I always use my android phone in airplane mode when I'm flying. The GPS works fine. Google maps even caches enough of the country (USA...maybe international too) that I can see exactly where I am down to a scale of about 10 miles. My GPStest app gives me altitude and airspeed to boot. I'm guessing its accurate to 10% at least...maybe better than 5%...which is more than good enough for my purposes. The assist message just is broadcast from a tower one way so I'm guessing the phone's data doesn't need to be enabled to make use of it. The message goes straight to the GPS (I think). I'd imagine you'd get similar results with a tablet.
Most of the decent android tablets (samsung/motorola) have assisted GPS (AGPS) that works amazingly well. Of course you need to be within cell coverage but even the wifi only versions have this capability, you don't need 3G. You can easily get fixes indoors within seconds of power on. If you're out in the desert you're stuck with regular GPS...which isn't terrible either. But the real question is, why are you taking a device with a huge, easily cracked screen on a wilderness adventure in the first place?
Is 3G a must-have for tablets or will a tethered smartphone do the job?
A smartphone does the job. How often are you walking around random places with your tablet and not your smartphone? You're already paying for a data plan so use it. And if you don't have a smart phone, get the 3G if you plan on carrrying around a device that isn't as portable as they make it out to be...or remember that you're likely not geeky/tech savvy enough to really want one at all.
Idiot android user here. I'm in the middle of a project to integrate a galaxy tab into my dash. It's screen and navigation are a million times better than the stock unit that was designed in 2000 and has maps stored on cd (!). Plus it has all of my MP3's that I'll be piping through my amp (before I had an ipod adapter so no loss of quality there). Back to the original story though, I bought the wifi only version that I can tether to my rooted phone. No need to pay for 2 data plans when all I really want on the go is an updated map and maybe some streaming internet radio. I think the whole plan is pretty sweet so I can understand your amazement.
No, you won't ever use pythagorean theorem to solve relationship problems in your love life, but the logical and critical thinking styles you gained in your mind from solving problems in math will
...also have absolutely NO USE for convincing your girlfriend of anything! (I shouldn't single out the pythagorean theorem, this applies to logic in general).
Sure, but finding a good place for the processor and transmitter in your veins might not be so easy. This thing is JUST the camera (but a cool invention none the less).
The stomach however, isn't a problem. I've heard of people putting much stranger things in their digestive systems...
Not trying to trivialize the past 3 years or anything but how much of that $4 trillion was lost by schmuks like us who put actual dollars that we earned into banks and how much was due to Bear Stearns etc. leveraging their assests 35-1 on crappy mortgages? And how much was due to the bubble and arguably never even existed in the first place? I don't think you can make a straight comparison between bank dollars lost and burglary. Maybe a better comparison would be number lives ruined. Even with all of the foreclosures where a great many people were legitimately ruined, a lot of those loans were given to people with crappy credit and no assets so whats another bankruptcy to them? One of the issues might be that most people can’t even grasp a number like $4 trillion dollars so it sounds fake seems like its happening far away. But if Joe Shmoe got his car stolen down the street you can easily relate and start demanding more police patrols.
Looks like I'm sticking with Android then. I'll happily keep a few extra bucks in my pocket in return for a device that has some sort of basic capability given to me (phone calls, internet browser, etc) AND has the option to do all sorts of other cool stuff like get me interested in Linux, Java and networking for the embedded systems I'm used to designing as a hardware engineer rather than just talking over RS-232 all the time. On my phone please, so I can mess around with it when I'm stuck waiting in line and doing other boring stuff like driving (I kid).
I'll leave the all in one solution to you because thats clearly whats right for you and its a great thing that there currently seems to be enough options to accommodate both of us.
Most of the guys in the basement on slashdot are nerds and don't understand how classified document control works...not really sure I'd call them cute though, but hey, eye of the beholder right?
And you have the death penalty in the US - which you tend to otherwise use for inconsequential stuff mostly?
Yeah we in the US tend to use the death penalty all willy nilly, mainly on those who put long term planning into their well thought out murders. But I'm sure you didn' t know any of the victims so you personally could say those crimes were inconsequential.
...not saying the death penalty its right, just saying the US isn't all like the worlds caricature of Texas. Aside from their ridiculous school text book mandates, neither is all of Texas for that matter.
Actually, it is. Its the largest commercial satellite ever launched. The comm technology isn't too shabby either. Iridium had 66 satellites and this gets it done with one. Sure its just North America but thats at least 1/4 of the satellite phone market. To handle that takes significantly advanced signal processing.
Also, Inmarsat has data but only in a modem the size of a laptop. Granted it is a lot cheaper for voice.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerreStar-1:...carries E/F band (IEEE S band) transponders which will be used to provide mobile communications to North America...raise itself into geostationary orbit
So technically not just the US but still limited to North America.
They should have a book burning at this rally. Where they build huge fires to...heat up metal type. Which are then arranged in such a way to communicate ideas, and then pressed to the blank pages that everyone brought with them for DRM free distribution!
Slashdot Mirror
Ok I'll shut up for now. In the meantime, can you please provide me with $10 billion in funding? I'll let you know what it was for in 20 years.
