Apple Appears to Have Acquired GPS Firm Coherent Navigation [Confirmed]

[Mobster1983]

I wonder if Apple knows that it is the data within the maps that is woefully inadequate?

Apple maps is unusable in the Caribbean and the Middle East.

I live in Hawaii and it is horrible. I'm in a "new" developed area. Finished four years ago now, and the imagery is still from before construction. Entire shopping centers that have been opened for years still show empty fields. My house is not even in the address listing yet so I cannot navigate to it.

I've sent requests to Apple several times about outdated imagery and no updates.

It's really sad when I have to use Bing or Google to look at my neighborhood.

 

[Cybbe]

1 out of every 5 people in the world would disagree. Apple maps already blows away google maps in China.

This is simply false. First, they both use the same native source, Autonavi. Second, Apple still can't get its **** together.

Apple maps:

Google maps:

Make your pick.

 

[palmerc]

Mostly correct

Edit: I am incorrect, as two other people pointed out. The intentional GPS scrambling practice that I previously described in this post was ended in March of 2000.

The selective availability (SA) was removed, but GPS is still susceptible to jamming.

http://www.economist.com/news/inter...vitalbut-signal-surprisingly-easy-disrupt-out

 

[palmerc]

It is a universal problem.

I live in Hawaii and it is horrible. I'm in a "new" developed area. Finished four years ago now, and the imagery is still from before construction. Entire shopping centers that have been opened for years still show empty fields. My house is not even in the address listing yet so I cannot navigate to it.

I've sent requests to Apple several times about outdated imagery and no updates.

It's really sad when I have to use Bing or Google to look at my neighborhood.

It is frustrating when your satellite imagery is old, but this plagues all of the maps. For every given area you can find a significant difference in the age of satellite imagery. Sometimes Google is ahead, sometimes Apple or Bing.

Seems your latitude also matters:
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/arch...of-new-satellite-imagery-in-google-earth.html

 

[dugbug]

Never heard of igps before. I am amazed iridium keeps finding ways to stay relevant. Clever idea this

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This is simply false. First, they both use the same native source, Autonavi. Second, Apple still can't get its **** together.

Apple maps:
Image

Google maps:
Image

Make your pick.

These things are regional. Google can't find my local hospital.

 

[locust76]

Phase-Coherent Signal Simulator in a 40 watt range...

/arnie

 

[Glideslope]

For Apple Car?

Autonomous Apple Car.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Apple maps:
Image

Google maps:
Image

Make your pick.

So you're saying Google Maps offers better navigation than Apple Maps? The difference in those maps is POI - it looks like directions would probably be the same in either app when mapping routes.

I use Google Maps more than Apple Maps; I think it has better routing and much better estimates of time to destination (Google is nearly always spot on and Apple almost always overestimates time {not a bad thing, just not accurate}). However, Google Maps still has difficulties mapping to my home (typically puts the destination a couple streets over in a different subdivision) but Apple Maps is always correct. I don't live in a major metro area but I live in a reasonably large U.S. city.

 

[Porsupah]

For anyone interested in the technical side of Coherent Navigation's iGPS, this 2009 presentation may be of use:

http://scpnt.stanford.edu/pnt/PNT09/presentation_slides/12_Bencze_iGPS.pdf

 

[JackANSI]

I wonder if someone could use the technology in the PCSS device, maybe in conjunction with other devices and software, to simulate GPS in a building? Kinda like DGPS but... not.

It would probably require some pretty ugly hacks on the GPS receiver side though (maybe even a SDR GPS system with the ability to use extras like "secure certificates" to ensure the imposed signals are legit).

Some of the current means of interior navigation are signal strength based and holding a device vs keeping it in your pocket (or even just turning 90-120 degrees) might put you in a different store.

If you could fake a GPS constellation inside an enclosed space (like an entire mall)... the possibilities...

 

[freediverx]

Apple doesn't make the chip, Qualcomm does. The chips are still insufficient. I didn't blame Apple. I said the current implementation is wanting, and it isn't just apple maps.

I'm not sure why you had to respond to my comment as if I needed an explanation over what the problem is. Perhaps you need to defend Apple from a legitimate criticism, that, the GPS used could be improved. Which was the point of Apple buying this company, no?

I was trying to point out that the iPhone's (or any other GPS device's) crappy GPS performance in concrete canyons like Manhattan is a reflection of the limitations of GPS technology itself, which relies on having a clear line of sight to several satellites. Your comment suggested a lack of familiarity with how GPS works and why it cannot be expected to work properly in those conditions.

The solution doesn't lie in choosing a different chip or implementing it differently. It lies in new technologies that augment GPS, including that which is described in the article.

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It is frustrating when your satellite imagery is old, but this plagues all of the maps. For every given area you can find a significant difference in the age of satellite imagery. Sometimes Google is ahead, sometimes Apple or Bing.

I like Apple Maps and consider its UI infinitely superior to that of Google Maps, but this comment is disingenuous at best. Apple's map data works fine for me 95% of the time in the US. But when it comes to satellite imagery or anything outside US borders, Apple Maps data is consistently outdated and of lower quality compared to Google Maps data. There's no comparison.

It's been years since Apple's split with Google Maps data and improved data is long overdue. Hell, even Google's satellite imagery if often years out of date. The entire satellite imaging industry is long overdue for disruption.

 

[palmerc]

Disruption of satellite services

I was trying to point out that the iPhone's (or any other GPS device's) crappy GPS performance in concrete canyons like Manhattan is a reflection of the limitations of GPS technology itself, which relies on having a clear line of sight to several satellites. Your comment suggested a lack of familiarity with how GPS works and why it cannot be expected to work properly in those conditions.

The solution doesn't lie in choosing a different chip or implementing it differently. It lies in new technologies that augment GPS, including that which is described in the article.

----------



I like Apple Maps and consider its UI infinitely superior to that of Google Maps, but this comment is disingenuous at best. Apple's map data works fine for me 95% of the time in the US. But when it comes to satellite imagery or anything outside US borders, Apple Maps data is consistently outdated and of lower quality compared to Google Maps data. There's no comparison.

It's been years since Apple's split with Google Maps data and improved data is long overdue. Hell, even Google's satellite imagery if often years out of date. The entire satellite imaging industry is long overdue for disruption.

Satellite imagery is not a disruption friendly tech due to the economics of satellite-based technology. I would suspect that dramatic improvements to imagery are coming, but not in the form of a new satellite technology.

Consistently outdated is a bold claim. Anecdotally that might be true, but in my experience of comparing satellite imagery, I find it to be a mixed bag.