Mac-based weather station adds barometer sensor

Onset Computer, makers of the Mac-based HOBO U30 Remote Monitoring System and HOBO Station products, on Monday announced a new Barometric Pressure Smart Sensor for use with those systems. It costs $249.
The device sports a weatherproof housing and can be mounted outside of the weather station enclosure. It doesn’t require any complicated wiring or programming to work — it’s automatically recognized by a HOBO U30 system. It can register barometric pressure readings from 660 mb to 1,070 mb.
The HOBO U30 enables Mac users to measure temperature, air pressure, carbon dioxide levels and other environmental factors using a variety of plug-and-lay sensors. The barometer sensor data can be transmitted wirelessly over Wi-Fi or over a GSM cell phone network.
Zip ties are included for mounting the barometric sensor on a mast. It can also be mounted on a flat surface with screws (holes are already pre-drilled).

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Using Multiple Barometer Sensors to Detect the Floor Location of Smart Phones

Following the popularity of smart phones and the development of mobile Internet, the demands for accurate indoor positioning have grown rapidly in recent years. Previous indoor positioning methods focused on plane locations on a floor and did not provide accurate floor positioning.

In this paper, we propose a method that uses multiple barometers as references for the floor positioning of smart phones with built-in barometer sensors. Some related studies used barometric formula to investigate the altitude of mobile devices and compared the altitude with the height of the floors in a building to obtain the floor number. These studies assume that the accurate height of each floor is known, which is not always the case.

They also did not consider the difference in the barometric-pressure pattern at different floors, which may lead to errors in the altitude computation. Our method does not require knowledge of the accurate heights of buildings and stories. It is robust and less sensitive to factors such as temperature and humidity and considers the difference in the barometric-pressure change trends at different floors. We performed a series of experiments to validate the effectiveness of this method. The results are encouraging.

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iPhone 6 May Feature a Barometer Sensor and Air Pressure Sensors

 Looks like the next iPhone might be able to measure temperature, air pressure, and altitude, with a new report tipping addition of a new barometer sensor into the handset.
Apple's next iPhone, believed to be dubbed the iPhone 6, has been in headlines with numerous leaks tipping details about the unannounced handset's design and display size. However, this is the first time we have heard details of the alleged iPhone 6's new sensor system.
The details about the possible presence of a new sensor on the anticipated iPhone 6 come via references found in Xcode 6 and iOS 8, which are the latest iPhone software developer kit (SDK) and operating system. The report claims that the software includes updated CoreMotion APIs, which include reference of the new altitude measuring capabilities. A 9to5mac report claims that there are a number of apps in the App Store which can track altitude and one of them is even listed on the company's Your Verse section.
Notably, the reference of the new altitude measuring capabilities in Xcode 6 and iOS 8 is a new framework that is dedicated to altitude tracking. The report, citing a few developers, claims that this framework requires a new Apple hardware.
The report informs the App Store currently comes with apps that use the iOS device's inbuilt GPS and motion chips to determine altitude; however, a barometer sensor could get more accurate data and could be quick to load data, thanks to the dedicated chip.
A developer from FutureTap, as cited by 9to5mac, tested the new framework on an iPhone 5s, which in result confirmed that the device [iPhone 5s] did not support the altitude changes.
The report speculates that the new sensor could be a part of, and be powered by, the alleged iPhone 6's M8 motion co-processor that's said to be a part of the expected A8 processor rumoured to debut on the alleged iPhone 6 and be designed for improved efficiency and battery life.
Reports have been tipping that Apple's next iPhone would hit shelves on September 19. The Cupertino-based company has been rumoured to be testing a higher screen resolution of 960x1704 pixels on at least one of the two iPhone models likely to debut this year.

