iPhone 4 as GPSr

but again you need to sign a contract with ATT, I'd rather just buy a new GPS system

I am with you....I have seen others try to use their IPhone as a gps....no thanks...

I can then carry one device that is super thin and has a high resolution screen, and it will replace my GPS, my camera, my iPod and my phone. No longer will have to walk around with my pants dragging the ground from all the weight of all these devices in my pockets.

As far as signing a contract with AT&T, so what. I already have a voice account and I can afford the $25 a month for their 2GB data plan.

Now if I was a smoker and had to support that habit @ $5 a pack a day or more, that I would be upset about But for less than a buck a day, no problem.

I can then carry one device that is super thin and has a high resolution screen, and it will replace my GPS, my camera, my iPod and my phone. No longer will have to walk around with my pants dragging the ground from all the weight of all these devices in my pockets.

As far as signing a contract with AT&T, so what. I already have a voice account and I can afford the $25 a month for their 2GB data plan.

Now if I was a smoker and had to support that habit @ $5 a pack a day or more, that I would be upset about But for less than a buck a day, no problem.

I have on old iPhone as well as a 3g iPad, and successfully use a self-contained nav system (Navigon). I have no ATT contract (or any other carrier) on either.

When the iPhone 4 goes on sale June 24 the two-year-old 3G phones will be obsolete. They will probably be on eBay cheap. Without a phone contract it can still work well as a GPSr, iPod music player, and can sync all the other iPhone apps. All at no monthly cost!

I know a number of folks who use their iPhone as a GPS for geocaching. Seems to work quite well for them for that purpose.

Is iphone still trying to come to verizon this year?

I'm more interested in finding out how Apple iPhone FaceTime (video call) works. How does iPhone 4 FaceTime establish video connection over WiFi?

Note: FaceTime currently works over WiFi only.

ya i still rather use a garmin

I think it will be more than $25 a month

I agree, but wish they would come over to Verizon.

I'm talking about the 2GB $25 data plan as I stated of course . You can do your own research.

I'll never have an iPhone as long as it's locked to AT&T. If they came over to Verizon I might check them out. I know there were noises about Verizon iPhones but I don't think it's going to happen.

No one is saying for sure but the rumors seem to indicate that a Verizon CDMA version of the iPhone will come perhaps as early as this fall or sometime in 2011. Apple will be happy to expand the market for its devices. The biggest holdup is the terms of the AT&T exclusivity contract, which no one publicly has revealed. I am sure the day the agreement ends the CDMA phone will be announced.

I still like my Garmin. My Nuvi 760 has a great screen size, large input pad for letters and numbers and decent sound for directions. I have an Iphone and love it. I have also tried using the TOm Tom GPS App on son's Iphone. Voice is too low and screen is too small. I just like a standalone GPS for the road.

I doubt the EVDO data network VZ is using will support the iPhone and its appetite for large amounts of data.

really? Look up RevA specs vs ATT's present network numbers. Agreed that LTE would be way faster, but theres no way that WOULDNT run a CDMA RevA EVDO iPhone if Apple wasnt tied to ATT for the time being.

CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Overview

* CDMA2000 3G Standard
* 1.25 MHz Licensed Spectrum
* 5-15 Km typical cell radius
* Fully mobile, no line-of-sight required
* Seamless integration with cdmaOne and CDMA2000 1X networks
* Easy overlay for TDMA and GSM environments
* Applications
o EV-DO Rev 0 – data only
o EV-DO Rev A – voice and data
* Peak rate
o EV-DO Rev 0 – 2.4 Mbps
o EV-DO Rev A - 3.1 Mbps

As of August 28, 2009, 250 HSDPA networks have commercially launched mobile broadband services in 109 countries. 169 HSDPA networks support 3.6 Mbit/s peak downlink data throughput. A growing number are delivering 21 Mbit/s peak data downlink and 28 Mbit/s. Several others will have this capability by end 2009 and the first 42 Mbit/s network came online in Australia in February 2010. This protocol is a relatively simple upgrade where UMTS is already deployed.[1]

CDMA-EVDO networks had the early lead on performance, and Japanese providers were highly successful benchmarks for it. But lately this seems to be changing in favour of HSDPA as an increasing number of providers worldwide are adopting it. In Australia, Telstra announced that its CDMA-EVDO network would be replaced with a HSDPA network (since named NextG), offering high speed internet, mobile television and traditional telephony and video calling. Rogers Wireless deployed HSDPA system 850/1900 in Canada on April 1, 2007. In July 2008, Bell Canada and Telus announced a joint plan to expand their current shared EVDO/CDMA network to include HSDPA.[4] Bell Canada launched their joint network November 4, 2009, while Telus launched November 5, 2009.[5] In January 2010, T-Mobile USA adopted HSDPA.[6]

According to these figures, Rev A tops out where HSDPA starts.

can't wait

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/18/navigon-shows-off-new-rel...

