eg. about 5% less than Sportline "Go Walking" pedometer bought on visit to USA at Wal Mart (not the best pedometer, slightly more sensitive than some but at least clip breaks less than others). No problems with car affecting counts, except once when on a mini bus traveling over dirt roads.

Alas, not one of your elusive female users!

Pros : good application, provides incentive to use it, 1 less device to carry & loose
Cons : poor power consumption (just got update last week, seems to have improved battery life), have to carry phone all the time (sometimes, prefer not to be contactable, so now have to remember to go off-line)

Application hung twice, first time in first few days of use, second time not long after update. Steps did not increment. Tried switching off App, phone to no avail; recharged over night and some how cleared itself.

Suggestions for improvements.
1. Get rid of message of application recovery after re-turning on phone. If it is for information only, why have it ? Causes unnecessary angst for new users.
2. Weekly step count graph bar colour should be green if target met, red if short of target, same as diary colour for days meeting target
3. Option to delete entries, by day, month, year (I think this was suggested by someone earlier); new export capability can be used as archive
4. Add option to include minutes of other exercises eg. swim, cycle. normal 1 minute = 100 steps, strenuous 1 minute = 150 steps. (idea came from 1 of the corporate challenges). Will encourage other forms of exercise that can be "translated" into steps, and also solve problem of forgetting to switch on app and losing out of steps and thus missing target. Yes, it probably can be put into the Wellbeing App but prefer to have it in this App. If this is adopted, then suggest adding 3rd colour to weekly step count bar chart of say yellow for manual entries in each week. Also, suggestion 3 and 4 can be used to correct wrong entries like my bumpy mini-bus ride.

DIVYA: try delete file memorycard:/stepcounter/config.dat
start step counter and dont stop it.
just set it to backround.

it's only for N95, N95 8GB, N82, N93i, 6210, N79, N85, N96 support?
is there any compatible version for my 5800?

I want to build an application via carbide C++, in which the data of step numbers will be needed.

Is there a way that I can get the data (step number, distance and calories)from Steps Counter in realtime?

Great application!I also would like to ask a 5800 compatible version

BTW I managed to install step counter on the 5800, and it worked great during 2 days, now I'm getting the "unable to start engine" error. I've tried to uninstall it ans reinstall b ut now I'm getting the same error everytime I try to start it. I now it's now designed for the 5800, but why did it work for sometime? any clues?

OK deleted the config.dat file in the step counter folder and working again on 5800, but would be great to have a more touch screen friendly interface. Aslo the calender in the dairy menu behaves strangely, but still the app works!!

I have the "Unable to start Engine. Exiting" error that others have written about. I have tried removing the program and deleting all the associated files from the filemanager before then reinstalling, but I still get the same error. Any ideas as to what I am might be doing wrong? I had it working for a couple of months and apart from a few application crashes it worked fine.

so it worked on 5800 *sometimes*?
i'd better try when there's 5800 compatible..