Why the smartphone is the new killer GPS

I'm with the wrong cell phone company I guess, 'cause $30 a month for 3 G service that sometimes becomes 1 X isn't free. Then there's all the fiddling with the phone to get it to work right. Then there's pulling the battery to reset it 'cause the mount confused it, then there's the calls that turns the map off just when you need to make a confusing turn. All of this plus more happened this weekend coming back from PHX. Thankfully I had the Garmin running without a hitch next to it proving to me again that the Droid X and Verizon is no match for a Garmin. Now maybe the iPhone will be easier to use if Verizon ever gets the new model and my last new every 2 is ready we'll see. So far it's Garmin for me.

Nope, never happened to me. I have Sprint, a 27% discount for my work, get to write off part of it for taxes, and with the Android OS there are no crashes or battery pulls. It just works. And with Sprint get calls to ANY mobile phone for free, unlimited texts, unlimited data. Yup, you're with the wrong cellphone company for sure.

In fact my Garmin turned itself off while I was trying to calculate a new route. I said to heck with it, and pulled out my Android phone and did the navigation instead.

You didn't state how much this service is costing you with Sprint.

Doesn't matter, I would have paid for it no matter what. But I pay a lot less than most people do on Verizon or AT&T.

I use Android to do wifi tethering when I'm traveling. It's a bonus that I get free GPS and the latest info while traveling.

Yep, and add to the fact he gets 27% paid by the Co., and can write off x% as well. Not the typical cost, or deal for the average consumer.

I find it hilarious when we have these discussions and EVERY time an anti-smartphone person brings up costs.

No one ever said you should buy a smartphone and subscribe to a data package simply to use your smartphone as a gps device. That would be idiotic.

When I purchased my smartphone the last thing I thought about was the gps functionality of the phone. I bought a smartphone because of the thousand other things it can do. The gps routing capabilities are just icing on the cake.

Which nav app are you using? And what do you mean by fiddle? Sounds like you're making it more complicated then it needs to be.

Sounds like something is wrong with your phone. Have you tried doing a factory reset?

If you're in a critical driving area you can always temporarily disable the phone feature. Or ignore the call. Or answer the call and tell the other person you'll call them right back.

Many of those thousand things require a data plan. Hence, discussions of cost, right?

Ok, let's discuss costs. I conservatively use about 20 apps every month which require a data package. My data package retails for $30 month (I actually pay less but I'll go with retail rates for arguments sake). So $30/month divided by 20 apps equals $1.50 per app for data access.

So over the life of my two year contract it costs me $36 to use the gps feature on my smartphone. I'd say that's cost efficient.

The data STILL costs $30 per month, though. The breakdown per app is inconsequential. Whether you have one, or one hundred, the cost is the same.

And you come along and point how they're basically full of *

Different strokes for different folks.

Of the iPhone nav apps I've used so far (Navigon, TomTom & Telenav) - none are on par with my Nuvi 765t in my experience. Can't do custom POIs, optimize a route, do a custom route...

What I'd really like is if a Nuvi would connect to my iPhone, use it's internet connection for traffic & weather, and access to Google search all on the Nuvi.

I do like Navigon on the iPad though...

LOL. Ok, let me ask you this then. Do you own a car? And if so, why? How do you possibly justify spending $20,000 or more simply to pick up groceries. I mean, by your logic we should examine the cost/benefit of an item based on one use.

Heck, assuming you own a house why did you spend over $100,000 for a toilet???

You don't seem to get my point without bring erroneous comparisons into the fray.

The point I'm trying to make is, GPS' are cost free outside of the initial outlay. Yes, I would include LM in that. Smartphones have other costs involved, however.

I do appreciate my smartphone, and have the maps downloaded for use via the GPS function.

But, it's not a panacea for my GPS.

Repeat after me... iPhone navigation sucks compared to Android. If you have never used Google Maps or Android navigation, please do not assume it is the same crap that is on the iPhone. I have an iPhone..I use my Android for navigation, 100 times better.

No GPS are not free. You have to buy map updates, for traffic you have to pay for traffic updates. And you have to load the maps. On Android the map updates are done in the cloud, nothing for the user to do. He/she simply gets the latest and greatest, period. That includes maps, navigation features, points of interests, etc. Everything.

LOL so true.

A lot of people have smartphones now. Regardless of whether they use GPS.