LONG LIVE THE ANDROID.DOWN WITH APPLE

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37510167/ns/business-bloomberg_b...

This thread is about the iPhone. Start your own thread about android if you want.

What he said.

Apple haters like MJA just have to pee in the pool...

Lets not forget that the new iphone announcement came along with the AT&T announcement to drop unlimited data and provide rather limited data plans. And I do expect that GPS map data can eat up some serious capacity, particularly if you are using it on a long trip or if parts of the map that you use get dropped from the cache frequently (even more if you have an option that gives a satellite view). I'm in no hurry to replace my one-time GPS purchase with extra monthly charges.

I imagine the new data plan is going to kill the NetFlix on iphone market too.

Navigation:
Many apps, such as Navigon and TomTom have self contained maps and are NOT dependent upon the 3G service for map refresh. The freebies are dependent on the 3G system to refresh. Yet I have found the data requirements to be small.

My max data use for the iPhone for email, surfing, and other purposes including navigation on trips (WAZE app) has never exceeded 35mb per month, so I am switching to the lowest plan (200 mb). Those who wish to stream video - WHY? It is way too easy to store the video on the device (I have 20 movies saved for viewing on my iPad). ...and you certainly are not going to stream Netflix on most airplane flights.

I also use my iPad for navigation (Navigon app) and have not enabled the 3G service.

Me, too.

Streaming video doesn't always mean commercial movies etc. In my case I stream video from 3 different security camera's in and around my home to my iPod Touch. That will be an iPhone come Thursday the 24th.

Although most of the time that will be over a WiFi network.

There's a reception problem already:
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/06/23/iphone-4-ingenious-ante...

Waited in line for 3 1/2 hours on the 24th and it was worth it. Read about the reception issues and have not experienced that myself. I'm lovin' it.

If I need a GPS I would rather use a stand alone GPS.

Hi Last Mrk,

If you should experience a signal loss like everyone else has, while holding the phone in their left hands, there is a known fix. Just buy an Apple iPhone 4 Bumper. Evidently, by covering over the metal strip, on the edge of the phone (the antenna) the loss of signal problem disappears.

Regards,

tailspin

I would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into signing on with AT&T. I have T-Mobile service and thus a SIM that could be used with an iPhone if not for the exclusivity and locking. For now, I just received a 64GB iPod Touch 3G for my birthday this past Wednesday and I have been able to find WiFi access just about every place I have needed it so I can skip the iPhone for a while.

I bought the Bumper when I got the phone. Some guy in line said it was a good idea because the glass front and back are vulnerable & unprotected without it. Now I find out it has another benefit.

No reception problems for me.

.. and the new type of SIM card (micro SIM) if you're talking about iPhone 4. Your T-Mobile SIM won't fit in the slot. They really don't want users to use their device with different providers.

why should you have to buy anything to prevent left handed users from having problems or right handed as a matter of fact? Just another example of rushing things out to market before there ready.

I am with you. Have a 760 that will be 2 yrs old this Christmas and still does great.

I used a Garmin iQue for years and loved it. The screen on that was just a wee bit bigger than the iPhones but the iPhone has a MUCH MUCH better screen. The iQue got washed out from the sun easily and the resolution was nothing to brag about. And on top of that i can use the Tom Tom on the iPhone either in landscape mode or portrait mode.

When I use the iPhone to navigate using Tom Tom. I'm using my radio for voice commands and also using the iPhones iPod to entertain me. If I wanted, I could play the Tom Tom voice commands loud enough to be painful to my ears.

That's a typical Apple solution, give us more $$$, we'll fix your problem that shouldn't even be there in the first place. Btw, I heard it on the news, Apple will release software update to fix the death grip issue.

when I initially got the iPhone. With the front and back both made of glass, I thought it would be best to protect the edges of the glass with something like that in case it was dropped.

