Cellphone-based pollution sensor being developed at Berkeley

A team at UC Berkeley is working on a platform to cram even more functionality into your cellphone, but this time instead of adding games, ringtones or other toys, the new functions will be planet-friendly tools like pollution and radiation detectors (hey, it is Berkeley, right?). The idea is to develop a standard for chip-based sensors that can integrate with GPS-equipped phones, allowing them to send location-specific data on anything from air pollution to radiation back to a central database. Eventually, they see the chips adding about $1 to the manufacturing cost of phones. The team hopes to begin testing a prototype, equipped with a carbon monoxide detector, in September. Sounds great, as long as the altruistic long-hairs are in charge. But what happens when your service provider is able to, say, find out that your home has above-average levels of some contaminant, and sells the info to a contractor or realtor, instead of alerting you so you can clean up the problem first?

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Grr-ahh. Go Bears!

[Maikeru @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I'm thinking that this feature would probably be a hit in throughout Asia (especially in Japan and China�maybe India as well).

[Juan Carlos @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

Cal sucks! Go Cadrinal!

[loki @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

What if my boss calls and my phone tells him that it smells pot on my breath?!?!?!

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

So this thing tells you you're going to end up with lung cancer...so what? It's not like you're going to be able to do anything about it.

What? You're going to go hang out in your hypo-allergenic house and never go outside again?

Why don't we just attach everything to a cell phone and we can all carry around bricks that give us every bit of information we'll ever need in life?

So I ask...WHY?

[mystic @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

It's probably gonna tell you when you'll develop brain cancer from using the damn thing too often.

[MT @ Dec 19th 2005 1:36AM]

I miss Berkeley. They're always trying to save the world. Go Bears!