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Why Apple's Next iPhone May Include A Barometer Sensor

The iPhone already comes packed with barometer sensors, but a new report from 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman says this year’s model might come with yet another sensor that’s commonly used to measure temperature, air pressure, and altitude.
That’s right. Gurman believes this year’s iPhone may feature a barometer for the first time.
The references to a barometer in an upcoming iPhone were discovered by FutureTap developer Ortwin Gentz, who discovered frameworks dedicated to “altitude tracking” within a version of Xcode 6 for iOS 8, the second beta for which was released Tuesday.
Gentz said he tried testing the framework with an iPhone 5S but the hardware would not accept or support the new framework; 9to5Mac tried a similar test of the framework, which only seemed to confirm Gentz’s findings.
In other words, the new tracking functionality must be written for a yet-to-be-released Apple device — or devices. Since the barometer reference was buried within the code for iOS 8, it’s possible any barometer-related features could be included in the next iPhone or next iPads. It could even be integrated into Apple’s upcoming smartwatch project, which will reportedly release in October.
Furthermore, it also seems like the barometer will play a big role in ambient pressure tracking, which helps determine weather pressure as well as altitude. Since a barometer can read air pressure to determine if it’s going to be sunny or stormy, the inclusion of this sensor could open up the potential for third-party applications to leverage the sensor for things like mapping, location tracking, and crowdsourcing of weather data.
In general, a barometer could give iPhone users a better idea of their surroundings without needing to rely on third-party weather apps or an internet connection — both of which can be unreliable at times. By giving more-precise information about a user's immediate environment, Apple and other developers could potentially create applications that crowdsource this air pressure data to deliver more-accurate and useful feedback.
So where would the barometer go? Considering how the M7 motion co-processor in the iPhone 5s houses the phone's accelerometer, gyroscope, and compass — also assisting the main A7 chipset with the computing load — Gurman believes the next iPhone will bury the barometer inside an M8 co-processor, thus allowing the 64-bit A8 chip more freedom to handle intensive tasks and applications.
While Apple has never included a barometer in any of its mobile devices thus far, there are several Android handsets that include the sensor, including the Motorola Xoom and Samsung’s popular Galaxy Nexus. The iPhone has several other sensors, including an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, a magnetometer, and most recently, the gyroscope was added in 2010 for the release of the iPhone 4S.
Besides the possible barometer, we believe Apple’s next iPhone — presumably called “iPhone 6” — will feature a sharper display made of sapphire glass and a thinner and rounder form factor. Most reports also say the next iPhone will feature a bigger screen, though some have said Apple will actually release two large-screened models measuring 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. The current iPhone 5S and 5C models both feature 4-inch screens.

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Dark Sky uses your iPhone's barometer sensors to improve weather forecasts

Your iPhone gives you weather forecasts right from the get-go, but it's now ready to shape those forecasts as well. Dark Sky has given its iOS app a big overhaul that, if you like, uses the barometer sensor  on your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus to contribute pressure readings. The hope is that these will dramatically improve short-term forecasts in the future -- you'll know that it's about to rain because iPhones nearby gave you a heads-up. There have been apps that crowdsourced pressure data before, but rarely with the intent to directly improve forecasts -- and not on the scale of Dark Sky, one of iOS' best-known weather tools.

It might be a worthy update even if you don't plan to contribute. There's a brand new visual layout, as you'd expect, but you can also create custom notifications for big weather changes, such as a sudden drop in temperature or strong winds. It'll track the UV index, too, so you'll know to pack sunscreen for that trip to the beach. Dark Sky will cost you $4 if you aren't already a customer, but that small expense could pay off if it saves you from getting soaked by an unexpected storm.

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iPhone 6 might feature air pressure and barometer sensors

Apple's next offering the iPhone 6 may be able to measure temperature, altitude, air pressure among other things that smartphones do.
Apple's iPhone already comes packed with multiple sensors, but according to a new report, this year's model -- the iPhone 6 could include a barometer sensor to measure temperature, air pressure, and altitude as well.
According to sources, new references within Xcode 6 and iOS 8 are dedicated to altitude tracking and will require new Apple hardware. Current altitude tracking applications use the iOS Device’s existing GPS and Motion chips to track altitude, but a barometer is more accurate and has a dedicated chip for tracking.
A developer from FutureTap, Ortwin Gentz has tested the new framework on an iPhone 5s and the results confirmed that the device [iPhone 5s] did not support the altitude changes. The report says that the new sensor could be a part of the iPhone 6's M8 motion co-processor, which according to rumors, will debut with the iPhone 6. Since the feature is a part of iOS 8, it is likely that it will be integrated into Apple's new products including the iPhone 6, new iPads, and the iWatch.
According to rumors, the iPhone 6 is expected to be launched on September 19 and will feature a sharper display made of sapphire glass as well as a thinner and rounder form factor. Rumors also suggest that Apple may actually release two large-screen models measuring 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches. Recently, images of the iPhone 6 were leaked by Taiwanese pop star, actor and race car driver Jimmy Lin on his Weibo account. Lin had leaked the iPhone 5C pictures last year and those photos turned out to show the real thing.
A barometer sensor is commonly used for measuring altitude and is already available in Android devices like the Google Nexus. It is used by bike riders, hikers and mountain climbers to get accurate knowledge about their current altitude as well as temperature and weather information.

