iPhone 3G came with a very new and important feature, the GPS capability, which is integrated along with Google Maps. The GPS technology along with iPhone software, together would present a totally different mobile mapping interface.GPS means Global Positioning System. It uses information from earth-orbiting satellites to find your present location. A receiver estimates the distance to GPS satellites based on the time it takes for signals to reach it, then uses that information to identify its location. But there is more. iPhone 3G uses not only the GPS technology, but A-GPS , i.e, it tracks your location through the Wi-Fi signals and the information from cellular towers to determine a more accurate location. Thus, in a sense , the GPS technology helps us get a better location.
In iPhone 3G, if GPS is available, the iPhone displays a blue GPS indicator. But if you’re inside — without a clear line of sight to a GPS satellite — iPhone finds you via Wi-Fi. If you’re not in range of a Wi-Fi hot spot, iPhone finds you using cellular towers. And the size of a location circle tells you how accurately iPhone is able to calculate that location: The smaller the circle, the more accurate the location.
The GPS feature is also integrated with Google Maps, that means you may never be lost. You may find your location, get directions, and see traffic — all from your phone. Maps on iPhone 3G combined GPS, with the Multi-Touch interface , makes user experience wonderful. You can also search for locations, or places. Like if you need the nearest Pizzeria, just search Google Maps for Pizza and tap! you get the nearest one.
The GPS-powered location inputs can be used by applications to innovate and utilize through them. For example, Take a photo with the camera, and iPhone can geo tag it with GPS location information. That way, when you share photos online, friends and family can see where every snapshot was taken. And you can shop the App Store for GPS-enabled applications such as mobile friend finders or interactive city guides.
Disadvantages
The Google Maps, are downloaded as and when you browse a location, and are not generally stored. Hence, data charges, might shoot out.
Though the Iphone, actively switches on and off the GPS chip, as used, still when active for a long time, it might be a big drain on the Battery. You might look out for Battery Extenders or Rechargeable battery.
The iPhone location feeds have been used in a lot of application and over 300 apps use the location look ups. Over 50 apps out of these, can be found in Navigation Category, so the GPS feature is being actively used. Still there is no TomTom for iPhone currently. TomTom says they have a working app but Maps by other 3rd party application developers are still not allowed it seems. Obviously, a TomTom app with GPS would be the icing on the cake for Apple.
So, some of the apps that have become really popular are GPS tracker, Traffic Info, Speedometer etc. Some other interesting apps include CamsAhoy and G-phone.
InstaMapper GPS Tracker: InstaMapper is a free real-time GPS tracking service. The object you track is a moving dot on the Google Map and positions are updated as often as every 5 seconds. It can store up to 100,000 positions per device — enough for several months of 24/7 tracking. You can map your positions and upload them to your Facebook too.
TrafficInfo: It gives normal traffic info using the ZIP code or you can find local traffic reports using Yahoo Traffic Services. From any incident on the Traffic Info app you can click and it will directly take you to the location in Google Map.
Speedometer: It is an entertainment app basically and uses GPS data to give you your Current Speed. You can also get average speeds for specific times etc.
G-phone: G-Map can show you the way wherever you go, even with no Wi-Fi connection or in dead zones up in the mountains, out on the ocean, or even in an airplane. G-Map is a stand-alone electronic map. So once it’s downloaded, you can freely search your location and get directions without an internet connection, anytime, anywhere, even when you’re on the move and can also provide detailed information of the searched location such as address and phone number.
The website says it will be available by mid December and pricing has not yet been disclosed. But this is one app you can use for all your traveling needs. On the negative is the, the massive Map database would take 700MB+ of space , so you can be out of space pretty soon.
The GPS capability of iPhone and can provide alerts when a photo enforcement device such as speed cameras or red lights cameras are approaching. This one is specifically amazing for Europe, which is swarmed with speed cameras and thus there are many databases documenting where they are down to the centimeter. Cams Ahoy comes pre-programmed with over 22,000 camera locations... Thus, with GPS apps tracking and mapping is made much more easier, and adds a new edge to iPhone experience!
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