For these people, having the smartphone GPS is icing on the cake. They don't have to pay a dime extra for the GPS function, or for the latest map updates, or anything else for that matter.

For these people (which is becoming a quite a large group of consumers), the smartphone GPS revolution is amazing.

Would I buy a smartphone SIMPLY for the GPS ONLY? NO!!! That would be ridiculous. But since I, like millions of other people, own a smartphone, I take advantage of the gps features and it is amazing, better than a standalone unit.

Get it?

Funny, I have free traffic... so do many others here.

No thanks.

And you should not be in the business of assuming your experience is what is best for anyone but you.

I like my Nuvi. Like my iPhone too. Don't like android.

Does that $100,000 toilet have a butler to go with it? If it does, I want one!!!

I like my Nuvi, I like my iphone, and I am going to like my ipad as soon as they deliver it to me.... Tired of waiting!!!!!

let us not quibble, those that want to use Nuvi's as Nuvi's use them, and those that want to use their smartphones to get around, let them. We waste more wind trying to convince one another that what they have, is far, far superior than what the next guy has, and so on...seems silly.

I own a Rolex watch, I'm not going to try to persuede you, a Timex owner, that what you have is not as good as mine, when you know your Timex tells the same time as mine. You can't believe the number of people that ask me why I bought such an expensive watch...when theirs costs 25.00 and mine is $9,000! Both in fact do the same thing...ergo, we are both right, you like what you like, I like what I like...now shake hands and make up!

I guess you got it right on!

Juggernaut
My Question for you is do you own a smartphone? If so what type?

not doing this to flame the fire just asking a question. I have an iphone and the only free app I've found that included navigation was Siri which switched to Google Maps. It will navigate but it doesn't do anything like described on this thread. Is there a better navigation app for the Iphone? As it stands with what I have I would stick with the Nuvi for navigation but I'm willing to look at other apps. Its always good to have alternatives.

As for the house with butler don't tell my wife as she will want one of those!

Up in the Big Horn Nat. Forest last year in Wyoming(second tallest mt. in the state to the Rockies). My wifes gps on her phone didn't work, but good ole' faithful did. Garminita, it was nice to guide our way down the icy snow filled mt. nice and safely.

That's how I feel about smartphones.

Bob, as I stated here, I do own a smartphone.

I own a Samsung Wave (not available in the US). Same processor as the iPhone 4 (A8 Cortex), but a better graphics chip, and superior screen (SAMOLED).

It has Route 66 for Nav, as well as Google maps. However, I still prefer my stand-alone Garmin.

Navigon is quite adequate, and seems to be a favorite among iPhone users in another forum I follow... they all think it's great, but - they've never used a Nuvi either

Many thousands of apps don't require a data plan.
The Android OS allows 3rd party apps, letting you install apps from your computer to the phones SD card or memory. This feature lets you get apps from friends, websites on your computer then just transfer them to your phone, avoiding data and the market place (app store). One such app is Co-Pilot GPS, using neither data or cell service.

3G or Wifi? 3G will have a GPS in it - wifi does not; but... you can make that Wifi iPad a full, stand alone GPSr and use same apps as an iPhone. Way cool. This is what will kill a stand-alone gps before a smartphone for me.

There is a discussion in other forums that some Android phones have a bug that prevents them from locking on GPS satellites when the Airplane mode is activated (i.e. when the cell phone radio is off). There is no technical reason for that other than a bug. It means that when you're out of the country and want to avoid roaming, airplane mode is not the way to go as this will stop your GPS from working (even if you have the maps downloaded.)

Bummer for international travelers and another reason to like your GPSr.

Could be hardware or software... some hardware may not allow power to the GPS chip in airplane mode... or the software may depend on getting a rough positional fix via the cellular network via cellular location based services provided via the cellular network before the app will fall over to the device's GPS.

Caveat Emptor: when shopping for a smart phone/device, and you want to use it for navigation - find out if the GPS is fully autonomous or not, and if your app needs an active network connection in order to work - or not... best combination is a device that has autonomous GPS and an app that works independently of the network connection.

As economist Russ Roberts observed: "One-size-fits-all is efficient. But it comes at a cost. It doesn’t fit everyone."

Diversity may be inefficient but it has an advantage: Everyone has a better chance of finding a tool that fits his or her unique need(s).