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iPhone 6 to sport new barometer sensor that predicts weather?

It seems like there’s more to the iPhone 6 than just bigger displays. Reports show that an added barometer sensor might make its way to the anticipated flagship which can be used to predict weather among other things.

A barometer is basically a sensor that measures altitude. It also collects air pressure data which can be used to predict temperature and weather information. With the possible integration of this sensor to the upcoming iPhone 6, we can see an additional feature targeted towards cyclists, hikers, and other active individuals that need an accurate weather report before setting foot out of the house. This will also go hand-in-hand with all the health-related trackers expected to come with the iOS 8.

9to5mac reports that they have discovered this possible feature on an iOS 8 code showing that it’s a new framework and will require a dedicated hardware. They tried testing the said framework with the current iPhone 5s to which it didn’t work, saying that the required hardware wasn’t found on the phone – this simply suggests that the hardware will only be available in upcoming devices.

Though we’ve seen barometers in other Android devices, it’s not a standard feature and isn’t fully utilized since there’s no continued support from third party developers. For iOS devices, there have been altitude-tracking apps which make use of its GPS and motion chips, but a dedicated barometer is quicker to load and provides more accuracy.



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LG G3 has Barometer sensor!

Everywhere I read, I don't see any site listed LG G3 with barometer build in except a few comments in XDA stated it does have it. So I downloaded a Barometer app and sure it does display it! I have the D855 rooted w V10L.

To check for the reading if it's getting info from GPS location based data or using a real barometer sensor (found the info from another site somewhere):

Put the G3 in a large Ziploc bag sealed with the Barometer app running and presses on the bag to see if the sensor moves then it's a real sensor not GPS. And yes the sensor moves with the increasing pressure in the bag.

Okay, to make the test more convincing, I also have a brand new Sony Z3 Compact which has barometer listed in the spec and did the same thing in the bag along side the G3 and it's showing the same reading as I press on the bag.

So, unless I am not doing it right, I think LG or someone else never disclosed the barometer sensor being build-in in the spec sheet. Now this makes the G3 even cooler than it was before.

This is an easy test. Give it a try. Unless like the FM radio which is disabled for US version but not international version, maybe it is included in the D850 and D851? What is your take on this?

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Monitoring Building Door Events using Barometer Sensor in Smartphones

Building security systems are commonly deployed to detect intrusion and burglary in home and business structures. Such systems can accurately detect door open/close events, but their high-cost of installation and maintenance makes them unsuitable for certain building monitoring applications, such as times of high/low entrance traffic, estimating building occupancy, etc.

In this paper, we show that barometer sensors found in latest smartphones can directly detect the building door open/close events anywhere inside an insulated building. The sudden pressure change observed by barometers is sufficient to detect events even in presence of user mobility (e.g. climbing stairs). We study various characteristics of the pressure variation due to door events, and demonstrate that door open/close events can be recognized with an accuracy range of 99.34% - 99.81% based on the data collected from 3 different buildings. Such a low-cost ubiquitous solution of door event detection enables many monitoring applications without any infrastructure integration, and it can also work as an augmentation to the existing expensive security systems.

Building security systems have become commonplace for protecting against intrusions and burglary in homes, offices and businesses. Currently, most prevalent form of building security system requires installing an electrical circuit on the periphery of doors to detect their open/close events. However, due to their high cost, these building security systems are undesirable for many simple monitoring applications, such as logging door open/close events, estimating building occupancy, times of high/low entrance traffic, etc. In fact, these needs of monitoring building door open/close events can be fulfilled with a barometer sensor in a latest smartphone, which requires no infrastructure integration.