I always use my android phone in airplane mode when I'm flying. The GPS works fine. Google maps even caches enough of the country (USA...maybe international too) that I can see exactly where I am down to a scale of about 10 miles. My GPStest app gives me altitude and airspeed to boot. I'm guessing its accurate to 10% at least...maybe better than 5%...which is more than good enough for my purposes. The assist message just is broadcast from a tower one way so I'm guessing the phone's data doesn't need to be enabled to make use of it. The message goes straight to the GPS (I think). I'd imagine you'd get similar results with a tablet.
It actually might be in the works. Since my ideas are intriguing would you like to subscribe to my newsletter? (badum pishh)
Most of the decent android tablets (samsung/motorola) have assisted GPS (AGPS) that works amazingly well. Of course you need to be within cell coverage but even the wifi only versions have this capability, you don't need 3G. You can easily get fixes indoors within seconds of power on. If you're out in the desert you're stuck with regular GPS...which isn't terrible either. But the real question is, why are you taking a device with a huge, easily cracked screen on a wilderness adventure in the first place?
Is 3G a must-have for tablets or will a tethered smartphone do the job?
A smartphone does the job. How often are you walking around random places with your tablet and not your smartphone? You're already paying for a data plan so use it. And if you don't have a smart phone, get the 3G if you plan on carrrying around a device that isn't as portable as they make it out to be...or remember that you're likely not geeky/tech savvy enough to really want one at all.
Idiot android user here. I'm in the middle of a project to integrate a galaxy tab into my dash. It's screen and navigation are a million times better than the stock unit that was designed in 2000 and has maps stored on cd (!). Plus it has all of my MP3's that I'll be piping through my amp (before I had an ipod adapter so no loss of quality there). Back to the original story though, I bought the wifi only version that I can tether to my rooted phone. No need to pay for 2 data plans when all I really want on the go is an updated map and maybe some streaming internet radio. I think the whole plan is pretty sweet so I can understand your amazement.
No, you won't ever use pythagorean theorem to solve relationship problems in your love life, but the logical and critical thinking styles you gained in your mind from solving problems in math will
...also have absolutely NO USE for convincing your girlfriend of anything! (I shouldn't single out the pythagorean theorem, this applies to logic in general).
The stomach however, isn't a problem. I've heard of people putting much stranger things in their digestive systems...
And the Jersey Shore, tools do seem to stick around forever.
Not trying to trivialize the past 3 years or anything but how much of that $4 trillion was lost by schmuks like us who put actual dollars that we earned into banks and how much was due to Bear Stearns etc. leveraging their assests 35-1 on crappy mortgages? And how much was due to the bubble and arguably never even existed in the first place? I don't think you can make a straight comparison between bank dollars lost and burglary. Maybe a better comparison would be number lives ruined. Even with all of the foreclosures where a great many people were legitimately ruined, a lot of those loans were given to people with crappy credit and no assets so whats another bankruptcy to them? One of the issues might be that most people can’t even grasp a number like $4 trillion dollars so it sounds fake seems like its happening far away. But if Joe Shmoe got his car stolen down the street you can easily relate and start demanding more police patrols.
Do non us citizens also not get to vote in whatever country they do have citizenship?
Looks like I'm sticking with Android then. I'll happily keep a few extra bucks in my pocket in return for a device that has some sort of basic capability given to me (phone calls, internet browser, etc) AND has the option to do all sorts of other cool stuff like get me interested in Linux, Java and networking for the embedded systems I'm used to designing as a hardware engineer rather than just talking over RS-232 all the time. On my phone please, so I can mess around with it when I'm stuck waiting in line and doing other boring stuff like driving (I kid). I'll leave the all in one solution to you because thats clearly whats right for you and its a great thing that there currently seems to be enough options to accommodate both of us.
Most of the guys in the basement on slashdot are nerds and don't understand how classified document control works...not really sure I'd call them cute though, but hey, eye of the beholder right?
And you have the death penalty in the US - which you tend to otherwise use for inconsequential stuff mostly?
Yeah we in the US tend to use the death penalty all willy nilly, mainly on those who put long term planning into their well thought out murders. But I'm sure you didn' t know any of the victims so you personally could say those crimes were inconsequential.
...not saying the death penalty its right, just saying the US isn't all like the worlds caricature of Texas. Aside from their ridiculous school text book mandates, neither is all of Texas for that matter.
- Simpsons of course
This isn't groundbreaking tech.
Actually, it is. Its the largest commercial satellite ever launched. The comm technology isn't too shabby either. Iridium had 66 satellites and this gets it done with one. Sure its just North America but thats at least 1/4 of the satellite phone market. To handle that takes significantly advanced signal processing. Also, Inmarsat has data but only in a modem the size of a laptop. Granted it is a lot cheaper for voice.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TerreStar-1: ...carries E/F band (IEEE S band) transponders which will be used to provide mobile communications to North America...raise itself into geostationary orbit
So technically not just the US but still limited to North America.
They should have a book burning at this rally. Where they build huge fires to...heat up metal type. Which are then arranged in such a way to communicate ideas, and then pressed to the blank pages that everyone brought with them for DRM free distribution!