The worst part I would have to say about the Samsung Galaxy S for me is the GPS is virtually non-existent. I have only ever seen one device marginally near as worse, and that was the iPhone 3G in the early days, but unfortunately the Samsung Galaxy S is significantly worse, and here’s why…

In 10x 1 hour drives, I have only had a GPS fix where GPS applications could reliably track where I am on the road and provide voice navigation guidance for me. Out of that 1 hour, I would have to say that a good 20 minutes of that guidance put me in side streets or streets up to a mile away.

I used a variety of navigation applications including Navigon, TomTom, Ndrive so no one application was at fault, and all they do is ask the GPS chip through the Android java layer “where am I” so really can’t be faulted. Due to the lack luster GPS performance I decided to try geolocation applications like GoWalla and Foursquare and likewise a good 50% of the time these showed me being >1 mile away from where I was, and in some cases over 10 miles away! Great if you want to check into some more places you haven’t visited, but useless to check in to locals places. Trying Google Maps likewise saw the same distances. If you disable getting a GPS fix over wifi then you wont get a GPS fix. If you have this enabled then it seems to preference wifi GPS positioning more and place you way off from your current location. Speaking to other users of the Samsung Galaxy S they seem to be experiencing similar problems. Sometimes it works and seems to work pretty well, when it does you’re very lucky. When it doesn’t work well you are left high and dry with no GPS.

I have tried applications that use both the standard Java framework and also the newer NMEA stream in Android OS 2.1 but alas, the GPS inside the Samsung Galaxy S is just too poor quality to have it be anymore accurate. Samsung are already aware of this as you will see in the below tweet.

 
 

Samsung have an update scheduled worldwide for September to help reduce the poor performance of the GPS the Samsung Galaxy S but whether it can resolve the performance issue fully we wont know until it arrives. If it’s clearly a software issue the it might be possible to resolve it in a ROM update. However, if it’s a physical hardware problem (which I’m starting to wonder about) then it won’t be fully fixable. The reason why I’m wondering about a hardware flaw is this wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen this problem arise in devices with GPS chips and antennas. What could be happening is that the GPS chip is too close to maybe the processor or other parts of the system board that are generating adverse RF interference, enough to splatter the circuit board and GPS antenna to degrade the quality of the GPS signal it thinks it is receiving and creating a lack luster GPS performance problem.

With over 1 million units allegedly sold in the USA already in a month and worldwide sales on the increase, you have to wonder whether Samsung knew about this problem prior to release. Was enough QA performed prior to releasing the device to market, or did they chuck the device out because they thought it was near perfect in the hope to get sales and fix it in the field?

One thing for sure is that if you want to buy a new mobile phone and want to use it for GPS, whether it’s satellite navigation, geotagging photos or location based services, you should seriously consider holding off until its seen that the Samsung Galaxy S problems are fixed. The Samsung Galaxy S is a great device, but with the slow performance issues dogging the device along with the GPS problems that have also been reported on Engadget, this really hampers the device as a good iPhone killer.

As far as we know, this also affects the Samsung Galaxy S other brother and sisters which are just a name rebranding of the Samsung Galaxy S:-

UPDATE #1 – Other sites reporting GPS problems:-

If you haven’t checked out social networking apps like Gowalla or Foursquare then you should. They give you a good indication of where you have visited (or checked in to) and you can trade items you pick up at locations where other people have dropped items and also drop items for others to pick up (all virtual of course).

If you do use Gowalla and Foursquare why not check out http://m.check.in which is a web app that allows you to check in to both Gowalla and Foursquare locations at the same time. The downside is that you can’t create new locations like you can in the native Gowalla and Foursquare apps. Likewise if Gowalla has a location but Foursquare doesn’t, you can’t then check into both but you could check into another place close by in Foursquare.

Gowalla basically allows you to show your friends where you are or have been and collect various pins (badges) and items (trinkets) for traveling around the world using your smartphone.

Think of those older days where you might have carried out orienteering where you follow a map to a place, or even the more recent geocaching where you find locations and physically pickup trinkets. Gowalla is basically more of a Geocaching app, but the trinkets are in digital form. There are other applications like Four Square but Gowalla has much better designed icons and is much more appealing to the eye.

About Gowalla
You launch the app, and you look for places around where you currently are located. Gowalla uses your GPS position from your built-in GPS receiver on the iPhone and Gowalla also have apps out for other platforms and devices and have a mobile website also at http://m.gowalla.com.

If you find a location near where you are (usually within 100 meters then you can Check In to the location. Checking basically tells any other friends on Gowalla that you are at the location, or that you’ve been at this location at some point in the day. So for instance, if you go to a coffee shop, you’ll probably want to check in. Each time you check in you get a what is called a Stamp. Stamps go on your Gowalla passport, just like a real passport. So the more locations you check into the more stamps (or points) you receive. So it becomes a game of trying to get the most amount of points with your friends.

