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Dear All,
before to buy a Tytn II, I'd like to understand if the GPS comes upgraded by the future's ROMs (I think yes) or is necessary a future hardware change ???
P.S.:
I have a Tytn with the GPS Fortuna ClipOn BT, and I don't know is better to change the GPS receiver or buy the new one with GPS included.
Thanks a lot
Ciao ...
ritmia said:
Dear All,
before to buy a Tytn II, I'd like to understand if the GPS comes upgraded by the future's ROMs (I think yes) or is necessary a future hardware change ???
P.S.:
I have a Tytn with the GPS Fortuna ClipOn BT, and I don't know is better to change the GPS receiver or buy the new one with GPS included.
Thanks a lot
Ciao ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buy the new phone - its worth it. The GPS works fine & the phone has a lot more oomph (CPU memory etc)
Seconded, get the Kaiser and off load your BT gps. My Wizard is now relegated to my wifes car with my old BT gps and that is her SatNav solution. I am well happy just having the Kaiser as the gps works as well if not better, and I only have to carry one device around.
Had a bluetooth GPS unit connected to my AXIM as my GPS system before I bought this phone.
My AXIM crashed, battery died flat dead, so I had to use my phone as backup. Used the built-in GPS with TOMTOM on my Kaiser and it was AWESOME- worked perfectly!
Get this phone you won't need anything to supplement it what-so-ever...
No. The Kaiser built-in GPS chipset can't compare to BT-359 SIRF III. It sees less Satellite; also, many of them are invalid signal, that means these satellites were grey. With the ones are blue, the signal keeps going up and down. Sometimes, for somewhat reasons, Kaiser loose the GPS fix (you see the map turn around) even in the clear view sky, then you loose your current position.
If you're driving in the crowed sky area (e.g NYC), stick with bluetooth GPS SIRF III chipset receiver.
Read more here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=339257 I had used the BT-338 then upgraded to BT -359 which is slimmer, sleeker but lack of external antenna connector and less of batt. time life.
i have tomtom - works faster.
tilt gps - far worse. but it works at 95%.
ritmia said:
Dear All,
before to buy a Tytn II, I'd like to understand if the GPS comes upgraded by the future's ROMs (I think yes) or is necessary a future hardware change ???
P.S.:
I have a Tytn with the GPS Fortuna ClipOn BT, and I don't know is better to change the GPS receiver or buy the new one with GPS included.
Thanks a lot
Ciao ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Frankly I doubt the inbuilt GPS is going to be as good as an external one. (I reserve my judgement till my Tytn II arrives. However, your decision should be based on expense too. Do you mind spending out the extra for inbuilt GPS by buying a whole new Smartphone?
If yes then no problem because you can still use an external gps. If you want to keep the cost down get an external one. I bought an i-blue 737. The device cost me 30UKP and it's never ceased to amaze me how good it is. This will pick up 7 satelites anywhere in my home regardless of where I am. No need to go near a window, the acuracy is astounding with WAAS + EGNOs enabled and 115000 baud coms.
As I say I doubt the inbuilt one is going to match this but it probably will be fairly decent.
Disclaimer: this is just my opinion.
Nghiem said:
No. The Kaiser built-in GPS chipset can't compare to BT-359 SIRF III. It sees less Satellite; also, many of them are invalid signal, that means these satellites were grey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True for the reception quality, but not for the TTFF which is much shorter with the QualCOMM chipset than with a Sirf III (less than 5 seconds in most cases).
The degradation of the signal due to obstruction (when inside a car for example) is virtually identical to a Sirf III chipset.
The only real weakness with the QualCOMM chipset for the time being is that it has major problems getting a fix when moving quickly. I tried several times to get a fix while moving with ~450mph with a clear view to almost all satellites and the QualCOMM has a very hard time to find more than 2-3 useable satellites. Even after 5-10 minutes no useable position can be determined. Moving quickly to get a fix should not be a problem at all for any GPS chipset.
