Team-BHP - The Mobile Phone Thread - Queries, decisions, discussions all here

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ram (Post 902520)

They were zapped at a mobile phone tracking a car running 140 km/h loading map tiles in realtime working as fast as it did, which they had not seen before. And they are mobile operator engineers from O2 Germany.

Let objective observations of one on the spot, be a guide of what that, or any other part of the world is used to. Many of us do have a propensity to idolize the West which IMHO, is increasingly misplaced.

Ram

This is now becoming a pointless arguement. If you insist that N82 was not available in Germany, so be it. If you insist that engineers from O2 Germany were zapped at their own 3G speeds, so be it. If you insist that Assisted GPS can be switched off, the choice is yours - it is meant to assist the handset in getting a quick fix, a feature that makes it more user friendly.

My point remains - there is nothing the N82 does on the GPS front that is revolutionary or hasnt been done a few years back. And at the end of the day, the best GPS results are from PNAs or PDAs, not PDA-phones or Mobilephones with GPS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid (Post 903309)

My point remains - there is nothing the N82 does on the GPS front that is revolutionary or hasnt been done a few years back. And at the end of the day, the best GPS results are from PNAs or PDAs, not PDA-phones or Mobilephones with GPS.

GPS devices have been "closed" platforms for a long time. Users were bound to use whatever software that was supplied with device.

With N82 / Windows phone, you get GPS functionality with well documented development platform.

That enabled a software developer to provide GPS navigation at a very low cost.

And it has forced likes of Germin to start selling just the software.

And Germin has started opening up its APIs to certain extent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manikjeet (Post 898261)

hi i would like to know whats the current price of a w830i i recently went to a shop and i was told by the shopkeeper thats its for 9800 brand new

i later asked a few other shops and they told me its 15k+

thanks for the help in advance

Showing as RS14,614 at UniverCell so 9800 is a good price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid6639 (Post 903099)

I'm getting the Holux M-1000B for Rs.2400. It's a newer model compared to the Slim240 which has been replaced by the M-1200.

Only problem I don't think it's with the SirfStar III chipset. It has the MediaTek MT3318 chipset. Any ideas?

Details here: HOLUX - The Pro Name in GPS

I have tried Sirfstar III and Holux devices and performance is very similar. They both lock on to satellites from cold starts in similar times. Might as well go for the cheapest. Do test it to see how long it takes to lock on to satellites from a cold start before buying.

Is there anyone using the Mobile GPS in Bangalore ? I hate the TV ad that demonstrate GPS (girl getting down the rik and looking at the sky, clouds, people at balcony and all that non-sense). How useful is it in real life ?

I heard from one of my friends that his friend's friend used mobile GPS to the office and it took 45 minutes drive when he used to reach in 20 minutes flat since 2 years !

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid (Post 903309)

True, however my old HTC Monet with an external BT GPS receiver running TomTom used to knock the pants off a normal TomTom One PNA and Garmin i3. The start up from a cold start was quicker on the HTC SP and it was just as accurate as the TomTom 1. I could even leave the BT GPS box in the glove box and it would still pick up an excellent signal.

I have a HTC Trinity and a HTC Kaiser and the inbuilt GPS functionality is slightly slow from a cold start (even with updated quick GPS on the Kaiser). In terms of functionality they are a lot better than a dedicated PNA.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shajufx (Post 903484)

I heard from one of my friends that his friend's friend used mobile GPS to the office and it took 45 minutes drive when he used to reach in 20 minutes flat since 2 years !

I used to study with someone who followed a Sat Nav blindly and ended up with her car stuck on a railway line (UK). :uncontrol

SatNav can conjure up some unusual routes. I tend to follow old routes and just use for the speed camera warnings. If I am going somewhere new then I will look at the city I am going to and get there using my own route and then let the SatNav take over to get to the exact street.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigman (Post 903453)

SirfStar III cold start - 42secs
MediaTek MT3318 cold start - 36secs

Specs as per holux website.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay (Post 903389)

GPS devices have been "closed" platforms for a long time. Users were bound to use whatever software that was supplied with device.

Nope. If you buy proprietory GPS devices (PNAs or Personal Navigation Assistants) like a Garmin Nuvi or a TomTom ONE, THEN what you said applies.

If you were to buy a GPS enabled PDA, you had any number of mapmakers to choose from, right from Route66 to Navigon to Destinator and even TomTom for Pocket PC.

This is what allowed a lot of independent GPS mapmakers and software makers to start making software locally. For instance, I use Destinator when I'm in the Middle East, an independent GPS supplier in Dubai specifically (the roads change everyday so its better to have a local supplier), SatNav in India, TomTom in Europe - all on the same device. I've never used Google Maps as I believe advanced functionality like route planning, turn-by-turn navigation with alternative routes, etc either do not exist or are very basic on Google.

Santosh Bhai, in some cases, Google Maps may be your only option as it is the only provider which has maps for a particular area (most of NE-India for instance). I have communicated with Satnav and MapMyIndia and they have communicated to me (in writing) that it will take them considerable amount of time to come up with maps for our area. Partly because of less demand and partly due to lack of infrastructure in these areas. Till these companies do the needful, we have to rely on Google Maps.

^^^^
For maps, one interesting source is OpenStreetMap

Advantage of this source is, its Open and Free. It works just fine with MGMaps on cell phones.

I am trying to create as many maps as I can for cities that I have lived in. You can contribute if you have some spare time.

If time permits, I intend to create turn by turn voice navigation (Free, Open Source) based on it. Not something trivial, but fun for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steeroid (Post 903632)

If you were to buy a GPS enabled PDA, you had any number of mapmakers to choose from, right from Route66 to Navigon to Destinator and even TomTom for Pocket PC.

I've never used Google Maps as I believe advanced functionality like route planning, turn-by-turn navigation with alternative routes, etc either do not exist or are very basic on Google.

Agree that Google maps is close to useless for navigation.

IMHO, N82 is just another GPS Enabled PDA, devices like these bring down cost significantly (GPS Phones are available for 15k now).

Can you post make/model # of the PDA that you used?

So I need a 2nd phone in addition to my N81, This will be a work phone, I want to spend a max of 5 K on it and in terms of features bluetooth, expansion slot, light and small, other than the standard sms & telephone features, if it has Wifi that'll be even better

I was thinking of the Motorola razr (i have always loved this device) (The MobileStore - Best Mobile Phone Deals, Buy Mobile Phones, Cell Phone Accessories, Offers, Tips the z6 (The MobileStore - Best Mobile Phone Deals, Buy Mobile Phones, Cell Phone Accessories, Offers, Tips)
Any other options ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava (Post 904164)

See if you can find an E50.

Its not available anywhere atleast in Delhi.... I have been looking for it for a week now. I am not interested in buying a used one.

Guys, Any idea as to when is the next N82 firmware upgrade coming? I am hoping to see brighter screen and probably the navi wheel option.

@Ram...???