Has anyone else checked out Waze.com free open-source navigation and mapping software? Looks really cool.
Jamie
I started playing around with this software yesterday, I must say that its pretty brilliant. Hopefully it catches on with enough people and it gets popular.
i love this new app i was amaze to hear turn by turn and speed reading very good app just wish the police option was near me and not 900 miles away
Oh! There's more to this than just playing Pac Man with my car?
looks pretty cool, I'm gonna try it out!
It is THE killer app for all paid navigation software.
IF! the provider can stay alive long enough it will catch up globally.
Then within 5 years it will be the ONLY navigation app left.
The disadvantage is how to reach as much people possible and convince them to install. Then get in the car every day and turn it on and start driving.
I DL'd it and played with it this weekend. It does have huge upside, however, it will not be a threat to navigation software. They even say that Waze is about commuting and traveling around areas you normally travel. The software helps you inteligently see what might be affecting your commute and to route you to your location using real time traffic data.
A real world example, regular navigation software iGo, Garmin, etc, will help you find a grocery store. Where Waze will get you into the fastest checkout line, based on the speed of the customers checking out, while you were still shopping for milk. I know how to get to my work, I also know that there are several alternate routes, waze is supposed to be able to tell you which one would be faster on any given day based on real time info from other drivers.
I live in the Cleveland, OH area. We get Lake Effect snow storms. These snow storms can be very small, but very intesnse. It is not uncommon for a stretch of highway a mile long to be in near blizzard conditions, and it is sunny and clear all around. You have no idea that you are going to run into this storm until you are in it. Waze could detect the sudden drop in speed, and advise others that there is an issue, thus allowing us to pick a different route.
If you hadn't noticed I am excited by the potential. They have some bugs,the software is o.k., but it needs more developing. I was driving over the weekend and was notified of an accident 300+ miles away. However those issues are being worked on.
It has real promise
boufa said:
I DL'd it and played with it this weekend. It does have huge upside, however, it will not be a threat to navigation software. They even say that Waze is about commuting and traveling around areas you normally travel. The software helps you inteligently see what might be affecting your commute and to route you to your location using real time traffic data.
A real world example, regular navigation software iGo, Garmin, etc, will help you find a grocery store. Where Waze will get you into the fastest checkout line, based on the speed of the customers checking out, while you were still shopping for milk. I know how to get to my work, I also know that there are several alternate routes, waze is supposed to be able to tell you which one would be faster on any given day based on real time info from other drivers.
I live in the Cleveland, OH area. We get Lake Effect snow storms. These snow storms can be very small, but very intesnse. It is not uncommon for a stretch of highway a mile long to be in near blizzard conditions, and it is sunny and clear all around. You have no idea that you are going to run into this storm until you are in it. Waze could detect the sudden drop in speed, and advise others that there is an issue, thus allowing us to pick a different route.
If you hadn't noticed I am excited by the potential. They have some bugs,the software is o.k., but it needs more developing. I was driving over the weekend and was notified of an accident 300+ miles away. However those issues are being worked on.
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We are both excited at the potential of this concept, but I think it could easily replace TomTom or Igo, IF Waze becomes widely and consistently used. It sounds like you think Waze is less useful when navigating to somewhere you haven't been before, but as long as other people on that route are also contributing data, Waze will still be more useful than even paid traffic subscriptions, because it is real time data from the road, not from observers. We all will need to use it all the time for it to live up to its promise.
I agree that more people need to use it. I was excited on a trip over the weekend to pass by someone going the other way... their icon showed up on my phone. Lots of cars around, no way to tell which one it was exactly, but kinda cool none the less.
The reason I think it is more of a commuter app than a navigation app it 2 things, 1) that is what it says on their FAQ page, and 2) I drove from Mentor, OH to Canton, OH a trip of about 90 miles. I knew close enough to where I was going, that I did not need navigation software, so I turned on waze and let it data collect... (It is important to let it collect data whenever possible, especially until the user base gets bigger)... the onscreen map showed only the map for the last "tile" i was in, and only showed a blank white screen for the space in front of me. On the way home it showed all of the map for the areas I was in on the way down. Now, I did NOT have it giving me directions, so that may have been the issue.
It was wet and slick, and we did see and accident on the other side of the road, a car slid off a curve on an exit ramp. I was impressed that it only took 3 or 4 presses of the screen to report it!
Cool
Hi there fellow Buckeye! I'm originally from Hubbard, a speck on the map north of Y-town.
I still believe that if we can get a large and diverse enough of a user base, we won't need to pay TomTom or Igo for maps or traffic data anymore.
