Facts about GPS phones, |
The cell phone operators are still the same
USA: AT&T uses GSM and 3G on 850 and 1900 MHz. T-Mobile uses GSM 1900 MHz. Sprint, Verizon, Alltel and U.S. Cellular use CDMA. Nextel uses another technology called iDEN. GSM frequencies used in the USA are 850 and 1900 MHz. In most other countries the GSM frequencies are 900 and 1800 MHz.
Canada: Bell Canada and Telus Mobility use CDMA. Rogers uses GSM 850/1900 MHz and Fido uses GSM 1900 MHz.
UK: Vodafone and O2 use GSM on 900/1800 MHZ and 3G on 2100 MHz. Orange and T-Mobile use GSM on 1800 MHz and 3G on 2100 MHz. Hutchison 3G UK ("Tree") delivers 3G on 2100 MHz.
Australia: Optus and Vodafone deliver GSM on 900/1800 MHz and 3G on 2100 MHz. Telstra GSM on 900/1800 MHz, but 3G on 850 MHz. Hutchison ("Three") delivers 3G on 2100 MHz. Good to know is the following: Incoming calls while in Australia are FREE, regardless of where they originate.
New Zealand: Northelia offers GSM on 900/1800 MHZ. Vodafone GSM on 900/1800 MHz and 3G on 2100 MHz. Telecom New Zealand offers GSM on 850 MHZ and 3G on 2100 MHz. In New Zealand all incoming calls are FREE too.
Japan: NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, and TU-KA Cellular support the PDC technology. KDDI AU supports CDMA. DoCoMo and Vodafone have also introduced the newer WCDMA (3G).
South Korea: In South Korea people call a cell phone "handphone". South Korean main operators SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom operate on CDMA 800/1800 MHz, but SK Telecom and KTF have both adopted the 3G UMTS WCDMA standard.
What we will remember
In October 2007 Nokia, till then the biggest cell phone manufacturer, bought the largest mapmaker Navteq for $8.1 billion and PND maker TomTom bought the other mapmaker TeleAtlas for $2.6 billion. End of May 2008 the new Nokia Maps 2.0 came out of Beta and covered more than 200 countries, with over 70 of them navigable. In October 2008 Apple launched the iPhone 3G on the AT&T network in the US and a few weeks later Google launched the new G1 cell phone with the Android OS on T-Mobile's 3G network in the US.
Nokia
In the original page from 2004 we wrote about Nokia: "Apparently Nokia has chosen to add GPS functionality to their phones by means of add-on modules". This company is the best example of the huge changes in this industry in four years time. Nokia sells more cell phones than any other manufacturer, but what is more, the company has now become the promoter of GPS phones and GPS Navigation. The firm expects that in two years from now half of all the phones it sells will have GPS on board.
A little bit more than a year ago Nokia introduced Ovi, a Web portal for wireless Internet services. Via Ovi.com users can upload files that can be accessed from their mobile phone or from a computer. Recently it entered into an agreement to offer users access to content from the Lonely Planet travel guides. It is also offering city guides from Berlitz, WCities, Insight Guides, and Polyglott. Maps on Ovi will let people use and mark up maps on the web and then upload their changes to a cell phone.
Maps on Ovi lets you perform location-based searches for businesses or do travel planning. But it can also sync up your results with software on a Nokia GPS phone that provides turn-by-turn voice directions.
GPS Radios
The Garmin Rino series still exists. The latest, more modern, versions are the 520 HCx and the 530 HCx. As in the past with the 130, it is the 530 HCx that has a weather receiver, a digital compass, and a barometric altimeter.
Mobile Social Networking
Mobile marketing specialists estimate that within two years up to half the amount of time people spend on their phone will be on social networking sites and applications.
GyPSii, the leading geo-location and mobile social networking provider entered into a multi-year worldwide agreement with Garmin, who anticipates that future products will include friend finding applications that support the GyPSii powered location-based social networking services platform. GyPSii also entered into a multi-year worldwide agreement with Samsung.
uLocate Communications reached an agreement with Garmin to add friend-finding capabilities to select current and future Garmin GPS devices. The partnership supports APIs on uLocate's WHERE platform to enable Garmin users to easily find and connect with friends nearby through the leading friend finding network, Buddy Beacon, which operates seamlessly across multiple networks, as well as the iPhone and a Facebook application, making it possible to connect with friends regardless of phone or carrier. Apparently Sprint, Boost, Alltel and Metro PCS will all be offering the Buddy Beacon service soon, as well as Helio, who created the Buddy Beacon.
