Or at war, either as allies or enemies.
In other words, if one degrades their public service, it's possible that the other will too.
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Apple Expands iPhone 4S GPS Capabilities with GLONASS Support
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Or at war, either as allies or enemies.
In other words, if one degrades their public service, it's possible that the other will too.
Do you know of any consumer product with this precision? I doubt it. I think those precisions only get accomplished with sophisticated professional equipment. GLONASS or Galileo support more than precision it also gives extra satellites to lock to, particularly useful around high rise buildings, dense forests, and other obstacles that don't allow for a full view of the sky.
That was my point and hence my question as to whether the iPhone can even use DGPS. One of the big advantages of Galileo when it launches officially is that it's designed to be used in conjunction with the existing GPS system to provide very accurate positioning.
There are (m)apps for that.
Alternatively, for basic positioning information, you can pre-cache the map info for the area you'll be visiting just by browsing it at the enlargement that you'll need, ahead of time while you are on the network. I don't know how far back this history goes or how long it lasts, but I used it successfully this past winter when I visited a couple islands in the Caribbean. I still got fields of gray when I wandered out of the area I'd pre-visited, or zoomed in/out too far, but it was good enough to show me where I was on the island when I took a wrong turn.
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I would love to see how well these new enhancements make my gps perform better, but I was a dumbass and preordered my iPhone from best buy... Maybe I'll be lucky and find out when I get my *preordered iPhone 4s... In November...
I would love to see how well these new enhancements make my gps perform better, but I was a dumbass and preordered my iPhone from best buy... Maybe I'll be lucky and find out when I get my *preordered iPhone 4s... In November...
There are a number of applications (Navigon, TomTom, Garmin) that can give you full map and navigation in the US, or the whole North America (Mexico, US, Canada) for about 1.4GB. If you don't like this there are a few cheap or free navigation applications that can download sections of maps, give a look at Skobbler. MotionX has some applications that allow for download of subsets of a map.
It sure does.
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I second the MotionX recommendation. Motion-X "GPS" is great for tracking paths and waypoints, even without map data (which you can cache beforehand over wifi). Last time I checked it was free.
I wouldn't think so... It's far from becoming online so I wouldn't think there's any off-the-shelf chipsets for it yet. It wouldn't make sense yet at this stage.
According to wikipedia it's slated for basic introduction in 2014 and full completion in 2019, but I'd be surprised if Europe's current economic problems don't have any impact on that timeline due to funding problems.
In any case, even if it did support it, it would be useless until some time in 2014 at the earliest
I think Europe is launching the first two in orbit validation (IOV) satellites either today or tomorrow. Despite the current economic troubles it seems they are going ahead with the plan. This is a multi-year project. I would assume they predicted that not all of the years would be economically good. We'll see. For now they'll launch 4 in orbit validation satellites, two now, the next two, I don't know. Once they are satisfied with the design and performance they will deploy the rest. Hopefully by that time the global economy will be in better shape
Going back to the question. I doubt that Apple (even if the hardware supports it) would give Galileo support so many years retroactively. As pointed out, it might take until 2014 for Galileo to be functional. By that time I'm sure you'd like to have a newer phone. I think it is a given that if/when Galileo becomes a reality there will be chipsets to support that. Some manufacturers already have support for Galileo in their chipsets. I would expect that in one or two years most of them will, and that by 2014 most or all chipsets will have this capability.
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My questions would be:
- Does it use more battery than on the iPhone 4?
- Does it provide more accurate locations?
- Does it get a fix quicker?
- Does it work better than iPhone 4 under extreme conditions like reduced view of the sky?
Unfortunately, unless the location APIs have changed I think they are limited to provide, horizontal and vertical position and some strength of signal indicator. I don't think it will tell you if you are using GPS or GLONASS. So, any differences might have to be anecdotal. I was impressed with the quality of the iPhone 4 assisted GPS. I haven't used this in the iPhone 4S long enough to draw a comparison. I would expect it to be equal or better than the iPhone 4, but as I understand it is a different chipset and different manufacturer so we'll have to see.
Yes, but don't you need an additional stationary receiver? The DGPS's I used in the early 2000s for geophysics work required a receiver on a tripod, and another one with a big bulb antenna that you carried on a backpack.
Not sure that's what iPhone users have in mind
DGPS = Differential GPS.
The idea is that while a GPS might have a hard time pinpointing you relative to arbitrary lat/long lines on a map, a GPS device is dead accurate relative to another identical GPS. They would both suffer from the exact same inaccuracy.
So the difference between two GPS devices is very very small. And a few CM isn't an exaggeration if you can see a few satellites.
Now, I don't know what the difference is between two iPhone level GPS devices. But I know of companies that rely on Garmin GPS devices to have a DGPS accuracy to within an inch. Pretty slick, actually
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Yes, but don't you need an additional stationary receiver? The DGPS's I used in the early 2000s for geophysics work required a receiver on a tripod, and another one with a big bulb antenna that you carried on a backpack.
