Next-Gen iPhone Magnetometer Confirmed?

A magnetometer, or digital compass, has been rumored to be one of the next generation iPhone's new components since early May when evidence of settings for the feature were found in the iPhone OS 3.0 beta software.  A new finding, however, may be just enough to officially stamp this one as a confirmed next-gen iPhone component, just like we stated in our recent specs rundown. According to AppleInsider, a Japan based company has been tapped to supply Apple with a magnetometer sensor for the next-gen iPhone:

"People familiar with betas of the iPhone 3.0 software developers kit recently dug up several header files attributed to the Japanese manufacturer in a directory appropriately labeled "compass." More specifically, the files identify Asahi Kasei's azimuth sensor No. AK8973, a 16-pin leadless IC package measuring 4mm square and 0.7mm thick, as the chip that will help future iPhone users determine their direction. It bundles a master clock oscillator."

One of the iPhone's many competitors, T-Mobile's Android-based G1, already contains a digital compass, so the possibility of the iPhone containing the same feature is very probable. In the same article AppleInsider also mentions that a video-capable camera and an 802.11n low-power chip have also been confirmed for Apple's next-gen device, but they don't go into any further details. For those of you keeping track of all of the rumored next-gen iPhone hardware, do you think we can now officially mark the magnetometer off as one of the new components for the device after these new findings?

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