Japan's Asahi Kasei to supply magnetometer for next-gen iPhone
Apple will tap Japan's Asahi Kasei to provide hardware support for the "magnetometer" -- or digital compass -- that's slated to make its debut in the company's next-generation iPhone handset, AppleInsider has learned.
People familiar with betas of the iPhone 3.0 software developers kit recently dug up several header files attributed to the Japanese manufacturer in a directory appropriately labeled "compass." More specifically, the files identify Asahi Kasei's azimuth sensor No. AK8973, a 16-pin leadless IC package measuring 4mm square and 0.7mm thick, as the chip that will help future iPhone users determine their direction. It bundles a master clock oscillator.
Asahi Kasei specializes in chemical and material sciences in a number of fields including electronics, and is known to have been one of Apple's component suppliers for the iPod touch dating back to the first-generation model. It's unclear exactly what parts the company supplies for the handheld, though liquid submersion indicators (LSIs) are one of its specialties.
Over the past couple of years, Apple has inserted LSIs across most of its portable products in an effort to help its technicians determine whether customers reporting faulty hardware are actually responsible for the damage themselves by allowing liquids to penetrate their devices, something that's not covered under the Cupertino-based company's standard warranties.
A diagram and enlarged photo of the azimuth sensor taken from Asahi Kasei's website can be seen below, and header files included with betas of the latest iPhone SDK suggest the part may be nearly two years old. They're dated July 19th, 2007, just days after Apple brought its first-ever iPhone to market.
The addition of a magnetometer to the iPhone is expected to open the door to some exciting new functionalities, a handful of which have already made their way to T-Mobile’s Andriod-based G1 handset, which has long shipped with a digital compass. For instance, users may be able to simply point their next-generation iPhones at an object or landmark and have an application combine GPS, accelerometer, and compass information to pinpoint what that object or landmark is. Gaming applications that interact with a user's surrounding real-time environment would be another possibility.
With the current generation of iPhone hardware, applications can locate the user (GPS) and determine the tilt of the phone (tilt sensor) but not the direction the phone faces (compass). An example of the problem this presents is that a user could turn in place holding the phone in the same orientation and the phone would not register a difference.
A magnetometer is just one of three new hardware advances confirmed through multiple discoveries to be making its way to Apple's next-gen handsets, with a video-capable camera and 802.11n low-power mode -- both of which were first reported by AppleInsider -- being the others.
People familiar with betas of the iPhone 3.0 software developers kit recently dug up several header files attributed to the Japanese manufacturer in a directory appropriately labeled "compass." More specifically, the files identify Asahi Kasei's azimuth sensor No. AK8973, a 16-pin leadless IC package measuring 4mm square and 0.7mm thick, as the chip that will help future iPhone users determine their direction. It bundles a master clock oscillator.
Asahi Kasei specializes in chemical and material sciences in a number of fields including electronics, and is known to have been one of Apple's component suppliers for the iPod touch dating back to the first-generation model. It's unclear exactly what parts the company supplies for the handheld, though liquid submersion indicators (LSIs) are one of its specialties.
Over the past couple of years, Apple has inserted LSIs across most of its portable products in an effort to help its technicians determine whether customers reporting faulty hardware are actually responsible for the damage themselves by allowing liquids to penetrate their devices, something that's not covered under the Cupertino-based company's standard warranties.
A diagram and enlarged photo of the azimuth sensor taken from Asahi Kasei's website can be seen below, and header files included with betas of the latest iPhone SDK suggest the part may be nearly two years old. They're dated July 19th, 2007, just days after Apple brought its first-ever iPhone to market.
The addition of a magnetometer to the iPhone is expected to open the door to some exciting new functionalities, a handful of which have already made their way to T-Mobile’s Andriod-based G1 handset, which has long shipped with a digital compass. For instance, users may be able to simply point their next-generation iPhones at an object or landmark and have an application combine GPS, accelerometer, and compass information to pinpoint what that object or landmark is. Gaming applications that interact with a user's surrounding real-time environment would be another possibility.
With the current generation of iPhone hardware, applications can locate the user (GPS) and determine the tilt of the phone (tilt sensor) but not the direction the phone faces (compass). An example of the problem this presents is that a user could turn in place holding the phone in the same orientation and the phone would not register a difference.