BTW, have you had any trouble getting your GPS signal lately? I haven't been able to get a signal at all since yesterday. Prior to that it was nearly instant. I'd normally blame my device, but I know 2 others here in ATL who were having the same issue.
Can't say that I use the GPS that often to notice. As for Waze, I agree, there are a couple of people who drive around in my area that use it, it pops up. The software needs some significant development yet... but I am an eager early adopter. The key would be to get the truckers to use it... they are everywhere.
It's working again
Not sure what happened. It was wierd becuase one of the things I love about this program is how fast I get a lock. It is almost instant. With Igo sometimes it takes minutes to get a fix.
Thats a great idea about the truckers, btw
Related
i've been switching roms trying to get my GPS to lock back on.
i used to get it down to exactly which room I was in in my House.
i think it said accurate to 2 meters.
I could use google nav like a champ and it would lock on quickly.
now i can't get it any closer than 20 m. It seems to refresh my location slower and I have problems using google nav b/c it continuously loses my GPS signal.
Any suggestions? thoughts? people with the same problem?
Where do you live, remember weather is a significant factor when it comes to GPS. It is getting about that time of year where it is going to be cloudy and rainy a lot. We had a big rain storm come through a couple weeks back and I couldn't even get a lock in my car.
ah i was replying to this thread when XDA froze.
But i'm in southern cali and everywhere it wasn't working.
on the 101 freeway, 110, 405, highway 1
anywhere
it used to be so spot on.
Was it overcast or raining when you were having problems? I have checked the public GPS interference notices and there is nothing specified in your area and there are only 2 unavailable sats right now, although there is the slight possibility that there is something on the classified notifications that may explain any service disruption, but I doubt it. Most likely it is due to atmospheric effects, although there is also the chance that something is indeed broken, whether physically or in software. There is an app on the market called GPS status that has an interface similar to old-school garmin devices where you can see where all the sats are and your signal strength for each of them. Also, once you get it installed play around with it in different weather conditions and times of day(the signal should be stronger at night if it is clear). If you want I can do some baselines and send them to you to compare, although I am in CO, so it may be better for you to compare to someone else in CA.
I just received my new hero and it definitely was an internal problem. I can get a lock in seconds now and.within two meters.
Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
im considering buying this phone,but i hear there's problems with the GPS. my current phone has a great GPS receiver and i use it a lot for day to day navigation.How much will i be disappointed if i were to expect the same from the galaxy s?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/search.php?searchid=42858169
Here in holland I have no problems with the GPS reception...
Personally, I found that straight out of the box the gps was dreadful, but an hour later after I did the simple gps fix, it navigated me on a hundred and fifty mile round trip with no problems at all.
The fix is simple and easy and takes literally no skill. When you take your sgs out of the box, see if the gps works for you, then try the fix. If there is still no joy then take it back and say the navigation is busted and you want a different handset.
I'd certainly say its worth trying at least. Chances are can get it working and everything else that you like about droid is better on the galaxy .
It's worth remembering that the gps is not battery friendly and you'll need a potent (2A output)car charger to keep you running on the move.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Basically, in summary:
1) In late firmware, the lock is quite quick, especially compared to car GPS units. Maybe not as fast as some other phones, but fast enough. Certainly faster than my Garmin Forerunner
2) The accuracy boundaries on this phone are wrong sometimes (at least in XXJM5), but this may be a bug in that specific pre-release.
3) With JM5, the unit seems to only lock onto 8 satellites max, but, some people are saying apparently newer firmware's are locking onto more
4) People are complaining of issues getting locks when moving with the unit. However, I've experienced this on ALL GPS units I've owned. AGPS should help with this though (but I've never tested initial lock whilst moving except in a firmware where GPS was 100% broken for me).
5) In some cases, the GPS goes skitzo, this might be fixed in later firmwares
6) Finally, sometimes the track is a bit off to the side, and doesn't handle cornering well.. This is likely related to (2). But this makes it useless for fitness at the moment
Anyway, the GPS is usable, but there are serious accuracy problems with it still. Samsung has said that they are working on optimising GPS for a September update. My best advice is wait until then, because if it isn't fixed in September, the possibility that it is due to poor hardware design seems to grow significantly..
thank you for your valuable input,this forum really is the best on the internet.I'm gunna be buying it next month anyway,so lets see if the update fixes the GPS or not.To be honest,theres no other phone that can match it,so theres no alternative to this phone even if the GPS IS dodgy
The GPS sucks so hard that I'd rather use a regular map for navigation.
My Galaxy S has no gps problems. The first time i went out from house to check GPS accuracy I got GPS signal after 3 seconds. It's stable in 100% cases.