Actually this is a community! And being so he has the right to post what and where he likes. And if he feels the Android OS is the answer to the death grip so be it.

A California law firm may be looking to build a class action lawsuit against Apple over the iPhone 4's network reception issues, now known online as the iPhone 4 death grip. "If you recently purchased the new iPhone and have experienced poor reception quality, dropped calls, and weak signals, we would like to hear from you," reads a notice on the Web site for the law firm Kershaw, Cuttiner and Ratinoff.

Read more if you like:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100629/tc_pcworld/lawsuitb...

IPhone Return Policy
If you are not satisfied with your IPhone purchase, please visit online Order Status or call 1-800-676-2775 to request a return. The IPhone must be returned to our warehouse within 30 calendar days from shipment to avoid an $175 early termination fee. The IPhone must be returned in the original packaging, including any accessories, manuals, and documentation.

Bloomberg is reporting that Verizon will have the iPhone in Jan 2011

(iPhone Life Mag app - June 29, 2010)

Glad I waited.

If he has the right to hijack the thread, I also have the right to call him out on it. And I did.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/160559/proper_inter...

I'll believe it when I get one

Ok, as long as you understand the community, you both have rights. I don't think he hijacked anything, if you had let his comment pass it would have done just that passed.

The last sentence in the link you supplied reads:

"The most important thing is to be polite and civil whenever possible."
Not calling someone out as you say in your own words, it's neither polite or civil.

So with that said, back to the normally scheduled node.

Stainless Steel Band

Created from our own alloy, then forged to be five times stronger than standard steel, the CNC-machined band is the mounting point for all the components of iPhone 4. The band provides impressive structural rigidity and allows for its incredibly thin, refined design. It also functions as both iPhone 4 antennas.

Ruins the total look of the phone by placing it in a condom (bumper), just to make it reliable which it should have been to start, out of the factory.

iPhone 4 antenna problems were predicted on June 10 by Danish professor

"The human tissue will in any event have an inhibitory effect on the antenna. Touch means that a larger portion of antenna energy becomes heat and loss."

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/26/iphone-4-antenna-problems...

Engineered Glass

All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. It’s also recyclable.

So a simple screen protector would have done the job,instead just place it in a condom (bumper)and ruin the look. Those that say there afraid to drop it, so I got a Bumper (condom) I say hogwash.
They just realize the spent several hours in line waiting at a Apple store just to find out the phone is defective, with a antenna problem. Then have to spend more $$$ for a condom (Bumper).

Aluminosilicate glass (in which some alumina, Al²O³, replaces silica) is another thermal-shock-resisting glass similar to borosilicate but able to withstand higher operating temperatures. These glasses also resist chemical attack and are good electrical insulators. Aluminosilicate glasses are suited for high-performance applications such as high-temperature thermometers, space-vehicle windows, and ignition tubes. Coated with an electrically conductive film, they are used as resistors in critical electronic circuitry. Aluminosilicates cost about three times more than borosilicates and are appreciably more difficult to fabricate.

Again no condom (bumper) needed!
Just quality engineering and quality control would have done fine for Apple. Don't look for a firmware fix to take care of this huge problem.

I asked a guy at my local Verizon wireless store about it. His response was "I'd love it if it happened, but doubt it will be anytime soon" He told me that Verizon has 2 requirements for all their phones & Apple doesn't want to comply:

1. All Verizon phones must have a removable battery.
1a. The iPhone has an internal, non removable battery.

2. All Verizon phones are serviced by Verizon techs.
2a. Apple wants to keep their secrets to themselves & won't let third parties service their products.

The prospect of selling 3 million phones and stopping the bleeding to AT&T may convince Verizon management to bend those "requirements". Apple isn't going to add a removable battery (and, honestly, how often do you need to change the battery? My 3G iPhone has gone 2 years without much loss in charging capability).

The iPhone's innards aren't a secret anymore. They can be serviced by anyone who knows what they are doing. However, servicing the inside of the phone is probably not cost effective. From what I have seen at the Apple store their policy is to just replace the phone for the customer, then refurbish the phone and resell it. Since a lot of problems can be traced to people dropping the phone this is probably the wiser choice. Phones can have problems that are not visible to a service technician. Replacing is faster and makes for a happier customer.