This is not quite true... Although Qualcomm's patented SnapTrack uses this type of design, and many handset manufacturers have got licenses for using it, other manufacturers like Motorola iDEN i88s have full SiRF chipsets. The major pitfall of SnapTrack is that it only works while within range of infrastructure.
On an iDEN handset I wrote a J2ME app that gets a GPS location fix via the MIDP API, screenscrapes a map from mapquest, and rasterizes the image on the handset. The quality is actually quite good, but you need IP functionality on the handset.
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This is not quite true... Although Qualcomm's patented SnapTrack uses this type of design, and many handset manufacturers have got licenses for using it, other manufacturers like Motorola iDEN i88s have full SiRF chipsets. The major pitfall of SnapTrack is that it only works while within range of infrastructure.
On an iDEN handset I wrote a J2ME app that gets a GPS location fix via the MIDP API, screenscrapes a map from mapquest, and rasterizes the image on the handset. The quality is actually quite good, but you need IP functionality on the handset.