Not sure that's what iPhone users have in mind
Not quite a "Receiver", but the right idea. You do need two GPS units, because what DGPS does is tell you the difference between two GPS units.
So a GPS unit may only be accurate to within feet when pointed at a lat/long map, it can be accurate to within inches if you're trying to find a similar GPS device.
Edit: The similar example I can think of is having two identical altimeters that use barometric pressure. No matter how much you dial them in and try and "correct" for conditions, they won't be too accurate when trying to measure the exact height of a mountain. However, get two identical altimeters and place one at the top of the mountain, and you can tell when you are exactly 100 feet below that mountain. All by themselves, they aren't accurate, but the distance between them will be extremely accurate.
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DGPS = Differential GPS.
The idea is that while a GPS might have a hard time pinpointing you relative to arbitrary lat/long lines on a map, a GPS device is dead accurate relative to another identical GPS. They would both suffer from the exact same inaccuracy.
So the difference between two GPS devices is very very small. And a few CM isn't an exaggeration if you can see a few satellites.
Now, I don't know what the difference is between two iPhone level GPS devices. But I know of companies that rely on Garmin GPS devices to have a DGPS accuracy to within an inch. Pretty slick, actually
Only consumer SBAS (augmentation system) I know of is WAAS. However, it seems that it is used less now, probably because the extra battery power needed to handle the WAAS ionospheric corrections, etc. Do you have an example of a consumer product using DGPS? I don't know of any (doesn't mean much, there are a bunch of things I don't know of), and I have heard of this mostly in the context of professional surveyor equipment.
In the future when we have enough satellites sending signals on different frequencies the need of WAAS for ionospheric corrections will disappear. Galileo is designed with this in mind and so are the latest generation II-F GPS satellites and the future GPS III. That, and also the L5 signal. In short, the future of satellite navigation for consumer products looks very, very nice and bright. However, we'll probably need newer chipsets to support the new capabilities, and a few years for most of them to be usable.
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I think I have answered one of my previous questions. According to a review from Anand Tech of the CDMA iPhone 4 that replaced the broadcom GPS chipset by the integrated Qualcomm chip the accuracy of the Qualcomm is probably better. So the overall performance expectation of the iPhone 4S location services (Assisted GPS and GLONASS) is that it is much better than the iPhone 4. I think that's great. There were just a few things that I cared on the iPhone 4, the much improved camera, the speed, the 64GB size, and that it had at least as good a GPS as in the iPhone 4. With today's news it seems that we might see a significant performance improvement on the iPhone 4S location services.
I regularly use Navigon on the Blue Ridge Parkway & around Western NC where there is no, or spotty, cellular coverage - works perfectly.
Full data install ~2GB.
Yes, but it can't show you where you are unless you have a map installed on the device. The one I linked is free, reasonably small (if 2GB can ever be considered small) and pretty decent, if graphically abominable.
Use Topo Maps. It lets you download (as the name implies) topo maps. I use it all the time for finding archaeological sites that are off the beaten track.
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Navagon App stores maps locally.
Nungster said:
Navagon App stores maps locally.
GPS is better, I tested it.
My wife and I do a lot of GEOCACHING, where we use the GPS on our phones to find hidden caches (left by others playing the game). I can say that the new iPhone 4S was accurate to within 3 feet of the find, where my wife's phone (who has the iphone 3GS) brought her to within 25 feet. While not a comparison of the 4 to the 4S, it certain was much better and faster than the 3GS. I'll be able to do a 4/4S comparison soon and post my results.
My wife and I do a lot of GEOCACHING, where we use the GPS on our phones to find hidden caches (left by others playing the game). I can say that the new iPhone 4S was accurate to within 3 feet of the find, where my wife's phone (who has the iphone 3GS) brought her to within 25 feet. While not a comparison of the 4 to the 4S, it certain was much better and faster than the 3GS. I'll be able to do a 4/4S comparison soon and post my results.
I have noticed what seems like faster and more accurate GPS locks with the 4S vs. the 4. But I have not formally tested this, and already sold my 4 on eBay.
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The app you want is called "Maplets". It's specifically tailored to national parks, resorts, etc. The developer takes maps provided by these parks, digitizes them, geo-references them, and makes them available for download. Then you can use them offline and get your location superimposed right over the map. Perfect for hiking.
Navstar(GPS), Glonass, Compass, Galileo...
I know that GPS is a nowadays a name for the Navstar GPS, but it still troubles me to see that GPS is the only GPS, even though Glonass, Compass (the Chinese) and Galileo are all GPS systems. But don't mind me, as long as we all understand each other
(Plus the new catch-all name is GNSS, Global Navigation Satellite System...)
