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What the iPhone 3G Needs to Kill All Other GPS Companies

popularmechanics.com — The true power of a GPS device is finding where you ’re going next. And if Steve Jobs’ demo today was any indication, stand-alone nav unit makers like Magellan and TomTom really do have every reason to be “scared [expletive-]less.”

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  • rawg, on 06/09/2008, -1/+74Add downloadable maps (topo maps for hiking trails), a tracking history and waypoints to the list for hikers.

    Automatic geotagging for photos, calls and emails/blog posts would be nice.

    Being able to ping your location to another iPhone user would be cool and useful when converging on a location with friends or calling in air support.
    • lylepratt, on 06/09/2008, -1/+32"calling in air support" won my digg
    • Fratz, on 06/10/2008, -1/+3The mockup demo for the nuviphone (which is vaporware at the moment) shows this feature; you take a picture of a place where you want to meet and send it to another nuviphone owner, who can navigate to your location. Garmin is probably going to be too late to the party, but with the new iPhone at $200, maybe it'll mean a much cheaper nuviphone when it launches.
      • Drizzit, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Not really. At this point I'm sure they're developing an app for the iPhone.

        The sad thing for the iPhone is that there will be a developer community around one device. It's a large community already for Mac Apps, but it's still one device.

        Other companies continue to develop Linux and then there's Android which is starting to look comparable to Mobile OS X. Which Verizon was stupid enough to discount and move to mobile linux alliance which is nowhere close to Android. At least Apple can rest assured that Verizon does not get it, and will continue to not get it for the foreseeable future. I just love a company that makes their business decisions on ego rather than what's going to make them money. 70 billion in debt in one year is amazing. GO VZ!
    • Giga, on 06/10/2008, -8/+1Adding support for theodolites would be nice, as GPS isn't particularly accurate at measuring altitude...

      Oh wait, this isn't survey grade GPS. Silly me. I thought the title suggested ALL GPS companies such as Trimble and Leica selling to different target markets would be eliminated by a cellphone. Stupid sensationalism, diggleague.
      • WomensUnderwear, on 06/10/2008, -0/+12i live an extreme life and skirt with danger on a daily basis. i am plenty pissed that jobs dropped the ball on this and didn't include a digital thermometer (with anal probe) a CPR shock station, oxygen mask and device to email the consistency of my stool samples direct to my doctor. also it needs a flare gun and a carabina, and should be edible in case of dire emergency
    • dougalzene, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2+10 for downloadable maps, topo maps, and [importable/exportable] tracks and waypoints
      +5 for geotagging photos but, for me, not calls etc. sounds too freaky
      +10 for honing in on friends etc. Good for finding out where the wife is too - she doesn't need to know about this feature. Seriously though - good for tracking someone in trouble and/or the kids, or at least their phones.
      • nogami, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1How about an option to have your phone automatically upload position and speed data back to Google every 5 minutes or so while driving? Then have Google's servers automatically process the uploads from the phones to give others a totally realistic, almost realtime traffic display, rather than using the government data which is often much more inaccurate.

        That way you could have realtime traffic data for just about everywhere the iPhone is sold, rather than just in a few cities in the US.

        Given that much data, you could probably even use it to map the traffic speed on each side of the road/highway.
    • manitoba98xp, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Geotagging's apparently in there.

      http://www.macworld.com/article/133856/2008/06/iph ...
    • xerxes42, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Nokia 6110 Navigator has had all these for more than a year using the Viewranger app for hiking maps
    • smoger, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1hehehehe... aside from the downloadable maps,.. all features that my Helio dumbphone has been able to do since the day i got it.
    • bradleyland, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1With Core Location, there's nothing stopping a third-party developer from rolling these features, even if Apple doesn't include them out of the box.
    • ShrimpCrackers, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I'd say it would be better if it has real GPS as opposed to just A-GPS which requires cellphone reception. Sure they're both GPS but A-GPS is slower, a bit less accurate, and misses a lot of things inherent in a self contained GPS unit.
      • nogami, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Might want to read a bit more. Here's a link for you:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-GPS

        A-GPS uses the GPS satellite data, but is "Assisted" (hence, the "A"), with additional data from cell towers and a downloadable ephemeris, so it obtains a satellite lock faster, and can still provide some limited abilities when you're inside, where the GPS signal is blocked, but cell towers are not.

