For many of those who followed the Galaxy Nexus launching by Google and Samsung in Hong Kong last Wednesday, an interesting feature noted in the next-generation Nexus phone was that it had its very own barometer.

This is why the Galaxy Nexus has a barometer of its own. Image: Dekuwa / Flickr (CC)

This prompted the question: “Why would these two industry giants include a barometer into the Galaxy Nexus?”

Fortunately, someone at Google has offered an explanation to the Galaxy Nexus barometer conundrum, reports GSM Arena.

According to the mobile tech blog, Google’s Dan Morril wrote the following on Google+:

“The primary purpose of the barometer is (at least, I’ve been told) to make GPS lockons faster. Locking on to a GPS involves numerically solving a 4-dimensional set of linear equations — 3 dimensions in space, and time. (Yes, you get accurate time for free if you lock on to GPS.) Because of the way GPS works, this can take a few minutes.

This goes much faster if you already have an estimate of your location. This is why “aGPS” (assisted GPS) services are so popular: by starting with a rough city-level coordinate fix through something like cell-tower network location, you can reduce the amount of math you have to do to lock on. This is where the barometer comes in.

The 3 dimensions in space are latitude, longitude… and altitude. The barometer gives you a reasonable first-cut estimate for altitude. This gives you a bit of a leg up on one of the dimensions — especially combined with “2D” aGPS — which can help speed up lock-on in general.

Now of course, the barometer can also be used for things like, well, determining atmospheric pressure (although I’m not sure it’s really weather grade.) But the main reason it’s in your phone is to help with GPS.”

About Solon Harmony Dolor

A passion for technology and journalism makes this upcoming writer very interested in social media and technology news. Fresh from finishing an English and Journalism degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman, he aims to bring interesting news to our readers .