In this paper, we provide an empirical evidence that the barometer sensor commonly found in latest smartphones can directly detect the building door open/close events anywhere inside an insulated building. This observation is based on the fact that most of the buildings are equipped with HVAC(Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) systems to maintain a convenient indoor temperature and pressure. It uses a compressor to eject/absorb the air to/from the outside for ventilation, which creates a noticeable pressure difference between the indoor and outdoor environment. When a building door is opened, the sharp change of indoor pressure can be easily observed using smartphone barometer sensors. Once the door is closed, the HVAC system restores the pressure level allowing the detection of next open/close event.

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iPhone 6 to Feature Barometer Sensors and Weather Sensors

Rumours surrounding Apple's latest smartphone have so far included solar powered screens, wireless charging and waterproofing. Now reports have emerged that suggest the iPhone 6 could include a barometer sensor and air pressure sensors.

The latest leaks have come from Mark Gurman at 9to5Mac, who in the past has been the first to reveal details of Apple's latest mobile operating system iOS 8, including the company's HealthKit platform.

Hints of the new hardware have come via Xcode 6 and iOS 7, which includes new software capable of tracking altitude.

A barometer is traditionally used by meteorologists to measure short term changes in the weather.
The need for such a device on a smartphone may seem far fetched but in what is sure to be Apple's biggest device redesign to date, the inclusion of such a feature could fit with Apple's increased focus on health and fitness.

Gurman suggests that runners and cyclists could benefit from having instant weather forecasts for their local area

Surprisingly, the iPhone 6 would not be the first smartphone to include a barometer. In 2011, both Samsung and Motorola launched devices with integrated barometers, however industry experts claim that their only purpose was to improve GPS tracking and not monitor the weather.

"The primary purpose of the barometer is to make GPS lock-ons faster," Dan Morril, a software develop at Google, said about the Galaxy Nexus barometer. "The barometer gives you a reasonable first-cut estimation for altitude, which can help speed up lock-on in general."


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Note 3: Barometer sensor problem. Just me?

Pictures paint a thousand words. As can be seen above I have been getting unusual readings from the barometer sensor on my new note 3. I have run the self test on the barometer sensor and it passed. This is not surprising since the odd readings are intermittent. I am obviously using the app SyPressure, but have also had spurious readings from other barometer capturing apps as well. At this stage I have no idea whether this is a hardware  or software issue or if the sensor is still calibrating. This all worked fine on my Note 2. Also these reading were when the phone was just sitting on the table in one place, not when the phone was on the move in any way.

I wanted to ask if there are any other Note 3 barometer users out there who have had anything like this or is it just me, i.e a hardware fault on my device?

Obviously I am also interested if anyone else is using SyPressure or another app that stores the barometer readings on their note and not having a problem. This will be evidence that it is a hardware issue just with my Note 3.

Thanks

Device: Note 3 - GT-N9005 brought sim-free unlocked.

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Monitoring building door events using barometer sensor in smartphones

Building security systems are commonly deployed to detect intrusion and burglary in home and business structures. Such systems can accurately detect door open/close events, but their high-cost of installation and maintenance makes them unsuitable for certain building monitoring applications, such as times of high/low entrance traffic, estimating building occupancy, etc.

In this paper, we show that barometer sensors found in latest smartphones can directly detect the building door open/close events anywhere inside an insulated building. The sudden pressure change observed by barometers is sufficient to detect events even in presence of user mobility (e.g. climbing stairs).

We study various characteristics of the pressure variation due to door events, and demonstrate that door open/close events can be recognized with an accuracy range of 99.34% -- 99.81% based on the data collected from 3 different buildings. Such a low-cost ubiquitous solution of door event detection enables many monitoring applications without any infrastructure integration, and it can also work as an augmentation to the existing expensive security systems.

