What Good is the GPS Chip?

[kdarling]

Exactly, and I think that ATT wants to use their own software and not let us use other third party software for this...Otherwise, why would the third part stuff not be out yet. TomTom said they had it ready to go.

TomTom never said that it was ready to go. They've only ever said they played around with the simulator the first week the SDK came out. (And every idiot reporter turned that into "it's almost ready for sale!". Twits.)

That's not to say that TomTom might not be close to finished, and planning to sell it, but they've never said such.

no way can it be $100. it's only software. but even software can cost an arm and a leg...YIKES!

TomTom is either included by some carriers on their WM phones, or you have to pay $150 as an individual to buy it. Still, that's cheaper than paying $10 a month to a USA carrier for a couple of years.

I wonder how much navigation makers are charged for the map data. The data could be pretty expensive, considering how much effort it must be to map all the roads, POIs, even lane changes. And keep it up to date.

 

[orrelse44]

I've never used turn by turn on other smartphones, but the screenshots I've seen look good. Has anyone here had a chance to use GPS turn by turn on another phone? If so, what do you think of it?

I had the instinct for a month before I took it back and switched to the iPhone. It was cool having the turn by turn, and it was accurate, but it had a hard time keeping up. I'd imagine if you were in an unfamiliar city in busy traffic, it would suffer when it came to finding where you were.

I miss the feature already, but I'm holding out hope we get turn by turn on the 3G very soon.

 

[kleo]

It's sure good at sucking up this tinny battery

 

[t0mat0]

Short answer - useful, and could be more useful e.g. Gomite is still sitting on it's release, so they're either being held back, or still developing. I'd imagine other GPS folks are looking at possibilities too.

 

[Interstella5555]

It was incrudibly usfule for me over the past week while I was bouncing around Maui. Just because you don't have true turn by turn doesn't mean that the GPS can't be useful. You can see where you are, zoom out, check the area you need to go to, look at the streets and what ones connect....

 

[tilman]

I find it somewhat useful, although the approximation in the original iPhone is almost as good. Normally, I can quickly find my proper location on the map from there in about the same time it takes for the GPS to figure it out.

But either version leaves you totally hanging if there's no cell phone signal because it needs to download the maps. No signal = no map = no clue where you are.

 

[MadGoat]

I heard that the iPhone 3G's GPS accuracy issues are due to Google Maps, rather than the actual GPS chip not being accurate. So basically, the blue location dot is accurate, but Google Maps is off by a bit. With dedicated GPS software, it should be as accurate as dedicated GPS devices.

not really the maps causing the problems. Even the latitude and longitude readings are off by 15-40 meters when compared side by side with a dedicated GPS with a sirf-III chipset.

 

[bluenoise]

not really the maps causing the problems. Even the latitude and longitude readings are off by 15-40 meters when compared side by side with a dedicated GPS with a sirf-III chipset.

Mine generally has me within 2-5 meters of my actual position, as shown by the satellite view in Maps. I would be surprised if my lat and long are that far off from the readings on my Garmin or my car's navi system.

 

[hexonxonx]

I never fully expected it to ever replace my Garmin. There are just too many features that my Garmin has that can never be duplicated on the iPhone. Sure there are some apps that are trying such as iGas a movie app but they can't duplicate the features that are on my Garmin no matter how hard they try.

My Garmin can tell me the gas prices in my area and with the touch of a button, take me to that station and I can even call the station right on my Garnins handsfree with my iPhone paired to it's bluetooth. All I have to do is press the call button on the screen of my Garmin.

When you realize that the iPhone GPS is at the moment not intended to be a GPS like Garmin, then it meets it's goal. It's included to add in apps for them to offer better location based service such as locating restaurants near you or geotagging photos.

If you want a real GPS, get a full featured GPS such as a Garmin.