Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Using the GPS Features of Your Cell Phone?

Posted by Cliff on from the everyone-else-knows-my-coords-why-can't-I dept.

travik asks: "I use a Nokia 3650. The cell phone already knows my co-ordinates (E911 service). It has Bluetooth. Why can't I send the coordinates using Bluetooth to my laptop, and use a mapping application to give me my location and directions to where i want to go. I've searched Google and also read up on old posts, no one seems to be doing it. Why?"

2 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. E911 isn't really GPS by PenguinOpus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    E911 lets the service provider know where you are by your tower connection (and perhaps by other tower signal strengths). It's expensive to keep track of, but is required by law. They don't have enough financial interest in returning that location information to you yet.

    AGPS (assisted GPS) also depends on the service provider to calculate your location, but it actually uses real GPS satellite signals to do it. The signal strengths are uploaded to a server which does the heavy-lifting of figuring out the location. Again, this depends on the SP servers and they aren't going to be terribly interested in returning lots of location points back to you.

    Real GPS does the CPU work on the device. There are rumored to be a few phones with this capability, but I use a Garmin Gecko 301. $228, records 10K points, downloads via serial port (yuck), and burns a set of alkaline batteries in 7 hours (or less). IMHO, it'll be a while before location information is as easy to get to as the cheapest GPS. Battery power is just too valuable.

  2. Re:Privacy? by bjpirt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, but anyone with a bluetooth gadget would have to be standing pretty much right next to you anyway.