Loopt combines the computing power of your cell phone, GPS mapping, and social networking, letting you track where your friends are on your phone.
Location services provider FindWhere made available the Livecontacts application, its mobile freeware for finding buddies from a user's contact list. Livecontacts will include premium features like panic button, safe zone, and speed-zone notifications. It will work on any GSM mobile phone network around the world, including those of AT&T and T-Mobile in the US. A bit confusing: LiveContacts is also called BuddyFinder.
Network provider AT&T
AT&T customers now can use any cell phone, device and software application from any maker and they don't need to sign a contract. AT&T will also support A-GPS or assisted GPS which is a technology which utilizes the best of the GPS and cellular worlds allowing faster and more accurate position tracking. The company will further launch two new navigation applications -- MapQuest Navigator and AAA Mobile Navigator. The new applications add to the company's offerings of the AT&T Navigator and AT&T Navigator Global Edition, a service that for the first time allows some of its GPS phones to provide GPS navigation overseas.
Pedestrian Navigation
Google Maps' "Get Directions" service got another feature, which is called "Walking". Until now, Google always calculated and suggested a route for car use but with the walking feature, Google now adds the option to get directions, optimized for pedestrians. Since September 2008 also available in Google Maps Mobile for GPS phones. But Google is not the only company that understood that with GPS phones people will use GPS navigation when on foot, even in not so foreign cities.
Loaded with Nokia Maps 2.0 and supporting assisted GPS (A-GPS), the Nokia 6210 Navigator GPS phone provides pedestrian navigation in addition to in-car navigation — a smart move by Nokia, as many people, feel the need for navigation when on foot. The device has an integrated accelerometer and a compass that makes it really easy to follow the map when walking. The built-in compass means that when you turn the device, the map will maintain its orientation.
Traffic information from GPS phones
Wireless operator Orange created a platform to generate road traffic data based on signal events in its wireless network. This platform, developed in the last two years by a team of Orange Labs R&D is able to transform its GSM signal data into real time average speed on any road segment.
The same kind of technology is used by TomTom for its HD traffic service in cooperation with Vodafone’s European affiliates, Airsage with Sprint in the United States and IntelliOne with Rogers Wireless in Canada.
Dash also collects traffic data from other people driving real commute routes, during real commute times. Each Dash Express anonymously and automatically sends its position and speed back to servers at the Dash Network Operations Center. The Dash servers then update all other Dash devices in the area with current road speeds.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and Nokia have tested technology that could soon transform the way drivers navigate through congested highways and obtain information about road conditions. In the unprecedented field experiment, transportation researchers tested the feasibility of using GPS phones to monitor real-time traffic flow while preserving the privacy of the phones' users.
Recent GPS phones
Asus P552w: Networks: HSDPA 3.6Mbps, UMTS 2100 MHz, EDGE/GPRS/GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz, Operating System: Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Dimensions: 102 x 60.5 x 14.5 mm, Weight: 105g (with battery), Display: 2.8" TFT, Touch Screen 65K color, QVGA 240 x 320 pixel, Processor: Marvell Tavor 624MHz, Memory: 256MB Flash + 128MB DDR, Expansion Slot: MicroSD with SDHC support, GPS: SiRF StarIII with internal antenna, Camera: 2.0 Mega pixel Fixed Focus, Video.
Asus P320: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, Dimensions: 99 x 55 x 13 mm, Weight: 105 g, Display Type: TFT, 65K colors, Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Camera: 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, autofocus, video, built-in GPS.
Apple iPhone 3G: GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz), 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch display 480-by-320-pixel resolution, Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, camera 2.0 megapixels, video, Photo geotagging
BlackBerry Bold: UMTS: 2100/1900/850 MHz, North America: 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks, North America: 1900MHz GSM®/GPRS networks, Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks, Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks EDGE networks, HSDPA networks, resolution 480 x 320 pixel Transmissive TFT LCD, 65,000 colors ,Camera 2.0 MP, Video,flash, 5x zoom, microSD card.
BlackBerry Storm: UMTS/HSPA: 2100 MHz, North America: 850 MHz GSM/GPRS networks, North America: 1900MHz GSM/GPRS networks, Europe/Asia Pacific: 1800MHz GSM/GPRS networks, Europe/Asia Pacific: 900MHz GSM/GPRS networks, Dual-Band: 800/1900 MHz CDMA/Ev-DO networks, Touch Screen 3.25 inch, 480 x 360 pixels, Camera 3.2 MP, Video, microSD card, stand-alone and A-GPS.