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iPhone 6 Barometer Sensor Features

Apple has equipped it’s latest flagships, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with a new sensor. I’m talking about the barometer sensor! This addition is welcomed by all iOS users, as it comes to complete an array of detectors which include ambient light measurer, accelerometer, gyroscope, digital compass, proximity sensor, Touch ID finger print reader and iSight camera sensor.

Barometer has the role to measure air pressure. This reading is important because it helps your iPhone determine altitude, as well as relative elevation changes. This way your iOS device can track your vertical movement, without the need of GPS assistance. More, it transforms your iPhone in an actual barometer, because air pressure reading is used for weather forecasting!

1. Elevation Estimation
Your iPhone reads the current air pressure and compares it with the sea level value to calculate your current elevation. You can also obtain relative altitude readings by setting altitude to 0 feet (or meters) when on ground level. Then let your iOS device show you how much you climbed when you’re at the 20th story of a skyscraper. The great thing is that these readings are adjusting almost instantly, so you can actually track your elevation as you’re in the elevator. And, yes this is done without a GPS, so don’t worry about lack of signal!
2. Weather Forecasting
Old school weather forecasting can be accomplished with an iOS Barometer app. In meteorology significant pressure change means, also an alteration of weather. If air pressure drops suddenly, it signals that a low pressure system looms at a horizon and there are increased chances of rain. On the other hand, fast pressure raises are the equivalent of sunshine! Any change of 3.5 hPA or greater in air pressure is forecast of changing weather. Thanks to the barometer sensor you can easily let your iPhone track these readings and be your own meteorologist.
Update: Dark Sky is one of the first iOS weather apps that uses the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus barometric sensor for forecasts based on crowdsourcing!
3. Physical Activity Tracking
Step counters have already implemented iPhone’s barometer readings and are now able to keep track of your physical activity, even on the vertical. This was possible prior to iPhone 6 and iOS 8 only with the help of the GPS. But using this system around the clock, significantly reduces battery life and exposes the user to additional electromagnetic field radiation. Now, with the help of the barometer sensor, this extra load is removed from the A8 chip and your pedometer can easily track your stair climbing 24/7 and show your progress whenever you slide down the iOS Notification Center.
iPhone Barometer Sensor Apps
Here are a few iOS apps that use your smartphone’s built-in barometer sensor to accomplish the functions described above. We’ve tested them out for you and here are the results:
1. Barometer & Altimeter (Weather, Elevation) – Another great free app that estimates elevation and also predicts the weather, while analyzing your iPhone’s air pressure readings. As a bonus it offers widget integration for iOS 8 users.
2. Pedometer++ (Movement Tracking) – A simple and very efficient step counter that tracks your movement 24/7 and counts the amount of steps you made. If you own an iPhone 6, it will also track the amount of stairs climbed and transform them in floors. Accuracy is pretty good. We’ve tested it on a ten-storey building and Pedometer counted 9 floors for me. Widget function is included!
3. Barometer plus Altimeter (Weather, Elevation) – This one is similar to the first placed app in this list. The minus comes from the lack of widget support. If you’re not an iPhone 6 user yet you have to use the GPS based altimeters.
4. Barometer + Altimeter (Air Pressure, Elevation) – Is one of the simplest software available. It provides air pressure readings and can measure relative altitude, which means that you can measure how much you climb or decline, when setting a desired location as starting point.

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Barometer: a free app that showcases the iPhone 6 barometer sensor

Looking for a cool new free app to try on your brand new iPhone 6? Then look no further than Peter Breitling’s Barometer—a new easy to use barometer app for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Barometer is an extremely simple app with a minimal design. It allows you to easily measure heights, such as when riding an elevator, check altitude, perform measurements, and more.
It’s so cool that I deemed it worthy to create a video showcasing it in action. Have a look at our video demonstration of Barometer after the break.

The iPhone 6’s barometer sensor is extremely sensitive, and could pick up minimal increases in altitude. It wasn’t always 100% accurate when I pitted it against an old-fashioned tape measure to measure its height, but it wasn’t an egregious differences in measurement, either.

If you have the time, I recommend downloading Barometer and playing around with it. I can only imagine how interesting it would be to take it into a sky-scraper and ride the elevator to the top.

You can download Barometer from the App Store free of charge. Remember, you’ll need to have an iPhone 6 or an iPhone 6 Plus to use the app.