But I have high hopes that those "quirks" will get fixed with a future firmware update.
The Kaiser has an antenna port specifically for the GPS undeneath the battery cover. I don't know if a battery cover can be found that exposed it more gracefully but I imagine with a small antenna would augment the signal nicely.
That being said, without using an external antenna, I'm actually quite impressed with the accuracy. I wouldn't have anything to compare against it but it's always been dead on for me.
I use TomTom 6 but I've played with google maps and Windows Live Search.
I have noticed it can take a long time to get the first lock on occasion, and especially so when driving at speed. Not really a problem for me, as you usually plan where I'm going while the car is stopped.
-James
Since GPS works with as little as 3 sats, and 4 for 3D positioning, why does everyone worry about getting 7 tuned in? Seems a bit anal to me.
The Kaiser GPS IMHO is a tad slow to init, but other than that, it's worth every penny to not have 2 devices to handle at times. I've never had a problem loosing connectivity, so I'm 100% satisfied with the Kaiser. YMMV of course.
Now if HTC would use a decent CMOS sensor in the camera, then I'd call the phone perfect. But that's another thread...
Dear All,
thanks to everybody about the answers ... I think I'll upgrade my GPS receiver (is more cheap). In this moment, I wait other tests about the GPS of Tytn II.
Ciao, ...
scottwilkins said:
Since GPS works with as little as 3 sats, and 4 for 3D positioning, why does everyone worry about getting 7 tuned in?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because the more satellites you are evaluating, the more precise the position gets and in case you lose track of one of the satellites, you will still be shown a valid position.
Adding to that, the RAIM functionality of GPS receivers for an even more precise position while getting rid of most common GPS erros only works with 5 satellites or more.
So, while it's true that you only need 3 satellites for an 2D position, this fix will not be very precise (due to lack of crosschecking with other satellites and typical GPS calculation errors which happen all the time) and you will lose your position as soon as one satellite disappears from your view.
However GPS receivers which can track more than 12 satellites at any given times are useless because there will never more than 12 satellites visible at any specific point of the earth, most of time you can only track and use a maximum of 8 satellites simultaneously.
vacsed said:
I tried several times to get a fix while moving with ~450mph with a clear view to almost all satellites and the QualCOMM has a very hard time to find more than 2-3 useable satellites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't your F15 eagle have built in sat nav?
http://free-pc-guides.com/news/first-att-samsung-captivate-owners-report-problems-with-gps-02887
This is such a sensationalist article. There aren't any problems with the GPS. You're supposed to use a GPS outside, and even inside, mine got a signal fine.
This article also says that T-mobile is expected to get the Captivate, which is false. It already has the Vibrant.
What GPS Problem??
No problems for me, thus far...
Mine has locked once. After that it refuses and just triangulates using cell towers and accurate within 2600 meters.
I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.
It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!
gtg465x said:
I'm not sure I would call it a "problem", but the GPS chip in these things is definitely not as good as the GPS chips in most other newly released phones. It could be a software issue, but I doubt it. The Aria would consistently lock onto twice as many satellites as this thing. When driving near large buildings and under bridges I sometimes lose a lock and Google Nav jumps around, which never happens in those same places with the Aria.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've recently used both an Evo and an ATT-band Nexus One. I do have to say that the GPS on both of those seemed to acquire signals from satellites much faster than the Captivate, and give a more accurate location. Even standing outside, in the open, this one never appears to lock in on my precise location as well. I realize that's only anecdotal, but I no longer have access to either of the other devices.
Maybe its just mine, but I traveled over 300 miles today using Google Navigation, the phone up in the dash, with a clear view of the sky keep on having issue finding me.
I have an N1 and Aria, neither of these have these issues.
Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.
GPS is definitely poor. From watching GPS Test I'd wager it's a firmware issue. No reason to have satellites popping in and out of view in the middle of a field on a clear day...
