Magnetometer finding its way into next iPhone?

Add "compass" to that list of rumored features -- again -- for the next, still-unconfirmed iPhone revision, alongside video production capabilities, a slide-out keyboard, OLED display, LTE / Verizon support, and EV-DO rev. B (okay, not really that last one). Boy Genius Report has obtained two screens allegedly from an unreleased iPhone OS build that suggest a magnetometer'll be part of the new hardware. Given turn-by-turn navigation is now an option for developers, we'd say having directional support is almost a necessity. Why there's also an option for Kitchen Sink in the image we haven't the foggiest, but we're gonna go ahead and add "holographic plumbing assistant" to that wishlist.

[Bryant @ May 7th 2009 7:47PM]

Kitchen Sink is likely something to do with application sandboxing and/or ram management.

Just a guess.

[austin @ May 7th 2009 8:20PM]

or its just a joke that got photoshopped in.
which means the whole thing is fake.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ May 8th 2009 3:52AM]

It means either Apple has a great sense of humor, or the guy who's putting out these fakes has a great sense of humor.

[Ollie @ May 7th 2009 7:50PM]

It's supposed to be 'Kitchen Sync' obviously. Y'know - so you can control your oven with your iPhone and stuff...

[The Angry Intern @ May 8th 2009 1:16AM]

lol

[foxdude0486 @ May 8th 2009 12:19PM]

That's perfect! I'll never burn another house down again!

[Joe @ May 8th 2009 3:23PM]

again! Hmmm.

[neodorian @ May 7th 2009 7:50PM]

Good deal! It was one of the better ideas to come out of the G1 and it is nice to see Apple following their example.

[utahnkid @ May 8th 2009 1:00AM]

Not to take anything away from the G1, but I doubt ANY feature on the next iPhone was put there because it had it. I'm not saying Android doesn't have monumental potential, but the G1 isn't exactly a good example - of anything. I can't imagine why Apple would want to have ANYTHING similar with it.

It's much more likely that they've had it planned since rev 1 but it was cut out for planned obsolescence. The same reason a better camera wasn't used and video recording capabilities aren't already present. Im sure every iPhone user would be pretty pissed if they knew how many features about to be released were basically ready to go for the first version but held out just to make upgrading that much more desirable. Those bastards and their desire to make money..

[poke @ May 8th 2009 4:38AM]

huh did I miss something?

Apple cannot be seen taking inspiration from another product?

If another product had it first then its because Apple held off to sell more phone??

Can someone help me out im confused.

[neodorian @ May 8th 2009 9:19AM]

@poke: you see, this is how it works for some people. They look at corporate brands like their favorite sports team or political party. If their guys come out with something first it's innovation. If someone else comes out with it first, they were just putting out a shoddy feature before it was ready.

I remember seeing the compass-enabled street view in Android and looking forward to apps that are not only location aware but could tell which way you were facing. Street view could also act as an augmented reality program where you hold you phone up and see the names of places superimposed over the street view.

Unfortunately they haven't put anything quite that ambitious out yet but there are programs in development along those lines.

Regardless, the compass was one of the gee-whiz features of the G1 when it came out. To somehow discount that because one's preferred device added it later is just being deliberately obtuse.

I never get these people who are so concerned with their preferred brand of gadget staying on top of the heap that they would rather see innovation stall than admit any other company can put out a good product or develop a cool feature.

[iphonerulez @ May 8th 2009 12:03PM]

The wheel has been around for thousands of years and Apple likely will still find a way to improve upon it. Like they did with the iPod Click-wheel.

Yes, the G1 has a magnetometer, but does anyone really care? I think they sold a million of those paperweights in six months and about a dozen people actually found the magnetometer feature useful. Once Apple puts the magnetometer in the iPhone, the word compass will have a new meaning and every handset manufacturer will be scrambling to put one in every handset they make. That's the difference between the iPhone and Google G1. Maybe all the Muslims will buy iPhones to face in the proper direction of Kaba.

[d889 @ May 8th 2009 2:41PM]

meh, my god damn razr v3 can tell me which direction i am facing when im using the turn by turn navigation ... how the hell can people still be excited about this crap?

my buddy showed me the compass on his g1 .... when it actually works its okay .... could care less if the iphone gets it

[Zorque @ May 7th 2009 7:51PM]

Hehehe, dump log.

