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:-

Engadget says…
You MUST use WiFi to get a GPS fix
“Use wireless networks” is now turned off by default, but even with it on, the phone may be slow or unable to determine even a rough location. Originally, we’d believed this was the only problem. Samsung tells us that it’s a new Google mandate that Android devices be shipped with the “use wireless networks” option disabled, which means you’re relying on traditional GPS alone to determine your location — a lost cause indoors, in urban canyons, or under dense tree cover. Indeed, we discovered it was turned off on our Captivate, Vibrant, and Epic 4G after fresh hard resets, and there’s no indication to the user that it’s probably in their best interest to enable it; we’re accustomed to being presented with the option during account setup on other Android devices, but it doesn’t happen here. After enabling it from settings, we found that both the Captivate and Epic 4G were able to get our location with 1,000 to 1,500-meter accuracy practically immediately in Google Maps, though the Vibrant still never came through; it had the weakest signal of the three, which may have accounted for that (though it never dropped the signal altogether).

GPS in the Samsung Galaxy S range just aren’t doing their job.
Cell tower triangulation and WiFi location database services like Skyhook only take you so far — at the end of the day, you still need to tune in to the birds a few thousand miles up to figure out precisely where you are. All Galaxy S models seem to be having trouble turning GPS reception into coordinates, even when the phone is able to see four or more satellites in view (four is the minimum you normally need for a precise, three-dimensional lock). In some cases, resetting the phone apparently helps, but it ceases to work again after a day or two of use. To our knowledge, none of the homebrew fixes out there have been able to solve this part of the problem perfectly and permanently. The Captivate and Vibrant are both affected by this one; we’re not sure on the Epic, but we’re working to nail it down.

Phones affected are:-

Garmin did a test on an O2 Android phone and here are the results of their roaming trip through France from the UK on an O2 PAYG tariff…

According to Garmin, it costs around 20p per mile to use Google Maps Navigation on an Android phone.

A return Calais-to-Paris (185 miles) trip by car notched up £74 of data roaming charges, using 12-13 megabytes of data. Here’s what return trips further afield cost:

• Avignon, 614 miles: £245.60
• Saint-Tropez, 730 miles: £292
• Grenoble, 540 miles: £216
• Marseille, 667 miles: £266.80
• Lyon, 474 miles: £189.60
• Cannes, 747 miles: £298.80
• Bordeaux, 540 miles: £216
• Valence, 539 miles: £215.60
• Saint-Etienne, 510 miles: £204

So what’s the real cost of FREE?  Pretty expensive.  There’s no such thing as a FREE lunch.  There’s always a catch, and Google Maps Navigation is a very good catch.

O2 claims “Those figures are incorrect. O2 charges £3 per MB, so 12-13 MB would cost £39 at most. Once you reach £40 per month, O2 stops charging you until you reach 50 MB. We then offer you the high user bolt-on, which gives you up to 200 MB for £120″ yet Garmin received a bill for £74, so looks like O2 are wrong in their estimation.

O2′s own PAYG tariff page at http://freesim.o2.co.uk/terms/simo stipulates “1. The unlimited web allowance (when included) on this tariff is permitted for use in the UK only. Data will be charged at £3 per MB when in the UK or roaming within the EU, and £6 per MB when roaming in the rest of the world.”.

The above costs are true only for roaming, not everyone roams but with unlimited data tariffs now being reduced by most mobile network operators worldwide from unlimited to 250mb in most cases, 500mb in other cases, even if you were to use your device a lot for Data in your own country, e.g. UK and then go on a long road trip in the same country, you’re still going to receive a large bill at the end of your journey.

Based on the above figures, if I were to do drive a route from London to Edinburgh and back, that’s 815 miles at the rate calculated above it would cost £52.86 on PAYG without any inclusive data.

For the cost of £19.99 for CoPilot Live v8 for Google Android, iPhone and Windows Mobile, I think I’d prefer to go the route of a dedicated SatNav still than return with a hefty bill.

