With a real barometer it could be an emergency backup heads up display in a small plane (altitude, heading, etc). Most of the barometers in android phones are far too insensitive to do that though. The cheap pressure sensors in the android world only cost a few bucks so why not toss it in there, maybe someone will figure out something to do with it. Too bad apple won't add something truly useful, like the swype keyboard god forbid they might actually have to pay swype to use it so that just can't happen.
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iPhone 6 May Include Temperature, Pressure and Humidity Sensors
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The main reason why they'd do this is to cut the Yahoo Weather cord. Think Apple's crowd-sourced traffic on the Maps app, but for weather. Every iPhone is a mobile weather station, reporting data back to the Apple mothership. Of course, 3rd-party apps could find some cool uses for those sensors, but that's secondary to Apple's strategic goals.
I know you're being funny but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if that happened. Welcome to the next-gen smartphone. The greatest surveillance device ever created. /s
Well I believe they would especially be important for areas that get Hurricanes. You could see where the Hurricane is at if it passes over you.
There ARE a few watches with very good barometers in them - you just reminded me of that. They have temp too. They also run over $300.
Not a bad idea, even if all it did was give you the current numbers. I have such a device sitting next to my bed (gives humidity and temp).
QCassidy352
macrumors G5
How could these sensors account for the phone being indoors, in your hand, in a pocket, in a car, etc? Unclear to me how this could give useful, accurate data.
FelixDerKater
macrumors 68040
How about one of those tiny pens and toothpicks that always goes missing from your Swiss Army knife?
Except of course for the fact that people don't want to know what the weather is. They want to know what it will be.
If one hundred people report that it's raining in my area while I'm being rained on I'm not going to give an approving thumbs up to the power of crowdsourced obviousness.
APlotdevice
macrumors 68040
Well, a barometer (air pressure sensor), when combined with the existing accelerometer and gyroscope, could be used to accurately track your movement without GPS.
Jessica Lares
macrumors G3
This would replace the Thermodo for me then.
The iPhone already has sensors so that it shuts off in hazardous conditions. I'm pretty sure I've read that somewhere.
I think weather data is great for many reasons. It can paint a better picture, that when it's hot and humid, you feel this way, and when it's cold, your pace is usually this fast. Hence apps like Day One and some of the other journal apps add weather data to your entries.
The iPhone already has sensors so that it shuts off in hazardous conditions. I'm pretty sure I've read that somewhere.
I think weather data is great for many reasons. It can paint a better picture, that when it's hot and humid, you feel this way, and when it's cold, your pace is usually this fast. Hence apps like Day One and some of the other journal apps add weather data to your entries.
mejsric
macrumors 6502a
Huracan
macrumors 6502
I don't know this analyst, never heard of him, but regardless, although it might be good to have those sensors in the phone they don't make a lot of sense. If you keep the phone in your pocket, the temperature and humidity measures are going to be off. Much better to use any of the weather applications.
Atmospheric pressure might be independent of where you keep your phone but of dubious value. I don't know many people who care or know even what the typical range of atmospheric pressure is. All of this is easily accessible through any decent weather application like weather bug. Why spend a sensor for things that can be easily obtained through an app?
I am all for sensors, I think the addition of location capabilities through assisted GPS, GLONASS, and hopefully GALILEO in the future is great. All the accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc. great too! However, what this analyst is saying doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. If Apple decides to put these kind of sensors, that's ok, however I doubt how practical they are.
Atmospheric pressure might be independent of where you keep your phone but of dubious value. I don't know many people who care or know even what the typical range of atmospheric pressure is. All of this is easily accessible through any decent weather application like weather bug. Why spend a sensor for things that can be easily obtained through an app?
I am all for sensors, I think the addition of location capabilities through assisted GPS, GLONASS, and hopefully GALILEO in the future is great. All the accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc. great too! However, what this analyst is saying doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. If Apple decides to put these kind of sensors, that's ok, however I doubt how practical they are.
japanime
macrumors 68030
I've already got the bomb detector. Yahoo Japan offers a free iPhone app that will sound an alarm in the event of an incoming nuclear missile strike. Seriously:
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/yahoo!-fang-zai-su-bao-zhen/id481914139?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo=4
SeaFox
macrumors 68030
And how would Apple be able to tell how many of these iPhones are reporting the temperature/humidity of indoor locations, the inside of purses or pants pockets, the inside of cars they've been left in in Summer, etc?
More info, better predictions.
The immediate local climate conditions are probably of little interest to the user (kind of a huh interesting) little distraction, but millions of these sensor arrays world-wide gathering data, might be able to generate some useful data for meteorologist types. Furthermore, there is no reason that the software couldn't control for the phone being in a pocket or something, also, this feature if it comes to fruition may be of some interest for developpers of home automation type software/hardware, smart humidistat/thermostat type tech.
The immediate local climate conditions are probably of little interest to the user (kind of a huh interesting) little distraction, but millions of these sensor arrays world-wide gathering data, might be able to generate some useful data for meteorologist types. Furthermore, there is no reason that the software couldn't control for the phone being in a pocket or something, also, this feature if it comes to fruition may be of some interest for developpers of home automation type software/hardware, smart humidistat/thermostat type tech.
Android has included a barometer sensor api since 2011. There are some science/weather apps that use it like pressurenet but I believe it's main purpose is to assist the GPS readings.
Cool now I can stop using the ones built into my body
What with that and apps telling me what to eat when to sleep **** I really don't need much of the sophisticated equipment my body came with.
😉
What with that and apps telling me what to eat when to sleep **** I really don't need much of the sophisticated equipment my body came with.
😉
They would still need a service like this for forecasts. You need a couple of sophisticated simulations to forecast weather for a couple of days.
A mobile thermometer is not a weather station. The current temperature for most iPhones in the Antarctica is probably around 21° Celsius (70° Fahrenheit). Just because people tend to take their phones inside.
Sure, you could add a bunch of other sensors to make sure that you only measure temperature if the phone is outside and not in your home or your car; not in the pocket of the user so it's not influenced by the temperature of the users body; not in the sun, because temperature measured in direct sunlight is quite useless for anything weather related. And last but not least you have to make sure that the temperature sensor is not manipulated by a bunch of kids who find it funny that the crowd-sourced weather service shows a current temperature of 150 Fahrenheit.
That's a lot of stuff to cut the Yahoo Weather cord, and that's just what's necessary for the current conditions. As I said, this data does not get you any forecasts.
Judging by the number of weather apps that exist, I would say that simply buying this data can't be that expensive.
And the situation is different from the Maps situation Apple faced before they launched their own mapping service. Providers of weather data just want to sell their data. They don't enforce any branding rules (if you pay them enough) and they don't want control over your app.
Think fitness instead of weather. Barometric pressure sensors are a great way to get accurate readings of elevation (change).
As a cyclist I would love to have reliable elevation statistics of my rides. Barometric pressure is basically the only way to get this data, GPS is not good enough for this.