Is That A Torch Or A Phone?

One of the most sought after features in modern cameraphones is the ability to use your phone as a flashlight. I'm sure many of you must've been looking for a way to use your phone as a torch, using the camera flash, ofcourse. While this was possible on phones like the N70 and N72, it really hasn't been well-implemented on S60 3rd edition phones like the N73, N80 or the N95. Fortunately, there is a workaround that I recently discovered.

Although there are apps like OTStudio's commercial NTorch Lite and Outbank's freeware S60SpotOn that claim to make your phone into a real torch, they have very little practical use since the torchlight is very dim.

Also, S60SpotOn behaves very erratically once you slide open the camera lens cover on the N73 and crashes almost immediately after that. NTorch Lite is better in that regard and quite stable too.

But the fact remains: the light from both these so-called 'torches' is totally unusable in the dark.

While OTStudio's subsequently released versions with 'full brightness' support for the Nokia 5700, unfortunately they haven't come up with a solution thus far for the NSeries lineup, including the N73 and N80. I've even emailed them asking about a version for these handsets, but haven't received a response as yet.

Anyway, onto the good stuff. Recently, while using Python yet again, I discovered a nifty way of making a 'strobe light' that utilizes the camera hardware.

By definition, a strobe light functions by producing regular flashes of light. You'll find that the one provided below flashes once every 5-6 seconds. While it isn't like your regular LED flashlight, it still is, in my opinion, quite a useful feature to have on your phone, plus the lighting effects are very interesting too. As always, do let me know your thoughts on this one :)

And finally, a word of caution. Please use this script entirely at your own risk. While LEDs have a remarkable service life, they do tend to get hot and adequate heat-sinking is essential. So remember not to close the camera lens cover immediately after extended use.

Key features:

• An Actual First-of-its-kind Strobe Light
• Higher Intensity LED Illumination
• Current Status Notification (via pop-up interface)
• Instantaneous Launch
• One-Tap Exit (via right softkey)
• Compatibility with MOST S60 3rd Edition Devices (N73, N80, N95 and more)

Special Notes:

Note that you need to have Python installed on your phone first. In case you're not familiar with that, follow the steps given below:

• Install the Python for S60 interpreter application (PythonForS60_1_4_0_3rdEd.sis) on your phone
• Install the script shell (PythonScriptShell_1_4_0_3rdEd.sis)
• Send any of the included python scripts (*.py) to e:\Python
• Next, run Python from the Menu and select the script you want to run.

Download Links:

P.S All the required files are provided below. The password for the file is "series-sixty.blogspot.com" (without the quotes).

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