I've had many GPS units (>10) and the GPS in the phone is the second worst I've ever had. Very flaky. It looks like they also tried to mask the problem by averaging a bunch of the last fixes. I say this because the speed indication trails reality by quite a bit!
And I did try the proposed settings elsewhere but it didn't seem to improve much.
Hopefully they'll get this fixed. It's not the way GPS should be working on a top tier phone.
AJerman said:
It seems to be working fine for me, but then I saw that someone had posted a fix for it when you dialed into the GPS settings, so I did that, and now.... it's still working fine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so to change my stance a little, the GPS has been a little off tonight. Locking has been slower than I like, but it has been locking, and I saw it lock to at least 7 satellites earlier so I know it has no issue with handling that many at once.
The bigger annoyance that I'm having now is that my AGPS is off by quite a bit, telling me I'm in the next town over until it gets a full GPS signal. Not only is this annoying, but it also throws off every app that uses the cell data for coarse location, and I wouldn't be surprised if it has an effect on how fast it locks to the actual GPS satellites since it has the wrong location info to start which is the whole point of AGPS.
I actually did the GPS tweaks found in another thread, and I was navigating around my city. Maps was spot on for 98% of the time. Once or twice it put me about 30 meters away, but that was when i was surrounded by trees or concrete. Overall, I was very VERY impressed with the voice navigation, and the re-routing it did when i drove past a turn!
hmose said:
Do the specs indicate which GPS chip is being used? Some are better than others. Is it SirFStar III, IV, or MTK or what? This can certainly make a difference but costs about the same, so why get a cheapo chip? Hope Samsung did not do that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm starting to think that the processor and screen on this phone cost so much that Samsung had to cut corners in other areas to keep prices competitive. So far we've seen widespread evidence of crappy chargers (take forever to charge), GPS chips (slow and not very accurate), compasses (all over the place), internal memory (slow memory is causing the stalling issue / lag), and lack of camera flash. Hopefully not all of those are hardware issues and some can be fixed with software, but I'm just saying, they might have cut some corners to keep this thing reasonably priced. Personally, I would have rather paid $100 more to have the best phone ever made hands down. Oh Samsung.
I got it to lock like one time outside. Then I found this http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/128026-everyone-who-having-gps-problems.html and now it locks on inside my house. And this is actually GPS I'm talking about not wifi/cell tower triangulation. Hope it helps some of you.
I picked mine up the 19th in the burbs of Chicago. Drove up to Milwaukee with it the same day and did a side by side comparison with my Garmin GPS after my friend sent me the article.
Besides 2 minor hiccups, they worked very similar.
*the first hiccup shouldn't even be credited as a hiccup because it was an alternate route, I knew from experience it was slower but my Garmin and my Magellan of past never recognized it as the faster route.
*the second hiccup was when I was driving down 294 to merge into 94. Both had about the same instruction but out of nowhere my captivate's nav system said to take a left into a random road. It "recalculated" after a quick flicker and went back on course with my Garmin.
Recently I noticed there was an update for the Maps application which gave me "Navigation" and after installing it, I prefer my phone to my Garmin because:
1. It now gives you a picture of the destination in "street view" which you can touch and scroll around when you've arrived or pretty much arrived.
2. It shows traffic (green is good, red is bad)
3. I'm not sure if this was before the update but you can scroll through the map using the touch screen rather than just zooming in and out.
I'll do a few more runs driving between Milwaukee and the Chicago burbs before I completely set aside one or the other, but my experience has definitely met my expectations of a GPS
Why not download GPS NMEA MONITOR App and watch the data sentences. If they keep coming then it is a software problem, not the GPS Chipset. If those data sentences are stopped, then you got a hardware chipset reception problem. Try getting a clear view of the sky.
Zero GPS issues here, faster then backflip, tilt, & tilt2 for me. Grabs and maintains connection just fine.