What do you think?

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Add a barometer sensor to the list of rumored iPhone 6

Apple might be preparing the perfect storm of wearables, health apps and smartphone sensors for its fall line-up.

The latest rumor claims the iPhone 6 will have a barometer sensor / air pressure sensor, making it useful for mountain climbing, hiking and a whole bunch of other intensive activities you will probably never actually use it for.

Developers discovered hints about the possibility of an iPhone 6 barometer in iOS 8 and the latest version of Xcode 6, which reportedly have new APIs that refer to hardware-based altitude measuring capabilities.

With help from these developers, 9to5Mac tested the API in question on the iPhone 5S and received a negative result, indicating that the feature will likely be launched on future iOS devices.

A first time for everything

In addition the site discovered references to ambient pressure tracking capabilities in iOS 8, lending more credence to these assumptions.

Barometers, which measure air pressure, temperature and other weather-related data, are already found in several Android devices. But the iPhone 6 would be the first Apple gadget to have one.

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The iPhone 6 has a barometer sensor!

One of my major research projects has been to explore the potential for improving weather prediction using the pressure sensors in smartphones, something I have talked about in previous blogs.

A number of Android phones has decent barometer sensor in them, including the highly popular Samsung Galaxy series.   A Windows-based phone, the Nokia 1020, also has a pressure sensor.   Amazingly, tens of millions of phones in North America have pressure sensors!

But we now have a major new addition to the pressure-enabled smartphone stable:  the new iPhone 6.

According to online reports, the iPhone6 has a Bosch BMP280 sensor (see image), with fairly good numbers:  absolute accuracy of +-1 hPa and relative accuracy for pressure changes of +-.1 hPa (normal sea level pressure is roughly 1013 hPa).   To give you a better idea of the accuracy of this barometer, the average decrease in pressure with height near sea level is 1 hPa per 8 meters (26 ft) .

So why am I so excited by smartphone atmospheric pressure sensors?  Why do I believe they have revolutionary potential for weather prediction?

Because they offer the chance to get a extraordinary density of pressure observations, which  provides the potential to describe small scale atmospheric structures.  Structures we need to knwo about if we are to predict key weather features like strong thunderstorms.

Let me illustrate how many surface pressure observations there are.  Currently, I am getting real time feeds from two small companies, Cumulonimbus, Inc, (with the Pressurenet app) and OpenSignal (with their WeatherSignal app).   Right now, there are about 115,000 pressure observations coming in per hour from these innovative firms, (90% of them coming from the PressureNet app).  Here is the map.

Amazing coverage from DC to Boston, and around other major cities.  But there is substantial density beyond, particular east of the Mississippi and along the West Coast.

 But keep in mind that this is less than one-hundredths of the smartphones with pressure sensors.  Yes, 1/100.  In a few years there will be at least 100 millions smartphones over North America with pressure sensors. So the additional of the iPhone 6 pressure sensors will only accelerate the growth, with Cumulonimbus, Inc already working on an appropriate iPhone pressure app.

If we could collect, say pressure from 1/10 of the phones with barometers, the eastern U.S. would be virtually covered and only few uninhabited western areas would have pressure observations.

So why would these pressure sensors be a boon for weather prediction?  Because the numerical weather prediction is now going to smaller and smaller scales, and meteorologist are trying to do much better in predicting  what will happen during the next few hours (called Nowcasting).

To forecast fine-scale weather features (like thunderstorms), you need a fine-scale description of the atmosphere, and the current observational network is often insufficient.  We need millions of observations per hour over the U.S. to do the job.  Same situation in China, Europe, and the rest of the world

And pressure is the perfect surface observation:  it reflects the deep structure of the atmosphere and has less exposure problems than temperature or wind.  Pressure can be measured inside our outside a building, in your pocket or hanging on your belt.  A number of number experiments have shown that  surface pressure measurements alone can produce a very good THREE-DIMENSIONAL description of the atmosphere.  Almost sounds like magic.

I believe that dense pressure observations could radically improve weather prediction, and early numerical experiment support this claim.

But the big promise will NOT be met until we find a way to collect a higher percentage of the smartphone pressures.