        So yes, it is full GPS.
      • daza, on 06/11/2008, -0/+3In fact a-GPS is much faster than standard GPS because it uses cell-towers as assistance to get a fix. It's no less accurate nor does it 'miss' things. If you can't get a cell-phone triangulation fix I think it just reverts to getting a satellite lock.

        These days most 'standalone' GPS units are really just PDAs without buttons. Most run a variant of Windows CE with similar processors to actual PDAs. You can even get to the Windows sub-system on a lot of GPS units with a few modifications and run media players and whatnot.
        • LeeSoong, on 06/22/2008, -0/+1Forget Tom-Tom,
          the iPhone comes equipped with
          Steve-Steve.
    • linagee, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1I hate the iPhone as much as the next guy, but why could an iPhone with GPS not have the same functionality as say, Dash Express? (That internet connected box you put on your dash that collects traffic data and distributes it to all the users.) It seems if they made a nice window mount, this could actually be done. Of course... you should be able to do this with your GPS-enabled / Internet-enabled blackberry too...
  • WiseWeasel, on 06/09/2008, -3/+16I wouldn't be surprised if those hardware manufacturers start selling GPS software for the iPhone (the iPhone lacks any native GPS navigation software by default), which potentially has much higher margins. Apple did these guys a favor, if they can react quickly enough to claim a big chunk of this new market...
  • Fratz, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4I've been looking forward to the nuviphone, but Mio is releasing GPS phones, too, and with TomTom providing software on the iPhone, that's a third next-generation GPS platform option. The problem is that I find TomTom's interface horrible, and I find the Garmin's GUI far more usable and intuitive. In any case, I think I'll be avoiding a GPS phone purchase until all of them are on the market and competing with each other.
  • SasquatchBill, on 06/10/2008, -7/+1I have no useful comments to add about GPS or other such technologies.

    However, I am wondering what being scared without expletives would be like. When I get scared, I tend to be filled with so many expletives that they start falling right out of my mouth in a hurry.
    • KaiUno, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2You could ***** bricks. Though I imagine that would cause some expletives as well. (The new Futurama was great by the way.)
  • bolted, on 06/10/2008, -0/+43I hiked Mt Rainier two days ago in Washington and used a Garmin hand held GPS unit. The unit is rugged, can handle snow, rain, sleet, has fat buttons that I can press through my gore-tex gloves. GPS units are a far larger market than just a piece of electronics that sites on the dash and says "take left on I-95 S in 100 meters".
    • breakaway, on 06/10/2008, -7/+8God damn apple fan boys. iPhone kills this iPhone kills that...
    • iamjames, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3"I hiked Mt Rainier...and used a Garmin hand held GPS.... GPS units are a far larger market than just a piece of electronics that sites on the dash "

      But I think you'd have to agree that the large majority of GPS buyers are purchasing them for driving directions rather than to climb mountains.
    • aamir2, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1bolted, firstly like Iamjames mentioned climbers are not really your GPS mass-market. Not that yours is a prime example, but I find it very funny when people mention their own obscure requirements from a device and use that to invalidate the usefulness of the device for the majority of the users who may just want basic functionality *done right*

      Even for your not-so-mainstream market, can your GPS unit send location updates to your mobileme (or similar website) where your family and friends will be able to track your progress visually on a map, maybe with your location tagged pictures integrated seamlessly? In-case of an untoward incident can rescue workers easily nail down your location based on your progress map? This could be done very easily and elegantly with the iPhone but not so much with you "specialized" GPS device. Even if some device does implement all the said behavior it most likely will not match the ease of use of the iPhone and will likely cost a lot more.
  • sladek, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2If and when they do get real GPS / SatNav working well, I can do away with my iPod, my mobile phone and my TomTom.
    As the article says, google maps is top down, and you really need a quasi-3d interface for satnav
    • christhechris, on 06/10/2008, -1/+5no you don't...
      • alecks, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Agreed... Personally hate the quasi-3D views on nav systems.... I can read a map top-down just fine
      • d-ude, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1+1

        I have been using my old Garmin StreetPilot 2610 for years and it was before they came up with the 3/4 view 3D views. I also used MS Streets & Trips with a GPS plugged in to the serial port before I ever bought a satnav unit.

