Broadcom Releasing New GPS Chip with 10x Performance and 50% Less Battery Drain

[dgstorm]

Ahhh... the wonders of modern technology just keep getting better and better. Broadcom just announced their newest breakthrough in GPS chipset technology. They will soon be launching a new GPS chip for smartphones that will dramatically improve the speed and accuracy of your positioning lock. In fact, their new chip, which is based on a new 40nm manufacturing process will supposedly provide 10x better performance than current models and use up to 50% less battery power while doing it. It will even be 44% smaller than existing solutions, making it the smallest GPS chip to date and leaving more room for other chips in your smartphone.

Finally, there is even more this new chip can do. Here is a quote with the final details,

It can also leverage your smartphone’s sensors, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC, to deliver indoor positioning as well as place-based mobile commerce applications. In the future, if you have a smartphone using this chip, ‘personal shopper’ apps will guide you to specific stores inside shopping malls, and even to specific shelves within those stores.

That's a pretty impressive list of improvements for a simple GPS chip. Keep in mind, it will probably be 6 months to a year before we start seeing this new tech show up in new smartphones, but the chip is already production ready and simply awaiting orders.

Source: UnwiredView

 

[NeoPhoenixTE]

Normally the posting of new technology after I just bought a new phone would infuriate me, but this timeframe means I'll probably be in the new phone market again by the time it comes out. w00t!

 

[rowdyguy124]

Great, now my phone and/or tablet can tell me exactly where the toilet paper is and when I am using it.

 

[tommyz]

I remember the days when GPSr needed a clear view of the sky to get a fix.
Now my current phone can get it inside some parts of the house.

Will this new chip allow me to get a fix in the basement?:biggrin: