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Many android devices support actual GPS, not just aGPS, so you can use them in places where you have no cell signal (say, while hiking). Your iPhone takes 2 se
by calciphus 14y ago
Many android devices support actual GPS, not just aGPS, so you can use them in places where you have no cell signal (say, while hiking).
Your iPhone takes 2 seconds because it's never a cold start. You're always connected to at least one cell tower you know the location of, you have several nearby wifi access points, etc. It might not be a feature you need for your limited use case. Cool. Then you won't miss it.
- anonymfus 14y ago>Many android devices support actual GPS, not just aGPS Every phone with A-GPS support actual GPS. A-GPS is additional feature on top of regular GPS.
- mikeash 14y agoThere are actually two different kinds of A-GPS as best I understand it. One is the bad kind where GPS only works when you have a cell signal. It offloads a lot of the processing to the cell tower. This is used by cheap phones to comply with FCC requirements for location reporting for 911 calls, and isn't found much elsewhere. The other is the good kind where it grabs the almanac off the network when possible for faster cold start times. This kind still works fine when you have no connection, it just takes longer to figure out your location when you turn it on, because it has to download the almanac the slow way. They're basically unrelated except for the name, which is confusing.
- kaiuhl 14y agoYou are misinformed. Assisted GPS is simply a feature that reduces the time-to-first-fix of GPS. Triangulation from cell towers exists, but nobody calls it A-GPS. I've used the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, and 4S extensively in the wilderness. Every version since GPS was introduced has been "real" GPS.
- mikeash 14y agoI'm not talking about cell tower triangulation, I'm talking about offloading computation to more capable hardware located remotely. It exists: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS#Modes_of_operation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS#Modes_of_operation I can't find anything about chipsets that only do that, but I'd be surprised if nobody had ever done it.
- herval 14y agoYou don't need cell signal for the GPS to work - in fact, you don't even need to have a SIM inserted or the WiFi to be on... It just locates you faster (that's why it's called "Assisted")