Acquiring signal is not the issue. I don't understand why people keep comparing signal to accuracy. it's not the same thing.
Exactly, there are people in other topics that are just inflating the whole issue, their claims are way exaggerated, and the original issues has already been fixed on newer firmwares, yet they refuse to accept it.
AllGamer said:
Exactly, there are people in other topics that are just inflating the whole issue, their claims are way exaggerated, and the original issues has already been fixed on newer firmwares, yet they refuse to accept it.
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Go for a 20min jog then and show a track of your perfect GPS. I have a lower standard than many of them, but all tracks I saw lost lock excessively at some point or another..
I haven't tried it myself, but can on tuesday.
damn,so many different opinions on this issue.also not being able to track my runs is a BIG minus but still not a deal breaker.day-to-day city navigation is a must though.
It's just as simple as that - you don't check gps functionality just by its fix time. you put it in your car, and start driving - if it's accurate (highly unlikely), gewd. if not - go back here and whine.
kingofkings2603 said:
damn,so many different opinions on this issue.also not being able to track my runs is a BIG minus but still not a deal breaker.day-to-day city navigation is a must though.
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The big problem is that many of them seem to be testing quickly from their chair.. There is overwhelming evidence that the GPS doesn't work accurately, but barely any showing it does.. In fact, in one case, I saw someone claim the unit was working perfectly, but the track they showed was on a straight highway, and was fluctuating excessively between both sides of the highway. And the most vocal of those who claims it works perfectly don't seem to be posting logs..
There is also some confusion between whether it is "fitness grade" or "car grade". Car navigation GPS can snap to tracks, and has more room for accuracy errors, because it can assume you always exist on the closest road, and if you use directions, it can assume you took the correct turns when it told you to do so (and correct itself a bit later). That's what most car units seem to do, and it helps compensate for most inaccuracies. It can lead to a bit of pain though if you make lots of turns, some of which aren't correct. Some people are possibly happy because they have used dedicated car units before which suck (some navman's take at least 5 mins to get a basic lock, negating any benefits of having them), but, since some phones offer better directions apparently, people are complaining it should be better.
Fitness grade requires MUCH higher resolution to be usable, because the distance is shorter (generally), and if your GPS veers off course, it gives you a false indication of jogging distance. Garmin forerunners feel generally like they are within 1 or 2 meters a of the time (but occasionally veers off 3), but from what I've observed standing still, the flaws may be less visible when moving, but simply appear as slightly off course.
Then there are those people who stare at the SNR/locked satelites for hours at end without checking whether the long/lat is actually correct, or the accuracy boundary (they see 5m accuracy, but don't actually check if it is accurate within 5 meters). I was one of these, until I realised that the accuracy boundary was wrong..
Part of the issue also comes down to firmware though. People are using pre-release/leaked firmware (which might not even be complete) and are judging the GPS quality based on that. No comment needed except, don't assume that Samsung aren't working on fixes because there is no fix in pre-release firmware.
I haven't properly tested either though personally because I use a forerunner for jogging (waterproof), and since I fly, I prefer to use maps to understand locations better. I did notice though that leaving my phone on my desk for a long period of time sometimes allowed the signal accuracy boundary to not include me (ie, allow a position of 20m away from me, but show 5m accuracy) intermittently. And this might explain the fluctuations in position many others have gotten..
Either way, it is debatable. The biggest issue is that the assumption so far is that everyone got exactly the same hardware, and exactly the same revisions. But the other problem, is that GPS quality is open to opinion, because in some areas, roads are so far spread out that even inaccurate GPS works fine for driving. It really depends on your needs. But the facts are, the accuracy of the GPS isn't worth debating anyway currently, because Samsung have already told us they are "optimising" the GPS in Sept, which may make this unit as good as a garmin forerunner anyway. All any of us can tell you as that we'll know the TRUE potential of the unit after the september patch.
But for me anyway, I think the GPS is fine (I don't need perfect accuracy, even if I needed this as a fallback in a plane)
The GPS is bad to the point of being unusable for car navigation or fitness tracking. Yes you may get a lock in GGps test but when moving the reported location is all ov
er the place.
andrewluecke said:
Then there are those people who stare at the SNR/locked satelites for hours at end without checking whether the long/lat is actually correct, or the accuracy boundary (they see 5m accuracy, but don't actually check if it is accurate within 5 meters). I was one of these, until I realised that the accuracy boundary was wrong..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Case in point to illustrate what andrewluecke is trying to explain here about the accuracy not being exactly...well, accurate. Take a look at the attached screenshot. My GPS had a great fix with accuracy of 5m (the best it's able to report), stable for a few minutes, everything was working perfectly. Or so it seems. Except for the slight problem that I was actually standing where the red dot is... There's no scale on the screenshot, but it's a good 30-40 meters off. And that's quite common for me.
