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Using the GPS Features on Cell Phones?

Posted by Cliff on from the geocaching-anyone dept.

Rylor asks: "A couple of years ago I bought the Samsung 300NP cell phone, which has a GPS feature that I can turn on or off. The primary purpose is to meet the Emergency 911 calling requirements laid out by the FCC. I've checked the manual several times and it only says that I can use the GPS feature for anything service I want, but that's it. Sprint doesn't offer anything else about it. So my question to Slashdot: if you have a cellphone with this feature, what cool ways are you using it?"

2 of 41 comments (clear)

  1. There are none. by xyzzy · · Score: 2, Informative

    AFAIK, no carrier has developed applications for the GPS in phones yet. But in theory, it would allow you to get localized directions, or 411, etc.

    Keep in mind that it really isn't "GPS" in your phone, but a hybrid using the cell tower for help.

  2. Overview of how it works... by stienman · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is no full GPS unit inside the phone. Instead it takes the GPS signal, does some limited processing, and sends the information to the cell tower it's in contact with. The cell tower has the remainder of the equipment to finish the processing (including knowledge about its own location and the signal it's receiving) and can locate the phone to within the usual resolution of GPS (several meters on a good day)

    To use the phone as a GPS unit, one would have to write an app that used airtime to connect to the tower and get the coordinates to display on the phone itself.

    I suspect that for the next few years we will barely see more than location based spam and perhaps a few games that will ultimately fail in which location plays a role in gameplay.

    In short, the only cool use so far is calling 911 and knowing that in two years they should be able to locate you...if the GPS signal is good enough.

    -Adam