Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
And with pockets deep enough that Apple doesn't have to carry any risk.

But Microsoft has even deeper pockets than Apple, but it still provides a GPS API for developers. Heck, it even has tutorials for how to use them. And I'm pretty sure Microsoft has a few lawyers around.
 
Here in Europe, I've never seen such a spash screen.

In the US, there are too many moorons and lawyers, so everything has a disclaimer on it.

I am guessing in 20 years, water bottles in the US will have
"Caution, content is liquid, improper use might get you or your equipment wet"

In some towns, there are some kind of warning sign about every 10 meters.

We've got a more highly evolved breed of lawyer over here...

Yeah, well I wouldn't call it "evolved".
Although some lawyers are nice, there are too many shady ones.

Bullcrap.

The largest parts of an external GPS receiver are the battery and the circuit board the chip's on. The chip itself and the antenna are the size of a nickel.

Do your research first. I did some market research on GPS for a project recently.

I say TYPICALLY, I also said iPhone's assisted GPS is better than most devices which only has only a small GPS antenna. Go into a tunnel or go into downtown where skyscrapers obstructs the sky and see how well these things work.
 
But Microsoft has even deeper pockets than Apple, but it still provides a GPS API for developers. Heck, it even has tutorials for how to use them. And I'm pretty sure Microsoft has a few lawyers around.

What does that have to do with anything? Neither Apple nor Microsoft will get sued for making APIs available. Someone will get sued if a car using GPS on an iPhone causes an accident. If the software maker has no money, Apple is next in line to get sued. TomTom has plenty of money, hence no risk.

What GPS navigation software do you know that runs on Microsoft hardware? Any written by amateurs without money?
 
It'll be nice to have GPS available, but I prefer my dashmounted Garmin for turn by turn navigation in the car. I can't see using an iPhone for that. Half the time it doesn't know exactly where I am anyway!
 
Neither Apple nor Microsoft will get sued for making APIs available.


Isn't that the point I'm making? I mean Microsoft could get sued for allowing anybody who wants to make GPS software to just do it. But they haven't. And apparently their lawyers don't think it is much risk.
 
Do your research first. I did some market research on GPS for a project recently.

Hilarious. Most of my GPS devices bear the serial number "engineering sample" ;)

I say TYPICALLY, I also said iPhone's assisted GPS is better than most devices which only has only a small GPS antenna. Go into a tunnel or go into downtown where skyscrapers obstructs the sky and see how well these things work.

Skyscrapers aren't an issue anymore, nor are tunnels. The receivers are sensitive enough these days to deal with the former, and it that's not enough, like in the case of the latter, there's dead reckoning and imagine that, gyro sensors.
 
Any GPS app for the iPhone should be a one time fee.

Why you would pay $99 annually when standalone units are going for $120 without an annual fee?

Sure there's the benefit of having everything in one device...but how inconvenient is it to take out a dedicated GPS unit from out of your glove box of your car?
 
Skyscrapers aren't an issue anymore, nor are tunnels. The receivers are sensitive enough these days to deal with the former, and it that's not enough, like in the case of the latter, there's dead reckoning and imagine that, gyro sensors.

Good point.

I also want to add that I have been using GPS since the first cut of Destinator came out for the iPaq against the entrenched Pocket Copilot. TomTom was an even later entry that came in stole the market (at least on the Pocket PC platform) through innovation. Their newer stand alone units do excellent through tunnels and I have yet to have an issue with skyscrapers or driving through the peaks up in the Cascades. It was an issue years ago but the newer chipsets are much better.

For me, a GPS solution that only gets it maps through the network is just too limited since I spend a lot of time in the Cascades hiking, boarding, etc. where there is no reception.
 
It'll be nice to have GPS available, but I prefer my dashmounted Garmin for turn by turn navigation in the car. I can't see using an iPhone for that. Half the time it doesn't know exactly where I am anyway!

i agree, its better to have a separate unit while driving...
it would be cool for the iphone to have it though too, for walking or biking when in a strange city

what i really want is garmin topo on my iphone....
where i hike, or bike, or whatever (id like to get into geocaching) there is rarely cell service... having garmin topo maps on my iphone stored locally would be stellar
 
I think that this liability discussion is getting a bit silly. Is Apple that paranoid? TomTom already exists for WindowsMobile and Palm devices. How many times have Microsoft, Palm, and manufacturers of the devices on which TomTom software is located (Dell, HP, etc) been sued for accidents due to the fault of the PDA or smartphone? It should be easy enough for Apple to obtain that info. And I'm assuming that there aren't many since you don't read about these companies losing tons of money due to lawsuits relating to such accidents. Why would Apple's experience be any different. I just think that they make excuses for not putting features that are now becoming common in other devices on the iPhone. And I love the iPhone - I just think that Apple should do more for the consumer, and it doesn't seem like it has that desire. And they can't say that adding those features will make the iPhone more buggy, because firmware 2.0 is pretty laggy and buggy (without certain basic smartphone features).
 
