Guys… Where Are We?
March, 26th - 10:59 am ET | posted by Cannon in Wireless Innovation
Gone are the old days of pulling over to the side of the road, pulling out a map from the backseat (as my Dad still does) and routing the best path to your destination. These days, wireless carriers offer a smorgasbord of phones that do exactly what those fancy & relatively expensive GPS-only devices do - if not even more.
Built-in GPS comes readily for you Windows Mobile fans as AT&T offers the Samsung BlackJack II and AT&T Tilt (my personal fav), while Sprint offers the HTC Mogul (but only after a free OS upgrade from HTC) and the Samsung Ace. For the BlackBerry lover in you, you have a slew of options with built-in GPS including the BlackBerry Curve and BlackBerry 8820 from AT&T (and soon T-Mobile), and the BlackBerry 8300 World Edition in either the Alltel or Sprint flavors.
What you get from these phones having very capable GPS antennae built-in already is the ability to take advantage of some well respected free software as well as the accurate positioning from satellites orbiting the Earth. Applications from giant companies such as Microsoft’s Live Search for Mobile and Google’s Google Maps work like a charm on either the Windows Mobile or BlackBerry phones. For BlackBerry users, you already have a handy application installed called BlackBerry Maps. These applications allow for quick access to search for directions, restaurants, shops and even gas prices around your very location using the internal GPS.
For those of you left out, fret not for each carrier has their own way of providing a solution. These typically use tower triangulation to calculate your exact position instead of looking for satellites. This means you can actually use these options indoors - without ever stepping outside. Verizon offers VZ Navigation while Alltel, Sprint Nextel, and AT&T all offer their own solutions through Telenav, a highly respected GPS software provider. Each carrier is able to deliver turn-by-turn directions to your wireless phone with ease, as well as location-based suggestions for restaurants, shopping and other activities. All of these carrier based GPS solutions are available on most of the mid-level to high-end phones that the carriers offer.
These GPS solutions are easier & cheaper to use than buying a stand-alone GPS device and will prevent you from getting lost or having to ask for directions. I’m sure the guys in the crowd know what I’m talking about… right fellas?
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Yeah but most new cars have the options in them. With fuel prices going up and new fuel efficient cars being purchased I think it there is a shrinking marketing for the product on this thought train.
I think it is really very cool to have it on the cell phone, but using it I find they are difficult to configure clunky sliding around on the panels, I just use the car with the GPS built in. But my wife has her internal compass upside down and for her just walking through the mall can get her lost. This becomes a handy feature for those who get lost easily.
I think the biggest things to hit the cell phone market right now are wireless attachments because of the new cell phone laws. Just the speaker phones we sell at http://www.talknbluetooth.com are flying off the shelves.
One really cool part about the cell phones is that GPS being on them will drive down the dealer prices that they become a standard items in cars. The neat thing about this is when my kids get into the teens, I will be able to track where they are by the cell phone. I think alone will be one of the biggest reason to purchase cell phones with GPS in them. The kids are always asking to get a cell phone, and its a great time to introduce one with GPS tracking to them. I will be paying the extra buck to know where my kid is and where they have gone. Big bucks in that!