Database Users

[Q] Anything more needed after GPS fix?

I have a non-rooted Vibrant. After the OTA J16 fix a couple of weeks ago, the GPS went from non-functional (hardly ever locked on any satellites, even after many minutes) to quite good (usually locks on 6-9 satellites within 10-30 seconds). The Google Navigation works well and stays on track 99% of the time. However, Google Earth seems a little wonky. It can locate me in my neighborhood and usually within my 1-acre yard, but, after I'm located, it can begin to wander around by 100-200 feet even when I'm standing still...not always, but sometimes. Am I expecting more than I should?
I know how to get into my GPS settings with the dialer. Is there any point in clearing the GPS data? I assumed that the J16 update would have reset this. I'm generally happy with the GPS function now, but wonder if there is anything more I should do now that it works pretty well.

Can we take another run at this?
Ok, I'm a little surprised that I didn't get even one response to this. Let me try a slightly different approach.
How good can the GPS in a smartphone be? Do any of you have any model of phone where the GPS is blazingly fast to lock, never gets lost or off track, and is always dead-on? Since the Vibrant is my first phone with GPS, the only thing I have to compare it to is my Garmin navigation unit, which is less-than-perfect.
So, can anyone give me a reality check or a realistic set of expectations? Thanks.

After the J16 update, my Vibe's GPS is a bit better than my G1's GPS. Both are lightyears ahead of my girlfriends TomTom.

after the update, my GPS still does not work. I think the GPS is just absolutely horrible and I really do hope they release a new software fix because the ji6 did nothing for me.
to compare, my g2 was able to find my location within 5 seconds. in terms of my location, it was pretty dead on within a few feet, and also accuarate in the direction I was facing.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

ZX3ZX4 said:
Ok, I'm a little surprised that I didn't get even one response to this. Let me try a slightly different approach.
How good can the GPS in a smartphone be? Do any of you have any model of phone where the GPS is blazingly fast to lock, never gets lost or off track, and is always dead-on? Since the Vibrant is my first phone with GPS, the only thing I have to compare it to is my Garmin navigation unit, which is less-than-perfect.
So, can anyone give me a reality check or a realistic set of expectations? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All my Nokia phones had great GPS. Locks were pretty fast, but they were dead on and I don't remember ever losing the signal outside.

I haven't had to use the gps much since fixed, but it locks on in a reasonable amount of time now and within 20 feet usually. What I don't know yet is if it stays locked on while driving.
To be honest though, it's still much better than the magellan gps I bought last November. That thing wouldnt lock on unless I was out on the road. Not inside my house right up against a window, not under a carport. I'm satisfied for now as long as it stays locked when I use it for roadtrips.
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allthrottle said:
That thing wouldnt lock on unless I was out on the road. Not inside my house right up against a window, not under a carport. I'm satisfied for now as long as it stays locked when I use it for roadtrips.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is what you looking at, I haven't seen one GPS unit in any store with an acquired signal.

A question about the Wildfire before i buy one

What is the wildfire's GPS and WIFI performance like and can u use the GPS as a standalone unit thanks

Both work perfectly for me. There are sat nav apps on the market which allow you to download maps to use offline

GPS
Hi,
I got rid of my iphone for a wildfire because i needed gps capability. The iphone was useless as an in-car sat-nav because as the cheap gps chip used by apple. this is a well known problem and not related to an athermic windscreen. The wildfire (& all htc's to be fair) have a far better gps chip that is faultless, it has never let me down. hope this helps

jamadant said:
Hi,
I got rid of my iphone for a wildfire because i needed gps capability. The iphone was useless as an in-car sat-nav because as the cheap gps chip used by apple. this is a well known problem and not related to an athermic windscreen. The wildfire (& all htc's to be fair) have a far better gps chip that is faultless, it has never let me down. hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is very accurate. I use copilot with downloaded maps and it is great.
Sent from my HTC Wildfire using Tapatalk

[REQ] GPS track made with a Nexus S

I want to compare Nexus S's GPS to Galaxy S's. So could anyone there make a simple track with Nexus S walking and driving for atleast 2km. If possible do the tracking with a Galaxy S tracking at the same time as well.
Thanks

I actually have both a Nexus S and Vibrant, so I could do this for you. Is there any particular app you have in mind to do it with?

