Next iPhone to feature digital compass?

Stephen Withers
Monday, 11 May 2009 06:29

Your IT - Mobility

A suggestion that the next iPhone may augment GPS with a digital compass is being widely reported.

GPS can tell you where you are, but not the direction you're facing until you start moving. That's generally not an issue for vehicle navigation or tracking, but including a compass opens up opportunities for new functionality for handheld devices such as the iPhone.

For example, HTC's Android-based G1 can use its built-in magnetometer (compass) to align Google Maps' street view feature with the direction that the handset is facing. A nice party trick, but not hugely useful.

But what if information other than street names was overlaid on the photographic view? Examples could include building details, or the direction of the nearest bus stops or railway stations.

Other mooted applications include astronomical charts (ever wondered which star or planet you were looking at?) and augmented reality games (with game characters and other objects superimposed on the view from the device's camera).

One of the first reports of the iPhone's magnetometer was MacRumors' note of a reference to it in the configuration files of the iPhone 3.0 beta.

But a Boy Genius Report article published late last week included purported screen grabs showing compass settings, setting off a fresh round of speculation.

The next model iPhone is widely expected to debut at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled for June 8-12 in San Francisco.