Access to barometric data from Lumia 1020

Question

Apparently, the Lumia 1020 has a barometer. See the Advanced Features section of the link below.

http://developer.nokia.com/Devices/Device_specifications/Lumia_1020/

I would like to know how to access altitude data directly from the barometer. Right now I have access to elevation data from the Geolocator in the Windows.Devices.Geolocation namespace, but it returns me elevation from the GPS signal, not from the barometer. I know this because the Geolocator object Altitude property changes by tens of meters at a constant height for several minutes, while the phone just sits on the table. The barometer should vary in order of centimeters.

Any ideas? Perhaps it will only be a matter of time before we can see the update in the Windows Phone SDK?

Answer 1

Galaxy Nexus also has a barometer, but it is used only to supply known information to GPS in order to get a lock faster (fewer variables are needed to solve this problem). It is completely unavailable for any other use. I suspect this is the same for this device. Why do you need barometer height when using GPS?

Here's the link for Nexus: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/20/galaxy-nexus-barometer-explained-sam-champion-not-out-of-a-job/

Well ... "It's there, why not make it available?" was my question when I found out about it.

Answer 2

You can find barometer information here , but since I know the api, available only in Visual Studio 2015 CTP 6. You can find an example project on github

Answer 3

It seems that it cannot be accessed using the Windows Phone 8 API and, apparently, is only used to transmit GPS data to speed up detection: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/wpapps/en-US/ 510c700e-85a2-49e2-9861-1c35b4714403 / how-to-access-barometer-sensor-of-lumia-1020? Forum = wpdevelop

Here is a list of supported sensors for the Windows Phone 8 API: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh202968%28v=vs.105%29.aspx