Case_ said:
Case in point to illustrate what andrewluecke is trying to explain here about the accuracy not being exactly...well, accurate. Take a look at the attached screenshot. My GPS had a great fix with accuracy of 5m (the best it's able to report), stable for a few minutes, everything was working perfectly. Or so it seems. Except for the slight problem that I was actually standing where the red dot is... There's no scale on the screenshot, but it's a good 30-40 meters off. And that's quite common for me.
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Exactly Case_. The point of the accuracy measurement is to say "you are somewhere within this range". But, with the Galaxy S, it isn't, and that shouldn't happen, at least not as often as it does (except maybe at the beginning whilst obtaining a lock"). Professional systems have something known as RAIM and FDE which detect when the accuracy may be incorrect due to external factors (such as shonky satelite, or serious atmospheric interference). But this happens a LOT, and I would have thought it affects GPS units equally (unless the Garmin forerunners in fact DO ship with fault detection, which could explain it, in which case, Samsung should implement fault detection and exclusion too, to make it usable).
Anyway.. What I am trying to say is summed up easiest with Case's post.
Fatherboard said:
Acquiring signal is not the issue. I don't understand why people keep comparing signal to accuracy. it's not the same thing.
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It most certainly is an issue. It takes a minute or longer to acquire a lock in some cases despite stationary and clear line of sight.
The people who stomp their feet with "The GPS is fine" are no different than the iPhone4 users who claim there is no attenuation in their phones.
In my case with the DDJG4 update, I see some minor issues.
Once in a while when I am at home (indoors with no visible satelites) my location shifts from bangalore to toronto. All my stuff changes to that. It looks like AGPS is not turned on or buggy becuase 80% of the times it works well. Does anybody else face the same problem ?
So when my phone takes me to toronto, i restart the phone and everythng is back to normal
SOmetimes, the location service fails to find where I am and shows Toronto in Google website. Is there anyway to avoid this.
It's just like what most people say, you can get a fix, and GPS seems fine. Try to use it, and it's a whole different story.
Somebody on the forum posted a link of a run, where the SGS GPS went everywere but on the straight line, it even made a hilarious loop. Too bad i can't find it.
People need to stop saying "Firmware updates fixed it already" as that's just not true.
Hah, there it is, posted by sjdean.
Desire, and SGS GPS.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...52.48542,-1.742063&spn=0.014138,0.045319&z=15
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...=52.48082,-1.761761&spn=0.01414,0.045319&z=15
I have been hearing of numerous complaints about the GPS of the Galaxy S and was wondering if mine had an issue.
Having only GPS'd my location at a standstill with excellent (within 10 metre) results, I decided to use Google Navigation on a 15 kilometre trip from where I was to my home.
I can honestly say my GPS had pinpoint accuracy for the entire trip, not losing signal once. And when I mean pinpoint accuracy, I mean it felt like a satellite was right on top of me the entire way home.
Apart from Google Navigation using a weird route to get home (which I followed, only forcing the unit to reroute once), and speaking the street names like it didn't understand grammer, I'd say it was almost as perfect as my tried and true Garmin (which uses better routes).
So this isn't a gloating post, but I'm trying to understand what issues all of you have with the GPS, as I don't seem to be experiencing any.
P.S. I'm still on Bell's official 2.1 firmware (latest one, I believe its JH2).
Thanks
Go for a walk. Stop for a coffee somewhere. Walk again. Stop to enjoy something beautiful. Record your experience with My Tracks. Share you track. Then we can discuss GPS quality.
I hope it all works excellent for you.
Regards!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Nice story but why post it as a [Q] and in development forum
NetCopAD said:
Go for a walk. Stop for a coffee somewhere. Walk again. Stop to enjoy something beautiful. Record your experience with My Tracks. Share you track. Then we can discuss GPS quality.
I hope it all works excellent for you.
Regards!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto. 10 char.
NetCopAD said:
Go for a walk. Stop for a coffee somewhere. Walk again. Stop to enjoy something beautiful. Record your experience with My Tracks. Share you track. Then we can discuss GPS quality.
I hope it all works excellent for you.
Regards!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I never really use my GPS that way, but for experimental purposes I will. Downloading the program now (not factory software with Bell I guess). Is there a certain distance I should be walking? And what should I notice to report back? That my tracks were the exact route I took?
