[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #330: Phones might be smarter than you think

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4cast #330: Phones might be smarter than you think
April 17th, 2013

brainWe seem to have a posting about smartphones once every six weeks or 
so, which is probably a good indication of how much that topic dominates 
tech news these days. Smartphones are great for mobile Internet and for 
other forms of communication, even phone calls (believe it or not). But 
smartphones are also increasingly becoming key components of the 
Internet of things 
<http://www.wfs.org/blogs/thomas-frey/empowering-%E2%80%9Cthings%E2%80%9D-for-our-internet-things>, 
because they contain many sensors that the smartphone owner may only 
occasionally use, but are continuously gathering data that can be very 
handy when used for purposes that you may not have considered.

  * Smartphone innovation: Where we're going next
    <http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57578982-85/smartphone-innovation-where-were-going-next-smartphones-unlocked/>
    (CNET/Jessica Dolcourt) "You may have never given two thoughts to
    the sensors that come on your smartphone. They don't mind. They're
    still there anyway, computing data on your phone's movement and
    speed, rotation, and lighting conditions. These under-appreciated
    components - the gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer, and so
    forth - are starting to get more friends in the neighborhood."
  * ShutterBox turns your Android phone into a sophisticated,
    sensor-laden remote camera trigger
    <http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/05/shutterbox-turns-your-android-phone-into-a-sophisticated-sensor-laden-remote-camera-trigger/>
    (TechCrunch/Darrell Etherington) "The ShutterBox is an extension of
    that tech, which features a hot shoe-mounted receiver box [attached
    to a camera] that communicates wirelessly with your Android
    smartphone via Bluetooth. It uses the phone's built-in sensors for
    triggering automatic shutter activation, including light sensors for
    lightning, as well as motion detection for capturing wildlife or
    other movement-based events."
  * New smartphone camera could have system to sense depth perception
    <http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3816699-74/pelican-camera-image#axzz2QdNAW2m2>
    (Tribune-Review/Troy Wolverton) "But because of their small size
    and, in some cases, high resolution, the new cameras could be used
    in a wide range of other applications. In the future, they could be
    employed in more precise versions of Microsoft's Kinect, the
    gesture-sensing game controller; in cars as collision-preventing
    backup cameras; as identification systems that can precisely
    distinguish individual faces; and in a kind of three-dimensional
    scanner for 3-D printing."
  * Sensors in smartphones: Galaxy S4 adds pressure, temperature, and
    humidity sensors
    <http://singularityhub.com/2013/04/01/sensors-in-smartphones-galaxy-s4-adds-pressure-temperature-and-humidity-sensors/>
    (Singularity Hub/Jason Dorrier) "Why couldn't these sensors do for
    weather what Google Maps does for traffic? As readers likely know,
    Google strips smartphone GPS data
    <http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2549020>
    of personal information, assembles it, and sends it back to users as
    real-time traffic estimates. The results are increasingly accurate
    traffic forecasts and route time estimates-a serious improvement on
    chopper reports from the local radio station. Using millions of
    smartphone data points, developers could knock out apps rendering
    detailed heat, humidity, and pressure maps and bundle them into
    weather apps."

*/MEMS fact:/*

Sales of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), which is another way to 
say "sensors," saw double-digit growth 
<http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800683888_480500_NT_4e05618c.HTM> last 
year, largely because of their use in mobile phones and tablets.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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