Droid gps- real or fake?

[brochaos]

vznav requires data and cell coverage, but it wasn't a "fake" gps. it still provided the same accuracy in the location as any other gps unit or the droid. it was not just using the aGPS, otherwise, others have said, you would only be within miles of your location, not just a few meters.

 

[CBLJazz]

you would only be within miles of your location, not just a few meters.

not true- vz nav actually stopped working when i had no cell signal.

 

[RW-1]

One of the first google maps updates were to correct it NOT turning off the GPS after you closed the program, since then it has always turned on GPS in the notification area when I start it (or nav), and it turns it off afterwards.

So I can see where there were reports of the GPS staying on, but it was not inherant, but an app coding issue, not with 2.0, or 2.0.1 ...

I leave it enabled in the power widget all the time, no battery impact.

 

[Backnblack]

you would only be within miles of your location, not just a few meters.

not true- vz nav actually stopped working when i had no cell signal.

It quit working due to no access to maps....they had to be downloaded over cell...

 

[mikes]

vznav requires data and cell coverage, but it wasn't a "fake" gps. it still provided the same accuracy in the location as any other gps unit or the droid. it was not just using the aGPS, otherwise, others have said, you would only be within miles of your location, not just a few meters.

It depends upon the phone. But, for the vast majority of Verizon phones, aGPS is all there is.

"The FCC Phase II location accuracy standard for network-based technologies is 100 meters for 67 percent of calls and 300 meters for 95 percent of the calls." - that's aGPS, and referring to that as "within miles of your location," while correct, is very misleading.

That's not even close to what standalone GPS can do, which is more on the order of 15 meters, or 6x better.

I just fired up Google maps, with GPS turned off. It claims to know my location "Accurate to 70 meters," but it's probably 200 meters off. When I turn GPS on, it says "Accurate to 20 meters," and it's off by about 5.

VzNav no doubt works as most current auto navigation GPSs (e.g. Garmin, Tom Tom, etc.) do, by locking you onto a road, and assuming that you're on the roads which it is giving you instructions to follow. I suspect that it's much worse than those, however, at really knowing whether you're driving on the freeway or on a parallel access road.

 

[RW-1]

I have yet to test the maps while at 500' in the heli, will do so this weekend ... :icon_ devil:

But so far on the road with my Garmin 496 from the heli in road mode, they seem to be in sync for location whilst moving.

 

[takeshi]

That sounds like great news, but I thought there were cases where people left it on and aftera few hours the phone said the GPS was using the majority of the battery?

That's really more of an issue of an app that uses the GPS receiver not releasing it in my experience (or an app that uses it frequently accessing GPS). I suggest keeping an eye on the GPS icon in the notification bar. It should disappear if you're not using an app that uses the GPS receiver.

No, you just need to cache your maps and you won't need data.

Good point. I should have clarified. My statement was in reference to those expecting to use Google Maps and have it work in the same manner as a standalone GPS unit in areas with no coverage. If you can cache ahead of time that approach works. The problem is that you need data to cache and that may not be an option in all situations.

I'm guessing you haven't checked on what sGPS really is, because it's not what you think it is.

Oops -- you're right. The specs page isn't really all that useful then.

I do check the Droid specs. the problem is cell company's frequently want to sell theIr "fake gps" cell/ internet product as a true alternative to STANDALONE gps units.

I was referring to the manufacturer's specs, not the carrier's specs (which are frequently off in my experience) however Motorola's specs page is actually quite useless in this regard. Sorry for the earlier comment.

However, My Location in Google Maps can give you a rough idea of how it is determining your location based on what it claims the accuracy to be.

I just fired up Google maps, with GPS turned off. It claims to know my location "Accurate to 70 meters," but it's probably 200 meters off. When I turn GPS on, it says "Accurate to 20 meters," and it's off by about 5.

How do you get Google Maps to indicate that? On the Blackberry it automatically does so.

 

[mikes]

I just fired up Google maps, with GPS turned off. It claims to know my location "Accurate to 70 meters," but it's probably 200 meters off. When I turn GPS on, it says "Accurate to 20 meters," and it's off by about 5.

How do you get Google Maps to indicate that? On the Blackberry it automatically does so.

When you open Maps, it comes up on your location, showing it as a blue dot surrounded by a circle of uncertainty. Touch the location, and an info bubble will pop us showing the estimated accuracy.

 

[Jonny Kansas]

How do you cache the maps?