How to just let your friends know where you are
Only check in to a location near you if you are actually there. That way other friends can see where you are and might also want to join you if they are in the local vicinity.

There are various types of locations, each one has a different radius that you can check into, e.g. 100 meters is the most typical radius, but you can go up to an XX Large location or a Stadium that allows a radius up to 200 meters.

You have to be within the radius to be able to check in, if you are outside of the radius then you’re too far away. This is the most common misunderstanding with Gowalla that people say they can’t check in for.

How to play Gowalla for points
If you want to play Gowalla for points (as Gowalla is a game), you don’t have to actually visit say a coffee shop, you could be passing by the coffee shop, but still want to check in because you have actually been there. It’s just that you might not have stopped off for 10 or 15 minutes. You’ll find a lot of people on Gowalla that play the game like this, they want to rack up as much points as possible in the quickest time.

The place doesn’t exist in Gowalla, why?
Well quite simply it’s because nobody has created it yet. Create it yourself, and if you want to become a founder to say “hey I created and own this place” then also drop an item from your pockets to mark it as your spot.

What types of places can I or should I create?
Well it really depends on you. Most people create businesses, historic places, theme parks, shops but some people also list their own homes. Obviously be aware, that if you create your own home on Gowalla then it also means that not only can others check in to your location if they’re passing, but they can also see it’s your home and how many times you’ve checked into it.

How to play Gowalla for items
Each time you check in to a location, there is a small chance that you will be awarded a trinket, or in Gowalla’s terms an item. These items can range from anything like a toy car, to a pair of gloves, a clay pot, an iPhone case, or even something like a Tablet PC. Depending on the type of location you are visiting, you will receive different items as a freebie for checking in now and again. So for instance, if you visited a technology shop or an iPhone shop you’re more likely to receive a free iPod case or a Tablet PC.

You’re only allowed to hold 10 items, which isn’t a lot, so the way you want to play your items is to vault any item that you haven’t already vaulted. Vaulting means you add it to your collection so you cannot trade it later. Try to collect in your vault single versions of each item, e.g. don’t vault two clay pots unless you really need to. Try to collect all 100 unique items from Gowalla.

How to get more items that you don’t have in your vault
You can also trade items in Gowalla, so for instance, say you have 5 football helmets and 5 clay pots, you can check into a place, check the items that are available at this location and swap one of the items with one you have in your pockets, e.g. a clay pot. You have to drop an item when you pick an item up, so you can’t just go around stealing all the items as that wouldn’t be fare game.

Having trouble finding the items you need that you don’t have in your vault?
If so check out http://www.gowallatools.com/web/map/, simply enter your Gowalla user name and the location you want to look at on the Google Map and it will show you all the locations that have been recorded in Gowalla in that vicinity and allow you to view which items are at each location. That way you can go and check into one of these locations and do a swap of items to expand the items you don’t already have.

What are Pins?
Pins are basically a badge, to say that you have accomplished something. e.g. that you’ve created 10 spots, or that you’ve visited 25 coffee shops. It’s a pin to wear with honor, and you can’t trade these, likewise you can’t trade your stamps.

What are Trips?
Trips are locations of spots, e.g. you might want to go on a specific pub crawl, or a Halloween trip, once you visit all the spots that are in the trip then you get a pin that says you completed it (another accomplishment).

I want to create a place that is within about half a mile of where I am, can I do so?
Technically no, it’s not possible, you need to be at that location. However, there is another way, you can create it at the location at where you are at, then sign into the Gowalla website and edit the spot, and then move it’s position. Beware though you’re only allowed to move it within about half a mile of your current location.

I created a spot in the wrong location, can I delete it?
Yes, if you are the creator you can delete it, providing you or nobody else has checked in but only by logging into the Gowalla website. If you or someone else has checked in, then you will need to tweet Gowalla’s Street Team Elite to delete it for you.

I realise there’s two locations one is an error / duplicate, can it be merged?
Yes, tweet to Gowalla’s Street Team Elite and provide the location numbers of both locations and which one should remain, and they will merge the locations for you.

Can I link Gowalla to Facebook?
Yes you can, so you then get the option every time you check into a location to post something on your Facebook page.

Can I link Gowalla to Twitter?
Yes you can, so you then get the option every time you check into a location to post something on your Twitter page.

What kind of items are there on Gowalla?
You can find a more comprehensive list of Gowalla items here

Want to find if you’re in the Top 300 Gowalla list?
You can find out here although currently it’s a manual list of the Top 300 Gowalla users.

Should I add friends? Some people don’t have many friends
One thing you have to be aware of with Gowalla is that friends can see exactly where you are or where you’ve been. So if you want a level of privacy, then you shouldn’t just add anyone as a friend. Similarly the same applies to Facebook. Some people prefer to have hundreds or thousands of friends, but beware you’re more open to stalkers and are less secure. For instance if people see you’re checking into locations away from your home, they might then think your home is open season for burgling. Beware!

That’s about it for the time being for the Gowalla tutorial and how to play Gowalla.