        I had a Nuvi 600 series for about 2 weeks and hated it. I was able to turn off the 3/4 view and do the 'top-down' view but it was still too cartoonish for me. The big icon in the middle of the screen was a bit much too. I had it on a simple arrow and as small of a size as I could but it was still ridiculous. They made it too idiot-proof and as a result made it anti-geek.
  • r3zonance, on 06/10/2008, -1/+12Hasn't TomTom already annouced that they are working on a version of their software for the iPhone?
  • jwoulf, on 06/10/2008, -2/+11A durable, waterproof, shock resistant GPS unit will never go out of style. Sorry iPhone, KTHXBAI.
    • MacParrot, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3It isn't just about Apple though. Other phones either already have this or will soon and convergence for hand held devices is happening. If I don't have to carry a separate media player, a GPS, a phone, and a device capable of going online that's a good thing. Durability has something going for it, but with the right kind of case, multi-functional phones can be quite sturdy.
    • d-ude, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I agree that if I had some serious navigation to do that I would prefer a Garmin GPS60CSx over a phone any day. But it's one more thing to carry and frankly if I'm not out stomping through the bush and just looking for a pizza shop it's a phone-based GPS/Google Local FTW.

      I only wish my T-Mobile BlackBerry Curve had a built-in GPS. I have to rely on BlueTooth GPS or cell-tower based A-GPS instead.
      • ShrimpCrackers, on 06/10/2008, -2/+1Problem is the iPhone does use A-GPS, not true GPS. Without cell reception you're screwed.
    • TheWorm, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I think whoever wrote this article got it wrong. Apple isn't trying to build a real gps unit. This will be used mainly for directions in the city, maybe if you're on foot and are trying to figure out how to get somewhere. In those situations nobody wants to carry around a real GPS system, but their iPhone will be awfully convenient.
    • chrismartintx, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2seriously... i would rather carry my cheap foretrex through the rockies while hunting than a several hundred dollar iphone.
  • AceTracer, on 06/10/2008, -2/+11http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/09/tomtom-already- ...
  • smackkmonkey, on 06/10/2008, -3/+13iPhone GPS seems cool but it won't beat a standalone GPS unit. There are just too many features for Apple to focus on. What a load of crap that GPS companies are scared *****
    • bwa236, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2...and up to 16GB (this gen, more later I'm sure) to add feature after lovely feature!
      I'll gladly give up song space (wouldn't use the iPhone for music anyways) if it means I have up-to-date maps all the time and a slew of cool programs.
      Also, I'll tell you right now and I'm sure I'm not alone, I would certainly use this as a GPS in my car, especially since I can just grab it and go when i get out of the car, instead of hiding it in my center console so it doesn't get stolen.
      • azurepalm, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1The GPS performance for iPhone is yet to be tested; hold your horses. From my experience, many dedicated units still do a better job than jack-of-all-trade units (ex: SLR cameras).
      • brjndr, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2I had an original tomtom where the data was stored on an sd card. You could fit all of the US and Canada, including points of interest, on a one gig card. That still leaves plenty of space on the iphone.
  • Ichibanit, on 06/10/2008, -2/+18Ahh please, Apple is a very small player in this market. This year alone there will be made about 1 billion phones, with Nokia making about half (438 Mill). Apple will produce about 6 million. As wonderful as the iPhone is( Except the camera. 2 Mb! what were they thinking? That was the standard 3 years ago)
    To kill other GPS companies you need market share, and Apple simply do not have that.
    • MacParrot, on 06/10/2008, -4/+7and what happens when Nokia and Motorola start including this functionality into their phones?
      • SWGreg, on 06/10/2008, -0/+9They already have done. High end Nokia phones have had GPS built in for a while now...
      • Ichibanit, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5HTC make about 50% of all the phones with Windows Mobile, so that is about 15-20 million this year depending on who’s numbers you use. All new smart phones from HTC have GPS and TomTom is the software provider. And as SWGreg already said the N95 already have these features.
      • waydee, on 06/10/2008, -0/+6Do Apple fanboys ignore whats going on around them? GPS is a common feature in the current generation of phones.
      • christhechris, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2the interface tries to eat you...
      • MacParrot, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1mea culpa. I should have worded that differently. I meant when it's a feature as highly advertised as with the iPhone. Very few people outside of Digg seem to be aware of it or want a phone with this feature.