Stand-alone GPS, Smartphone, road atlas, road map, Tom-Tom, Magellan, Garmin, etc., etc. - so many good choices!

I have Tmobile My Touch,it has a genius button.Push the button say find a business name or location.It then shows a map of the said name.Then you have the option of driving there with a map or even the phone number of a business.I love my Garmin but smart phones i feel are more up to date.

I have a Samsung Fascinate, and upgraded to 2.2 via XDA and even though I played with the GPS, and several of the apps that are out, I'll still stick with Garmin on this issue. Will use the phone gps when I am walking around or when I want to find my car, but for anything else, I'll stick with my girl Jill from Garmin

All the apps, CoPilot or the Navigation one all require an extreme amount of attention that needs to go to driving. I have never had to do a reset except for using that Moto Auto mount. I realize you can ignore the call but why do you then have the phone with you. Garmin has always just worked fro me. Just my opinion!

I agree with your assessment. I have a Droid X with a number of very handy apps including Gas Buddy and I readily admit a number of the features in Google Maps are very trick. It just is to cumbersome to use it for everyday GPS needs. It makes for a nice back up with some nice added features to supplement my Kenwood/Garmin built in GPS unit but it's not even close to being a replacement navigation device.

I use Sprint and have an EVO 4G and my wife uses a Samsung Moment. Our rate for 1500 anytime minutes is $139/M + tax. We need the push email for our jobs. The GPS and the rest is gravy. I almost never use the NUVI. Smart phones will kill the stand alone GPS, if you believe otherwise I have a bridge for sale.

thanks I'll take a look at it.

what would everybody say if standalone GPS units could do real time update similar to smartphones? That seems to be the biggest feature a smart phone has over standalone units.

Yikes. I pay $45 for unlimited calling, 1000 mins. long distance, call id, vmail, text, yada yada, plus a gig of data per month.

I 100% agree that smart phones will take over the GPS market. I really want Garmin to make a app.

Garmin has an iPhone app right now, as well as Blackberry. They used to have an app for Windows Mobile. I am not too sure about stand alone app for Android, but they do have smart phone runs on Android.

I have been travelling in North Am. the last 6 years 1 to 5 months every year with my Garmin GPS's.
It has been rather difficult to find a phone company with complete coverage of your country! Therefore, I needed a GPS to find my way around.
I have heard people argue it is very important to have a GPS/phone with GPS, when bringing kids to school or go to work or visit parents!
Most people don't need a GPS!
GPS is for most of us a toy and not a tool.
A little bit perspective in the discussion would help!I agree with "selfruler"

By the way: I love toys!

AFAIK there's no smartphone plan under $50 in the US. I believe the cheapest plan for smartphone is $65/month with only 200MB of data. Most providers will not let you opt out of data plan if you use a smartphone. That's exactly why I think smartphone GPS will not take over conventional portable GPS. It just costs too much for some.

Good point on the coverage but I'm sure some will also argue that gps loose signals too.

The thing you said about the toys is I think more to the point of what is taking place in this thread. We all have our favorite "toys" and I get the feeling some have to say "my toy is better than yours". Its really kind of funny.

Reality says that in the future navigation will be different. What that is or what form it takes nobody really knows.

I have to laugh at the part...

Well just all of it. 'Cause the map goes away when a call comes in ( the droid series will not do voice and data at the same time, except the thunderbolt).
And the more that 50 apps that are known to have virus causing the device to lock up...

And to clear the lock up you have to do a battery pull...

And after a couple of battery pulls you have to do a hard reset on the droid operating system.

You can see where I get the humor from. I'll stick with my GPS and feature phone.

Now those work every time.

on a nokia n8 the map does not go away when a call comes in -- it has multitasking.
there are few to no viruses.
ive never had mine lock up.
GPSes are obsolete. get over it.

Thirded. Motion carried.

On a serious note, I've got GasBuddy on my Dell Streak and of course Google Navigation. The tabletphone also included a trial version of CoPilot Live with the option to buy an unlock code. Yet with all of this stuff on a tabletphone with a 5" screen, I still prefer my Garmin as my primary GPS. While a smartphone does work well and serves as an acceptable backup in case of emergency, it's far more convenient in this case to stick with a dedicated GPS receiver. Because yes, smartphones are still too cumbersome for this particular task.

When I see pilots use one full time, and are standard on aircraft, I will.