Complain if you are outside with a clear sky and you can't get a lock, not if you are in your parents basement, in the cab of your car (not on the dash in a car mount), inside your office cubicle, they need a clear view of the sky to work properly.
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
THanks but I will complain if I want to considering every Blackberry I owned prior to the Captivate got a GPS lock within a few seconds in pretty much every location "clear weather" or not. Expecting GPS to work in a basement is one thing but expecting it to work in your car...anywhere in your car, or even a normal house (unless you live in your parent's basement) is completely reasonable IMHO. My Boss' HTC Incredible's GPS locks in our office which is on the 1st floor of a 4 story office building as long as he is near an exterior wall. When I run the app GPS Status from that same office space I can see the GPS sats but they won't lock. Sorry if you are tired of hearing "idiots" complain about Samsung's suck ass GPS but you should pretty much just deal with it. It isn't too much to expect a brand new state of the art smartphone to have at least as good GPS performance as a freaking 3 year old Blackberry.
I am also am unhappy consumer related the poor GPS quality - I expected a high end phone to have an accurate GPS. With that said, I think everyone can agree that it could be better, however, the phone in my opinion is very great and boasts many other positive features.
I do believe the GPS will be fixed. Why may it be taking so long? - I think they are planning to roll out a large fix including a proper GPS update as well as Android 2.2. We may even have to wait as long as November for the release of Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) as I don't believe it would make sense for them to continue extensive work on Android 2.2 and update everyone to that and then weeks later force the switch to Android 3.0
For Captivate users, this wait may end up being for the better - Imagine being one of the first devices on Android 3.0; a completely redesigned and much better Android version.
More information gathered during research of Android 3.0:
This update would be limited to only the high end devices with recommended 1GHz processor, 512mb RAM and at least a 3.5" screen. Great news! We fit all of that criteria.
It has been rumored of a release date of Mid-October of 2010 - I would say at least November for us; with some luck maybe even October 15th!
The Android 3.0 system will incorporate a complete design overhaul and include a larger Android Marketplace - Basically no more TouchWiz, Motoblur etc.
Sources:
[http://phonereport.info/google-android-3.0-gingerbread-releases-in-october/]
[http://b4tea.com/information/review...3-0-gingerbread-features-release-date-review]
[http://thegadgets.net/technology-ne...gingerbread-details-and-release-date-leaked/]
Disclaimer - Obviously I am no expert, nor am i affiliated with Google or Samsung so I can not make any guarantee to the information provided in this less than extensive research. It is solely just for a moral boost!
My Nexus had no problem getting a GPS lock, even on the first floor of my house. Even if I stand by the window on the 2nd floor, the Captivate will not get a lock. So yes, the GPS is severely crippled
CougarBroker said:
Complain if you are outside with a clear sky and you can't get a lock, not if you are in your parents basement, in the cab of your car (not on the dash in a car mount), inside your office cubicle, they need a clear view of the sky to work properly.
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to burst your bubble but GPS signals do penetrate light structures. Yes, you can get a GPS fix inside in many conditions.
The Galaxy S GPS is just terrible - why? We still don't know. But I can place it right next to any number of other GPS receivers and watch them work properly inside and out while the Galaxy S sits there wasting battery and my time.
CougarBroker said:
Sorry, read too many idiots saying the GPS doesn't work IN their house... Duh!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My crap Navigon unit gets a signal inside the house....Duh!!!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
I'm with the original poster on this one. I have a variety of GPS devices, including a SPOT GPS messenger and a Garmin eTrek HC. While they can work in adverse conditions, the only way to truly compare one to another is under a clear sky, not even glass in between. There are SO many variables inside a building, in an alley or inside a car that anecdotal comparisons in varied conditions are useless.
Saying your GPS doesn't work indoors is like saying your shoes are uncomfortable when you're in bed. And saying you got a lock indoors is similarly unimportant. To test GPS properly, you should turn off all other triangulation services including Skyhook and AGPS and then get into a vehicle and drive.
