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Would you use your new iPhone 3G S as your only GPS?
PND4ME
0 Points
Since TomTom is coming out with the turn by turn navigation software app for iPhone, how many of you that own iPhone will start using this new feature with your new iPhone 3G / 3G S?
Use it as a backup or everyday use?
Just wondering since the few people I talked to appears to like this idea of not having to carry or buy another PND when they already own an iPhone 3G / 3G S.
Use it as a backup or everyday use?
Just wondering since the few people I talked to appears to like this idea of not having to carry or buy another PND when they already own an iPhone 3G / 3G S.
Comments
I love my iPhone, but have no interest whatsoever in using it for auto navigation. Screen is too small for that IMO. And the prices I seen discussed for the TomTom app with cradle don't seem to offer much incentive to buy it instead of a dedicated device.
I own a Cad Escalade that have NO BT ability and I hardly can hear the iPhone while driving using it's speaker.
My wife have a Parrot MKi9200 that I paid over $200 for plus installation.
I think the TomTom iPhone docking station will be a great add on for my vehicle. I have OEM GPS and I test other devices, using the iPhone 3G S with TomTom turn by turn application will keep me from mounting a TomTom device for comparison testing also. The reason I say use the iPhone 3G S, the phone processing speed is considerably faster than just the 3G and for navigation, you want to have a fast processor.
I also don't use voice guidance - another one of my quirks I'm sure. I just have a problem with some computer voice telling me what to do. :lol:
So, in my case, the cradle doesn't do much and seems rather expensive for what it is. What is most important to me is a nice, big bright screen. Happily, there are lots of different models to choose from so we can all match the hardware to our personal tastes.
But don't get me wrong, I think it's great that turn by turn nav is finally coming to the iPhone, it's long overdue and will be a great solution for lots of people. If I traveled a lot for business, as I did a few years ago, I would probably find it a great solution for rental cars.
The merging of cell phones with PDA functionality makes perfect sense, unfortunately the cell phone companies think this gives them an excuse to force additional fees on users.
Mark
Do I wish it were cheaper? Sure! But I understood the costs before signing up. Of course it isn't for everyone though. Hopefully these costs will drop as competition heats up and other carriers build up their networks.
I just got my 3G S when my contract is not up yet with AT&T, they waived all the fees and signed me up anyway.
I think Apple iPhone is great for a back up all around product, but I also think a lot of people will start to use this new iPhone as their only cell phone, emails, GPS, web, audio player and camera / video device.
I understand the costs too, that's why I'm waiting for fees to drop :D
Don't leave your iPhone in direct sunlight for any extended period of time-Avoid using data intensive applications, like GPS or streaming-media apps, for extended periods of time on hot days or while in direct sunlight.
A related story here: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/will-overheating-prompt-iphone-3g-s-recall-415?source=fssr
iPhone heat issue much ado about nothing
TomTom Turn by Turn nav application at $10 a month is kind of steep considering you can buy on for less than $150? TeleNav have the same type of offering. I guess they have to split the profit with Apple and AT&T.
Now this was quite awhile ago however, and there have been two software updates since then. Seems to me that these issues were addressed in the updates to some extent. But it does make me wonder about turn by turn apps. Apple has crammed a lot of stuff into a very small package, so it doesn't surprise me that heat is an issue.
As to the price, $10/month for AT&T Navigator (aka TeleNav) is pretty much the standard price for phone based navigation apps. That's what it is on most other platforms. Due to the abundance of free and $0.99 apps on the App Store I think people expected they would get navigation at a discount for some reason.
$10/month for TeleNav sounds like a lot, but when you factor in that it essentially comes with "free" map updates, "free" traffic reporting and "free" connected POI search then the value begins to show.
To purchase a PND with a map and traffic subscription (even a "free" ad supported traffic) is probably a comparable price. Here are some quick numbers.
An iPhone gives a 3.5" screen, so let's take a Nuvi 265T at $175. Add in a lifetime map subscription for $99. Our total cost is $275.
For that price, you can get about over two years of TeleNav service on the iPhone. I'm not saying the TeleNav service is a better deal, but it doesn't look all that expensive compared to a PND plus maps and traffic. The iPhone screen isn't as good with glare and doesn't come with a mount, but does have the convenience of a "single device" and you get other GPS "connected" features like send-to-GPS and connected POI searches.
