Smartphone meets GPSr

[+chillypenguin]

http://www.samsungmobilepress.com/2013/01/25/GALAXY-Xcover-2-1

 

Looks like Samsung have an answer to the Smartphone v GPSr question.

[+T.D.M.22]

Seems to be good but with gps, and glonass I think battery life would be a big issue. I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

[+Red90]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

[+Chief301]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

I think Samsung's angle here is the durability of the phone.

[+chillypenguin]

I see screen brightness and battery life being the limiting factors. Providing GPS accuracy and sensitivity are up to scratch that is.

[+BlackRose67]

I hope they are using a different chipset than what they put in the first generation Galaxy S I have....that thing is useless for caching.

[+user13371]

Yes, a phone rated at IP67 is a novelty, but in every other spec it kinda looks a bit dated.

[+T.D.M.22]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

Never said they don't. Just when I use mine for caching/the other QR thing it get about half hour before my phone dies. I know people with other brands and I had a HTC. They all lasted longer. Just curious how adding Glonass would affect battery life.

[team tisri]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

Maybe every smartphone. The $9.99 burner phones you can get from Radio Shack don't seem to have GPS in them.

[+chillypenguin]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

Maybe every smartphone. The $9.99 burner phones you can get from Radio Shack don't seem to have GPS in them.

 

At least not that the user can access

[+Huntleigh]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

Maybe every smartphone. The $9.99 burner phones you can get from Radio Shack don't seem to have GPS in them.

 

At least not that the user can access

The FCC E911 rule requires handsets to be locatable but it can be by cell tower triangulation.

[+Red90]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

I think Samsung's angle here is the durability of the phone.

MY point was that GPS does not kill the battery....

[team tisri]

I have a Samsung ace and the gps kills the battery. Less than half an hour.

 

Every phone sold on the market has a GPS.....

 

Maybe every smartphone. The $9.99 burner phones you can get from Radio Shack don't seem to have GPS in them.

 

At least not that the user can access

 

I took the thing apart, stripped it right down to the motherboard, and couldn't see anything on it that looked like GPS.

[Andronicus]

I have looked at the Samsung Rugbee. The newest one looks quite good. Long battery life is one of the featrues.

 

To answer some questions, yes, Samsung is using an imporved GPS chipset in (all/most?) of their new phones. My SII SkyRocket has great accruacy, and although it does use the battery, it is not a super heavy load. I will still get 2+h while using the GPS and screen heavly. Plus, spare batteries are cheep on eBay.

 

Edit to add: The GPS isn't as heavy of a load on the battery as a processor intensive game. Those can really make the phone cook.

Edited January 29, 2013 by Andronicus