Having said that, if there is a problem, could it not be a specific problem with the way MyTracks itself cooperates with the GPS? I mean I find it strange the GPS works flawlessly with Navigation (stops and lights, stop signs etc) but not with My Tracks? I dunno.
gllu said:
Nice story but why post it as a [Q] and in development forum
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You're right.. didn't realize I posted it here until after I posted it. I leave the moderating for moderators, but my apologies just the same. Moderators, please move this to an area which is more suitable to avoid posts like these.
greeced said:
Ok, I never really use my GPS that way, but for experimental purposes I will. Downloading the program now (not factory software with Bell I guess). Is there a certain distance I should be walking? And what should I notice to report back? That my tracks were the exact route I took?
Having said that, if there is a problem, could it not be a specific problem with the way MyTracks itself cooperates with the GPS? I mean I find it strange the GPS works flawlessly with Navigation (stops and lights, stop signs etc) but not with My Tracks? I dunno.
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Click to collapse
Not just My Tracks, you can try any other similar apps. That's just the most popular and widely used one.
The thing with Navigation is, it KNOWS you're supposed to be travelling on the road - so even if the actual GPS data suggests that you're 5 meters off the road, the navigation software "corrects" it and puts you back on the road.
Use My Tracks to record a small walk. Make a couple of stops. It ALWAYS puts me 15 feet off the road. And when standing still, it keeps moving around restlessly. Ugh
It's just that navigation software generally has the ability to use road information to supplement the raw GPS data and thus yields seemingly better results. It snaps to roads, approximates expected position etc.
My Tracks and other similar software just records your track without any awareness of roads so the resulting info (track) is pretty close to the raw GPS performance.
Standing still is when the GPS problem is most evident. Your reported position just jumps around, sometimes sending you a hundred meters away or more.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Ok,
Went for a short walk using my tracks... Around a rather large block and through a path in a park, where I sat down on a park bench for 5 minutes, got up, and continued the trail back to the main road, then back to my house.
I noticed when I started off, it showed me on the other side of the street, but quickly corrected itself as soon as I started walking to the right side of the street.
I then stopped at a communal mail box, I noticed the gps had 'bounced' to the other side of the street but as soon as I started walking again, it corrected itself.
The other side of the street on those two occasions was 15-20 feet away (Its a residential side-street), which to me has the GPS as being extremely accurate. Even Google's disclaimer on "My Tracks" states:
Under optimal conditions the location can be +/- 20 feet (6 meters).
And thats exactly what it was with mine.
After the communal mail box, it was extremely accurate to less than 2 metres the rest of the trip/way home. The circle around the orange arrow was extremely small most of the way, only getting larger when I entered my house.
NetCopAD said:
It's just that navigation software generally has the ability to use road information to supplement the raw GPS data and thus yields seemingly better results. It snaps to roads, approximates expected position etc.
My Tracks and other similar software just records your track without any awareness of roads so the resulting info (track) is pretty close to the raw GPS performance.
Standing still is when the GPS problem is most evident. Your reported position just jumps around, sometimes sending you a hundred meters away or more.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
See, standing still with me is absolutely bang on within 10 metres. If you're talking about when you first fire up the GPS, then I'd agree with you, but the hundreds of metres away is not your GPS position. Its where your cell provider is reporting you to be, either by the tower, or triangulation.
The GPS then using that information, as per my guess, to hone on where you are. and it actually finds me within 5 to 10 seconds.
Oh and as for navigation, I'd have to disagree with your assertion about the GPS and the knowing your on a road statement. I live in an area where new roads are built all the time, and those roads are not on any mapping system including garmins, and the GPS will follow you anyway, just go into a constant cycle of
"Recalculating" or "Turn Around" or "Make a U-Turn". (At least that's what my garmin does when I test it), but it still follows me up to and including the road that is actually on the GPS, and I'm sure this GPS will do the same.
Either way, I'm happy that I don't have any issues with the GPS of this Galaxy S. Seems to work quite well.
same here, once i intentionally drove into this field of newly paved road, with no houses foundation even build on them, it was so funny to see myself on google map going into what seems like an empty space
but with the tracking enable, it was able to draw good lines of where i drove over for the missing streets on the map
greeced said:
Oh and as for navigation, I'd have to disagree with your assertion about the GPS and the knowing your on a road statement. I live in an area where new roads are built all the time, and those roads are not on any mapping system including garmins, and the GPS will follow you anyway, just go into a constant cycle of
"Recalculating" or "Turn Around" or "Make a U-Turn". (At least that's what my garmin does when I test it), but it still follows me up to and including the road that is actually on the GPS, and I'm sure this GPS will do the same.
