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One of the hidden benefits of the 3G iPad was improved GPS accuracy and speed over the iPhone 3GS. The improvement was attributed to a newer GPS chip from Broadcom. iFixit's teardown revealed that the iPhone 4 shares the same Broadcom BCM4750 chip as the iPad.
At least one reader experience confirms the improved GPS accuracy and speed of the iPhone 4:
Article Link: iPhone 4 with Improved GPS Accuracy and Speed over 3GS
But I have yet to manage to turn on the "cone of vision" tracking in Google Maps on my iPhone 4...
I noticed my iPhone 4 was fast using Navigon but using TomTom it sucks even on the TomTom car kit my iPhone 4 barely has a signal. I hope they fix this tomtom software soon I just paid 54.00 for it today!
I'm one of those people who if you hold it wrong, the signal drops.
I can only guess, for that same reason, when I held it a certain way, I kept loosing GPS.
Yeah, it does seem to be more accurate - it knows what house I'm in on my street. I'm used to dealing with decimeter (10cm) accurate GPS at work so its not accurate enough for me.![]()
10 cm only? Are you kidding?
I get sub-cm all the time. In fact, if !(SEP < 100mm @ 99.999% HAL), it is not good enough.
This has to depend on what road you are on. As a cartographer I can tell you that maps themselves have errors. Often these errors on roads are 20 feet or more. Dedicated automobile GPS systems have software that "snaps" to the nearest road, they assume you would likely be driving on a road. You can see that effect when you take an off ramp and for a while the GPS shows you still on the freeway for a few seconds. It then snaps to the exit road. Older GPS systems took less samples and longer to process data and that was part of the lag of course. Newer GPS like the iPhone 4 have much faster chips and more frequent GPS signal reading.The Maps app does not snap to roads due that at this time so at times it will seem to show you are off the road. Assisted GPS systems have the ability to be within about 3 meters 95% of the time with an open view of the sky. Pretty darn good, good enough for golfers to use for distances.I tried watching Google Maps while my friend was driving today, and the icon actually stayed on the road. My 3GS was typically about 20-30 feet off the road.
I'm after the same question. Anyone has tested the iPhone 4 with and without GPS carkit (Tomtom, Magellan car kits? Thanks.So for those with the 4 does anyone think that the TomTom car kit is unnecessary now and a simple holder/charger will do the job?
I'm after the same question. Anyone has tested the iPhone 4 with and without GPS carkit (Tomtom, Magellan car kits? Thanks.
Interesting! I plan to order the Magellan car kit along with the iPhone 4 but now consider put it on hold and give the iPhone 4 with a 'generic' holder first before pulling my (second) trigger. Thanks.I've used the 3GS with and without the car kit. It's a huge boost to signal there (there's a lot of hiccups with GPS apps without it).
On the iPhone 4... it seems that while the car kit gets equal or slightly better performance, it simply isn't worth the extra price for me. I've yet to take it into places that the car kit usually has issues with to compare there. I'm basically expecting the performance to be spotty in areas where the car kit is spotty.