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The iPhone 4 gyroscope opens up a world of possibilities for geolocation apps

Did you think the new iPhone 4 s motion sensor would be well used in games? Well, I even thought it was "the fault" of presenting the resource in the opening keynote of WWDC 2010. Developers interviewed by ForbesHowever, they made me change my mind: the presence of a gyroscope on a smartphone can make a difference in several types of applications.

The digital compass introduced with the iPhone 3GS has some limitations that will be overcome by the presence of a rotation detector: to function ideally, the device must be parallel to the ground and must have a strong signal. Augmented reality apps, for example, are typically used with the iPhone camera pointing to the horizon (so the device is perpendicular to the ground) and a map application can lose signal when passing through a tunnel or remote regions.

With the gyroscope, however, these factors are no longer a problem. Not to mention that it is much more accurate than the compass when registering changes in orientation. In the opinion of Maarten Lens-FitzGerald, responsible for Layar, the new sensor will make your apps “much more immersive”.

Obviously, this will not be exclusive to Apple gadgets for a long time: by having contact with suppliers, competitors like HTC and Samsung should already have an idea of ​​what would come on the iPhone 4 and would be ready to offer gadgets with similar features. You know how, competition favoring the consumer.