Either way, I'm happy that I don't have any issues with the GPS of this Galaxy S. Seems to work quite well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this seems odd but the GPS seems fixed; without tampering with the settings. A friend bought a Fascinate so we started comparing crappy GPS. While his had him in Eastern Europe, mine was dead on accurate. It was like it wasn't the phone I've been using for months that couldn't keep a lock in the middle of a field on a sunny day.
I was running JH7 and started using the GPS every chance I got and it never lost a lock and usually locked in 30 seconds or less. The Fascinate also isn't having any problem after he got the market app to connect.
It's been almost two weeks and it's still working perfectly. I'm in my basement and it's locking me within 80ft right now; which I consider pretty good for being underground. I've never changed the settings so I had no idea why it started working.
Anyway; I bought my wife a Focus and spent a lot of time in AT&T stores while she SLOWLY shopped for a phone. Two different stores both told me that the GPS is fixed. I blew it off as not caring (see below comments about Froyo) but even the display model was locking fast and finally got 'in' the building after a minute. 3 reps at two different stores told me it's been fixed.
What I don't understand is they both stated the fix didn't come from Samsung. It came from an update of Maps over the last month. Maybe they were versed.
So my GPS magically works now. I ocassionally get a larger blue circle but most of the time have no range of error. It does sometimes jump in fast turns like i'm going straight but corrects itself before Navigation gets a chance to re-route.
Is anyone else seeing this?
Lastly; one guy was irritating me with arguing with me why I was telling my wife she'd want more space then the 3GS 8GB offerred. I tried to annoy him and started badgering him about my Froyo. His response is below.
"Don't know and don't care! We sell the phones as is and don't care if they ever get updated as they are great phones as is"
Coming from a corporate AT&T store making this comment didn't appease me. His comment, and the announcement well be the only non-froyo galaxy by month end led me to put Cognition on the phone again.
i did read that the US govt was preforming some tests on GPS satiltes lately and some people in the mid (EAST??) Us would experiecne problems
As much as I want to believe a fix is coming, I've given up on it. Keep in mind I live near Baltimore, MD, and my GPS has always been 'good enough to barely get me turn-by-turn directions.'
The update you are referring to (as well as most people whom first claim an update fixed GPS), is a google maps update that allows path prediction. The best way to test this is to take your phone for a drive with MyTracks, but there is an easy way to test the prediction vs. actual performance.
If you are driving along a road (lets say you get to 40mph+) and are coming up on a red traffic light or stop sign; proceed and then try to stop fairly quickly (please be safe). Immediately look at your phone for your location, and you will notice your arrow being way ahead of you, and it will start working its way back to your current location. The same thing will happen if you take a right-turn detour from your projected route (it will show you go straight past, and then try to work it's way over to finding your actual location). The stronger lock you have, the more responsive this will be.
Either way, I'm fortunate enough to have a Garmin for road trips since the captivate generally has trouble keeping me tracked with a decent level of accuracy.
FYI: For my trips, it's all outside Baltimore. No big buildings, clear day no clouds, etc.
I have had continuous issues with the Droid 3. One of my biggest issues is that the GPS seems completely unstable. I have tried turning on/off GPS options, etc...
Weather I try to use Google Maps or another application such as Endomondo, it cant maintain a lock. It seems to be able to locate me within 12 - 30 feet and then within a mile!!!
Using an application like Endomondo (running, cycling, etc), is completely useless. It can't track my location at all and when it does lock on, it only holds for a few seconds and then gone again.
I took the phone in to Verizon with a complaint about the GPs and screen issues (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1239980) and the rep said both were normal for this phone...
Has anyone figured out a way to resolve this problem?
I, too, have the same issue with GPS. I use SportyPal Pro, and cannot use my Droid 3 when running/walking. I can go for a 5 mile run, and SportyPal will show I had ran 6 miles. I can run north to south in a straight line, and when finished, SportyPal will show that I went east and west as much as 400-500 feet off of that straight line and because of that can add anywhere from .1 miles to .5 miles to that 1 mile run.
It is so unreliable that I will use my older decommisioned Droid2 to run with. It works perfectly with the same software.
If anybody has any suggestions, I'm all ears.
bishop0114 said:
I have had continuous issues with the Droid 3. One of my biggest issues is that the GPS seems completely unstable. I have tried turning on/off GPS options, etc...
Weather I try to use Google Maps or another application such as Endomondo, it cant maintain a lock. It seems to be able to locate me within 12 - 30 feet and then within a mile!!!