I guess you can use MyTracks.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I did a 14km mountain bike ride with Runkeeper on, yesterday. Was my first try with the app (normally use MyTracks but this was my first ride since switching to the Nexus S). Not sure how to share it but this link is a start.
One thing I did notice is that the beginning of my ride included a 28 mile 'warp' from where I'd been using Google Maps the day before! I guess in future I need to give it a little more time establishing that initial fix before I press start. Luckily I was able to edit out that point to get the real route.

Please someone make a Mytracks tracking With a Nexus S and another phone (preferably HTC cause those have very good GPS units) and upload the results.

There you go.
I just made this one with my Nexus S:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....555383,-44.264713&spn=0.002128,0.003484&z=19
Keep in mind that the sky was full of heavy clouds so I can't guarantee that the GPS was operating on its full accuracy.
A couple of months ago I made a track recording with my Motorola Milestone, here's the link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...900089483924351110.0004990b6c3698b559c65&z=14
When I first saw the Nexus S track i was like "holy sh*t this looks bad". But then I went to my old milestone track and it was almost the same. You can only see how bad it is once you zoom in a lot.

nicholasbgr said:
There you go.
I just made this one with my Nexus S:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U....555383,-44.264713&spn=0.002128,0.003484&z=19
Keep in mind that the sky was full of heavy clouds so I can't guarantee that the GPS was operating on its full accuracy.
A couple of months ago I made a track recording with my Motorola Milestone, here's the link:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...900089483924351110.0004990b6c3698b559c65&z=14
When I first saw the Nexus S track i was like "holy sh*t this looks bad". But then I went to my old milestone track and it was almost the same. You can only see how bad it is once you zoom in a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on these two I would say that the Nexus S GPS is still not good enough or its just the weather. I hope the latter.

I'll try to post one of my old tracks from the same location made with HTC Hero (custom ROM though) and Google MyTracks. I'd do it now but the interface is impossible on this netbook screen!
Anyway - for me the Nexus S gets a fix much faster and seems generally at least as accurate, possibly more so.

You will only get at best about 3.5m accuracy from a regular gps device without dgps (waas/egnos). No phones that I know of, support dgps. With dgps you can get accurate to about 0.9m
If you need more accuracy then there are external gps/bluetooth modules that have dgps and fast refresh rates, for about $80.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Worse GPS than N1
Anecdotally and without any quantifiable experimentation, but based on using mytracks with GPS extremely regularly for running, I can say the GPS in the Nexus S seems a bit worse thanin the Nexus One. I didn't have both in my possession simultaneously for long enough to do the same track with both but I have loads of old Nexus One tracked routes I could re-run with the Nexus S to compare. The N1 gave me trouble every once in a while too though and the clouds have been rowdy lately, possibly contributing, so I'm optimistic. It's bearable in any case other than seeming to take more of a battery drain (again, anecdotally).

OK, here's a bunch of tracks from my HTC Hero if you're interested in trying to compare them.
http://goo.gl/maps/XSG4
(For convenience, the Nexus S link from earlier is this)
As I say, based purely on my observation the Nexus S gets the fix faster. Having a zoomed-in look at the two maps would say to me they're both as accurate as I could wish for.

from what I understand, the gps chip in the ns is good in terms of performance, locks faster, keeps lock longer under low signal conditions etc but isn't necessarily any more accurate than any of the previous models wear. gps accuracy is purposely limited for civilian use and I believe most chips out there can achieve that accuracy as long as they are able to track the required number of satellites.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

eahiv said:
Anecdotally and without any quantifiable experimentation, but based on using mytracks with GPS extremely regularly for running, I can say the GPS in the Nexus S seems a bit worse thanin the Nexus One.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this. I use my gps and navigation all the time to drive around and the nexus s gps is typically 30 - 50ft behind the positioning marker. With my N1 it felt like the marker was about 10ft within my location.
Also I notice that the gps sometimes misplaces my postioning marker on the map and the compass points in the wrong direction. These arent problems I had with my N1 but perhaps because its cloudier now than when I had my N1.
I'd give the N1 gps a 9, and the NS gps a 6. What makes up for the weird accuracy issues is the bigger screen.