And speaking of Compass... It might be, that Compass is ready before Galileo. Compass is an extension to the Chinas current Beidou system, and is supposed to offer full world wide coverage on 2020. Galileo will be ready at the earliest on 2020. To the end user there isn't much difference, but Galileo may have to change the planned frequency range since the Chinese have the right to by being first. Since the Galileo have only two test satellites where as the Compass already has 5 out of 35 satellites already in place.
But when all those are ready, it might be, that in a good place there might be more than 75 satellites available!
If you're more interested, our friendly old wikipedia has more to offer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_navigation_satellite_system#Information_on_specific_GNSS_systems
I know that GPS is a nowadays a name for the Navstar GPS, but it still troubles me to see that GPS is the only GPS, even though Glonass, Compass (the Chinese) and Galileo are all GPS systems. But don't mind me, as long as we all understand each other
(Plus the new catch-all name is GNSS, Global Navigation Satellite System...)
And speaking of Compass... It might be, that Compass is ready before Galileo. Compass is an extension to the Chinas current Beidou system, and is supposed to offer full world wide coverage on 2020. Galileo will be ready at the earliest on 2020. To the end user there isn't much difference, but Galileo may have to change the planned frequency range since the Chinese have the right to by being first. Since the Galileo have only two test satellites where as the Compass already has 5 out of 35 satellites already in place.
But when all those are ready, it might be, that in a good place there might be more than 75 satellites available!
If you're more interested, our friendly old wikipedia has more to offer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_navigation_satellite_system#Information_on_specific_GNSS_systems
I know that GPS is a nowadays a name for the Navstar GPS, but it still troubles me to see that GPS is the only GPS, even though Glonass, Compass (the Chinese) and Galileo are all GPS systems. But don't mind me, as long as we all understand each other
(Plus the new catch-all name is GNSS, Global Navigation Satellite System...)
And speaking of Compass... It might be, that Compass is ready before Galileo. Compass is an extension to the Chinas current Beidou system, and is supposed to offer full world wide coverage on 2020. Galileo will be ready at the earliest on 2020. To the end user there isn't much difference, but Galileo may have to change the planned frequency range since the Chinese have the right to by being first. Since the Galileo have only two test satellites where as the Compass already has 5 out of 35 satellites already in place.
But when all those are ready, it might be, that in a good place there might be more than 75 satellites available!
If you're more interested, our friendly old wikipedia has more to offer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_navigation_satellite_system#Information_on_specific_GNSS_systems
I think you post some information that is probably wrong. I think Galileo secured the frequencies when they launched their current GIOVE testbeds. I don't think it has to do with China having launched more satellites. I believe the first one to transmit gets the rights. Anyway, I am not certain about this. I am sure there are a lot of other geopolitical and geostrategic undertones, as China was part of Galileo in the past, perhaps to appropriate technical knowledge to launch their own service. Galileo initial service is expected by 2014, not 2020. Completion is expected by 2019. I understand that Galileo has suffered delays in the past, so it can really end up completing by 2020 or later.
Once everybody settles their differences it would be great to have as many interoperable satellites as possible. I think that's great. However, I wonder what would happen if the Russians, or the Chinese, decided to start sending wrong position information towards the US, just for the fun of it, for space warfare. Would the receivers be able to ignore the noise? Reject the GLONASS or Compass wrong information? Is there anything like in NTP where wrong servers can be ignored? It would be bad to rely on sometimes not so friendly nations for our navigation purposes if they could interfere with this navigation accuracy by introducing wrong signal information.
The Aussies have been using GBAS at a couple of airports for a while although it looks like they are moving to an SBAS system instead.
For the casual reader the way this works is you have a fixed receiver on the ground in a known position. You then compare the position it thinks it is with the position it actually is. The difference between the two is the local error and this is transmitted either from the ground (GBAS) or via a satellite (SBAS) to all the capable receivers in the area so they can apply the error correction to their own positions.
Becoming more common in commercial aviation applications and I've seen a few car GPS systems which claim to use it here in Switzerland.
It's amazing what they get OpenGL to run on now a days... The Russians even have GL ON ASS! Pretty impressive.
Yes it does but it does NOT work without cellular coverage. I wish it did. When I go out on my ATV in the desert where there is no cell coverage, I have to leave my iPhone at home and bring my Magellan GPS instead. A friend of mine has a Samsung Droid X which has a real GPS. No cell service, but exact precision.
Assisted GPS is fine for most people, and I'll take my iPhone over any Droid any day of the week. BUT it would be nice if the iPhone had a real GPS.
To get real GPS functionality on the iPhone or iPad, you need Bad Elf. You do not need a cellular signal with Bad Elf, and you can use it in an airplane (if you are a pilot that is). Only problem is that not all apps are compatible. Their website lists all confirmed apps that work. I don't have one of these, I decided to get a rugged Magellan GPS in case I drop it while ATV-ing.