Re: iPhone Maps location feature

John White <jccw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <michelle-184BD4.22483715012008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Michelle Steiner <michelle@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

When I'm at home, it tells me that I'm currently somewhere within a
circle of a 3.9 mile radius, the center of which is about 4.6 miles due
south of where I actually am.

Mine shows a circle of about 0.3 mile radius, with the center within
about 100 feet of my actual location. No wonder I've always had good
AT&T reception at home!

I finally broke down and bought a 16gb touch on Tuesday, after the
announcements. After updating it, I opened the maps tool and started
poking around and hit the locate button... Similar circle radius,
centered *exactly* on my house. Since the touch is using Wi-fi location
only (no cell towers), I was almost convinced that it had "cheated"
and looked up my address in the contacts... :-)

Google must have one heck of a database of access point coordinates.

And while this function is probably not usable in the hinterlands,
it will be extremely useful where GPS tends to work the worst - on
foot in dense urban areas with limited open sky. For way out-of-towners,
a GPS nav system is best in the car, and a good handheld GPS is a
far better idea for a hiker.

FYI, the Apple stores are discounting existing stock (without the
Mail, Stocks, Map, Notes, etc.) by $20, with the idea that you take
it home and buy the January 2008 Upgrade. So you don't need to wait
for "new stock" to get the new goodies at the standard price.

I am definitely looking forward to the prospect of (supported) 3rd
party apps with the release of the SDK. The HW and OS are incredible...

.