GPS on smartphones: free GPS vs the subscription lark

mkennedy

Hi.
Just wondering about the pros and cons of "proper" traditional GPS vs subscription-based GPS with mobile networks.

I got the "proper" GPS on my own smartphone but what exactly are the advantages of the subscription-based GPS (like on the n95).
Is it that you get immediate map updates or something.

Now that nokia have bought navteq (afaik) the subscription gps thing seems to be the way things are going (unfortunately maybe)..
Don't like the idea of paying mobile networks for anything if I can help it tbh.
So what are the advantages of this network based gps?
And is the free GPS model likely to survive?

Stokolan

I have the N95 the only thing I saw that you had to pay for was the ability to use navigation! I was able to update the software and add what ever maps I wanted before I payed for anything.

AFAIK it uses 2 different ways to get your position, First is the norm via satellite and the second is using the mobile network to pinpoint your location well I think thats how they work but I think im wrong

mkennedy

Stokolan wrote: »

I have the N95 the only thing I saw that you had to pay for was the ability to use navigation! I was able to update the software and add what ever maps I wanted before I payed for anything. AFAIK it uses 2 different ways to get your position, First is the norm via satellite and the second is using the mobile network to pinpoint your location well I think thats how they work but I think im wrong

Yeah that's what I mean.
You need the mobile network to get voice guided navigation- or any navigation at all iirc.
Seems a bit crap tbh.

With traditional (free) gps it's just a once off payment for software and away you go.

Also it seems you can't load this alternative satnav software onto handsets like the n95 that rely on the subscription model.
Or am I wrong about this?

As I say I just don't like the idea of greedy networks locking everything down and charging through the nose for stuff.

robinph

There is "assisted GPS" where they triangulate your position based on the cell towers that you are connected to. This helps in situations where you will get a bad sattelite reception due to being in the middle of a load of tall buildings. That is not really an issue in Ireland though as we don't have that many skyscrapers and also it is dependant on the phone network having registered the GPS locations of their cell towers with the likes of Nokia so that they can use the data to improve you location in such situations, but I don't think you have to pay for it though its just if your network has support for it with Nokia. This also improves the speed of getting a very vague fix on your location as it can take some minutes for the initial lock if just using satellites.

You do have to pay a subscription for the routing from the Nokia maps application, and unless you preload all the maps for the area that you are going to be in you will pay for the downloading of the maps data via your mobile network as well.

delly

Purely on a sidenote, since we're talking mapping and GPS, I downloaded Google Maps to my N95 over the weekend and by god it works well with the GPS integration. Obviously your gonna need a data plan to use it long term, but I had it synced with my Eircom router and was really impressed with how smooth it was.

mkennedy

robinph wrote: »

There is "assisted GPS" where they triangulate your position based on the cell towers that you are connected to. This helps in situations where you will get a bad sattelite reception due to being in the middle of a load of tall buildings. That is not really an issue in Ireland though as we don't have that many skyscrapers and also it is dependant on the phone network having registered the GPS locations of their cell towers with the likes of Nokia so that they can use the data to improve you location in such situations, but I don't think you have to pay for it though its just if your network has support for it with Nokia. This also improves the speed of getting a very vague fix on your location as it can take some minutes for the initial lock if just using satellites. You do have to pay a subscription for the routing from the Nokia maps application, and unless you preload all the maps for the area that you are going to be in you will pay for the downloading of the maps data via your mobile network as well.

Ah no Assisted-GPS is fine.
I have that as well.
That just gives you a faster, better fix (optionally) and costs a few cents.

But it's the other thing- forking out for navigation every time you use it- that's a bit crap.

robinph

mkennedy wrote: »

But it's the other thing- forking out for navigation every time you use it- that's a bit crap.

The Google Maps application will do routing now. I think it will just draw a blue line on the map and so you have to watch that to see if your following the line or not, it will not actually give you any instruction.