Thank you for all the replies. If at all possible, could someone still make one comparison with an external bluetooth gps, for example the nokia LD-3W. Also the higher update rate GPS's would be nice to compare.
As of the results, I'd conclude that Nexus S definitely has the same GPS chip and almost the same firmware as the SGS's, but antennas have definitely been improved. Atleast now the GPS on all SGS series devices, including the Nexus S, are capable of running a "satnav" properly. Now if I only could get my compass and accelerometer working on my SGS / JPX

I'm planning on getting an external bt GPS module for autocross, I'll report back then.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

GPS Accuracy

I am concerned about the accuracy of the GPS on Samsung Focus specifiably and WP7 in general. I have owned a couple of HTC WMobile devices, ATT Tilt, and Tilt2. The GPS accuracy was pretty close to scary, even when in the house.
I have been having issues with ATT Navigator loosing focus (hmm) on my exact location, causing Navigator to loose it's mind. There are at present no other alternative for turn by turn navigation on WP7. Any help would be appreciated.
NYCNY

I have a friend who uses ATT Nav also and experienced the same issue, however when using Bing, or any other GPS program, this issue wasn't present. My phone is scary accurate using Bing, and in the month i've used it, never steered me wrong.

yeah at&t nav is junk..... free is better than that program...

I haven't tried the AT&T Navigator, but whenever I use Bing the accuracy is really good and way faster than I expect.
So either the Nav app is bad or maybe you're not getting a great signal in your area?

I have the issue of loosing lock alot. The phone has an unobstructed view of the sky and it will go into search mode alot
I also use Justanothermaps instead of Bing. It, in my opinion, is better than Bing.
Sent from my Focus WP7 using Board Express

GPS is fast and accurate, at least compare to earlier Samsung devices.

Garmin Nuvi vs. Fascinate

Well I always kinda wondered if a standalone GPS would be better than using the GPS function of an all-in-one smartphone. They say a device that does everything can do everything moderately well. Not the case here! I have to say, that compared to the phone, Garmin sucks!!
We got these garmins in our vans at work, mainly so they could track us (taddlers). I definitely prefer my phone. Here's why:
1. I have to enter my city for every address I input. WTF? it knows where I am
2. It doesn't know all the addresses that G maps does. On one address, garmin failed and gmaps found it no prob. (those homes have been there over 4 years)
3. It doesn't automatically stop navigating when I arrive. It's like it doesn't even know I'm there...
4. The touch buttons are a pita. I have to touch them just right, this makes it difficult while driving.
Anyway, go gmaps! I guess a multi-function device can do things better than the standalone.

That gps sounds old. I have the newest nuvi and it works well for me and it knows where I am as well. But I do like google maps better than any gps out right now and plus google maps gets updates so you can get a better mapping experience with the locations added. I know there is also a garmin app that I have for my iPhone that works good too.

For sure I guess if you navigate a lot google nav would be better for those reasons. You shouldn't input anything while driving though so the touch screen makes perfect sense to me. Also the voice recognition on android is definitely a plus. Btw next time your company buys nuvis, make sure they get the ones with lifetime map updates...
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How does nuvi get updates, through the sdcard?
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Umm I would ask a store that sells them.

if they arent updating the software every year thats why the phone has better directions. have to keep the GPS updated. havent you seen the "mayhem" commercial? LOL.

Plus I think on most standalone gps units, you have to PAY for the map updates, it was 75$ for the garmin I used to use before I got this phone.
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You update through the sd card. It is 75 bucks to buy the updates, but you can spend a little more and get the nuvis that end with "lm" or "lmt" which stand for lifetime maps or lifetime maps and traffic.
Usually, especially around christmas time, they have great sales where the ones with lifetime updates are basically as cheap if not cheaper than the ones without. But definitely look for the ones that come with lifetime map updates.
I'd much rather use my gps so I dont have to waste precious battery or keep my phone plugged in to the car charger. Especially because when you get calls, it cuts out your data signal...plus I like having the map with street names mounted right in front of me at all times. I use my phone to play music in the car so it gets to be a hassle.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App

Seeing as though my Fascinate's GPS had worked flawlessly ever since DJ05(and I used it this weekend for a few hours), I can definitely say it's better. The satellite view is really awesome. The only advantage a dedicated GPS has is the voice. If Google improves the voice, the free GPS on Android phones WILL be the best, even though I consider them that already,

Personally I prefer google nav over my garmin. I still keep the old gps in the trunk incase of emergency if my phone was to die. If you already have one, might as well take it just incase.