        I said this earlier just to let you know I wasn't unaware of this in other phones:

        "It isn't just about Apple though. Other phones either already have this or will soon and convergence for hand held devices is happening. If I don't have to carry a separate media player, a GPS, a phone, and a device capable of going online that's a good thing. Durability has something going for it, but with the right kind of case, multi-functional phones can be quite sturdy."

        Sorry
    • BrendanSheehan, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3Apple sold 6 million being in 6 countries legitimately. Be July 11th they'll be in 22, and by the end of the year they'll be 70. 6 million might prove conservative.
  • Kyrgizion, on 06/10/2008, -12/+13What the hell is going on with Apple "killing" this and that left and right lately? Apple will be good in what's it's good - selling overpriced, overhyped garbage to rich kids who don't know a thing about customisability or open source. If I want a decent GPS, I'll get a TomTom for 250€ that does everything I need, I don't need to spend 600-1000€ on something to give me an "identity", I'll do that myself thank you very much.
    TL;DR: Apple kills nothing, continues business as usual. Buried as inaccurate.
    • Angostura, on 06/10/2008, -3/+6Umm, you do know that the iPhone will be selling from $199 didn't you? So presumably, you'll pay extra for the Tom Tom just because you want the pose-value of a more expensive device, right?
      • waydee, on 06/10/2008, -5/+3$199 will become €199 knowing Apple if not more along with a ***** 18-24 month contract most likely.

        No thanks.
        • ChzPlz, on 06/10/2008, -1/+7It was announced as part of the keynote that pricing will be no more than US$199 worldwide.

          Yes, the mobile networks will be subsidizing this, so there will be a contract required at that price.
    • christhechris, on 06/10/2008, -3/+6the 16GB iphone 3G should be around 200€....ie cheaper then Tom Tom with more functionality...
      pay attention or go to sleep
  • cwazidorse, on 06/10/2008, -3/+2iphone killed all other gps companies as soon as it got enough bandwidth to stream porn
  • Akram, on 06/10/2008, -1/+6I don't think Apple is after "killing" Tom Tom and Garmin. I don't see why someone is going to use an iPhone over their built in Mercedes/Lexus/BMW etc etc Sat Nav. And who the hell carries around a Tom Tom Go in your hand in the street. Its 2 different devices. In the street etc, iPhone would be amazing, but in the vehicle, i'll take Tom Tom any day.
  • gerbil20, on 06/10/2008, -2/+2Sorry, but I spend a considerable amount of time 50-100 miles off shore. I'd rather have a GPS I can trust (which means Furuno, Lowrance, Garmin, or Raymarine). Sorry, Steve, your toy is not on my shopping list.
    • Angostura, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2And did you think Steve is after that market? I don't think so. He's after the 'GPS, that's quite nice, I might buy one of those one day, but not yet' market.
      • gerbil20, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Good point. I am just saying that the heavyweights of the GPS market are not going to notice. iPhone may threaten other players on the smartphone market, but manufacturers of standalone GPS have no reason to worry.
    • LeeSoong, on 06/22/2008, -0/+1I don't think the iPhone was meant to be used for a Marine GPS - Coast Guard grade navigation system.

