On Tuesday, September 16, 2014 4:01:59 PM UTC+1, Sean Fidler wrote:
The new barometric pressure sensor is probably very, very smart (perhaps better than what we have in existing loggers?)

Not really 'better', since cost and size has priority in this application, but the accuracy should certainly be good enough for logging purposes. Minimum pressure is 300hpa (~30,000ft).

http://www.bosch-sensortec.com/en_GB.../bmp280/bmp280

The reported sensor in the iPhone 6 is the BMP282. The performance is unlikely to be different from the above sensor.

I wonder if XC Soar has taken advantage of the barometric pressure sensors in the Android phones?

Yes, if the device has a pressure sensor the pressure altitude will be recorded in the IGC file. There's also an audio variometer function (uncompensated), which is reportedly very good with recent Samsung phones.