Google could obviously do this.  I have approached Google about capturing pressure observations on Android phones, but Google management does not seem interested (but a number of Google engineers have been very supportive).

Another approach would be for Samsung or Apple to preinstall the code for capturing and transmitting the pressure information

Or a group with a very popular app (like the WeatherChannel or the Weatherunderground) could include the relevant code .

Anyway, it is frustrating...a huge improvement in weather prediction is possible.  Their is no major technical hurdle.  The pressure sensors are in place.  And we have not put it together.   Maybe soon....

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iPhone 6 mit Barometer Sensor?

With the iPhone 6 Apple will work in the fall in all probability greatly in the expansion of the barometer sensors contained in his smartphone.

While there has already been in the past, some rumors concerning detection of health and fitness levels, especially in connection with the new Health app, also sensors in the device could find, collect information from the environment. then a very concrete Note colleagues from 9to5Mac have now discovered in the depths of iOS. 8 So the iPhone 6 could have an integrated barometer, which measures the air pressure of the atmosphere and thus provides evidence of the current and future weather. One of the functions used in this case goes by the name "isRelativeAltitudeAvailable" and tells the operating system obdas device supports the detection of these values. In the case of the iPhone 5s a "No" is returned here at.

However, the colleagues also place on record that there is another use for the Altitude value. So Apple could develop its integrated (and never used by me) Compass app and give the user the possibility information about its location above sea level.

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What Can You Do With a Barometer Sensor on a Smartphone?

At last night’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich announcement we were told that the new flagship phone, the Galaxy Nexus, would include a barometer, and that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich SDK included all the bits needed for developers to tie into the new sensor.
What’s a barometer sensor?
Wikipedia describes a barometer as “a scientific instrument used in meteorology to measure atmospheric pressure.” It measures the pressure exerted by the atmosphere above it. This measurement of pressure can be used to forecast short term changes in the weather and can be used to estimate altitude.
Smartphone Application: Weather Forecasting
HTC’s Sense UI includes an iconic “clock and weather” widget prominently featured on the homescreen. Other app developers have created similar widgets, such as Beautiful Widgets, pictured below.
These widgets use your smartphone’s geo-location information and your Internet connection to retrieve local weather information (current, high, and low temperatures; and current conditions) for various weather data providers. Using the same information you can get the weather forecast for the next several days.
Augmenting those with real-time, local, barometric pressure readings may allow these types of apps to be even more reactive to changes in the weather.
Currently, I have Beautiful Widgets set to check on the weather every four hours. Checking more frequently can drain your battery and chew up your data. No, it’s not much of either, but when added up, over time your data usage could go up (a problem for those not on “unlimited” plans) and your battery life could go down (a problem for all of us).
Imagine this scenario: you’re sitting at your desk, perfectly content in your short-sleeved shirt, and want to run to lunch. You check your smartphone and the forecast says you’ll have a storm front roll in sometime in the early evening, so you don’t worry taking your coat or umbrella. You head out to lunch. Unfortunately, like me, you set your smartphone to update the weather forecast every four hours; it’s been three hours since the last update. Since then, that cold-weather front has moved in faster than anticipated. You find yourself caught in a heavy rainstorm with blowing winds that wasn’t supposed to arrive until your commute home.
With a barometer built into your phone, and an app which can read its data, your smartphone could have noticed the drop in barometric pressure and alerted you to the change. It could also have triggered a request to update forecast data, saving your battery and data usage by only updating when the weather changed.
If your phone had a barometer in it, and your weather app was programmed to use changed in barometric pressure to trigger an update, perhaps you could have avoided getting caught out in the rain.
Additionally, since a barometer isn’t dependent upon a data connection, you could still get “weather change alerts” even when you weren’t under a data umbrella. Such as…
Smartphone Application: Altitude
… when you’re hiking.
My family and I like to go hiking in the foothills and mountains around us. Last week my son and I hiked several miles each day in unfamiliar territory. We were in a very remote area which was outside not only data coverage, but cellular voice coverage as well.
We used Google’s My Tracks to chart our progress while hiking, and so we could see where we were in relation to where we started (in case we got lost). We didn’t have any digital maps of the area (again, we had no data coverage), we could only see the line of where we’d walked, but that was useful enough.
On one of our hikes we were approaching 10,000-feet above sea level. The temperature drops pretty quickly when you’re up that high, and weather can change quickly — very quickly. We didn’t know we were that high, at the time we thought we were only about 8,800-feet up… 1,200-feet makes a lot of difference.
Since we had the GPS on and recording our track, a quick glance at the data during one of our breaks showed us our true altitude, so we were a little more cautious and aware of the weather, but if we hadn’t been recording our tracks we wouldn’t have known, and we could have gotten caught in a bad situation.
Since many people turn off the GPS on their phone to conserve battery life (especially when they’re not actively using it), someone in a similar situation might not have known, and that bad situation could have become a major problem!
A barometer is a passive sensor (rather than an “active” sensor, like GPS). An app could alert you to your altitude when you approach certain thresholds — without sucking down your battery like GPS does. Perhaps apps like My Tracks could be updated to include an “altitude trigger” option, which could turn on the GPS to record your location at 50-foot increments of elevation change, saving your batter, but still recording a relatively accurate track.
Since you’re wondering…
That day’s hike could have gotten bad. We were only around three-miles from the trail-head, but we had climbed over a thousand-feet in elevation, and were still headed up the mountain. We didn’t know at the time, but a storm-front was moving in, and the pressure was dropping — fast. Since there was a mountain in the way, we couldn’t see the impending storm-front closing in on us, and at that altitude, we were a lot more exposed than we thought we were.
If we’d have been at the top of the trail when the storm rolled in (or if there had been rain or snow with it), we could have been in trouble.
If one of us had had the Galaxy Nexus with an app running and set to sound an alert when the barometric pressure dropped, we’d have gotten off the mountain a lot faster than we did — and all without needing any data coverage.
As luck would have it, we got to the bottom of the trail just as the leading edge of the storm was upon us. It brought wind and clouds and sent the temperature down ten-degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of minutes. With clouds blocking the sun and the wind picking up we started to get cold — but we were safe.
What Else?
What else can you think of that a barometer could be used for on a smartphone? Let your imagination run wild and let us know what you think in the comments!

