The team over at Autoblog acquired an iPhone 3G that touts new GPS features and tested it out.
The verdict can be easily figured out just by the title of their post:
Should’ve bought a Garmin? Testing the iPhone 3G’s GPS capabilities
Before telling you the worst about iPhone 3G GPS, every single thing I knew was going to suck about GPS on the iPhone is 100% true.
- It is NOT real-time GPS. This is unbelievably ridiculous. Even regular cell phones have real-time GPS, meaning real-time turn-by-turn directions. This is NOT in the iPhone 3G.
- No re-routing. Again, ridiculous. I mean, c’mon.. even a sub-$100 GPS unit has a re-route feature, but iPhone 3G? Nope.
I had a few people state to me that now that iPhone has GPS there’s no reason to have a standalone GPS anymore.
I beg to differ.
GPS on iPhone absolutely sucks. A discontinued Garmin StreetPilot i3 built three years ago could run circles around it.
To Autoblog: Yes, you should’ve bought a Garmin.
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Rich Menga is PCMech's video guy, an author and part-time host of PCMech LIVE.
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David Risley said:
7/15/2008 9:05 am
Turn-by-turn is coming to the 3G according to Engadget:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/07/14/apple-says-turn-by-turn-gps-coming-to-iphone-copy-paste-not-a/
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zone said:
7/15/2008 1:40 pm
That’s pretty ridiculous, i was expecting a little more than that. At least it “could” be fixed with a software update but come on.
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Jester said:
7/15/2008 2:52 pm
Still it would be useful for people like myself that will not be driving and need street directions while they are away from a computer. I am convinced more and more that the iPhone is for techy metrosexual gadget geeks that live in big cities and don’t drive.
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Alan David said:
7/15/2008 5:27 pm
From everything I’ve heard - everything about the 3G iPhone has been a disaster in one way or another. From everything I’ve seen and read, half of them haven’t activated properly and of the ones that do, a good portion of them don’t connect calls correctly. And when someone gets lucky to activate a phone that does connect a call they find it won’t connect to the AT&T 3G service.
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Drew said:
7/15/2008 7:52 pm
iPhone = Fail. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
As per the Engadget link:
“Similarly, there are no technical issues preventing turn-by-turn directions, just other “complicated issues” (read: legal agreements) that need to be sorted out, and Josiwak expects developers to “amaze us.” as things “evolve.”"
That statement essentially means very little. Leave it to the developers? That’s pure laziness on Apple’s part.
All the talk about iPhone 3G being the best thing since sliced bread is just typical Apple fanboi’s touting their idealistic view of iPhone dominance
RIM > Apple when it comes to phones IMHO. The iPhone is nothing more than gloss with a extra few bells and whistles over the typical candybar.
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Sharron said:
7/15/2008 8:01 pm
Well Apple rushed out the platform to get the product noticed before anyone else could come up with anything better. http://kkomp.com/archives/214 Is it any wonder that not-a-lot works properly?
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Big E said:
7/22/2008 3:06 am
The posters above me overstate the problems experienced by owners of the new 3g iphone. I bought one on the day they were released, and though activating it took two hours longer than expected and although there were a few glitches with the software here and there, both were minor annoyances and both have since been fixed. I love my iPhone and especially love blasting out emails with record speed.
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Shyane said:
8/7/2008 1:08 am
It’s amazing to me that people have become so pessimistic about todays technological advances. The Iphone has delivered on everything it said of would. The GPS on my phone works great, if you need turn-by-turn directions you should learn to read a map or stick with a GPS unit. On second thought maybe you should try sending an email, listening to music, or making a phone call from your Garmin. The Iphone is 200 dollar device that delivers complete multimedia and utility functionality.
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H. Would said:
8/9/2008 3:08 pm
Big E said it best . . . get your GPS nav system to send an email or text today’s stock quotes. If you live somewhere longer than 3 months, I’d think you’d know how to get where you are going. I’m a Realtor in a major metropolitan city that spans 50 miles in either direction. Tell me the cross-streets and I’ll be there in half the time it takes you to read a map. If you need a computer to tell you where to go, you shouldn’t be going anywhere, in the first place. But if you can get your $200 GPS system to email a contract while watching streaming video and convert speech to text on the fly, call me and I’ll eat my words in front of you. That’s if you can tell me where you are without needing me to mapquest the address. Although I could just do it on my iPhone on the way to meet you.
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Blake Worthington said:
8/10/2008 5:22 pm
Very interesting article…bookmarked website
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