Original Source: Guardian UK

This video shows more than that (before anyone asks it’s not my car) but is a good indication at how SatNav’s could drive you nuts whilst driving

Click to launch video

Memory-Map comes with a free map trial, so if you activate within the trial radius that you want you can get a free OS 1:25,000 map. Outside of this you will need to purchase the full map of the area. To purchase it costs £10.63 and allows you to download up to 750 square kilometers of OS 1:25,000 Explorer topographical maps from anywhere in Great Britain on the iPhone or iPad.

I wanted to take my iPad out and was going to download some 1:25,000 maps so I could take in my early morning walks so I don’t get lost. I thought that it would be good to have downloaded maps rather than trying to download maps over the air when needed because there aren’t a lot of mobile phone masts in the New Forest, so mobile data coverage isn’t great.

Whilst downloading the maps to my iPad I suddenly realised that I only have the WiFi and not WiFi+3G model of the iPad. This hasn’t bothered me at all because most of the time I just need Internet access and I connect up my HSDPA WiFi router to the iPad when I am out. This is probably the first time I really wanted to have a larger screen than the iPhone but don’t have the GPS built-in to see where I am on the map whilst I am out walking

After thinking about this for a few minutes, I decided to download and install the maps to my iPhone. Not what I really wanted but it’s a more mobile solution. I really hadn’t been regretting not getting the WiFi+3G and having been managing quite nicely without the 3G / GPS until today. The reason why I didn’t go for the WiFi+3G model was I didn’t really want to waste £15 a month on a data tariff when to be perfectly honest, I probably wouldn’t use it that much because I already have two iPhones with data usage.

I still had the iPad with me as I had the maps downloaded and I had mobile data coverage now and again so if i wanted to, I could open up the maps and look at them on a larger screen, but wasn’t able to use the iPad to see where I was in the New Forest.

The iPad didn’t obscure the windscreen to the extend that I couldn’t see out of the windscreen, but it was much larger than a standard phone sitting in a cradle on the windscreen.

Launched in North America to coincide with the U.S. release of GPS enabled iPad 3G models, detailed street-level maps of the U.S. and Canada are stored directly on the iPad. Customers do not need to download maps for each trip or worry about being left stranded without maps in mobile dead spots. Apps for additional regions will be launched as the iPad 3G becomes available worldwide in coming months.

A Sensational Visual Experience
CoPilot Live HD makes complete use of the iPad’s large touch screen in portrait or landscape, displaying the route ahead clearly and with beautiful hi-resolution graphics. The split screen navigation view uses the 768 x 1024 screen real estate to maximum effect—combining uncluttered 3D or 2D map views with clear, non-distracting turn instructions. Four dual view options available.

In-Car Navigation You Can Rely On
With CoPilot Live HD, you don’t have to download maps for each trip or worry about being left stranded without maps in mobile dead spots. CoPilot Live stores detailed street level maps of the U.S. and Canada directly on the iPad 3G—allowing offline GPS navigation and comprehensive trip planning. Free MapSure map improvements and updates keep your CoPilot Live current with changes in the road network.

Powerful Trip-Planning Features
More than just voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation. CoPilot Live HD’s powerful offline trip planning and route preview features let you plan complete door-to-door itineraries on your iPad 3G before you hit the road. You can enter multiple stops for a single journey and optimize to calculate the most efficient route. Additional features include a fuel cost estimator and the ability to create customized routing profiles for your personal preferences.

A Dedicated GPS Navigation System

• CoPilot Live HD is packed with all the navigation features you know and love in CoPilot Live, including:
  Turn-by-turn voice directions
• Clear 3D and 2D driving views with speed variable zoom and full street names
• Lane indicator display and CoPilot ClearTurn™ for a realistic view at complex intersections
• Navigate to a house number, street intersection or address book contact
• Guidance in tunnels and underpasses
• Thousands of pre-loaded Points of Interest
• Free monthly map improvement downloads directly to your iPad 3G Free quarterly full map updates of the U.S. and Canada
• Portrait / landscape display auto-switching and pinch-zoom functionality
• Access to iPod music controls from within the app
• Live Local Search
• LiveLink™ location sharing with Facebook status updates
• Live weather for your location or destination

More information available at CoPilot Live HD website.