Using an application like Endomondo (running, cycling, etc), is completely useless. It can't track my location at all and when it does lock on, it only holds for a few seconds and then gone again.
I took the phone in to Verizon with a complaint about the GPs and screen issues (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1239980) and the rep said both were normal for this phone...
Has anyone figured out a way to resolve this problem?
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Click to collapse
Sadly, I have the same issues.
Well with only 3 people chiming in, maybe it is bad hardware?
bishop0114 said:
Well with only 3 people chiming in, maybe it is bad hardware?
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Click to collapse
God, I hope not. I have enough problems with this phone as it is.
No problems with GPS for me
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
kshen1 said:
No problems with GPS for me
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
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Are you using it for navigation only? Or a similar application for running/walking?
The reason I ask is because I do not notice a problem during navigation. It works great for that without any problems. Until I get to downtown Chicago. I almost expect problems there. Even with my Droid2.
i've only had issues with my gps in areas with lte. when im at college im in a city with lte support and my gps doesn't work (my friend who has an X also has issues with his gps when in areas with lte). when im home where there isnt lte support my gps works fine.
No it's not hardware mine works flawlessly and almost instantly fixes position, tho i have modded the gps.conf found in the etc folder. Details for tweaking this for your region can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13537801&postcount=1
Many thanx to 75markus for this.
Since we don't have a recovery yet to flash a zip you will need to edit the gps.conf file manually.
Oceanic region can be found in my sig below apart of my camera mod.
-smc
The problem I was having with the GPS from Day 1 is that I would occasionally notice that it would not start up at all when openning a GPS-dependant app (such as Maps or Weatherbug, etc). Whenever that happened, I would have to restart the phone, and then the GPS would be able to initialize again... at least, for a while.
Eventually, I was digging around in the setting and found the "VZW location services" option under "Location & security settings". I unchecked that option and, ever since, I've had no problem with the GPS. It seems that th VZW-based location services were causing the problem. Of course, since then, I've rooted and frozen all of the VZW bloat, so I might be able to turn that option back on with no ill effect. Still, it was as simple enough fix.
My issue might not sound exactly the same as yours, but you could give this a try and see if it helps.
-SR-
I'm not having any GPS issues on my phone. Perhaps it's based on the area your in?
I know it's satellite but.. just a guess.
WarER4X said:
The problem I was having with the GPS from Day 1 is that I would occasionally notice that it would not start up at all when openning a GPS-dependant app (such as Maps or Weatherbug, etc). Whenever that happened, I would have to restart the phone, and then the GPS would be able to initialize again... at least, for a while.
Eventually, I was digging around in the setting and found the "VZW location services" option under "Location & security settings". I unchecked that option and, ever since, I've had no problem with the GPS. It seems that th VZW-based location services were causing the problem. Of course, since then, I've rooted and frozen all of the VZW bloat, so I might be able to turn that option back on with no ill effect. Still, it was as simple enough fix.
My issue might not sound exactly the same as yours, but you could give this a try and see if it helps.
-SR-
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I have been experiencing the exact same problem and temporary solution (restarting) since day 1, on both my first and second droid 3's. Difference is, I've had VZW location services unchecked since around the time I first got the phones, and I am still experiencing the problem... even as recently as last night. I just double-checked the setting, and indeed, VZW location services is stil unchecked.
Once I have lock I usually have no problem continuously using GPS. Last night, I tracked a two and a half hour walk using the My Tracks app, including a 45 minute stop for dinner indoors. For the first 10 minutes, it couldnt find a signal, so I restarted. It got a lock almost instantly following the restart and never lost it after that. I had the app running for the whole excursion. As expected, it got a little confused while I was inside, but automatically picked the signal right back up when I got back outside and tracked my entire walk back home.
a_lazy_dude said:
I have been experiencing the exact same problem and temporary solution (restarting) since day 1, on both my first and second droid 3's. Difference is, I've had VZW location services unchecked since around the time I first got the phones, and I am still experiencing the problem... even as recently as last night. I just double-checked the setting, and indeed, VZW location services is stil unchecked.
Once I have lock I usually have no problem continuously using GPS. Last night, I tracked a two and a half hour walk using the My Tracks app, including a 45 minute stop for dinner indoors. For the first 10 minutes, it couldnt find a signal, so I restarted. It got a lock almost instantly following the restart and never lost it after that. I had the app running for the whole excursion. As expected, it got a little confused while I was inside, but automatically picked the signal right back up when I got back outside and tracked my entire walk back home.
