Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

No GPS in iPhone 3G (?)

I can't understand why GPS in phones made out to be such a big issue. It's a nice touch. I have it on my BB Curve(I'm waiting on my iPhone to be delivered) and it's not that great to me.
 
Noone knows. I wouldn't doubt it though, they could keep GPS for version 3.

An iPhone with the only improved feature being 3G would still sell like hot cakes either way.
 
GPS doesn't really affect me really, I would just like to see it on there as a nice little bonus feature. But when I do Locate Me in Google Maps on EDGE, I get a very broad location.

When I do locate me on WiFi, I get a radius of like 3 blocks. So I believe 3G+Locate Me will be just fine.

GPS would be a bonus for me and I think alot of people would be drawn to the iPhone if it had 3G, ultimately selling alot more iPhones.

Like I said though, 3G+Locate=pretty damn good, hopefully.
 
The lack of GPS will be a huge drawback to iPhone salles in Europe.

The 3G is not enough!!! We want GPS!!!
 
I'd say it's likely to have GPS. Mainly because there's that GeoTagging thing.

Sooooo it wouldn't make sense to GeoTag something with "I took this photo somewhere in this 10 mile radius" lol
 
Perhaps Apple gave France Telcom phones for testing that didn't have GPS capability? Sort of the "need to know" basis. With all the world wide testing that must be going on, it seems prudent not to enable features that don't pertain to the actual test being run. Loose lips....
 
Keep in mind that Europe is working on implementing the Galileo project which is a GPS system of their own. Europe wants a non-US-centric global positioning system. It's certainly possible that would be a reason why it was eliminated from the phone.
 
Having a GPS on your phone is a nice feature... I have it on my BB Curve and it comes handy at times.

It will definitely draw more attention and appeal to broader first time users.
 
No GPS will equal big disappointment in my book. "Locate me" is helpful, but it is static and only as accurate as the available towers. Using 3G may make it more accurate, but it'll still be a static function, which is pretty lame for a $500 phone.

On a different topic, I realize 3G is faster than Edge, but is it also more powerful? For example, when indoors with no wifi will the signal strength better with 3G? Thanks.
 
senorFunkyPants said:
GPS would certainly be a bigger draw to pull in new iphone customers than the addition of 3G will be.


.
Click to expand...

Seriously?? I guess new and nifty feature is a better mass market draw then faster. I bet though that in the long run, 90% of users will feel greater utility in their new phone from the addition of 3G than gps. Both...that's the ticket.

I am not average customer, I know (too geeky gadget boy), but the only reason i did not buy rev 1 was due to the lack of high speed connection outside of wifi. If they just added GPS, I would still stay away. If they add 3G and no GPS, I will buy in a heartbeat. I would be pretty psyched if they added GPS but would not be willing to accept any increase in size or reduction in battery life (battery is ok if it only impacts when turned on).
 
Technology is such a strange thing, My cousin has a cheap Verizon phone, and has GPS with turn by turn voice directions, and my last two phones I can't get GPS. I had a Palm Treo 700p, and if I wanted GPS on it, I'd have to pay $200+ to get a GPS Module from Tom Tom, and now I have an iPhone, and there are rumors that the NEXT iPhone won't have GPS. I find this so odd, The Treo & iPhone are so-called smartphones, and we can't get GPS on them, so bizzare.
 
Consider that the details for what would be in this coming iPhone, or at least the specific big upgrades (3G or no, GPS or no, video camera or no), were almost certainly known back when the iPhone added it's WiFi location finder. And it was hyped, pretty big.

In other words, they made a huge deal out of something, called it the future, blah blah blah... so I will keep saying what I've been saying: I doubt there will be GPS in the next iPhone.
 
Will a GPS phone even work in your car without hanging it out the window or having it sit up on the dash? The location system in the current iPhone works well and works inside buildings and in cars.
 
skubish said:
GPS is nifty but I would rather have:

1. MMS
2. copy/paste
3. wireless syncing to iTunes
4. 32GB flash memory
Click to expand...

Exactly! there are several others before I get to GPS... bluetooth stereo for one, higher resolution screen, ...
 
TXCraig said:
Will a GPS phone even work in your car without hanging it out the window or having it sit up on the dash? The location system in the current iPhone works well and works inside buildings and in cars.
Click to expand...

Your probably thinking of the old GPS receivers that had to be up on the dash with line of sight to the sky. It is not like that anymore. I have a bluetooth GPS receiver that I use with my Palm and I get location info when I am sitting in the middle of my house. You don't need line of sight anymore.

The argument that GPS isn't that big of a deal is relative to the person using it. I am a field tech that is mostly visiting places I have never been before. Having GPS is a must have for me when I am trying to find a new clients office/home and get there on time. I use it for this reason probably 20 times a week. I currently use my Palm for this, but would love to ditch that and have it all on my phone!
 
TXCraig said:
Will a GPS phone even work in your car without hanging it out the window or having it sit up on the dash?
Click to expand...

The newer handheld GPS systems with the SiRFstar III chip work fine in the car or other situations where there are windows around, but a ceiling directly overhead.

A techie from SiRF explained that earlier chips filtered and discarded reflected signals, so only direct (overhead) satellites were tracked.

He said that the SiRFstar III has more powerful processing so that it is able to analyze reflected signals and correct for the delays due to the reflections. So, yes, a SiRFstar III will work in the car even if the antenna is on the floor by the passenger's seat (my Nuvi tells me so).

So, regardless of the chip, it is possible if you have enough computing power to get good GPS fixes without a clear view of the sky.
 
There's a difference between real satellite GPS and aGPS which is what most cell phone makers advertise as GPS. There is a great deal of confusion about this distinction. Most cell phones that are advertised as GPS are truly aGPS phones which triangulate the location of the device in a manner similar to what is done presently with Googlemaps.

I sincerely doubt that the iPhone will contain real satellite GPS such as is found in the Nokia N95 as satellite GPS would add to the bulk of the device in addition to causing a greater drain on the battery. Given a choice with more space Apple would probably add more memory to further displace hard disk based media players, not GPS which isn't integral to what the iPhone is being designed to do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back