Freescale Semiconductor Holdings I, Ltd has come up with a new pressure sensor chip that includes an altimeter. The Xtrinsic MPL3115A2 is an MEMS pressure sensor that will be able to determine location and provide services to smartphones and touch screen tablets.
For instance the sensor in the device would gauge according to the altitude which floor of the mall you are on. Wayne Chavez, operations manager for consumer and industrial sensors at Freescale said that MEMS sensors were not just for human-machine interfaces anymore.
Mr Chavez said that the new Xtrinsic pressure sensor uses smart algorithms to derive altitude from barometric pressure readings, to locate pedestrians for both location based services, and for safety applications, like e911, where authorities might want to find people who are in trouble, perhaps even unconscious.
Henri Richard, Freescale senior vice president and chief sales and marketing officer, said that the reality was that they were an innovation engine. These products were important because they're an improvement relative to the prior generation, but they're by no means the only things happening at Freescale at the forum or this year he added.
Chief Financial Officer Alan Campbell said Freescale had tremendous potential to grow earnings faster than the market through revenue growth, gross margin expansion and deleveraging. The shares of the company have shot up by 13% since their initial public offering.