Wednesday, April 11, 2012

New Microchip Will Know Your Location To Within Centimeters (in part because of a damn atmospheric sensor in Android phoness!)

“Broadcom has just rolled out a chip for smart phones that promises to indicate location ultra-precisely, possibly within a few centimeters, vertically and horizontally, indoors and out,” reports MIT Technology Review.


The unprecedented accuracy of the Broadcom 4752 chip results from the sheer breadth of sensors from which it can process information. It can receive signals from global navigation satellites, cell-phone towers, and Wi-Fi hot spots, and also input from gyroscopes, accelerometers, step counters, and altimeters.


In theory, the new chip can even determine what floor of a building you're on, thanks to its ability to integrate information from the atmospheric pressure sensor on many models of Android phones, reports MIT.


(Thanks2M)

2 comments:

  1. Wow!!!
    What a great feature for phone users!!!

    " Hey look!! I'm right...here!!!". How useful.

    On the other hand, of course, big brother can find it VERY useful.

    Gee, who do you suppose it was designed for?

    Ya don't suppose you'll be able to "opt out" and buy an unequipped phone after that chip is online do ya???

    To ask is to answer.

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  2. Ive read the information about the chip and its more pr than anything else. The chip has nothing new and does nothing that other previous chips could not already do. It just puts a bunch of stuff together in one chip for easier and cheaper production. But it seems that is all it does.

    If Im correct (and I am pretty sure I am) it wont be able to provide indoor location with a range of centimeters. A lot of people have tried and failed (there are some systems but they are extremely expensive to deploy).

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