One of the features missing on the iPhone is GPS. I was used to have it on the Nokia N95, and although I didn’t use it very often, it came in handy a few times. Well, the iPhone has Assisted GPS since today. Well, sort of.
When checking for new application within the installer, I noticed a new app called Navizon GPS. I have to say it is rather cool. Navizon calls its Virtual GPS service “Peer-to-Peer Wireless Positioning”. It is based on a database which is populated by users of the Navizon software on mobile phones with a real GPS receiver included. The geo-coded information is then combined with the information received from the cellular network and WIFI networks. This combined information is then available for users of the system without a GPS receiver included in their phone.
It will in most case never be as precise as real GPS, or even the A-GPS on the N95, but it still allows you to locate yor position in a certain area, as long as the area is covered by users with GPS equipped phones in the past.
In my case, the location found by my iPhone was a few hundred meters away from my home here in London. Still very sweet!!!
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