      It also is a poor performer as a Scuba dive computer, the iPhone doesn't work very well 30 meters underwater.
  • dunos, on 06/10/2008, -0/+5I doubt TomTom are scared at all. They are in the process of buying Tele Atlas. Their interface is second to none in the car market. They already have a working prototype of their software on the iPhone. And to top it off they have a history of running their software on third party hardware (which never really worked very well thanks to the inadequacies of Windows Mobile. What we will need is a very good mount for the iphone on the windscreen. That is about it really.
    • christhechris, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2TomTom has reacted well, planned ahead...what about all the other companies?
    • wimbor, on 06/10/2008, -0/+0Do not forget that TomTom originally launched their Navigator product on Windows Mobile and other cell phones, and only later on created stand-alone navigation devices like the TomTom ONE and XL. Navigator for Windows Mobile still exists, although I regret that they are now more focused on their own hardware, instead of the market that originally made them to what they are today.

      Apparantly some of their stand-alone products run Linux with OpenGL as the graphics layer. Maybe a conversion to Mac OS X isn't that difficult...

      In addition they are in the process of taking over TeleAtlas, their source for raw map material. The TeleAtlas maps are (at least for Europe) the better choice, resulting in more accurate directions on TomTom devices than on other similar hardware. TomTom and an offline TeleAtlas map on iPhone would be just about perfect..

      (A detailed TomTom map of Western-Europe with all the small streets, POI's, telephone numbers, ... is about 1GB in size on my Windows Mobile.)
    • Fratz, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1"[TomTom's] interface is second to none in the car market."

      I really wanted to like TomTom devices because they use embedded Linux, but I found their UI to be really unintuitive. I wonder what kind of reception they'll get on the iPhone, considering how well-designed Apple UIs are.

  • Serial0Hacker, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1Direction's to the nearest Star Bucks.
  • DirtyRoboto, on 06/10/2008, -7/+2Perfect solution for the iPhone as most of its owners really do need guidance!!!
  • elyobelyob, on 06/10/2008, -2/+0I'm like GPS units, my units include the latest Garmin Edge 705 for my cycle (just done a 1000 mile bike ride with just GPS for navigation). I also have owned an N95 and also currently own a Humax bluetooth receiver.
    I have to say that my favourite bit of kit is the Humax, I attach this to my rucksack and just leave on when needing navigation. I attach both my Nokia N800 and Nokia N73 to this. I can leave my phone in my pocket still connected and it won't lose it's GPS lock due to lack of sight to satellites. The N95 had a dreadful "lock" time and hanging around with an expensive phone isn't really such a great idea. This is not really a problem with a discrete gps receiver.
    It's a shame that the bluetooth on the iPhone is not flexible enough for me to continue using my preferred hardware setup.
    • CopyNinja, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1The Edge 705 is fantastic, I have used it for a few rides.
  • diggelicious71, on 06/10/2008, -1/+4Sorry, but this won't kill all other GPS companies.
  • ripple123, on 06/10/2008, -0/+4The only thing missing from the iphone is "Dont Panic" written across the front
  • dstz, on 06/10/2008, -1/+5I'm hesitating between "ok this is lame" and "inaccurate"; it's 50/50.
  • pinchduck, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Don't have a "GPS" charge for a free service. I've got a couple of Garmin units and, of course, there is NO MONTHLY CHARGE. I am amazed that Verizon gets away with charging people $15 per month for a free service. That would be a good start. Other than that, no one is going to mount an iphone on their bike, or use it for hours in the woods as a GPS, or mount it on their ATV and go mud holing. No one will use it for surveying, and it won't replace military units. In other words, the story is inaccurate from the get go. Apple *might* make some big inroads into the consumer handheld market, but they won't destroy other competitors.
  • cleonm, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3The iPhone won't be killing anything as long as it's only offered on one carrier here in the US.
  • ChzPlz, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3My experience with GPS has been limited to rental cars, and a borrowed Nuvi, so I'm far from an expert, but I was wondering if any of the consumer-grade commercial GPS' have used a voice recognition UI?

    You've got everything you need on the iPhone (or other smartphones), with a network connection, my address book, a good sized screen, a speaker and a microphone...


