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GPS not good enough for turn by turn??

Donz0r said:
Agreed, SatNav functionality is Expected by everyone b/c of the GPS announcement, Apple better deliver.
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Then people had better be prepared to be disappointed, because aside from the functionality in Google Maps, there is no provision for in-vehicle nav at this time, and given Apple's statements to David Pogue of the New York Times and the fact that the SDK prohibits development of applications which provide "real time route guidance", this will likely be the case for the foreseeable future.
 
Donz0r said:
Agreed, SatNav functionality is Expected by everyone b/c of the GPS announcement, Apple better deliver.
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I'm not saying it should replace tomtoms or dedicated sat nav systems, but for the light user like myself it would be perfect.

More to the point, it's technically possible and not really pushing the boundaries so why not make it possible? Obviously there is more going on then anyone one of us knows.
 
turn

this thread is driving me nuts. Vehicle Turn-by-turn navigation will be possible with the iphone. What I believe David Pogue meant, was that with Google maps, GPS is not good enough for turn by turn. However, when combined with more accurate maps the GPS will be fine for vehicles.
It will be sold through the app store and neither google or apple will have anything to do with it. I don't care if David Pogue said Steve Jobs told him that--the fact is no one else has reported problems or mentioned any kind of error that is normally unassociated with gps.
 
kyleman2k said:
this thread is driving me nuts. Vehicle Turn-by-turn navigation will be possible with the iphone. What I believe David Pogue meant, was that with Google maps, GPS is not good enough for turn by turn. However, when combined with more accurate maps the GPS will be fine for vehicles.
It will be sold through the app store and neither google or apple will have anything to do with it. I don't care if David Pogue said Steve Jobs told him that--the fact is no one else has reported problems or mentioned any kind of error that is normally unassociated with gps.
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No. That's not what David Pogue meant. Apple said that the GPS antenna is "too small" to be used for in-vehicle navigation applications. Nothing about Google Maps. Whether that is a lie or a mistake or an oversimplification is beside the point, as Apple is clearly not targeting this market, and is PROHIBITING such apps via the App Store. Apple WILL have something to do with it, as they are the approving authority for all applications, and applications that provide "real time route guidance" are currently prohibited. There could be a large number of reasons for this, many of which I have already outlined numerous times.

Also, you can't say "the fact is no one else has reported problems or mentioned any kind of error that is normally unassociated with gps" when NO ONE except a few select initial reviewers *even has the phone* yet. Yes, you're almost certainly right that the GPS in iPhone is functionally no better or worse than the GPS in any other handset.
 
This conversation is crazy. Judging by this thread there are a lot of lost people out there that can't seem to get to where they are going. WTF? Everyone is acting like we are lost in the woods during a boy scout trip. Wake up people and find your way, does anyone really need turn-by-turn instructions? The current iPhone does turn-by-turn, just learn how to read the turn-by-turn.
 
Software can be updated to compensate for the fictional small antenna. Dont believe everything you read. GoogleMaps just doesnt support turn by turn directions with audio, Garmin and TomTom will.
 
bbplayer5 said:
Software can be updated to compensate for the fictional small antenna. Dont believe everything you read. GoogleMaps just doesnt support turn by turn directions with audio, Garmin and TomTom will.
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LOL! "Fictional". Apple directly said that to a New York Times reviewer, and you had better believe that was carefully vetted.

Now, that said, is it any worse than any GPS capability incuded in any other handset? Nope, probably not.

But since the iPhone SDK, and, by extension, the App Store, explicitly prohibit apps that provide "real time route guidance", Garmin and TomTom won't be doing anything until that restriction is clarified or lifted.
 
Bickity said:
This conversation is crazy. Judging by this thread there are a lot of lost people out there that can't seem to get to where they are going. WTF? Everyone is acting like we are lost in the woods during a boy scout trip. Wake up people and find your way, does anyone really need turn-by-turn instructions? The current iPhone does turn-by-turn, just learn how to read the turn-by-turn.
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lol, true that! i'm sure over half the people discussing this aren't even old enough to DRIVE yet to even use turn-by-turn, voice dictating gps! :eek:
 
Although partially just semantics, there is a difference in what people think "turn by turn" means. To some it simply means that each turn is outlined somewhere, i.e. even a piece of paper could have turn by turn directions written on it. In NAV/GPS circles it's typically associated more with devices that call out or notify on each turn. The best I've used so far is with my Garmin (many Tom Tom's do this as well) where the GPS will say (text to speech voice) "In .2 miles turn right on Elm St" etc.

There are several other definitions of "turn by turn" inbetween there, but I see those as the extremes.
 
All I really want is a program in the AppStore that give me accurate speed and altitude. That would be pretty cool. :)
 
The General said:
All I really want is a program in the AppStore that give me accurate speed and altitude. That would be pretty cool. :)
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Agreed!