A - B comparisons between different types of devices would be useful but really only with raw data taken under controlled conditions. Things like SNR for each bird, time to acquire lock, ephemeris and almanac data.
I don't think I am asking too much when I want the GPS to acquire a lock wherever my old iPhone and my old Nexus One can. I also don't think I am asking too much that the signal holds steady and doesn't throw me around on the map when I do have a lock.
I really don't understand why they don't just issue an actual fix. Samsung must have a skilled software team to deal with things like this. Or maybe not.
If you can get a lock indoors on other devices, the Captivate should have NO problem whatsoever
The BCM4751 is considered(by broadcom themselves...go figure) to be the "industry standard" in mobile GPS chipsets, it was designed to be able to find even the weakest signals whilst still being a power miser. That being said, its a little strange that ANY of my older GPS equipped devices have no (0, NONE) problem getting a lock indoors (waaaay indoors at that).
Im thoroughly convinced this is not a hardware issue, I should be getting more than one satellite indoors (the same one satellite I get outside on a clear cloudless day)
It's gonna be another "wait and see" game. Hopefully sooner than later
ianwood said:
Saying your GPS doesn't work indoors is like saying your shoes are uncomfortable when you're in bed. And saying you got a lock indoors is similarly unimportant. To test GPS properly, you should turn off all other triangulation services including Skyhook and AGPS and then get into a vehicle and drive.
A - B comparisons between different types of devices would be useful but really only with raw data taken under controlled conditions. Things like SNR for each bird, time to acquire lock, ephemeris and almanac data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sigh. I'm not even going to respond to this anymore. While I appreciate your desire to add more rigor to the process you don't seem to have much experience with GPS.
My sampling is 3 Garmin GPS units, Holux, iPhone 3G and Captivate. With the exception of the iPhone none of them have any sort of AGPS. The Captivate should handily come out on top thanks to AGPS, improved circuits/amplifiers, firmware and filtering. Especially when considering some of those GPS units are nearing 10 years of age.
There is no need for "raw data" and "controlled conditions". Side by side is enough here because the performance difference is glaring. We are not talking about marginal differences in performance. We're talking about working vs. not working.
Fact is, every single GPS I have bests the Captivate under *all* conditions. The Captivate is the second GPS I've ever had that I was disappointed with the performance. (I've owned many others in addition to the ones I listed.)
Yes, GPS works indoors. It even works if your shoes are uncomfortable while taking a shower in your bed.
yeah, gps doesnt suppose to work indoor. but when compare to other phones, samsung gps is garbage!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTOi82o56Tc
Sorry but your post sucks and so does the GPS on captivate. I used to have a Backflip before my Captivate and i could be in a bomb shelter and still get a GPS lock.
After applying cognition 2.1.5 & tweaking LbsTestMode, I could get a 8/8 satellites to lock indoors ~ its amazing! I'm so happy ^_^
honestly nokia phones are the best gps phones I've used. Downloadable maps, text to speech, voice navigation, personalize your own voice, accuracy is amazing! But on my captivate I can get a lock inside my home with 10m accuracy.
haydonxda said:
Sigh. I'm not even going to respond to this anymore. While I appreciate your desire to add more rigor to the process you don't seem to have much experience with GPS.
My sampling is 3 Garmin GPS units, Holux, iPhone 3G and Captivate. With the exception of the iPhone none of them have any sort of AGPS. The Captivate should handily come out on top thanks to AGPS, improved circuits/amplifiers, firmware and filtering. Especially when considering some of those GPS units are nearing 10 years of age.
There is no need for "raw data" and "controlled conditions". Side by side is enough here because the performance difference is glaring. We are not talking about marginal differences in performance. We're talking about working vs. not working.