  • doctordbx, on 06/10/2008, -1/+2the only thing the iPhone 2.0 has killed sales of is iPhone 1.0
  • havokdu, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1How about when on the water?
    Iphone3G has no business there. My Garmin 76-series even floats.
    Same thing for harsh environment.
  • silence7, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2There's no way an iPhone is going to take the kind of abuse that my Garmin 60csx takes. dirt, dust, water, long drops. I think the iPhone is a cool device and the addition of a GPS is great, but it will not replace a serious single purpose GPS, at least not yet.
  • halspuppet, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1mmmm pizza
  • edlwannabe, on 06/10/2008, -5/+3I've been running TomTom on my HTC 8925 (a.k.a. the AT&T Tilt) for half a year now. This phone is better than an iPhone anyway. Besides the GPS, it's also got a touch screen AND an actual qwerty keyboard (you can use either) a 3mp camera and it's 3G. Plus it takes MicroSD cards so if I fill an 8GB card with music, I can just get another card and add more music, I don't need to get a bigger phone. Apple's just catching up.
    • Rizmaster, on 06/10/2008, -2/+3Yeah, and I bet the OS and software expansion capabilities are awesome. /sarcasm

      Good luck with yet another hobbled device from the crooked cell phone companies with no ability to USE half the stuff included in your phone. iPhone is only going to get better and better and it costs less than most of it's competitors now.
  • happyseamonster, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1It doesn't cost 80 bucks a month to use a NUVI.
  • Viriatus2, on 06/10/2008, -4/+1ffs i will bury every post digg post about the iphone
  • llurker, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I don't think they have much to worry about. I use both. A Magellan RoadMate and Sprint Navigation on a Moto Q9. The RoadMate kills the cellphone navigation for longer trips as the 13.5GB of map and POI data is locally stored on its internal HDD. Also the RoadMate comes with a very sturdy mount, actual directional, menu, volume, and function buttons and touchscreen capability, shows Long, Lat, Alt, and speed. For long trips the RoadMate wins.
    For the short trip, Sprint Navigation wins (Which I am asuming is somewhat similar to other cell phone GPS nav), it is dynamic and can notify of car accidents, construction, bad traffic, etc and route around them, yes some standalone GPSes have this feature too, but they do not have updated maps and directories over the air.
    I can't think of anything more dangerous than someone holding and watching their cellphone while driving, it is bad enough when they are talking on it.the phone driving.
    Two separate products for two separate uses. Sort of like saying I don't need my PC anymore because I can browse the web on my phone.
  • smoger, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1my Helio can do Garmin mobile, and it's only $3 a month. i can basically subscribe to it in a month i know i'm going to be going on a trip somewhere , and thats all. so,.. maybe $9 a year. any other time, GPS enabled google maps does surprisingly well. the main step of finding your way is figuring out where you are lost.
  • P5ycHo, on 06/10/2008, -0/+3TomTom has already build a iPhone version for the 3G device.
    • ubergeek09, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1I'm excited about that, I don't have a normal TomTom, so having a TomTom app on my iPhone would be flipping sweet.
  • ssj2119, on 06/10/2008, -1/+3How about fixing the normal phone features?

    -save sms as draft
    -copy and paste
    -MMS
    -Forward sms

    etc
    • zephc, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1SMS? MMS? You mean that stuff you have to pay for?
  • mdude85, on 06/10/2008, -1/+0"First: a car dock...After all, it’s not that difficult to mold a piece a plastic to a suction cup. " -- knowing Apple, this thing will probably retail for soemething like $99 :-(

    Anyway I destroy my Magellan GPS when I use it -- I am constantly docking undocking it in my car because I live in a city and don't want it to get stolen. I toss it in the glovebox, center console, throw it in the backseat when I am not using it, etc. That is because the thing is made from a tough outer shell of plastic and has an LCD screen capable of taking a beating. Not to mention it is constantly exposed to vast changes in temperature such as being stuck in the hot car in the summer and blistering cold in the winter. I would never do this to my iPhone and I don't see how anyone else would either. I'll stick with my RoadMate please.