[r3loaded @ May 7th 2009 7:54PM]

I lol'd - I can't believe I missed that one!

[Gad Get @ May 7th 2009 8:34PM]

Not funny.


*Stifled laughter.*

[adam.plante @ May 7th 2009 9:14PM]

I missed it to weird. Tee hee

[CleverEndeavor @ May 7th 2009 10:44PM]

at first i was like wut?
(looks at picture trying to figure out your comment)
but then i (got the joke and) lold.

[Sean G @ May 7th 2009 7:52PM]

Where I live the kitchen sink is an expression...eg: "It's got everything but the kitchen sink" so maybe it's a bit of an in-joke?

[cravin_morhead @ May 7th 2009 9:38PM]

fucking canadians...

[Sean G @ May 7th 2009 10:42PM]

Lol, English actually.

[MarnBeast @ May 8th 2009 5:44AM]

Not to be mean or arrogant, but I think everyone got that. Anyways, welcome to the party! There's some punch and pie over in the gazebo and the band is taking requests.

[catachip @ May 7th 2009 8:06PM]

Wow, it seems like the iPhone 3 is going to have everything that everyone wanted (MMS, video recording, push) plus lots of other goodies (upgraded camera, compass, spotlight). Can't wait!

[neodorian @ May 7th 2009 9:10PM]

It's an excellent phone as long as you don't want multitasking or a keypad. Those two things (well, that and the cost) are what keeps me from joining the iCrowd. If you have a preference for ATT or don't need to multitask, then yes it has most of what people ask for. There are still those few things that some of us have been using for a long time and are not eager to give up. Different tools for different users.

[adam.plante @ May 7th 2009 9:14PM]

The only thing it is missing is android.

[catachip @ May 7th 2009 9:15PM]

@neodorian

Well, Apple has proven that lacking a physical keyboard does not limit sales. Also, about the price, how is $199 anything to get all hot and bothered about? Did you want it for free?

As for multi-tasking. Point taken. But, unless the technology gets to the point where battery doesn't plummet and performance doesn't tank, then I don't want multitasking. We'll see how the Palm Pre does, but, I predict significant complaints in this regard.

[TheSuburbanWhiteBoy @ May 7th 2009 9:41PM]

WIndows Mobile is better than the Iphone's OS. Iphone is garbage

[catachip @ May 7th 2009 9:43PM]

@TheSuburbanWhiteBoy

Come on, not even you can believe that. At least throw out something like WebOS or Android, No one in their right mind would belief that Windows Mobile holds a candle to them, let alone iPhone OS 3.

[Shinigami @ May 7th 2009 9:53PM]

320x480 screen resolution in new iPhone? Thats too bad.

[neodorian @ May 7th 2009 9:55PM]

I didn't say anything about limiting sales. I'm well aware that it has sold wonderfully. That doesn't stop me and some others from preferring a tactile keyboard. As I said, different tools for different users.

As far as price I wasn't referring to the subsidized price of the phone. I was referring to the cost of a plan on ATT. I pay around $85 a month for unlimited minutes, unlimited text, unlimited 3g data, unlimited turn by turn, etc. I would pay a decent amount more per month for the same set of services on ATT with an iPhone. I understand that the difference may not be a lot for some people but I try to be a smart shopper and not spend more than I need to. On ATT I would pay $99 for unlimited minutes, $30 for data, and $20 for unlimited text. That's $65 a month more and adds up to over $1500 more over the course of a 2 year contract. Even without my work discount I would be paying $100 vs ATT's $150 for a savings of $1200.

This is just my personal preference. I would imagine some would gladly pay that in order to use their preferred device. I remember not too long ago when people thought I was nuts to pay for data services of to spend $200-300 every couple of years on a new smart phone. Different priorities for different users.

[MarnBeast @ May 8th 2009 5:55AM]

I should note that ATT has rollover, so unless you know that you will break 450 daytime minutes and 5000 nighttime every month then I wouldn't worry too much. I have 450 and virtually never go over, and now when I do go over I have a ton of rollover minutes so at this point, I might as well have an unlimited plan. But again, if you believe that you will spend more time than that in the first couple months with the phone, then an unlimited plan would be rather expensive.