Fact is, every single GPS I have bests the Captivate under *all* conditions. The Captivate is the second GPS I've ever had that I was disappointed with the performance. (I've owned many others in addition to the ones I listed.)
Yes, GPS works indoors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never said it didn't. I did say claiming your GPS doesn't work because you can't get a lock indoors is not meaningful i.e. it's not constructive. And most aren't doing the A-B comparisons you are. There are too many factors influencing getting an indoor lock for the forum to determine anything useful from it. It might be easier and more meaningful if we tested our devices outdoors with clear line of site to the sky so at least we eliminate the variables influencing getting a lock indoors.
BTW, I agree that the Captivate's GPS is utter rubbish. I've tested it on a number of trips in my car and it has never given consistent results. What the controlled testing and raw data might reveal is why it is rubbish. Is the ephermeris or almanac data corrupted? Is the antenna poorly positioned and therefore less sensitive than it should be? Is there noise/crosstalk?
A dedicated GPS device is always going to be better then a phone GPS. They have better antennas and usually more sensitive receivers. GPS signals are not as strong as other radio signals and are not designed to pass through buildings. If you get a lock indoors, you are lucky - or just have a house without a lot of interference.
When testing, everyone needs to make sure that they are not using AGPS or Skyhook type services (Google location services is another). AGPS uses cell towers, and Skyhook/Google location uses Wifi - even if Wifi is off. Skyhook and Google mapped all the Wireless access points they could find and use them for GPS location.
If you want to compare 2 devices side by side, you probably should put them in airplane mode and make sure Google/Skyhook location services are off. Also, be outside with clear view of the sky - no tall buildings or heavy trees.
Okay. I barely get a lock and can't hold a lock and if I had to navigate somewhere using it in a life or death situation people would be dead, outside.
I wouldn't rely on any GPS in a life or death situation - I can't even imagine a scenario.
I agree GPS is broken, but I would pull out my phone and use it to make a call to 911 - that is its primary function after all.
alphadog00 said:
I wouldn't rely on any GPS in a life or death situation - I can't even imagine a scenario.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, of course I am using hyperbole
Just picked up a Samsung Focus and the GPS in the device is spot on. I tested inside the AT&T store before I purchased the device and got a lock within 5 seconds inside the store and the accuracy was spot on. I used the navigation feature all the way home and it didn't miss a beat. Does anyone know if this is the same GPS chip that is in the Captivate?
Why dont you try to read the settings and maybe we can emulate them in the Cap
Lol, now samsung gets it right I guess. Frustrating, unless it is the same chip, then hopefully it is just drivers.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
No idea but I always change the SUPL settings to Google's servers on my Captivate and the GPS works fine then.
Isn't the Samsung Captivate (Rogers) a better comparison?
GPS Chip
Don't think it's the same if this is correct:
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/02/1...-with-media-playback-and-recording-functions/
EDIT: Sorry, I may have jumped the gun. I can't confirm that the Focus actually uses the chip mentioned in the article.
pretty sure they have different hardware, at least gps wise. no way samsung is that dumb.
I just bought an ATT nexus one. Im sick of the non-working gps and horrid filesystem.
From what I have read, and experienced, a new Captivate's GPS, and perhaps a new Focus' GPS, will work just fine for a couple of weeks and then deteriorate. Also, when I installed the leaked version of FROYO 2.2, the GPS worked fine for about a week and then deteriorated. Tell us what the FOCUS is doing in about two weeks.
I don't believe it's a hardware problem. If it was, the GPS would not work properly right out of the box. The fact that so many people, including me, report that the GPS worked fine for a week to two weeks, tells me that the hardware is okay. It seems as though, the more the software is utilized, the worst the problem becomes.
From what I have read, and experienced, a new Captivate's GPS, and perhaps a new Focus' GPS, will work just fine for a couple of weeks and then deteriorate. Also, when I installed the leaked version of FROYO 2.2, the GPS worked fine for about a week and then deteriorated. Tell us what the FOCUS is doing in about two weeks.