ISweek（http://www.isweek.com/）- Industry sourcing & Wholesale industrial products

Sensor in Android Tutorial: Barometer Sensor

 One of the most interesting topics in my opinion is how to use Sensor in Android. Nowadays our smartphone are full of sensors and we can use it to control somehow our app.

The most common sensors are:
• GPS
• Proximity sensor
• Light sensor
• Temperature sensor
• Barometer sensor
• NFC
just to mention some of them. In this post we will explain how to obtain a list of sensor and how we can use one of them (i.e Barometer sensor).

Using sensor in android
When we develop an android app and we need a specific sensor so that our app can run we have two different choices:
• Specify it the sensor in the AndroidManifest.xml
• Detect the sensor list and check if the one we are interested on is available

 iSweek（http://www.isweek.com/）- Industry sourcing & Wholesale industrial products

Grove - Barometer Sensor

 This Grove - Barometer Sensor features a Bosch BMP085 high-accuracy chip to detect barometric pressure and temperature. It can widely measure pressure ranging from 300hPa to 1100hPa, AKA +9000m to -500m above sea level, with a super high accuracy of 0.03hPa(0.25m) in ultra-high resolution mode. The chip only accepts 1.8V to 3.6V input voltage. However, with outer circuit added, this module becomes compatible with 3.3V and 5V. Therefore, it can be used on Arduino/Seeeduino or Seeeduino Stalker without modification. It is designed to be connected directly to a micro-controller via the I2C bus.

Features
• Digital two wire (I2C) interface
• Wide barometric pressure range
• Flexible supply voltage range
• Ultra-low power consumption
• Low noise measurement
• Fully calibrated
• Temperature measurement included

Application Ideas
• Enhancement of GPS navigation
• Indoor and outdoor navigation
• Leisure and sports
• Weather forecast
• Vertical velocity indication (rise/sink speed)

 iSweek（http://www.isweek.com/）- Industry sourcing & Wholesale industrial products