GPS references in SDK

[sassenach74]

Just read an article on 9to5mac, showing multiple references to GPS inside the latest builds of the SDK.

What do you all think, could it be that GPS is included, or is this for other means......

I like that idea of taking pictures and organizing them based on GPS position/location name.

Your comments are appreciated,

Neil.

 

[Cleve]

http://9to5mac.com/gps-3G-iphone

it looks like this stuff is legit - but isn't conclusive

 

[sassenach74]

appologies for not posting the link.

 

[gnasher729]

Just read an article on 9to5mac, showing multiple references to GPS inside the latest builds of the SDK.

What do you all think, could it be that GPS is included, or is this for other means......

I like that idea of taking pictures and organizing them based on GPS position/location name.

Your comments are appreciated,

Neil.

I don't think this has any significance whatsoever. Photos contain tons of metadata provided by the camera, and all that metadata is as standardized and future proof as possible. What they found are possible metadata keys for Spotlight (and for other purposes), and photos always had the possibility that GPS information is included as metadata. And obviously you can take a photo on a camera that has built-in GPS, copy that photo onto a Mac, then onto an iPhone, and the iPhone would be able to handle the data.

For example, I could write software for the iPhone that determines your current location without using GPS, then displays photos that were taken close to your location by using the GPS data in the photos - no GPS required on the iPhone to do that.

All this information can be found in the header file MDItem.h, which is part of the Metadata framework, which is a standard Leopard framework that is completely independent of the iPhone.

 

[sassenach74]

I don't think this has any significance whatsoever. Photos contain tons of metadata provided by the camera, and all that metadata is as standardized and future proof as possible. What they found are possible metadata keys for Spotlight (and for other purposes), and photos always had the possibility that GPS information is included as metadata. And obviously you can take a photo on a camera that has built-in GPS, copy that photo onto a Mac, then onto an iPhone, and the iPhone would be able to handle the data.

For example, I could write software for the iPhone that determines your current location without using GPS, then displays photos that were taken close to your location by using the GPS data in the photos - no GPS required on the iPhone to do that.

All this information can be found in the header file MDItem.h, which is part of the Metadata framework, which is a standard Leopard framework that is completely independent of the iPhone.

No significance to what exactly?
For photos to have the posibility to include GPS data, GPS has to be a part of the camera taking the photo, a la sat-nav systems that have a camera built in, or the data can be manually added by the user.
As for everything else you wrote.....gobbledegook.

Neil.

 

[gnasher729]

No significance to what exactly?
For photos to have the posibility to include GPS data, GPS has to be a part of the camera taking the photo, a la sat-nav systems that have a camera built in, or the data can be manually added by the user.
As for everything else you wrote.....gobbledegook.

Neil.

To you it is gobbledegook.

Any Macintosh software developer types "ExifGPS" into Spotlight, and finds that this is part of the standard Leopard Metadata framework which is used on every Macintosh, and it is also part of the ImageCompression framework, with GPS data being part of the TIFF standard at least in 2006, one year before the iPhone existed.

 

[sassenach74]

To you it is gobbledegook.

Any Macintosh software developer types "ExifGPS" into Spotlight, and finds that this is part of the standard Leopard Metadata framework which is used on every Macintosh, and it is also part of the ImageCompression framework, with GPS data being part of the TIFF standard at least in 2006, one year before the iPhone existed.

Ok, fine, but I started this thread to ask why it could be included in the SDK for the iPhone, which isnt a mac and doesnt have leopard.
From what I can gather the GPS references were not seen in earlier versions of the SDK beta. So again I'll ask, could this mean GPS will be added to the iPhone or could GPS be used for other things on the iPhone.

Neil.

 

[zmit]

he also stated that it is part of EXIF metadata in photos!

so... it COULD just be saying that the SDK and hence new firmware supports EXIF data on photos, which shows GPS coordinates as well.
because some cameras DO have GPS built in...


HOWEVER,
our other options are
- GPS built in
- GPS SUPPORT in the way of bluetooth support - its unlikely that they are designing an adapter for it, but it would also make sense for those with gen1 iphones. that way they upgrade firmware, purchase the adaptor or whatever and there you go.

i personally just want bluetooth GPS support

 

[skwoytek]

Of course, some people have pointed out that Apple usually gives very subtle clues in their event announcements.

The WWDC announcement reads, "A landmark event. In more ways than one."*

Just saying...


*I love Apple announcement/invitation grammar.

 

[zmit]

ok. you win.... you have now got me hyped about built-in GPS in the gen2 iphone.....

 

[sassenach74]

he also stated that it is part of EXIF metadata in photos!(

Wrong.

I have been a keen amateur photographer for 15 years, and have been working with digital files and EXIF data for a long time.
GPS is not a part of EXIF data by default, it merely has a section for location information.
If a camera device also has GPS then the location information is stored in the EXIF header when the picture is taken.

From Wiki:

Geolocation
The Exif format has standard tags for location information. Currently, only very few cameras, such as the Ricoh 500SE, have a built-in GPS receiver and store the location information in the Exif header when the picture is taken. But GPS data can be added to any digital photograph on a computer, either by correlating the time stamps of the photographs with a GPS record from a hand-held GPS receiver or manually using a map or mapping software. The process of adding geographic information to a photograph is known as geocoding.


Neil.

 

[kdarling]

Wrong.

I have been a keen amateur photographer for 15 years, and have been working with digital files and EXIF data for a long time.
GPS is not a part of EXIF data by default, it merely has a section for location information.

You're saying exactly what he said. There's a place for location data, but that doesn't mean it'll be used. There's also a place for audio data, isn't there?

This is similar to the SIM threads. Just because it has a 3G capable SIM, doesn't mean it has 3G. Just because a picture file can be 1024x768, doesn't mean the phone will have that big a screen. Just because it has GPS data support, doesn't mean it has GPS. To a developer, just because there's a header file, it doesn't mean everything in it is used. So by itself, the header file isn't enough evidence.

That said, I think everything together points towards GPS. I think Jobs' big "bam" moment will be some kind of slick GPS application.