I don't believe it's a hardware problem. If it was, the GPS would not work properly right out of the box. The fact that so many people, including me, report that the GPS worked fine for a week to two weeks, tells me that the hardware is okay. It seems as though, the more the software is utilized, the worst the problem becomes.
glio1337 said:
No idea but I always change the SUPL settings to Google's servers on my Captivate and the GPS works fine then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally did that a few days ago and ever since, it's been great. Locks in seconds rather than minutes-which was really the only problem..accuracy has always been fine
Yeah i should have mentioned it but a few weeks ago i was having the same problms as everyone so i kept trying diff options untill i somehow hit gps jackpot and now i get an accurwte lock in under 10sec every time. I just figured that everyone else had dpne the same and just never reported their fix cause i know i am not certain exactly what i did to fix it..but it works great now
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
glio1337 said:
No idea but I always change the SUPL settings to Google's servers on my Captivate and the GPS works fine then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where can i find the SUPL settings at? and what do I need to set them to?
My little brother returned his Captivate and picked up a Focus.
Hopefully it's indeed fixed. I might switch at some point. Dunno.
The problem is an insensitive GPS antenna. The Galaxy Tab has no problems with GPS. The best test for increased sensitivity would be to take it into a big supermarket and get a GPS fix albeit a poor one (Galaxy S phones should fail miserably here). The GPS chip is the same. The weak link is the antenna. It's garbage, easily fixable though for Samsung.
For me the GPS is only poor on extremely cloudy days and inside of buildings with thick walls. Otherwise it's OK now.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon (QSD8x50) platform comes integrated with their own gpsONE chip. It's pretty much a rock solid performer, as it was with the MSM72xx devices also. The Captivate uses a Broadcom BCM4751. Completely different GPS chip.
XGX5309 said:
Qualcomm's Snapdragon (QSD8x50) platform comes integrated with their own gpsONE chip. It's pretty much a rock solid performer, as it was with the MSM72xx devices also. The Captivate uses a Broadcom BCM4751. Completely different GPS chip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No
http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns-Manufacturing-and-Pricing/News/Pages/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-Carries-$205-Bill-of-Materials-iSuppli-Teardown-Reveals.aspx
It has the SAME receiver.
heygrl said:
No
http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns-Manufacturing-and-Pricing/News/Pages/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-Carries-$205-Bill-of-Materials-iSuppli-Teardown-Reveals.aspx
It has the SAME receiver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. You have linked a iSupply for a Galaxy Tab, which is a larger version of a Galaxy S. ?
The Samsung Focus is a WP7 device, and therefore has a SNAPDRAGON chipset, with the Qualcomm gpsONE.
XGX5309 said:
Yes. You have linked a iSupply for a Galaxy Tab, which is a larger version of a Galaxy S. ?
The Samsung Focus is a WP7 device, and therefore has a SNAPDRAGON chipset, with the Qualcomm gpsONE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gpsOne is A-GPS, it's not standalone GPS which the Focus has.
So let's correct a few problems in this thread:
1) Some of the signal hardware may be shared between the Focus and the Captivate, but they are running different SoCs (system on a chip). Therefore, even if they have similar/same antennas, signal boosters, etc on board, the chip actually doing the gps signal processing is different. For example, in the focus, the Qualcomm MSM chip has something called "GpsONE" which is their trade name for the aGPS system used. In the Galaxy S, the GPS is handled by a separate chip (not the SoC), which I believe is the Broadcomm BCM4751.
2) The Captivate DOES NOT have an insensitive antenna, at least by phone standards. I've owned a Kaiser (Tilt) and a Rhodium (Tilt2), and the Galaxy S has a MUCH more sensitive GPS receiver. The problem lots of people are having with GPS reception is due to software (in particular the radio/kernel/rom combination).
