“Apple’s new series of iPhone ads may hint at new features that were previously unmentioned. The ad entitled ‘Calamari’ shows a button at the bottom of the screen that reads ‘Directions To Here’ which would mean that the iPhone has GPS [Global Positioning System] capabilities,” LoopRumors reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Well, there’s another obvious posssibility here: the user could be required to tell the phone where it’s currently located in order to get the proper directions.
“A local trucking company also confirmed that an AT&T salesman pitched selling the company a large number of iPhones at a discount, as low as $249 for a bulk order of over 100 phones,” LoopRumors reports. “‘He promoted the iPhone as “a great way to monitor and track where the trucks were throughout the country by using its GPS functionality.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Not sure what’s going on with this bit, but if we had a nickel for every time a salesman pitched us something incorrectly…
Full article here.
Apple’s iPhone “Calamari” ad:
“and, just explain how the iPhone could be used to give directions reliably (and for free) if u need an internet connection ?”
Google Maps requires an Internet connection to work. The answer is, no connection, no maps.
In the USA there are many fixed price, all you can use data plans for cellphones.
GSM Telephone can locate itself very accurately without GPS.
Google maps+GSM and you do not neccessarily need GPS. GPS is sucks because it consumes so much energy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/blog/story.cfm?c_id=1501198&objectid=10443710
Arrrrh Hey guys he is from My country ,
Need to make sure he get all facts right
Go Mac Daily news Lets:
Ta
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PS: I have a job now in IT. cool huh
“GSM Telephone can locate itself very accurately without GPS.”
For best position it not just phone, it phone and cell towers calculate position. It 50-200 meters accurate. So only good for E-911 service not dynamic mapping. Maybe OK for find self on Google map. Not good for replace GPS .
If you look at the ad in slow motion, just after the hand presses the phone number you can see another button – “Directions from here” – below the “Directions to here” button. If iPhone has GPS, or for that matter any oher location tracking system, why would it need you to tell it if you are going to there or away from there… it would already know!!!
I believe in the Squid ad, the voice guy is the one that says which one is closest to him, not the phone!
If the Calamari ad is accurate, there most be some way for the search to find the “closest” seafood restaraunt, right? There is only two ways to determine the “closest” anything to where you are at the moment you search for seafood. 1. You type the address or cross streets into the iPhone before searching. 2. A GPS unit identifies your location and feeds it to the search. In the commercial I did not see any indication of typing in the present location of the iPhone operator. That leaves the only other option which is that it is using a GPS function built into the iPhone. Case closed…..unless the ad is all smoke and mirrors or course.
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Martin: re: your post
check out this frame of the commercial:
http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75703&d=1180994528
“directions to here” and “directions from here” are standard selections in Google Maps. After selecting one or the other, you are prompted for the next location to be from or to!
Not GPS. You must know where TF you are at the moment
What the Apple iPhone commercials tell us
Check this story at
http://iprodreviews.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-apple-iphone-commercials-tell-us.html
or visit
http://iprodreviews.blogspot.com
“unless the ad is all smoke and mirrors or course. “
You no understand that demo screen content done ahead of time actor just move finger to movie playback dumb american capitalist running pig dog.
Look guys, let me put this layman’s terms… bottom line here is that the phone does not need GPS for the cell network to have an “idea” where the phone is. Cell networks are built to be able to triangulate a phones location by knowing which signals the phone recieves most strongly and also the time in which it takes the signal to reach from the each of those towers to the phone. Even before eGPS, this is how you could make a phone call to 911 and they could instantly dispatch or make aware the police or emergency services in your area that they need to get ready to respond and then wait for more specific information on your location. It’s also the same way they can find people who get lost in the woods with their cell phones (as long as there is a signal). So… since Google and ATT are collaborating on this project, do you think it would be so far-fetched to think that part of the information ATT provides to Google Maps (for iPhone) is an approximate location so it can decide which of your desired Starbucks are closest to your “approximate” current location? So rather than argue about it being a phone or not, why not try and understand the full spectrum of technology you’re using these days and quit being angry over the little things.
martin is a very very very idiot guy. Shut up you Martin!
does anyone here actually have an iphone or are you people just going off of commercials??
i used my iphone to navigate from Tulsa, OK to Billings, Montana, thee only downside is that the few times i lost cell service the map would not refresh, NO it is not a turn by turn navigation but judging from how it acted it uses some sort of tower triangulation for location u dont have to tell it where u are but it was not as accurate as to location as the verizon navigation which is a turn by turn and acted more like it had an actual gps but i dont know the phone model