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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNew chip tracks smart-phone locations down to the inch, even indoors
New chip tracks smart-phone locations down to the inch, even indoors
By Kathleen Hickey
Apr 26, 2012
In 2010, GCNs Kevin McCaney speculated that soon everyone would have a Marauders Map, the magical parchment that allowed Harry Potter and his friends to see in real time the location of everyone on Hogwarts school grounds.
That fantasy dreamed up by J.K. Rowling over a decade ago could now be a reality. Broadcom Corp. has begun shipping a new smart-phone-tracking microchip, Broadcom BCM4752, which aims to pinpoint a users location down to a few centimeters even indoors. It also tracks your vertical position, so it can tell which floor you are on in a building.
By combining sensor technologies, wireless protocols and multiple satellite feeds in a small, low-power chip, Broadcom, the largest supplier of Global Positioning System chips to cell-phone manufacturers, claims the BCM4752s speed and accuracy are 10 times better than competing products.
The chip uses a range of sensor technology Wi-Fi (including recently announced 5G Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Near Field Communication and radio for indoor tracking.
More here: http://gcn.com/articles/2012/04/26/broadcom-gps-tracking-chip-precise-to-the-inch.aspx
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New chip tracks smart-phone locations down to the inch, even indoors (Original Post)
MelissaB
Apr 2012
OP
I think Star Trek's use of a combined communicator/locater predates Rowling's.
PoliticAverse
Apr 2012
#2
snooper2
(30,151 posts)1. This is really sweet and I can already think of other uses for it
like mobile convergence / micro/macro network sensitivity...
Great age to be alive..
Imagine 300 years ago we would all be hammering out plow heads
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)2. I think Star Trek's use of a combined communicator/locater predates Rowling's.
And still no promised flying car!
Bake
(21,977 posts)4. And why can't we just beam ourselves to work?
It'd be a heckuva quicker commute!
Bake
ZombieHorde
(29,047 posts)3. What was once considered scary is now considered fun.
I think this is pretty funny.