
Move Over GPS, Here Comes the Smartphone  - peter123
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/technology/08gps.html
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RiderOfGiraffes
I found this article very confusing. GPS is being used in at least three
different ways: a separate device that uses the GPS to help you navigate, the
function in your phone that uses the Global Positioning System to navigate,
and the Global Positioning System.

To someone who doesn't refer to the separate device as a GPS, but calls it a
SatNav, reading this was an exercise in increasing frustration, each time
having to stop and unpick the meaning of the acronym.

Hacker lesson to learn: Sometimes when you're explaining things you'll use the
same term in different contexts to mean different things. Sometimes your
listener will be unfamiliar with the nuances of the different contexts, hear
the same word, and get confused. I think that lost me the potential for
funding in one pitch I did.

So, the real question, do these "Smart Phones" that they're talking about have
a GPS chipset that lets them find their position using the GPS satellites, or
are they using cell-phone-based location awareness?

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credo
TomTom seems to be taking the safer approach (with an iPhone app etc.) while
Garmin seems to be taking a riskier approach (by adding cell phone
functionality to their navigation device).

It will be interesting to see which approach does better or if both approaches
fail.

