Michael Voong HCI Researcher @ Birmingham University

GPS on iPhone

No, I’m not talking about Navizon for iPhone, which uses cell triangulation methods to detect (rough) location and WiFi triangulation for greater accuracy in built-up areas for paying customers. This is locoGPS - a real GPS module attached to the iPhone communicating through some hacked interfaces. Only thing is, it looks a bit tacky, even the rendered prototype. Shouldn’t they build a wire in there so that it doesn’t have to rigidly protrude from the proprietry apple socket?

Or maybe we can wait till February, when apple will hopefully release a new firmware version that includes a not-so-cripped Bluetooth stack, with a developer SDK. They just have to! Combined with the accelerometer, unlimited data plan and an open API, this could be so ideal for my research (a few of my friends have iPhones).

Demo:

Source

First, I recently reinstalled Google Maps on my phone (well actually installed a new version on my new phone, but practically the same thing) and I’m loving the mobile triangulation GPS-like feature. I always thought it’d be cool to have a satellite naviagtion system with google maps instead of tomtom or whatever maps that cost a lot. Now I’m getting there. Being as I’m usually navigator (and never the driver) I don’t need the location to be exact - as long as I have the vague area (I think it works it out to within 1.6ish km) I can work out where I am specifically, and then work out my route. And now I have a phone without a bloody joystick (my old K750i’s broke about a year ago, and I’ve been ‘coping’ with it) it’s a pleasure to use Google Maps on my mobile again. Excellent job.

Secondly, and probably much more important: Android all the way for me! I’m waiting until Android phones come out, eff the iPhone! It will be such a pleasure to develop on and use those phones. At least I hope it will. Although if I’d got an iPhone/iPod Touch I’d have jail broken it before I even got it home!