    Although the GPS on iPhone might be great for pedestrian-style navigation.
  • ItsMyWii, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Is there no end to your greed?
    Can you not be satisfied with what has been graciously been set in front of you?
  • ChzPlz, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2Hmm... since this is described as "ground-breaking", I guess this isn't commonplace.

    http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?nd ...
  • iamjames, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1actually what the iPhone needs is the ability to let me google search a place and then give me a "directions to this location" button and the iPhone Navigation starts up and gives me driving directions.

    That'd get me to buy a iPhone and replace my tomtom and windows smartphone.

    Also if it could figure out traffic conditions that'd been icing on the cake!
    • nonsequitor, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1Now if it could also include mass transit integration, and traffic anticipation using historical data and trending it could find the optimal mix of car, bus, train, bike, and walking to get you from A to B, that would be all sorts of awesome.
  • bjs3171, on 06/10/2008, -0/+1is the answer "to be a way way bigger company, and about 10 more years in the GPS industry"?
  • jo21, on 06/10/2008, -0/+2it won't happen, nokia got there 3 years before apple.... the market is theirs and now they are selling 100 millions smartphones with gps each year
  • nonsequitor, on 06/10/2008, -1/+1The iPhone already has a huge hardware advantage over its automotive GPS peers. The iPhone has a full compliment of accelerometers to augment the GPS inputs. This means that building reflections can be easily discarded since the outlier data points do not fit the accelerometer data. Meaning when downtown, the GPS won't suddenly think you're on the next street over.

    The way it works is you create a model of how the phone is travelling based on previous sensor data, with each new sensor input you update the model. Since you sensors tell you where you were at the time of the measurement, you need your model to estimate where you are right now. The most important part of GPS processing is rejecting data which is obviously false, and with the very precise accelerometers in the iPhone, it should be easy to discard erroneous GPS inputs.
  • Jezper, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1The maps would have to be installed. Wouldn't want the maps to disappear in the middle of a trip because I lost connectivity halfway across the country....
  • colemanm, on 06/11/2008, -0/+2What the iPhone mostly needs to kill other GPSs is to _not have a phone in it_. Some people just want a GPS and don't need a phone to go with it. Standalone pocket _mountable_ GPSs will still have the majority of the market share.
  • zacmccormick, on 06/11/2008, -0/+1I doubt the iPhone will "kill" the standalone GPS market. Why does hype around new tech always have to be about something "killing" something else? Everything is always "z is revolutionary and will totally replace x and make y useless".

    This new GPS functionality is an excellent feature that I think will at best augment the GPS market and provide users who probably would not otherwise buy a standalone unit a way to get GPS functionality from a device they were already going to buy (i.e. a cellphone). Maybe eventually when smart phones become truly ubiquitous the need for standalone devices will fade away, but I don't see that happening in the immediate future. One thing the standalone market has over the iPhone for GPS is that you can mount it permanently in your car so it feels like it's actually part of the car and you never have to worry about it again. This is critical for people who don't care about the tech and just want the damn thing to work.

    I would also imagine there's a significant number of people who only want a GPS and don't want or care about a phone/data contract. Not to mention the people who use a different wireless carrier *cough* *cough*

    Don't underestimate the value of simple products that do one task very well.
  • misamiyo, on 06/12/2008, -0/+0simplicity is still best, just bring a map!
  • OnGuardTouche, on 07/21/2008, -0/+0I like having a standalone GPS in addition to my cell. If it was completely integrated, I'd have to decide to take a call or keep my navi going. Even with Bluetooth, it's near impossible to run all your standalone devices on one unit without getting a headache. You can only combine so many devices before your goals of simplicity and efficiency are working against you. I love the new 3G, but I'll also keep my TomTom. They're not as bulky as models of the past- the 330s would be like carrying around an extra cellphone, but most standalone GPS users like keeping them in the car
  • issmt222, on 08/21/2008, -1/+0I may bitch when I see the same topic posted one hundred times, but I'll let this one go just this one time. For the good of all.

    Also, #10 is kind of cheating. I'll allow that one too though. For the good of all that is.

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