A magnetometer is just one of three new hardware advances confirmed through multiple discoveries to be making its way to Apple's next-gen handsets, with a video-capable camera and 802.11n low-power mode -- both of which were first reported by AppleInsider -- being the others.
Comments
http://twitter.com/slasht/status/1759914454
Asahi Kasei's got other code in the SDK that's been there forever that has to do with audio: S/PDIF, AC'97-like codecs and digital audio interfaces. I'd assume the chips they provide are related to that.
I could have told you this over a week ago...
http://twitter.com/slasht/status/1759914454
Well, ya didn't, and someone else did
Best,
K
... already made their way to T-Mobile’s Andriod-based G1 handset, which has long shipped with a digital compass. ...
"long shipped"? Really?
Why not go whole hog and say that "every single version of the G1 has always shipped" with a digital compass?
Seriously though, isn't a bit hyperbolic to refer to a device less than a year old as doing anything for "long"? It makes it sound like Apple is just now catching up to something that it's competitors have had for ages, when the truth is not even close to that. I've had lots of phones and dozens of PDAs over the years and not a single one of them ever had a compass inside.
Well, ya didn't, and someone else did
Not only that but I didn't really have much of an audience anyway. Really, though, I'm pretty excited for this chip. It'll essentially complete the iPhone's geospatial detection portfolio; GPS and an accelerometer are already included. I think that opens up a lot of potential for app developers.
Sounds great for military purposes but why would I need this exactly? Adding to gaming (toy) functionality I guess.
Oddly, the military is using iPhones for translation. Maybe that's the Touch and I misremeber.
In any case, it's not a toy function if you want to know which way is north and have improved navigation capabilities in the phone. GPS alone isn't enough to determine direction if there is no (or slow/erratic) motion.
Of course, this is just you turning something positive into a negatives for attention.
Not only that but I didn't really have much of an audience anyway. Really, though, I'm pretty excited for this chip. It'll essentially complete the iPhone's geospatial detection portfolio; GPS and an accelerometer are already included. I think that opens up a lot of potential for app developers.
Are the accelerometers good enough to build a INS?
Would be nice if the map could turn the direction you are facing so when you are heading south you don't have to turn the phone upside down
i agree! there have been times when i had gotten myself lost because i forgot which way i was facing.
...i should have pulled over at a gas station to ask for directions like my wife said
Not that I can figure out easily, what's that damn magnetometer for...
Sounds great for military purposes but why would I need this exactly? Adding to gaming (toy) functionality I guess.
To know which way you are going (or pointing), even when you are standing still. Suppose you are stargazing, this could help you face the right direction. Current GPS apps require that you move at a minimal speed in a direction to calculate your direction. For the app I use, the minimum speed is a bit of an uncomfortably fast walk. It's ok for jogging or biking but almost useless for walking.
"long shipped"? Really?
Why not go whole hog and say that "every single version of the G1 has always shipped" with a digital compass?
lol, that goes right along with my pet peeve about referencing apple as "the cupertino-based company." I LOVE this site and check it many times a day, but it appears they strive to be mainstream journalists when i don't know that they are...idk, the stories are fine, but sometimes they are bit more "polished" than they need to be.
I'm wondering how they can cram all of these chips in there in such a tiny space. When I looked at the iFixIt teardown of the iPhone 3G, the silicion board looked pretty full already. And with other rumors of FM-something (they never make it clear on FM receiving or transmitting, though the latter is just silly), board space is really at a premium.
i'd bet money there will never be an FM receiver/transmitter. Syncing with your car will be via Bluetooth. Plus i'm sure somebody will make an attachable FM receiver for those who really want that feature. That's the beauty of opening up the connector port for third-party attachments - the possibilities are endless.
i'd bet money there will never be an FM receiver/transmitter. Syncing with your car will be via Bluetooth. Plus i'm sure somebody will make an attachable FM receiver for those who really want that feature. That's the beauty of opening up the connector port for third-party attachments - the possibilities are endless.
It would be nice if Apple added support for the iPod Remote they already have. In fact, it's likely the reason why it doesn't have support for the iPhone/iPod Touch is because they didn't have any frameworks to talk to the 30-pin Dock Connector. No iPhone app, official or not, has used to the Dock connector for anything more than transmitting sound from whatever is playing to some external source.