NavMan used to put out some heat also, nothing caugh on fire thank GOD.
Very. happy to report that 3.1 has for me at least resulted in the kind of battery life I'd been hoping for.
In fact it is so much better that whereas I'd become to plugging it in whenever it wasn't used, I am now continually surprised at the level of charge it still retains.
Think that will sell a few copies in California and Oregon. How about a review of how well that app works Tim? :mrgreen:
How many needed to be treated for smoke-inhalation?
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a52nRZKGgXOM A dog tracking collar??? :roll:
So far no CDMA nor LTE device from Apple has been posted. Usually there are carrier/manufacturer test conducted for up to a year, then an FCC approval, then a release at least 3-6 months afterwards. So it'll be a little bit at least before the iPhone/iTablet on Verizon.
I remember Mac leak a few months back about Apple ordering tons of 8-inch (maybe) touch screens from a supplier, so that could be the iTablet in the works.
It makes sense that Apple will release an LTE device on Verizon. Verizon plans to pilot 2 cities in the US by end of year, with full LTE rollout completed by end of 2010. They need a killer app / killer device like iTablet to recoup that investment. Then Verizon/Apple could extend that exclusive to the global Vodafone network when Vodafone rolls out LTE in 2011/2012.
LTE (read FIOS-speeds over wireless) seems like a logical fit for the media-heavy needs of iPhone/Mac users.
There was an old article that said Apple actually approached Verizon first for the iPhone. At the time Verizon was the only real quality business cell carrier. The deal eventually broke off because Apple wanted too high a cut of the iPhone data revenue, and Verizon wanted too high a cut of the app store revenue.
I'm sure Verizon is changing their tune. The iPhone turned Cingular from a hated carrier that was bleeding customers, to a formidable Verizon competitor.
If Apple just added a GPS chip to the iPod Touch I'll bet they could grab some more PND share very easily using the TomTom and Navigon apps.
Once the AT&T exclusive expires, I'm hoping Apple removes the bluetooth-data-block on the Touch. I'd buy a Touch to replace my aging developer-abandoned Palm TX right away.
1) how much some people hate AT&T, and the lengths they'll go to to keep a non-AT&T iPhone
2) The downside of being a walled garden customer. AT&T doesn't want to swamp its network, so it tells Apple to disable high bandwidth features.
Of course the upside is that a walled garden makes piracy much more difficult, and thus makes the Apple app store much more attractive for developers. I think piracy is why Tomtom abandoned Navigator software in the first place, and why they are only reentering the American Navigator market via the iPhone.
I had considered creating and selling an immigration app for the Symbian system (target market is non-American customers), but decided that Symbian has too weak an anti-piracy toolkit. So my app (when I get time to built it) will be a subscription-based wap one.
If you use that kind of "logic", I already use my iPhone on Verizon since I have Verizon DSL and wifi at home and work. It's not a "phone" when you're using wifi, just an internet device. No phone calls. No SMS. No voicemail. Basically you have an iPod Touch.
Actually that is one of my beefs with AT&T, why not let us do all that with a wifi connection? It would lower the load on their own network. I don't get a usable cell signal at home and this would really help me.
But regardless - that video is ridiculous. Even if you like the concept, the monthly data costs are unbelievable, and the guy said it was slower than AT&T 3g.
Just kidding of course. You're pretty much right, and it's nothing I'd advocate. But it does show some of the benefits of using a wifi connection and/or the limitations imposed by ATT/Apple.
AT&T's coverage is crap for many people-- no doubt about that. This device will help. But don't forget while the iPhone will think it is connected to wifi you are still on the Verizon data network and won't have wifi speeds. All you are really doing is switching from AT&T's data network (good speed, crappy coverage) to Verizon's data network (better coverage).
Also, if you receive a phone call or text message during a Skype call, it dumps you out of the application. I have not tried the new version, so maybe some of this has changed but I doubt it because these are limitations which Apple places on all 3rd party apps.
It certainly has its uses though - a friend was working in Eastern Europe for a couple weeks and called everyone back home using Skype on his iPhone at wifi hotspots.