I want to get an ipod touch soon, but I'm not about to buy one now if they're going to do GPS soon for the touch too, but I haven't heard any rumors saying that they will. What does everyone think? GPS on the touch? How soon?
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iPod touch Gps?
- Thread starter liptonlover
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Apple has not announced anything and I wouldn't expect it to be added...
There may be GPS addons available.
There may be GPS addons available.
personally i don't see GPS being added to the touch. they won't be able to do the assisted bit without the cell towers, which makes it much faster, and the Touch is an ipod first, and a PDA second, so GPS is low on the list
<rant>
I'm astounded about people's misconception about what GPS and GPS navigation is. There are many reasons why one may want GPS where there's no WiFi, actually, specially where there's no WiFi. I don't want to put words in CFS' mouth but maybe he/she meant to say:
"Do you live in a city that is wireless? This would be the only way I can think to make GPS work on a Touch."
I know this may be really hard to believe for some but there are lots of GPS navigation devices that work perfectly fine without cell towers, and get the GPS signal within 2-5 seconds of turning it on, the only thing they lack is Steve's endorsement. And BTW, isn't the iPhone a phone first? so why isn't GPS low on the list for it?
</rant>
For the iPod touch to have GPS navigation it would have to have a Bluetooth or GPS device attached to its data port, plus some software, of course. Personally, I think this is the killer app missing from the touch.
I'm astounded about people's misconception about what GPS and GPS navigation is. There are many reasons why one may want GPS where there's no WiFi, actually, specially where there's no WiFi. I don't want to put words in CFS' mouth but maybe he/she meant to say:
"Do you live in a city that is wireless? This would be the only way I can think to make GPS work on a Touch."
I know this may be really hard to believe for some but there are lots of GPS navigation devices that work perfectly fine without cell towers, and get the GPS signal within 2-5 seconds of turning it on, the only thing they lack is Steve's endorsement. And BTW, isn't the iPhone a phone first? so why isn't GPS low on the list for it?
</rant>
For the iPod touch to have GPS navigation it would have to have a Bluetooth or GPS device attached to its data port, plus some software, of course. Personally, I think this is the killer app missing from the touch.
Wait! They made the iPhone to do GPS navigation?????
Didn't thy make the iPod to play music so why does the iPhone play music then?
I know some people would want to confiscate my Apple products once I say this, but I'll take my chances.
I use my iPod touch as a....PDA!!!!
Oh noooooooo......Steve is pissed!
I'm thinking they will do it because it's another feature to make it more enticing. I don't think they have any problem with it being a close relative of the iphone, I believe it was even advertised as that somewhere, though don't quote me on that. If you want a phone, get the iphone. If you want the iphone without the phone, get the touch. They should be identical otherwise.
Applications made for the iphone/touch are supposed to work on both, which isn't possible if the app requires on gps and not just wifi-tower gps that isn't very accurate.
Applications made for the iphone/touch are supposed to work on both, which isn't possible if the app requires on gps and not just wifi-tower gps that isn't very accurate.
Note: iPod Touch.
Remember all the ranting when they released the Touch, but without the iPhone PDA apps?
OP - Well, remember, there are rumors of a slightly larger device, maybe with GPS, EDGE, 3G, in a small Tablet or Newton type of formfactor.
Navizon
There's a small app after i jailbroke my iPod Touch, called Navizon, it locates you if you're in a good Wi-Fi zone. this could work as a semi-gps.
There's a small app after i jailbroke my iPod Touch, called Navizon, it locates you if you're in a good Wi-Fi zone. this could work as a semi-gps.
I love how people think that GPS makes it more desirable for people. What you're not realizing is that nowadays, the iPod brand sells itself. People will buy it GPS or not.
The iPhone got GPS because it needs it to compete in the phone market. The last time I checked, personal media players don't have nor do they really need GPS.
The iPhone got GPS because it needs it to compete in the phone market. The last time I checked, personal media players don't have nor do they really need GPS.
The included maps app does the same thing...
on the contrary... it puts the iphone and touch in another market. It turns them into yet another great device. If you want the best portable media player, get the touch. If you want the best portable internet device, get the touch. If you want the best pda, get the touch. If you want GPS with the other things, get the touch.
Right now their GPS isn't that useful. But just wait until someone writes turn by turn navigation using it, and it will become the ultimate GPS especially if you do that thing where it gets data from other touch users, because there's so many of them. Modern GPS devices get information from each other to see how clogged up roads are by seeing how long it takes you to drive it at X time. The more devices, the better. If the touch starts doing that, then it can also take advantage of the iphone users, and it gives you the best GPS yet. To conclude, I think it definitely makes it more appealing. Sorry for the long speech
It's already a fine device as it is right now, among the best of PMPs. Sure GPS would make it better, but it wouldn't change the status. They're not gonna add features because a few people think that it would be neat. They'll add them when they need to in order to compete in the PMP market. It doesn't matter how useful you think that it could be. Fact is, most people probably won't use it more than once or twice, and it's things like that which are never included in Apple's products. They've always tried to put things in their products that everyone will use, not just a small group.on the contrary... it puts the iphone and touch in another market. It turns them into yet another great device. If you want the best portable media player, get the touch. If you want the best portable internet device, get the touch. If you want the best pda, get the touch. If you want GPS with the other things, get the touch.
Right now their GPS isn't that useful. But just wait until someone writes turn by turn navigation using it, and it will become the ultimate GPS especially if you do that thing where it gets data from other touch users, because there's so many of them. Modern GPS devices get information from each other to see how clogged up roads are by seeing how long it takes you to drive it at X time. The more devices, the better. If the touch starts doing that, then it can also take advantage of the iphone users, and it gives you the best GPS yet. To conclude, I think it definitely makes it more appealing. Sorry for the long speech
There so many things wrong with these statements that I don't even know where to begin. I hope that Apple doesn't think that the iPod brand just "sells itself" and therefore it doesn't need any changes/upgrades. It reminds me of Bill Gates statement about "640K [RAM] ought to be enough for anybody"
And the Maps app is not the same thing as the Navizon app, Maps can't tell if you are in Mongolia or downtown Denver. This sort of assertion just proves my point that some people just don't get what GPS navigation is.
Face it. People buy iPods just for the fact that they're iPods. They're often out-speced in the market, yet they still manage to take more and more of the market share by the day. I'm not saying that they never need to be updated, but rather that people buy them for the brand and not the specs. Most people couldn't care less about GPS in an iPod, and for this it probably won't be included for at least a few years.
I didn't say that they're the same thing. I said that they can both find your location via wifi.
GPs on an mp3 player is not high on most peoples list. It will increase the price of the ipod, so what would be the point.
The problem with these arguments is that some argue for what it is while others argue for what it could be. For example, following the logic in the quoted argument, a couple of year back it could have been said:
Replace GPS with:
- Address book
- Calendar
- Pictures
- Games
- Video
- Touch screen
- WiFi, Web browser
Despite of the name, the iPod touch is closer to the iPhone than to other iPods, to dismiss it as just an MP3 player is really short sighted. I'm happy that Apple has engineers and designers with a broader mindset.
Even with GPS, the maps app is still worthless without wifi as you wouldn't have access to maps or satellite images. They're downloaded off the internet when you're using the app, and GPS doesn't supply maps. All it does it pinpoint your latitude and longitude.
So unless you just want to see your exact coordinates, relative to nothing, GPS in this case is useless.