Also, I would like a program that would turn my iPhone into a Radar Detector so I will stop getting speeding tickets! :D
 
From the blackberry website:

GPS to Navigate Your Life


You can also take advantage of a wide range of third party GPS navigation services for your BlackBerry smartphone. Colorful 3-D moving maps, turn-by-turn voice directions, traffic alerts and rerouting are just some of the features that may be available.

ON BLACKBERRY!!! State of the art Iphone.....ermmmm sorry sir....Apple says no.
I am a big apple fan, but really dislike their attitude on this. They can't even blame googlemaps as googlemaps is free on blackberrys too and does everything that that googlemaps does on the Iphone.
 
maybe the antenna is too weak to hold a signal with the appropriate QoS required for real GPS navigation
 
I got sick of reading posts so I will just give my input.

Apple says the iPhone will follow you step by step with the google maps. They even gave the WWDC demo showing the winding street in Cali. iPhone is capable of turn by turn. Yes, there is a chance it may drop signal and get a little bit off track, but who cares, it should work fine. Also, when you put in a route, the navi usually follows the route and assumes you stay on it until it identifies a big enough error to reroute (i.e. getting off on an off ramp will show on the map if you are routing vs. just driving where it will keep you on the interstate until a big enough error occurs).

It would be nice if Apple would allow a device like the Holux GPSlim236 to work on the iPhone Gen1 or for that matter Gen2 (if antenna is really bad). This would allow you to use TomTom on Gen1 phones.

http://www.holux.com/JCore/en/products/products_list.jsp?pno=2
 
geeb said:
Because no one has released turn by turn software for it yet.

The GPS is the best you can get....it is assisted by cell towers too (it is A-GPS or Assisted GPS).

All GPS is hobbled by the US military to a degree...it is not as accurate for civilians as it is for the military.

TomTom allegedly are designing turn by turn of course but there have been rumours of licensing issues with Apple.
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I think I read in one of the reviews that the GPS in the Iphone is not strong enough to be used as a turn by turn device.. I'll try and find the link when i get a chance
 
Djs621 said:
I think I read in one of the reviews that the GPS in the Iphone is not strong enough to be used as a turn by turn device.. I'll try and find the link when i get a chance
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That's the review that started this whole thread.

Here, I "tried" to find the link, and found it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/technology/personaltech/09pogue.html

"Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do with the G.P.S. According to Apple, the iPhone’s G.P.S. antenna is much too small to emulate the turn-by-turn navigation of a G.P.S. unit for a vehicle, for example.

Instead, all it can do at this point is track your position as you drive along, representing you as a blue dot sliding along the roads of the map. Even then, the metal of a car or the buildings of Manhattan are often enough to block the iPhone’s view of the sky, leaving it just as confused as you are."
 
Thinking about an iphone 3g, I too am interested in the GPS functionality. Seems like whenever I travel, I end up bringing a phone, Garmin Quest, camera, and a MP3 Player (e.g. not to mention the x-number of charges, adapters, etc.). Sure would be nice to get that down to one or two devices. Thread has been helpful. Thought I'd share a link, looks like a response from Pogue. It's in the comments of an article at Gizmodo's (Link to article).

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poguenyt at 12:21 PM

"What is Pogue talking about there will never be a turn by turn GPS because of the antenna not being visible? "

That's not what I wrote.

I said that the antenna is too SMALL. Dedicated GPS devices are designed to maximize reception: big antenna, carefully placed, etc.

As Apple's engineer explained it to me, there's too much else going on inside the iPhone (Wi-Fi, multitouch screen, 10 radios, etc.) to do much more than slip in a sliver of a GPS circuit, so it will never have the accuracy necessary for turn-by-turn directions.

--Pogue
 
Size doesn't matter, it's how you use it. :eek:

That being said, the assumedly "tiny" GPS antenna in my (former, just sold on Ebay) Blackberry Curve did just fine with all the "turn by turn" GPS apps I tossed at it. The tiny "keychain" size bluetooth GPS pucks (probably smaller then a matchbook) work fine as well. If it can get your directions for one app why shouldn't it work for others? As long as the data is thereit's the software that makes it work.



daveschroeder said:
No one said it wasn't for sure.

All we know is that Apple told David Pogue, a New York Times reviewer with an iPhone 3G in his hands, that the iPhone 3G's GPS antenna was "too small" to be suitable for in-car navigation applications.
Click to expand...
 
daveschroeder said:
LOL! "Fictional". Apple directly said that to a New York Times reviewer, and you had better believe that was carefully vetted.
Click to expand...

Yes, because the NYT has never embellished a story, am I right?

The quote about it being too small doesn't make sense. Either the GPS gets your location or it doesn't. If it gets your location, then accurate maps will allow you to do turn by turn.
 
What the hell is the point of GPS with no turn by turn?!?!?? For just looking for restaurants or what not, Cell GPS works fine. The whole point is turn-by-turn directions!

If I need to know exactly where I am, I'll look at the street sign next to me, thank you very much...
 
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