[DougB541#CB]

I didn't know i loved a compass in my phone until i had one.

[Speebs]

There is no hope of augmented reality apps without a compass. I'd rather have that than the touchstone.

[kel101]

lol, your exactly right. They can't coexist as is right now because the phone's back cover has huge (relatively) magnets on it to stick to the touchstone. We may never get a magnetometer.

interesting.

number1pete

surly it could work just not when your on touchstone..but who needs a compass when their phones charging on a touchstone?

[way2muchkc4u]

Geocacheing...

That is y i want one...

2 cents

[patricksmangan]

wish they could be compatible really want one.

[rot]

main point with the touchstone is, that you just don't need the compass when sitting on the touchstone.

so it could simply disable itself whem docked and continue working when taken up again.

so the touchstone really wouldn't hurt.

i think it really is more like 'no space' on the Pre/Pre2-design for that.

I'm expecting newer devices to have all kinds of modern sensors.

[rkguy]

compass is most useful for walking. Ex at the louvre if you habe a map of the layout from the entrance and then turn the map turns with you. Ex: you are walking downtown and don't know which building is the smith tower, you turn and point it at different elevations as you are turning and it gives you different buildings based on which tower is hidden vs exposed. Ex: you have an accelerometer app to determine your rate of acceleration for your car. It is only useful on flat land without a compass because if you are on a hill then gravity is partly in the plane of interest. You'd be accelerating while actually waiting at a stoplight on a hill

[patricksmangan]

need a compass for all the cool aug. reality apps. Plus, I don't have a touchstone, and mightnot get one, so it wouldn't conflict for me.

@rkguy, word up seattle area!

[Kupe]

main point with the touchstone is, that you just don't need the compass when sitting on the touchstone.

Unless you're using the phone for navigation while it's sitting on the Touchstone in your car.

[Walhalla2k]

I´m one of those who is also looking for the compass and is really sad that the PRE2 doesnt have it

[knobbysideup]

Can anyone explain to me the purpuse of the compass? I'm not a hiker or anything, so why do I need a compass? If the phone has GPS (we'll forget about the VZ issue for a moment) then why is a compass necessary? I'm ignorant on this.

For all the 'gee whiz' toys like google goggles that are really nifty when you first get the phone, then never used again.

If you are using a gps, you can get a track on which way you are moving based on differentiating between where you are now, and where you were at the last tick. Even my lowly blackberry curve was able to give me a direction arrow with google maps. It's just that google maps on our phone is a pile of crap because Google was more interested in playing with web technologies than in creating a native app.

[knobbysideup]

Unless you're using the phone for navigation while it's sitting on the Touchstone in your car.

The phone has a gps. You don't need a compass while in the car. My car has a compass in the mirror if I *really* need to know which direction I am facing before I start moving and the gps can vector it.

[mhunterjr]

you can't do stuff like this without a compass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps49T0iJwVg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

It's more than just telling the users which direction he's facing. Apps can use the directional data to provide the user with more information about his or her surroundings.

[cgk]

For all the 'gee whiz' toys like google goggles that are really nifty when you first get the phone, then never used again.

If you are using a gps, you can get a track on which way you are moving based on differentiating between where you are now, and where you were at the last tick. Even my lowly blackberry curve was able to give me a direction arrow with google maps. It's just that google maps on our phone is a pile of crap because Google was more interested in playing with web technologies than in creating a native app.

That song never gets tired "I don't use it, so I don't see the usefulness".

[Reeves]

Come on, guys...do we really need this or any of the 1,289 other features missing? If you want that gimmicky stuff so much, just buy an iPhone or Android and stop both....oh, wait. That's exactly what people are doing.

[diggedy]

im not going to knock the compass, im pretty sure some people get a lot of use out of it but im a desire owner at present and other than loading up sky maps twice when i got it to make my friends ooh and ahh I havent loaded it since. Even layar is only slightly useful, even when I was touring london. It was more of a gimick than anything else, it was easier to load up google maps to see where I was and where the nearest *insert object of interest here* was.

Again not knocking it but me personally I doubt I would notice if my compass stopped working and it wouldnt stop me from buying a phone.

[v3rn]

Geocacheing...

That is y i want one...

2 cents

That's why I wish it had a compass. I like the touchstone, but I think the compass is more important for me. It's great for navigation apps, augmented reality, and especially for geocaching apps.

[Mattykinsx]

Come on, guys...do we really need this or any of the 1,289 other features missing? If you want that gimmicky stuff so much, just buy an iPhone or Android and stop both....oh, wait. That's exactly what people are doing.

Just because the 500 people that still are interested in keeping Webos and going to the Pre 2 don't see a use for a feature doesn't mean the multi-millions of other smartphone users don't want the feature.

[Zahid]

Don't forget that a compass is also handy for drawing perfect circles

[patricksmangan]

I want my phone toys. We'll see what ces brings...or doesnt