Waiter, There’s a Barometer in My Motorola Xoom Tablet and I Don’t Know Why! [Tablets]
To think that we placed Motorola’s XOOM tablet in our favorites list, before learning it’s got a barometer. A FRIGGIN’ BAROMETER. Oh, so your widdle iPad has thousands of apps? But can it measure the atmospheric pressure, huh? HUH? More »
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- motorola xoom gps (48)
@Gonzie: Altimeter
gregmr
How accurate is it, if it’s accurate enough to know I lifted the tablet up 6 inches or down 6 inches it could make for some interesting game dynamics
Boss Mojoman
@neMouse: A connected device can access aviation weather reports and correlate the reported barometric pressure in the area with the measured and provide a nice accurate altitude…
jglavin
Well, it did just snow here. Maybe I could sit on my roof with a tablet and take barometric readings.. Because.. You know.. That’s where I spend most of my tablet-time anyway.
Better yet, barometric four-square. Your friend has a barometric reading of 470! Can you beat him?!
*Oh jeez, I’d better gain some altitude…*
UltimateFlank
@Arken: I don’t know about price (personally, I think that most of the price increases based on feature sets are artificially induced – like the addition of 3G to an iPad, the radio costs a lot less than the addition charge for it) but I’m sure that any weight addition is trivial. I mean, it’s not like they’ll be using a weather glass or anything, this is going to be a digital piece. Did you notice a weight increase between your last phone without GPS and your first phone with it?
Lupus_Yonderboy
Perhaps a Xoom shall I seek…
theroselli
@Arken: And here I thought these apps were impenetrable.
UltimateFlank
Right now, the Xoom is the only Android tablet (dedicated) that I am considering as a purchase.
I have no use for the Barometer that I know of currently – however, I don’t doubt that some wicked and talented developer will find a way to make it an indispensable part of life in the future.
I really like the idea of putting as many sensors (of all different types) into a device like this – I have no idea what I will need them for at this time – but somebody will figure out a way to make it interesting in some way, shape, or form.
kaffenated
@Lupus_Yonderboy: Except that it likely raises the price of the tablet to cover the cost of putting it in. And increases the weight.
Arken
ok what else other than a weather app could you use a barometer for?
Gonzie
More useful in a phone than a tablet (for me at least). Very handy for getting a better elevation reading, GPS elevation readings are generally very poor
David Hayes
@Craniumz: Would they? A tablet that big? It just seems like something that would be a burden for mountain sports compared to a smartphone.
Arken
@jackslackofselfrespect: Yeah, as the storm front moves in my GPS suddenly has me leaping into the air.
neMouse
@Arggh! there goes a…snake a snake!: There’s a huge high pressure system working it’s way up from the south.
FriarNurgle
@Arken: I have no idea. I *never* need to know my elevation, but I’m sure that someone somewhere does. Anyway, just because I don’t need the feature is no reason why having it isn’t awesome…
Lupus_Yonderboy
Without a thermometer and a hygrometer, a barometer adds very little to the system’s prowess as a weather station. No, this is primarily about tracking altitude. GPS = Position. Compass = Direction. Barometer = Altitude (calibrated by GPS). Gyroscope + Accelerometer = Real time detection in change in attitude and direction.
Actually, this pretty much assures that it’ll be the instrument panel of choice for the next wave of ultralight aircraft.
shiraz
@Arken: Mountain sports primarily. This would open up an actually large group of customers willing to use the device for a number of purposes.
Craniumz
Sounds cool but when you have tons of android devices being made without a Barometer, I’ll be pretty hard a attract developers to develop anything just to target one device out of hundreds.
snitch
New fart apps?
Arggh! there goes a…snake a snake!
@The Squalor Also Rises: If you can shove it in there, I guess it could.
minardi
@Lizard_King: Except barometric pressure can change quite rapidly regardless of physical movement.
jackslackofselfrespect
@Lupus_Yonderboy: How often do you really need to know your elevation and have a tablet with you? Seems like a pretty small segment of users would want that feature.
Arken
This will allow for new barometric pressure-based games!
Moonshadow Kati aka Lady Locksmith
Barometer will tell you how many bars other iPhone 4 users have anywhere you go.
Michelangelo
@The Squalor Also Rises: Crap is right.
laser712
@gnur: It doesn’t have my favorite one though- where he suggests inventing a new unit of measurement based on the length of the barometer and then walk up the stairs, measuring the whole thing in barometer units.
Arken
@The Squalor Also Rises: It requires a dongle.
FriarNurgle
Greater Good ?
MugsTheGreat
@Arken: Thanks for that! I know can be a smartass in an exam and have a wikipedia source to back me up
gnur
@Lupus_Yonderboy: +1. Use the GPS to calibrate, use the barometer for reporting changes.
Lizard_King
@Hello Mister Walrus: There is an app for that? Crap . . .
The Squalor Also Rises
Oh look the barometer dropped and I think I just voided my warranty.
FriarNurgle
It also may be for finer elevation readings, apparently barometers do that better than GPS.
Lupus_Yonderboy
@The Squalor Also Rises: Yes, but you have to insert the entire phone. Rectally.
Arken
@The Squalor Also Rises: Theres an App for that
Weakskills
It’s so the tablet can measure the height of a building.
Arken
@The Squalor Also Rises: Yes, but only rectally. In fact, why don’t you give it a try? Trust me, it is real.
Hello Mister Walrus
I’d love to know how much involvement Google had in the creation of this tablet. While it may seem too early but it seems that Moto hit it out the park with this device. Honestly it makes the rest of the Android tablets look half-assed.
Ricorich196
Can smartphones take my temperature yet?
The Squalor Also Rises