3 ms·
It means instead of waiting for a GPS lock in 30 seconds it's under 10. The barometer makes calculating your position via GPS much quicker, as it has an additi
by tonyhb 12y ago
It means instead of waiting for a GPS lock in 30 seconds it's under 10.
The barometer makes calculating your position via GPS much quicker, as it has an additional piece of data to simplify some of the maths it does.
Edit: here's a source which may confirm - http://pocketnow.com/android/google-confirms-barometer-intent-faster-gps-locks http://pocketnow.com/android/google-confirms-barometer-inten...
- DigitalJack 12y agoYeah, that doesn't make any sense. Barometers are only good for detecting relative altitude/elevation changes over short periods of time. Over longer periods of time (hours/days) the atmosphere pressure is going to change whether you change altitude or not. Over short periods, the barometer can give a relative change. Without a known starting point, it can't give you absolute altitude/elevation. It has nothing to do with getting a gps lock. I'd be pretty surprised if the phones didn't pull down the satellite constellation data over the network vs waiting on the nav message broadcast from the satellites.
- liviu 12y agoI think the elevation changes over short periods of time are essentials for the fitness apps.
- mikeash 12y agoAny decent smartphone can already get a GPS fix in a second or so. The main bottleneck to a GPS fix these days is simply downloading the satellite positions. This is done over a 1970s-era protocol that operates at 50bps and takes about 30 seconds to transmit all of the data. Smartphones bypass this by downloading the positions over their local data connection, which cuts that down to a fraction of a second. Fixing your altitude to +/- 2000ft doesn't really help the process to any significant degree. If you have the satellite positions or can get them quickly, the rest comes fast. If you don't, you're doomed to be slow.
- tonyhb 12y agoHuh, interesting. That's pretty cool to know. Thanks!