E-TEN Glofiish X610: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, 320 x 240 pixels, 2.8 inches, microSD (TransFlash), microSDHC - 128 MB Flash ROM, 64 MB SDRAM - Samsung S3C2442 400 MHz Processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, flash, video - GPS receiver with SiRF Star III chipset
E-TEN glofiish V900: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100, TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, 480 x 640 pixels, 2.8 inches, microSD (TransFlash) - 256 MB Flash ROM, 128 MB SD RAM - Samsung S3C6400 533 MHz Processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video; secondary VGA videocall camera - DVB-H/DVB-T/T-DMB/DAB TV broadcast receiver - GPS receiver with SiRF Star III chipset
Google G1: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 2100, HSDPA 2100 / 1700 - American version, TFT touchscreen, 65K colors 320 x 480 pixels, 3.2 inches - Full QWERTY keyboard - Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, microSD (TransFlash) - 192 MB RAM, 256 MB ROM - Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 Mhz processor, Android OS, camera 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus - Built-in GPS receiver - Digital compass.
HP iPaq 600 Series: Tri-band HSDPA 7.2 Mbps (850/1900/2100 MHz), Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), Assisted GPS (A-GPS) navigation (on select models), Windows Mobile 6 Professional, 2.8-inch 240x320 TFT color touch screen display, 65 k colors, 3 Megapixel autofocus camera, Micro-SD card slot, 128 MB SDRAM main memory for running applications, 256 MB flash ROM, camera 3.0 Megapixels, Autofocus, using CMOS sensor, 4X digital zoom, video, Assisted GPS operation.
HP iPaq 900 Series: Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps (850/1900/2100 MHz), Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, 2.46-inch 320x240 TFT 65k color touch panel display, camera 3 Megapixel auto focus, 128MB SDRAM / 256MB Flash ROM, Micro-SD card slot, Multi-mode GPS operation.
HTC Touch Diamond: 2G Network: GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, GSM 850 / 1800 / 1900 MHz - American version, 3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900 MHz, HSDPA 850 / 1900 MHz - American version, Display: Type: TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, Size: 480 x 640 pixels, 2.8 inches, TouchFLO 3D finger swipe navigation, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive navigation controls, Card slot: No, 4 GB user available memory, 192 MB DDR SDRAM, 256 MB ROM, Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 Mhz processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video(CIF@30fps), secondary VGA videocall camera, Built-in GPS with A-GPS, Stereo FM radio with RDS.
HTC Touch HD: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, 3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900 MHz, Display: Type: TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, Size: 480 x 800 pixels, 3.8 inches, TouchFLO 3D finger swipe navigation, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive navigation controls, microSD (TransFlash), 288 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 Mhz processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Camera: 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, autofocus, video(CIF@30fps), secondary VGA videocall camera, built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS function, Stereo FM radio with RDS.
HTC Touch Pro: 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, 3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900 MHz, HSDPA 850 / 1900 MHz - American version, Display Type: TFT touchscreen, 65K colors, Size: 480 x 640 pixels, 2.8 inches, Full QWERTY keyboard, TouchFLO 3D finger swipe navigation, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, Touch-sensitive navigation controls, Handwriting recognition, Card slot: microSD (TransFlash), 288 MB RAM, 512 MB ROM, Qualcomm MSM7201A 528 Mhz processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, flash, video; secondary VGA videocall camera, Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS function, Stereo FM radio with RDS.
LG Renoir: EDGE, GPRS, GSM, HSDPA (3G), UMTS (3G), Service 850, 900, 1800, 1900, 2100 MHz, Color TFT Color display 262.144 colors, 3 in., Resolution 240x400 pixels, MicroSD slot, camera 8.0 megapixels, Maximum photo resolution 3264x2448 pixels, Digital zoom 16x, Optical zoom No, Auto focus, Xenon Flash, video, Second (front) camera, built-in GPS, Geo-tagging.
Motorola Q11: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, TFT, 256K colors 320 x 240 pixels, 2.4 inches - Full QWERTY keyboard, microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB - 64 MB RAM, 128 MB Flash - Freescale ARM 7 LTE processor, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard, Camera 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, flash, video (15fps) - Built-in GPS - a-GPS function.
Motorola Krave ZN4: CDMA dual band (800/1900 MHz), Data CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0, 3G Capable, 240 x 400 pixels, 65 536 colors, TFT, Display is 240x320 when the flip is closed, Touch Screen, Camera Resolution 2.0 megapixels, video, microSD/microSDHC, Built-in 130 MB, QWERTY keyboard, built-in GPS.
