Folks from Google and some other space enthusiasts got together recently and ran an experiment with the new Samsung Nexus S smartphone to see just how well the smartphone sensors and accelerometers worked when the temperatures decreased. The test involved several smartphones and a trip to the stratosphere.

Engineers from Google and students from the University of California put the Nexus S smartphones into special coolers with GPS antennas on them, tied them to weather balloons, and then let them go. The balloons were able to reach 32,000 meters above the ground before the balloons burst and the phones started the plummeting decent.

The phones and their special coolers were brought to the ground using parachutes and the decent from height took 20 to 30 minutes. After the smartphones were retrieved, they still worked despite the extreme temperatures at the heights the balloons reached.

Via Social Barrel