Yeah, well I wouldn't call it "evolved".
Although some lawyers are nice, there are too many shady ones.
Evolved doesn't mean nice, evolved means more effective within their niche. Drug resistant malaria is also highly evolved.
Do your research first. I did some market research on GPS for a project recently.

I say TYPICALLY, I also said iPhone's assisted GPS is better than most devices which only has only a small GPS antenna. Go into a tunnel or go into downtown where skyscrapers obstructs the sky and see how well these things work.
Research? This is the Internet! If he makes his statements forcefully enough he's an expert.

Speaking of tunnels and buildings-- bonus points will be awarded to the first company to integrate the iPhone accelerometers with the GPS to improve the position.
 
Hilarious. Most of my GPS devices bear the serial number "engineering sample" ;)

Skyscrapers aren't an issue anymore, nor are tunnels. The receivers are sensitive enough these days to deal with the former, and it that's not enough, like in the case of the latter, there's dead reckoning and imagine that, gyro sensors.
You might want to ask that your next sample come with an engineer to explain how it works...

Sensitivity kills accuracy, particularly in the presence of flat surface reflectors like buildings. Do your engineering sampled cell phones include itty bitty ring lasers? iPhone is the first phone I'm aware of that includes anything that could contribute to DR.

As I said above, "accurate enough" is a threshold we can debate, but you're supporting your argument with technical fallacies.
 
What is "Turn by Turn"??

I'm sorry, I'm sure I'm the only one who doesn't know... but what the heck is "Turn by Turn" navigation? I have a new iPhone and it seems to provide location and directions pretty well. What does "turn by turn" add?
 
I'm sorry, I'm sure I'm the only one who doesn't know... but what the heck is "Turn by Turn" navigation? I have a new iPhone and it seems to provide location and directions pretty well. What does "turn by turn" add?
Turn by Turn just means that the software has planned a route for you and makes it easy to follow, typically by focusing on what your next turn will need to be-- then once you've completed that it moves on to the next turn, etc. If you miss a turn, the system will recalculate the best route from your current position.

Basically it's like having someone in the passenger seat with a map. It's not terribly useful if you know where you're going, but if you're somewhere unfamiliar, it's quite useful. Some systems are starting to incorporate traffic data now too.
 
I have. I've also found that turning off the Google traffic watch option helps a bit in that respect.

A big problem with the way GPS is implemented now with Google maps is that the phone is not using the GPS to track you but also the cellular data to load the maps...hopefully turn by turn means pre-loaded maps and better battery.
 
most PDA phones have no problem at all with turn by turn GPS. Owning an ATT tilt, i use my phones GPS all the time for turn by turn and it is very accurate.

A car charger solves all the problems of battery drainage. Yes, it takes about 25-30% of my battery per hour using GPS, but with a car changer my battery doesnt go down at all. To people who walk with their GPS...well it cant be perfect, you'll just have to live with the bad battery life or get a dedicated unit.

I am very content with the GPS in my phone and will use all the time as long as i have this phone. If Apple cannot implement a GPS as well as all the other windows mobile PDA phones or symbian phones then i guess they are doing something wrong.

Apple are not known for simply implementing something that Windows already has. They are known for bringing out something that makes what Windows already has look like it is a decade out of date. So one has to suspect Apple have something coming that will be 'different'.
 
Apple [...] are known for brining out something that makes what Windows already has look like it is a decade out of date. So one has to suspect Apple have something coming that will be 'different'.

Yeah well, another type of Apple fan would tell that many times, the Apple advantage is not to invent...but to transform an existing idea into a simple and usable product (iPod, iPhone...only iTunes was really new).
In case of turn by turn GPS, I can't see any "new" stuff they could bring that would make life easier...
  • a system that tracks free parking spaces?
    They don't have live satellite pics with guys counting the left spaces ;)
  • a voice that yell at you when you dare getting out of the planned path? (I kinda hope for that one, my TomTom lady is just way too nice all the time) :D

Again, my worry is that I want a GPS software with INTEGRATED MAPS, not with google map style-live download...although Apple may dare to sell it as "the only GPS with no geographical limitation", that would be forgetting the incredible roaming fees for us Europeans...
 
I hate this holdup!

Doesn't anyone else feel that Apple mislead the public by advertising that the new iPhone would have GPS, but then deliver without turn by turn? I mean, most people in general consider a GPS devise to do turn by turn, and not just show you on a map, moving.

The problem is there doesn't seem to be enough of a backlash to motivate Apple to do something about it quickly. Kind of like cut and paste. I can't believe the iPhone has been around for more than a year and that has not been corrected yet. I love Apple and my iPhone, but come on. Fix this!

If both TomTom and TeleNav have solutions for the iPhone, then, come on Apple -- work it out and make it happen NOW! Don't make us wait until December 31.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.