iPhone 3.0 software adds turn-by-turn directions
When Apple debuted its second generation iPhone 3G, the inclusion of GPS hardware suggested that the everything device might soon replace that TomTom suction-cupped to your windshield by offering real turn-by-turn directions. Other phones offer this functionality, but for whatever reason, Apple forbid it on the iPhone despite the device technically having the capability to pull it off.
Today the Cupertino-based company previewed the iPhone OS 3.0, a new software update on the way that, among many new features, will finally allow turn-by-turn directions. While details are scarce, the new functionality is apparently being opened to software developers who can write their own navigation apps for the iPhone and sell them through the iTunes App Store. The only catch mentioned is that developers will have to provide their own maps, suggesting that plugging into the iPhone's native Google Maps is a no-no. We suspect current third-party navigation manufacturers like TomTom, Garmin and Magellan will be all over this.
Click here to read Engadget's live coverage of the Apple iPhone OS 3.0 preview event.
[Source: Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Preus 3:36PM (3/17/2009)
Well, I still don't regret buying an HTC Touch HD...
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Ricksta 3:44PM (3/17/2009)
77 MPH seems a little fast for that intersection...
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Jamarr 3:55PM (3/17/2009)
It also says in 34 minutes, 22 miles away. Ha!
Jamarr 3:58PM (3/17/2009)
I still like my BB Storm. I had this capability out of the box. And I don't ever look like a hippie Applehead.
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Neil 4:10PM (3/17/2009)
You comment is just sad....
slicecom 4:25PM (3/17/2009)
I agree with Neil.
chopper 5:25PM (3/17/2009)
No, you just look like somebody trying to be an apple hippiehead.... with a crappy phone.
Crackberry Addict 5:25PM (3/17/2009)
BLACKBERRY 4 LIFE!!!! haha
Crackberry Addict 5:26PM (3/17/2009)
But to each his own... Apple is nice too...
Kattleox 4:21PM (3/17/2009)
Well, that's nice and all, but It's not gonna sell me a phone. I have never been impressed by a phone's directions; even ones with GPS hardware. And every time (and, in my experience it has actually been EVERY TIME) somebody gets lost because "their GPS gave them bad directions", it was because they had been using their phone. Sure, its convenient, but no self respecting Magellan, Garmin, or TomTom will send you up a one way street or leave you stranded in the boonies. I have seen phones--and I reiterate, GPS equipped ones--do that though. They just don't put the same effort into the programming as those companies which ONLY do GPS.
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slicecom 4:27PM (3/17/2009)
Good thing TomTom is developing an iPhone app then.
ehisforadam 4:41PM (3/17/2009)
Huh....that's funny, because I use the GPS on my phone a lot (LG Voyager) and I've never had a problem with it. The ones in Hertz rental cars on the other hand....
Edmond Dantes 4:30PM (3/17/2009)
I have an iPhone and I'm not a "hippie Applehead". It's pretty lame that you think your phone defines you.
I'm looking forward to this update.
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KeatMP 5:35PM (3/17/2009)
+1
autObsessions 4:58PM (3/17/2009)
I also have a 3G iPhone and cannot wait for this update to the current OS. Turn by Turn directions will be a huge additional benefit to the already VAST array of 3rd party apps that make the iPhone the single most useful phone on the market.
The current Navigation has yet to "send me down one way streets" or "get me lost in the boonies", so I'm eager to see what dedicated Navigation makers (TomTom, Magellan, Garmin) can come up with!
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tuna 6:51PM (3/17/2009)
Isn't the iPhone's GPS performance rather poor? at least in review articles I've read. Suppose Garmin or TomTom releases an app for the iPhone, it's still useless without a stable link to the satellites.
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alfie_noakes 10:46PM (3/17/2009)
Agree - the GPS on the iPhone is very, let's say, temperamental. Fine for walking to somewhere but in a car, not convinced from my experiences with the phone. Hopefully it's a software issue but I doubt it...
010111 1:12AM (3/18/2009)
i used the iPhone GPS with the google maps on a 10,000 mile roadtrip. and short of maps dropping out in areas with no data coverage... the GPS was rock solid. (as in... i'd see the line if i programmed directions... just no roads. those come over the cell data connection.)
i think *maybe* MAYBE twice in 10,000 miles was it completely 100% wrong.
though i wasn't turning the GPS on and off and on and off either. i would turn it on and leave it on.
settleac 4:05PM (4/05/2009)
I just used my iphone on a road trip as well. It was accurate 99% of the time. It got one of the exits wrong--but I think that area just finished construction. I'm not sure how long those images have been around that Google Maps uses.
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