Today’s smartphones already have an impressive array of sensors, which individually and in combination can be used to power a mind-boggling array of apps and services. But Halbherr has one eye wandering in search of the sensors of the future. In a recent interview, he told me the next set of electronic sensors to wind up in our phones could very well be humidity and barometric pressure meters.

Why humidity and pressure? Why to predict the weather of course, Halbherr said. “We could create super-accurate weather forecasts if sensors in phones were recording this data,” Halbherr said. Today meteorologists collect data from dispersed weather stations, limiting their ability to generate accurate and precise forecasts. But if millions of phones were transmitting real-time barometric pressure and air moisture readings, tagged with geo-location data, then the art of weather predication could become much more a science, Halbherr said.

Halbherr said it is core to his own and Nokia’s beliefs that mobile technology can be used to benefit the public good. The sensors in our phones should not only be used to collect data for our own use, but where possible should be used help us overcome society’s trickier problems.

For instance, if every phone in a car on a freeway was either communicating to a centralized database its own speed and direction data — either gathered through its accelerometer or by relaying information from the car’s onboard computer — traffic patterns could be mapped in real time on any given patch of asphalt. Feeding that information back to vehicle navigation systems, as well as traffic and public management systems, could “solve the commute problem,” Halbherr said.

The auto industry is trying to tackle the same issues by creating inter-vehicle networks that allow cars to share information via secure Wi-Fi. The idea is that cars would be able to “group think” that information, automatically coalescing into the driving formations that ensure the optimal flow of traffic. In that case, consumers aren’t just sharing information for the public good, they are also giving up control.

Halbherr said he doesn’t subscribe to any notions that personal data belongs to the state and should be wrenched from consumers’ hands. Ultimately all users control their data and they can choose freely whether to share it with one another or some central database, he said. But if a significant portion of users does choose to share their sensor data, it should definitely be put to use, Halbherr said.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock user SVLuma

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• A look back at mobile in Q1
• Tablet market to hit over 377 million units by 2016
• CES 2012: a recap and analysis

Turns out I was right to be so overprotective because, according to a recent report by a local Houston news station, many users are finding that even just the moisture from their hands are causing iPhones to malfunction, and the immersion sensors in the devices to trip, which means Apple wouldn’t replace the devices, even if they’re under warranty. The people cited in the report had used their iPhone while working out at the gym, and when they brought the now-broken devices to the Apple store, employees suggested that the water damage came from holding the phones in their sweaty palms.

Far be it for me to criticize the wisdom of gripping any phone in your hands while you’re running or otherwise working out, but I do think exercising (pun intended) a little more caution when you’re using a $200 to $300 (subsidized) device might be in order. Still, users who’ve encountered this kind of problem aren’t completely out of luck, since Apple has recently introduced a new exchange policy for water-damaged devices that allows people to exchange them for a working unit for $199.

That’s still a little bit pricey, and all replacement units are refurbished hardware, but it is better than nothing. Admittedly, Apple should either stop marketing the exercise aid potential of the iPhone, or improve its moisture resistance, but until that happens, think twice about whether or not you really need that phone by your side when you’re pumping iron. Or, you could take your chances and luck out, like this guy.

Image courtesy wholikespotatoes on Photobucket

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
• How to Market Your iPhone App: A Developer’s Guide
• Why the iPad is Right for the Enterprise