Google Nexus 7 features smart cover magnetic sensor

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Google Nexus 7 features smart cover magnetic sensor

I guess there are a few features we didn’t know of when it came to Google’s brand new Nexus 7 tablet. It appears that there are still a few mysteries surrounding the device. No we aren’t talking about the release date either, this is about smart covers. It seems that Google’s added a magnetic sensor on the bottom left side of the tablet that smart covers can take advantage of. Check out the video after the break.

The folks from Android Police received an anonymous tip and the video below showing just what we mean. With a magnetic smart cover you’ll be able to simply open the tablet cover and the display will start up, then you’re ready to rock. We’ve seen this before, just not with an Android tablet.

For some reason or another this lucky owner decided to take a magnet to his and found this little secret. Tap a magnet near the bottom left on front or back while the screen is on and this is what you get. A quick and easy way to turn on and off a tablet while in a case. Apple knows this all to well and apparently has a patent on the sensor, but not cases in general. The Nexus 7 cases we’ve seen all open from right to left, so don’t appear to be positioned correctly to use this feature. We’ll just have to wait and see what Google has planned, and if Apple will have anything to say about this.

[device id=2841]
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  • http://twitter.com/mikedotdunham mike dunham

    Being that it is on the same side as the pogo pins I would think whatever pogo accessory that they sell will use this magnetic sensor.

    • http://www.androidcommunity.com Cory Gunther

      Yup I figured same thing. The place where the magnet is actually most accurate and responsive is about 1/2 inch above the pogo pins.. for me at least

  • sonic aholic

    I had an app on my Xoom that used the light sensor to do the same thing called CaseSensor for tablets by SourceSpark. You don’t need a magnetic field sensor to do that. However if the magnetic field sensor is low yield it would make a more efficient solution as it’s likely it uses less battery power to run than a light sensor would, and the field its designed for is theoreticly capable of powering it. I say theoretically but most of us have used a dynamo at some point in our lives be it a wind up torch or radio and that’s based on a very simply coil of wire wrapped around a positively charged magnet as you spin a negatively charged one past it to create a low yield electrical current.

  • http://www.facebook.com/boonesimpson Boone Simpson

    The OG Droid had a magnet sensor for docking purposes, a magnet in one spot tripped Car mode, just a hair over, it would trip home dock mode.