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When you look at your walk on the map, is it true to where you actually walked? If I do that same walk on my phone, it will show me deviating off course as much as a 1/2 block and then back. I can tolerate that deviation once and maybe twice during my runs/walks. However, mine does it the majority of the time, adding bogus mileage to my walks/runs. In an hour's time, it will deviate approximately 20-30 times.
eallison978 said:
When you look at your walk on the map, is it true to where you actually walked? If I do that same walk on my phone, it will show me deviating off course as much as a 1/2 block and then back. I can tolerate that deviation once and maybe twice during my runs/walks. However, mine does it the majority of the time, adding bogus mileage to my walks/runs. In an hour's time, it will deviate approximately 20-30 times.
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Just took a closer look at the track it recorded. I definitely do see these kinds of deviations, but they seem to only be in areas where I think it'd be reasonable to expect them. I live in a suburb, so I don't have any tall building to mess with the GPS reception, instead, I have somewhat steep hillsides. It seems I get a fair amount of deviation in the (significantly) hilly areas (it looks like I was walking down people's driveways, then across their front yards, when in reality I was just walking more or less straight down the sidewalk), but in the flat areas the line has almost no significant deviations, just some minor noise. Next time, at the risk of my fiance calling me a geek, I'll take my Droid 1 along for the trip, and see how the two records compare.
a_lazy_dude said:
Just took a closer look at the track it recorded. I definitely do see these kinds of deviations, but they seem to only be in areas where I think it'd be reasonable to expect them. I live in a suburb, so I don't have any tall building to mess with the GPS reception, instead, I have somewhat steep hillsides. It seems I get a fair amount of deviation in the (significantly) hilly areas (it looks like I was walking down people's driveways, then across their front yards, when in reality I was just walking more or less straight down the sidewalk), but in the flat areas the line has almost no significant deviations, just some minor noise. Next time, at the risk of my fiance calling me a geek, I'll take my Droid 1 along for the trip, and see how the two records compare.
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I've attached screenshots from two runs. D2 is this morning's run with my Droid 2. It's flawless. D3 is the last run I did with my Droid 3. Looking at it you can understand my disgust with it. Ignore the big missing section from both shots. I wouldn't want anyone knowing the exact location of where I live. Someone might come steal my Droid 3.
eallison978 said:
I've attached screenshots from two runs. D2 is this morning's run with my Droid 2. It's flawless. D3 is the last run I did with my Droid 3. Looking at it you can understand my disgust with it. Ignore the big missing section from both shots. I wouldn't want anyone knowing the exact location of where I live. Someone might come steal my Droid 3.
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WOW... That is awful but a great example of the concern with this phone. You are actually doing much better than me. Mine is only able to triangulate down to about 20 feet and then it bounces between 20 and 300 feet!!!
I am going to call VZW today and see about a replacement phone but I doubt it will resolve the problem.
I just called VZW and once again, they said the accuracy was normal... They said none of their phones can lock on with the accuracy I described and if it has, I have been lucky. He said their phones are only accurate within 500 feet!
I explained to him that with that accuracy, it would be totally useless to use as a navigation device...
He looked through their documentation and said he has no record of other people having issues with the GPS... He also said he has no record of the blue tint when taking pictures.....
Oh well. I hope the replacement fixes it...
bishop0114 said:
WOW... That is awful but a great example of the concern with this phone. You are actually doing much better than me. Mine is only able to triangulate down to about 20 feet and then it bounces between 20 and 300 feet!!!
I am going to call VZW today and see about a replacement phone but I doubt it will resolve the problem.
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With that kind of change in accuracy, it seems like it isn't using the GPS as all, but just the cell towers. Is the GPS logo showing in the notification bar when that is happening? If it's there, is it blinking or solid?
-SR-
bishop0114 said:
I just called VZW and once again, they said the accuracy was normal... They said none of their phones can lock on with the accuracy I described and if it has, I have been lucky. He said their phones are only accurate within 500 feet!
I explained to him that with that accuracy, it would be totally useless to use as a navigation device...
He looked through their documentation and said he has no record of other people having issues with the GPS... He also said he has no record of the blue tint when taking pictures.....
Oh well. I hope the replacement fixes it...
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My humble opinion of VZW representatives...they're all full of BS. They're going to tell you what they need to tell you to get your out of the store or off of the phone if you're not buying anything. A representative's main concern is sales. Sell him another phone, renew his contract, add a line, add a feature.
This issue may be better addressed to Motorola directly. I may make that phone call today.
I just got off the phone with Motorola tech support. Same story as VZW gives. There are NO known issues with the Droid 3. I asked about the GPS, the bluish pics the cam takes and battery life. The only thing the tech would say is the phone "needs to be evaluated"