There are currently two types of navigation systems out on the market today, one is called onboard and one is called offboard.  Onboard basically means that the maps are installed to the phone memory or SD card.  Offboard which is what Google are using doesn’t install maps at all but downloads them over an active 3G data connection whilst you drive.  There’s varying arguments to which is best, e.g. the overall suggestion is that offboard maps should be more up to date as they’re on a server where as onboard don’t get updated possibly as often depending on the provider, also with offboard if you go out of cell phone coverage then you can be stuck because you can’t download the maps you need to continue your journey.

Driving for 1h 45 mins, Google did drive me to my destination (door to door) but I did receive frequent GPS drop outs on the HTC Desire which I hadn’t previously on the same route, same day using CoPilot SatNav.  I don’t believe the GPS dropouts were related to GPS coverage in the area or problems in receiving a signal locally as I had 3x other devices in car and the GPS dropouts were for around 10 mins at a time on the HTC Desire but the other 3x devices suffered no GPS dropouts whatsoever.  This led me to believe that Google might be experiencing problems when they can’t download a map or route you possibly.

The google voice announcements are TTS (Text To Speech) which read out full street names which is good. So you get something like “Turn left onto Southampton Row”.  Unfortunately with all TTS engines on mobile devices the TTS engines are much lower volume than regular pre-recorded audio which can be sampled and enhanced to increase the volume. For me whilst I was listening to the car stereo (Leo Laporte podcast from my iPhone) I was having great difficulty hearing the audio and had to keep turning the car stereo down every time I was getting close to a junction or turn so I could hear the audio. The big problem I hit was that the TTS voices strung out the audio.  Although it was great to hear the long road names, in most cases the first audio instruction came too late which meant the TTS didn’t complete talking until after I had made my turn. This mean if I didn’t know where I was and relying completely on the SatNav then Google would have had me driving in circles because I would keep missing my turns. Ultimately on a long trip and having to get to my destination by a particular time would have had me use more petrol/gas and stressed me out massively by the time I reached my destination, more importantly I would most likely be late for my meeting.

Google street view is a nice touch and although I really like it I’m a little torn by it as I equally found it very distracting.  I really only think it’s useful for when you are close to your destination and for the most part it didn’t show me Street View when I was driving.  The distracting part is that if you’re driving along and Street View does pop up you see cars on the Street View that aren’t actually in front of you.  I’d much prefer to have seen a live feed from the in-built camera and triangulating my position with the GPS and overlaying something on the camera feed that showed me where the location was I was driving to.

Google maps is a free alternative to a paid navigation system, and there’s the old saying as there’s no such thing as a free lunch. In this case there is, but Google provides a very basic navigation. Google don’t, have the more enhanced services like you would see on a full blown navigation system on the same device, e.g. If you compared it to say CoPilot Live v8 then Google are missing ClearTurn junction screens, Lane Assistance, Safety Camera notification, Traffic Avoidance notification, navigate to Favourites, no driver safety screens, no live tracking or live messaging (being able to track the device from another computer over the internet), no fuel prices, no roadside assistance, no intelligent re-routing and much more…

What google does have is free basic navigation with in theory the latest update maps that stay updated as they kind of do on http://maps.google.com.

Can Google completely replace the need for a full blown SatNav? In my opinion no, not at this moment in time.  If you are someone that refuse to pay a penny for apps or won’t shell out up to £28 on a full blown SatNav like CoPilot (which isn’t going to break the bank) then you will probably persevere with Google and be somewhat happy with it.  If you want the full enhanced features or want an onboard system to ensure if you go out of cell coverage that you can still navigate then you will want to pay te money for a system lime CoPilot.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing Google here.  What Google have done is great and is a good start for free navigation and for some it will be great to have.  I can see for some if you have traveled to another country and need maps quickly and don’t have maps on your full blown SatNav, then this would be a great addition.  However, although offboard navigation can be a huge plus to keep the maps current and up to date, one of the big drawbacks is that you are having to download maps over 3g. If you are in another country you can easily rack up a GPRS/3G bill of over £50 in 3g roaming charges which would see you paying double what a regular SatNav would cost on your phone for a single excursion.

For me, I will be using Google maps and testing it more, especially in hard to reach areas where I will have flakey 3G coverage to see how good/bad it performs but with the limitations it has, it’ll be more as a backup if I want to check something, I think I would become very stressed out with keep missing the turns I had to take.

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.