

With Google's My Location, Who Needs a GPS? - yubrew
http://gigaom.com/2007/11/28/google-my-location/

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tlrobinson
When the iPhone came out I had a great idea to actually implement this...
unfortunately there were too many road blocks, the main one being that the
carriers don't tell you where the cell towers are.
<http://tlrobinson.net/blog/?p=24>

A company called Navizon ( <http://www.navizon.com/> ) has such a product, and
they rely on users to wardrive for WiFi and cell towers.

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asmosoinio
So it is a database lookup system based on some kind of tower id?

I was just wondering about that. It would really make sense if the GSM/CDMA
standards had the tower pass their position to the cellphones, but I guess
that was not something the people designing the systems had in mind back in
the days.

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asmosoinio
Really nice! Seems that they have also made a Symbian S60 version of the app,
used to be Java only (J2ME).

Finds my position in Finland with ~1 km accuracy, and it is actually quite fun
to see where the tower you are connected to is. For me that changes when I
change my position in my kitchen...

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mrtron
Anyone know how to try this on an iphone?

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tocomment
What phone and plan do I buy to get this? I'm confused.

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asmosoinio
Just google for it? I think this answers your question:

[http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=39...](http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=39891&topic=9120)

\--

Which phones does Google Maps support?

Google Maps works with the following devices:

    
    
        * Most Java-enabled (J2ME) mobile phones.
        * Palm devices with Palm OS 5 and above.
        * All color BlackBerry devices.
        * Windows Mobile devices with Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0 and above.
        * Symbian Series 60 3rd edition devices.
    

If your device is supported and you have a data plan, visit www.google.com/gmm
from a mobile web browser to download Google Maps. If you're not sure if
Google Maps will work on your device, visit www.google.com/gmm and we'll
perform a quick check to see if your phone is supported.

Note: Google Maps doesn't work with BREW-enabled devices. Some mobile services
providers may restrict data usage by applications. We recommend contacting
your mobile provider to confirm the details of your data plan.

\--

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tocomment
Right, I saw that but what exactly is a data plan, and what phone plans have
it? I didn't see it on Verizon, Tmobile or ATT's sites. Maybe I'm just
confused.

