Beginning Windows® Phone 7 Application Development: Building Windows® Phone Applications Using Silverlight® and XNA®

VIBRATION

Vibration has been a feature of mobile phones almost since they first appeared on the market. Manufacturers were quick to see the benefit of a “silent” ring, such as in business meetings. Practically every mobile device now has vibration functionality, so it makes sense that you should be able to access it from application code.

NOTE You may have noticed earlier in this section, in the information on the Windows Phone 7 hardware specification, that vibration was not listed as a required feature of Windows Phone 7 devices. Instead, vibration is included as an optional feature for these devices. Therefore, you shouldn't rely on this functionality for your applications, and you should be sure to alert users in other ways, where required.

You can use vibration functionality in mobile devices for several purposes, including these:

• As an alternative or supplementary signal for incoming calls or messages
• As a means of alerting users at important points in an application
• To enhance the gaming experience
• To provide haptic feedback to users as they interact with an application

Haptic technology simply means technology that users interact with through the sense of touch. Many mobile devices today don't include a hardware keypad or keyboard, and haptic technology allows you to provide feedback when user interface elements are triggered. This, along with visual changes, makes it ...