[neodorian @ May 8th 2009 9:14AM]

@Marn: How much is the 450 plan? I could get one with 450 daytime, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited text, unlimited 3g data, and unlimited turn-by-turn nav for $69 before my 15% work discount. Still having trouble beating that.

[Jeff @ May 8th 2009 9:42AM]

@ neodorian:

With push notifications, I'm not really sure true multitasking is much of a necessity. As it is, Apple's apps run in the background (memory permitting for some like Safari). The only multitasking option I think Apple should open to third party developers is audio playback. Obviously the phone can run just fine with the iPod running in the background, so if an audio app (Pandora, Ambiance) can run using no more power than the iPod, there's really no reason not to allow one at a time to run instead of the iPod. As catachip mentioned, the Pre may have multitasking, but Palm STILL hasn't released battery life information, so we'll see if it's much of an advantage.

As for the difference between a physical and virtual keyboard, I prefer the virtual. Sure, there was a learning curve, but after only a couple months, I was typing much faster on my iPhone than anyone with a traditional smartphone keyboard. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.

[Brian @ May 7th 2009 8:08PM]

Yeah, ever heard the saying " It's got everything but the kitchen sink?"

[Icello @ May 7th 2009 8:08PM]

My guess: someones April fools joke that got lost in a spam filter for awhile.
Or not.

[Skullivan @ May 7th 2009 8:33PM]

This has been a rumor for a while now,you guys reported on it a month ago:)

http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/07/iphone-3-0-video-recording-interface-compass-support-spotted?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_engadget

[dp123 @ May 7th 2009 8:20PM]

Where did the slide-out keyboard come from? I haven't seen a half-solid rumor of a slideout keyboard. Just wishful thinking.

Or did I miss something?

[Guru @ May 7th 2009 8:25PM]

Oh if u looking for slideout keyboard u need to go back to 2002 or a third world country. This is 2009 ,.LOL . If it had slideout would just be another samsung glide or dare.

[Nomi @ May 7th 2009 8:47PM]

I just hope theres a slide out keyboard just to shut Guru the fk up.

[neodorian @ May 7th 2009 9:14PM]

Guru, quit trolling. The vast majority of smartphones have two defining characteristics: the ability to multitask like a computer and a real keypad. You can debate all day about whether it is worth doing without a keyboard in exchange for a prettier device but it's naive to think everyone prefers jabbing at an LCD to do their typing. Clearly some folks like having a keyboard and others don't mind doing without one. Come off your snotty high horse and quit with the scoffing at anyone who deigns to prefer something other than what your sorry ass does.

[CleverEndeavor @ May 7th 2009 10:48PM]

neodorian: i couldnt have said it better, your comment earn an plus.
also +1 internets, too to you.

[Guru @ May 7th 2009 8:21PM]

Wow so another innovative revolutionary feature.,
Ok now to time fo rwm bb nokia motorola of samsunf etc to start their cloning machines!

[paul @ May 7th 2009 8:35PM]

time for apple fanboys to wank it in a corner and lick the sweat off steve jobs' balls. nokia had digital compasses all the way back in 2004, and probably earlier. MMS has been around for YEARS, but apple is the "innovator"

[Sk8rman @ May 7th 2009 8:47PM]

LOL what a n00b

[Sk8rman @ May 7th 2009 8:48PM]

^^^ that was directed @ Guru

[jerrodho @ May 7th 2009 8:25PM]

I think there's an additional nugget of information in this screenshot that you overlooked.

**Motion** = Maybe a multi-axis rate gyro??

With an accelerometer and rate gyro, you could get pretty much one-to-one motion control capability --- the same capability that Wii MotionPlus adds to the Wiimote.

Could be cool.

[Jeff R @ May 7th 2009 8:36PM]

yeah i was going to say, wasnt this one of the things we have known about for some time now????

[Barry H @ May 7th 2009 8:39PM]

How about just improving the phone reception part???

[crawdad689 @ May 7th 2009 9:17PM]

....or the fact that it takes 10 seconds to open the SMS application, sometimes. Only to have the keyboard lag like a mofo once you do open it. :-|

[aaron @ May 7th 2009 9:36PM]

@Crawdad

Not sure what's wrong with your phone. But mine has never had those issues and I have 8 pages full of apps...