Nokia E71: Operating System: Symbian S60 Feature Pack 1, Memory: 110 MB, Screen Resolution: 320 by 240 pixel (QVGA), Screen Size: 2.4 inches, Keyboard Type: QWERTY, Communications: GSM, GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, UMTS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Media Type: microSD, Camera Resolution: 3.2 megapixels, GPS: Yes, Dimensions: 4.5 in x 2.24 in x 0.4 in (114 x 57 x 10 mm).
Nokia N96: 2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900, 3G Network HSDPA 2100 / 900, HSDPA 850 / 1900 - American version, Display: Type: TFT, 16M colors, Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches, Symbian OS 9.3, S60 rel. 3.2, Camera: 5 Mega pixels, 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), flash; secondary VGA videocall camera, Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS function, DVB-H TV broadcast receiver, Dual slide design.
Nokia 6210 Navigator: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, 3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900 MHz, HSDPA 850 / 1900 MHz - American version, Display: Type: TFT, 16M colors, Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches, Symbian OS 9.3, Series 60 UI, Camera: 3.15 MP, autofocus, 2048x1536 pixels, video(VGA 15fps), flash; secondary videocall camera, Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS function, Accelerometer rotation, Digital compass, Stereo FM radio with RDS, Push to talk.
Samsung i8510: 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz, 3G Network: HSDPA 2100 / 900 MHz, Display: Type: TFT, 16M colors, Size: 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches, Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate, Optical trackpad, Card slot: microSD (TransFlash), up to 8GB, 8/16 GB internal memory, 128 MB RAM, Symbian OS v9.3, Series 60 rel. 3.2, Camera 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, image stabiliser, video(VGA@30fps, QVGA@120fps), flash, secondary videocall camera, Built-in GPS receiver, A-GPS function, Camera geo-tagging, auto-panorama shot, face, smile and blink detection, Business card scanner, FM radio with RDS.
Samsung i7110: GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS dual-band European/Asian 3G (900/2100 MHz), Data: GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 1.8 Mbit/s/HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s, 3G Capable, Display: 240 x 320 pixels, Type: 262 144 colors, AMOLED, Camera: Resolution: 5 megapixels, Video: QVGA (320x240), 120fps; VGA (640x480), 30fps, Auto focus, Blink shot, Smile Detection, Flash: LED, Geo tagging, Additional camera for video calls, Memory Slot: microSD/microSDHC, Built-in: 50 MB, OS: S60 over Symbian; Symbian 9.3, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2.
Samsung Epix: GSM (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS tri-band global 3G (850/1900/2100 MHz), Data: GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA 1.8 Mbit/s/HSDPA 3.6 Mbit/s, 3G Capable, Display: Resolution: 320 x 320 pixels, Type: 65 536 colors, TFT, Touch Screen, Camera Resolution: 2.0 megapixels, Video, Digital zoom, Brightness control, Multi shot, Frames, Effects, Self-timer, microSD/microSDHC, OS: Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Processor: 624 MHz, Memory: 150 MB RAM / 256 MB ROM, Full QWERTY Keyboard.
Sony Ericsson W760i: 240x320 pixel, 262.144 color TFT screen, 40 MB Phone Memory, Memory Stick Micro (M2) support, Networks: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, EDGE, UMTS 850, UMTS 1900, UMTS 2100, HSDPA, Camera 3.2 megapixel, 3.2x zoom, video, A-GPS.
Sony Ericsson C905: Screen - 240x320 pixel - 262,144 color TFT QVGA - Phone memory 160MB - Memory Stick Micro (M2) support (up to 8 GB), Networks: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, EDGE, UMTS 2100, HSDPA, Camera - 8.1 megapixel, Digital Zoom - up to 16x, video, A-GPS, Auto rotate: Switch from vertical to horizontal mode by rotating the phone.
Rugged GPS phones
The following GPS phones are tougher than the rest: Samsung Rugby Push-to-Talk 3G phone on AT&T, The Sanyo SCP-7050 CDMA phone from Sprint, the LG "Wine" Tri-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE from Bell, the 3G capable quad-band Motorola VA76r from Rogers, the Casio G'zOne with push-to-talk, electronic compass, and VZ Navigator from Verizon Wireless. But the toughest of all is the Sonim XP3 quad-band EDGE, GSM phone. Not yet available in North America.
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