Guest blogger: Ole Kirkeby, Nokia Step Counter team

Nokia Step Counter does what it says on the tin: it counts the number of steps you take by analyzing how you ’shake’ your phone. Since most people have their phone with them everywhere they go, it is natural to use the accelerometer in an S60 product to track your daily activity.

Most commercial step counters require you to attach the measuring device to your belt. We have made an effort to ensure that Nokia Step Counter is accurate regardless of how you carry your phone. It should work fine if you have it in a pocket of your clothing, or a handbag you wear over your shoulder. The most challenging case we are aware of is when you have the phone in your hand while walking because then you ’shake’ it in a way that is not representative of how your body’s center of gravity move!

We are particularly interested in feedback on two topics. The first is the accuracy of the step counter. Can you fool it so that it picks up false steps, for example while you are driving a car with an unforgiving suspension, or can you make it ignore real steps, for example while you are shifting sideways along the shelves in your local supermarket? The second is the feature set of the application. Would you like to see more statistics in graphical format? Or perhaps a more profound summary which goes beyond the obvious steps/calories/distance numbers?

Last, but not least, we would like to hear from women! How do you carry your phone around with you during the day? If you don’t have any pockets in your clothing, or a belt, is it an inconvenience to use a mobile phone as a step counter?

- Ole

Download here.

Known issues: (don’t worry, we’ll fix these)

• If you have the Activity Monitor from research.nokia.com on your phone, remove it before installing the Nokia Step Counter (added 12.05.2008)
• Height and weight must be entered in cm and kg regardless of whether Metric Units is chosen in Settings -> User
• If the scheduler is disabled and the Step Counter is run past midnight statistics might be incorrectly allocated to different days