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Digital Compass (Magnetometer) Confirmed in Next iPhone?

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,534
30,842



212917-iphonemagnetometer2_300.jpg


BoyGeniusReport posts a screenshot from debugging menus in the 3.0 beta firmware which seems to confirm that Apple has built-in magnetometer (digital compass) support into the operating system.

Evidence of a magnetometer was first reported in April and MacRumors has heard that the magnetometer will indeed be present in the next generation iPhone expected this summer. We previously explored what additional functionality would come with a digital compass. The possibilities were particularly intriguing:
Examples of how this could be used include pointing your iPhone's camera at a building and the phone telling you what building it is by combining GPS, accelerometer and compass information. The iPhone could even overlay graphics and text on top of the image to provide additional information. Another application described is the ability to show information about stars and constellations simply by pointing your iPhone towards the sky.
Click to expand...



Article Link: Digital Compass (Magnetometer) Confirmed in Next iPhone?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/05/07/digital-compass-magnetometer-confirmed-in-next-iphone/
R

ro2nie

macrumors regular
Oct 4, 2005
121
0
Oxford
A compass... This could be handy for GPS when not moving. It can tell you the direction you are pointing to
 
V

Virtuo

macrumors member
Feb 12, 2009
44
0
Boston, MA
I wonder how useful this implementation would really be, however. I perceive that GPS applications will take advantage of this feature, enabling the ability to detect which direction subject is facing without having to relying primarily on movement.

ADDITION: This would be VERY useful in some sort of 3d application; being able to navigate through an interface by moving the device about.
 
t0mat0

t0mat0

macrumors 603
Aug 29, 2006
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Great! Augmented reality like Tonchidot and Enkin etc is seemingly getting closer...
 
P

phlops

macrumors newbie
Nov 3, 2003
5
0
Ann Arbor, MI
What I really want to know is how was this screenshot generated? What Apple program has this in it? That'd be new content for the Field Test app.
 
Z

zman911

macrumors newbie
Jul 29, 2007
12
0
dude, that's seems pretty cool. looks like i might have to invest in a 3rd gen iphone in a few months!
 
B

Brucey

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2008
12
0
designgeek said:
This is probably a stupid question but what is "Kitchen Sink?"
Click to expand...

It seems like this is a joke. When one takes everything with them, they take "everything but the kitchen sink". Also what is a dump log? Seems like a joke to me.
 
C

chelsel

macrumors 6502
May 24, 2007
455
229
phlops said:
What I really want to know is how was this screenshot generated? What Apple program has this in it? That'd be new content for the Field Test app.
Click to expand...

Just press power and home at the same time, briefly. You should hear a shutter sound and it will be saved on your phone.
 
html

html

macrumors member
Jan 3, 2009
46
0
Denver
:confused:Is this a settings pane?:confused:

This doesn't look like any settings pane I know. Is it some sort of beta debug app?
 
TuffLuffJimmy

TuffLuffJimmy

macrumors G3
Apr 6, 2007
9,022
136
Portland, OR
Gah! This is making it harder, and harder, for me to not upgrade every single generation. I made a deal with myself to not upgrade until rev4.



.....but rev3 is so enticing.
 
T

timish

macrumors regular
Jul 16, 2002
209
28
Brucey said:
It seems like this is a joke. When one takes everything with them, they take "everything but the kitchen sink". Also what is a dump log? Seems like a joke to me.
Click to expand...

Dump log is a bathroom tracking tool :eek:
 
t0mat0

t0mat0

macrumors 603
Aug 29, 2006
5,473
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Are these all settings a user won't see in the end? Curious about the ability to "log GPS (in MA)" Anyone know what MA is?
Are these log files just for the beta's ?
 
V

VesperDEM

macrumors newbie
Dec 6, 2003
3
0
Manchester, MO
Wow...

You guys are so gullible...

You know I read somewhere that the new iPhones coming out would be made of solid gold and be half the price they are now!
 
kastenbrust

kastenbrust

macrumors 68030
Dec 26, 2008
2,890
0
North Korea
viperguy said:
The Compass reminds of Zelda (a bit stupid but it just came to my mind :p )
Click to expand...

All we need is an iOrcarina and we're away!

Boy Genius Report is full of rubbish, i can photoshop a compass debugging too. Why would a compass debugging too have its own GUI? Why would that GUI include 'Kitchen Sink'?
 
R

ruinfx

macrumors 6502a
Feb 20, 2008
894
0
uh why is it so hard to believe that the next iphone will have a compass in it when the g1 already has one?
 
t0mat0

t0mat0

macrumors 603
Aug 29, 2006
5,473
284
Home
VesperDEM said:
You guys are so gullible...

You know I read somewhere that the new iPhones coming out would be made of solid gold and be half the price they are now!
Click to expand...

http://www.goldstriker.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=257

What do you mean? There's already a gold one ;)

Has the General page changed? Or is it just a Location Services On Off switch at the moment? Presumably there would be a new menu, an addition to the Restrictions menu for Location also?
Does anyone have a list of applications, other than Enkin, Tonchidot, SatNav for magnetometers?
 
D

dgcaste

macrumors member
Aug 18, 2008
66
0
That use suggestion (for geoidentifying buildings) is shaky at best. With the 10-20ft inaccuracy in the GPS, it would be hard to believe that an app could guess what a building is, unless it looks at the camera and looks at all the buildings in a 20m radius that look like it within streetview.
 
macduke

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,140
19,677
Prediction: Google maps will rotate depending on which direction you are facing. Although that would have to mean that text labels would also have to go for a spin. Would that be really hard to do or are street names and the like a seperate layer in the Google API?
 
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