I like toys and my latest is a cheap Android phone – a Garmin Asus A50 – great GPS and not a bad Android operating system for under AUD$200. Its really a GPS with a phone capability.
Naturally I am interested in what can be done, particularly with the camera, WiFi and Bluetooth facilities. I have also found a quite good spirit level and a heart rate monitor (my phone does not have a flash, so the ambient light acts as the light source for a crude oximeter-like device. It may even be possible to estimate blood oxygen saturation with a similar approach. The frequency reposne of the microphone and accelerometers limit their use as sound level meters/ noise dosimeters and vibration meters. Similarly there are Andoid applications using the light sensor as a crude luxmeter. A stethescope has been a great hit for the iPhone, with millions of downlaods. The ability to geotag photos on large or remote sites is a definite plus.
I was intrigued to find an android camera applicataion for air visbility monitoring – Visibility Monitoring using Mobile Phones, but I am yet to test it – too many trees obscure the skyline.