And finally, I had horrible problems with the GPS in my Captivate. It shipped broken from Samsung (aka, until I flashed custom ROMs, I rarely if ever got a solid lock). However, ever since 2.2, reception/quality has gotten much better, and ever since switching to an i9000 radio/rom/kernel (see my sig for details) I've had ZERO problems with the GPS. I get a solid lock in under 5 seconds, I never lose that lock, and the actual GPS accuracy (not as reported in GPS Status, but what I actually see on the map) is much improved. If it was a hardware problem, how come mine was broken, and now works perfectly?
There's a simple answer for that, your Tilt2 and even older Kaiser has awful GPS.
The DROID X/Various Moto's/Flip phones I have can lock GPS inside of a building with no problem and the Galaxy S will fail to see any sats to lock on. This is the same for FroYo.
I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which I still like a lot, but its GPS is bad. Among other shortcomings it does not work in fast aeroplanes, but I need exactly that capability.
The apparently misdesigned Galaxy Nexus GPS can record a flight until the plane speeds up after takeoff and initial climb, then it stalls and keeps reporting the same stationary position until the plane slows down again for landing.
For comparison, the much older Google/HTC Nexus One has no such defect. It has no problem recording a complete airliner flight track.
If the Nexus 5 GPS worked better, that might for me outweigh the not exchangeable battery disadvantage of the Nexus 5, compared to the Galaxy Nexus.
Hence my request: Please test the Nexus 5 GPS in an airliner at high speed and altitude. Does it work?
Note that the phone should be in airplane mode during flight. Some airlines explicitly allow mobile devices in airplane mode. If yours does not, you have to decide whether you break the rules or not. I always do, but be sure to have the phone in airplane mode at all times during flight.
Note that the GPS may need a long time until it gets a GPS fix, for two reasons:
Without an Internet connection it has to receive the orbit data from the satellites themselves, which takes longer.
Even if you hold the phone against the window, it can still only receive the satellites on that one side. Occasionally, if there are not enough satellites in view, it will not lock on at all.
It helps if you let the GPS lock on once, shortly before takeoff. In the air, you have to be patient.
Depending on the window construction you may be able to slip the phone behind the window shade and just leave it there for something like 15 min. That is usually, though not always, enough for the GPS to lock on to the satellites and get a fix.
Another convenient way to have the phone at the window without having to hold it all the time is to reast a small bag, like a camera bag, on an arm rest underneath a window and put the phone into the bag on top of other bag content.
If you happen to know the answer to this question for any other phone type, please let me know as well. I would like to publish a list of phones along with their GPS flaws.
Maybe not exactly the devices you had in mind. But I've used my phones (Galaxy S3, S4) often during several flights around the globe and I usually get a fix within reasonable time. Especially when you've updated AGPS data before your flight. But it still is weather and airplane dependent.
These apps help you to discover the state of GPS-fixing pretty good, so before you fire up google maps, let these do the initial fix:
GPS Status (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2)
AndroiTS GPS (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androits.gps.test.free)
GPS Test (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest)
I've also discovered differences between fixing time among these apps. GPS Test usually gets the fastest fix times. Google Maps usually is the slowest.
Hope this helps.
This post is old now, but just for reference: the Galaxy Nexus GPS looses fix not because of the speed of the airplane, but because the altitude. When you pass 4000m, the gps reports all the satellites in sight, but doesn't obtain a fix anymore and keeps reporting the same position.
I was able to very this both on airplanes and during hikes that brough me above 4000 m. Same behaviour. And the last recorded point before the fix-loss is always a few meters below 4000. See also this tread
That's a pity, since I was planning to use the Nexus as a GPS for my mountain trips. I would be very curious too to know if the Nexus 4 or 5 have the same limitation.
Giacomo
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
robertusIT said:
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
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I don't know that app, and it does not show the position, but it seems to indicate that the Nexus 5 GPS does not have this problem and works fine in an airliner.
Good to know—thanks!