Anyone here have any experience in iPhone apps development? Looking for a little guidance for a project.

Contact the family of this kid. Maybe he will work cheap?

I do have a friend who has written his own iphone apps. PM me and I can put you in touch.

Sorry I can't help, but I just had to post in this thread.

I just bought myself an Ipod Touch the other day and this thing is amazing. I've only been playing with it for two days and I can already see that this thing is eventually going to end up working itself into my EDC.

Photos, Appointments, Weather, Stocks, Driving Directions, News, Books, Movies, Movie times, Music, TV shows, the internet, Wireless bluetooth connectivity, Email, a drawing/note pad, the Bible, the Quran, a bubble level, XM Radio, remote control for iTunes on my computer, Language translator, and a police scanner....all in the palm of my hand.

If someone would have told me when I was a kid, that, one day, I would have a single device that could do all those things........I simply wouldn't have believed them. This is probably the first thing I've bought in a long time that truly makes me feel like I'm living in "the future."

Paul810:

I had that same "living in the future" when I got my first iPhone, and have it still. (I just got an iPhone 3Gs.) The iPhone is, for me, an essential piece of survival kit.

I don't know what Doug is developing, but it will pretty sure end up in my apps.

.....CLIFF
(like, who else)

Lots. Tell me more.

email sent

I just installed BBScanner and Pandora on my black berry let me say those apps are freaking awesome! My phone is now a scanner, and a radio w/no commercials and unlimited stations of my choice.

Re-lighting this thread. I just got the iPhone and looking for good preparedness apps.

Here is what I have found so far that have been useful, (free).

AroundMe- using the phone GPS it finds you on a google map and then lists by category all pertinent businesses like hospitals, ATM, food/drink, gas stations, hotels, etc. You can also type in a general search. It then gives you directions to the address on a moving google map. I have used this many times already.

Just Light- turns touchscreen into a white light. Similar to white LED, good for general illumination. Used to find things that have fallen on the floor of the vehicle. Once to look behind a pc tower.

RK Free (run keeper)- Using your GPS it tracks your location and how far you travel in min/mile, mph, total time and total miles. Can be used for running but I use it more as a pedometer or confirming distances I walk.

I have been underwhelmed to say the least regarding actual GPS apps, free or charged. Also, as I understand, they work off the 3G network and not satellite so if I am out of cell tower range, its useless anyway. If this is incorrect let me know.

This has also kept me away from trail/hike apps. Change my mind if you can.

The GPS is satellite-based GPS just like any Garmin device. It is not in any way dependent on cell towers. If you're using the GPS functions of the iPhone, you're using the satellites.
In urban areas where there is poor line of sight to the sky, some applications (google maps) fall back to positional estimation based on cell towers and their known coordinates.

In terms out use in outdoors situations, the iPhone is a fair substitute for a dedicated GPS device, but nowhere near rugged enough for serious use. Battery life is an issue and the lack of a replaceable battery means that even with a charging system of some kind, you're not going to have the same level of reliability as you would with a dedicated GPS device.

Comms, it is true that most phones do not have a true GPS that can receive and decode satellite signals. I know Nokia and Sony Ericcson have it on selected models, but absolutely not on the cheaper models. I don't know squat about Iphones, so I'll take Martin's word on that system.


I think the source of confusion is that some service providers call their cell tower based location services "GPS", using those 3 letters as a generic name for location services. I've seen that service as an option on $20 pre-paid phones from walmart.... (Of course you would pay dearly for that location service... it's just another way of fooling teenagers to part with their parents money: Look, the phone is just $19.99... and it has "GPS", Mommy please?).

A phone that advertises "GPS" has a GPS chipset in it. It's really that simple.

I suggest: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gps-phone.htm
for information.

There are a LOT of phones with GPS chipsets: Link to GPS Phones List

In terms of focus for GPS in phone devices, it's definitely for vehicle, on-road navigation.

In you really want to go deeper into this, I suggest you read iPhone vs. A Stick.

And then there are those of us with Blackberrys from Verizon. This company decided to deactivate the GPS chipset in my BBery 8830 so that I cannot use third party navigation software. I need to pay $10 a month for their navigation service.

I own a Garmin Nuvi, so there's no way I'm paying for the Verizon service, but there's other GPS based apps for the BBery that would be pretty cool, some that even do mapping against a topo map if you load it in. It would also be nice to have a backup to the Nuvi to use when I'm in our second car, etc.

I spent a fair amount of time a year and a half ago looking for a hack to unlock the chipset, and could not find one. Maybe the state of the art is different now.

There are a couple of things that might be causing confusion.
Only the iPhone 3G (and newer) has a GPS chipset - the original model didn't.

The location software in most mobile phones uses the Javame location services API which lets you pick a variety of ways to get the position (GPS, nearest cell tower, cell tower triangulation etc) depending on what hardware your phone has, what services your provider charges for and what security settings permit.
GPS uses a lot of battery power and can be slow to get an initial position - so you don't necessarily want to use GPS if your application is just looking up which city you are in for a weather forecast.

The iPhone3G also uses assisted-GPS where the initial position is actually found by cell tower triangulation and then that location is used as a starting point for the GPS solution. This greatly improves the startup time and reduces the amount of CPU and so battery power to get a fix.

One big leap forward - the iPhone Javascript API now includes GPS location so you can easily get a position form a web app.
But remember the iPhone (unlike other smartphones) can only run one app at a time - so if you have a GPS tracking application you can't use the phone for anything else while it's running

Another of those unwelcome surprises from Verizon. :-( Interestingly, with the Droid, Google required Verizon to agree NOT to lock up the GPS, but then with Droid if you don't have service you don't have maps. The singular reason to use Verizon is their network, other than that they totally suck. I'm getting close to going with a iPhone, despite ATT's truly lousy network, and keeping a small basic phone on Verizon as back-up for when I really need to be able to use the damn phone.

<tangent alert>

How can we actually compare coverage from one carrier to another once roaming is taken into consideration? I use Sprint and very frequently stray from the defined coverage areas on their map. Most of the time my phone doesn't indicate that I'm roaming so I'm a little confused. I haven't had a cell phone plan in years that charged for roaming service so I honestly don't care who's network I'm on as long as my phone works.

I can only go by my experience. Can't tell you number of times I have been places and I have no problem with my Verizon phone and the guys with iPhones are cursing. My iPhone carrying friends are constantly harping about the lousy service, not just 3G, but 2G as well. <shrug> For those who stick to major metro areas, not as big a problem. OTOH, don't even try to use an ATT phone at a Denver Broncos game, so even then, their system is easily overwhelmed.

Being married to someone who was in the infrastructure business at the time, ATT's system issues are the result of some historical poor business decisions and the various mergers and such that occurred a few years back. The bottom line is that ATT basically stopped upgrading and building their system out at a critical juncture and have never caught up.

I've heard that Sprint's coverage has historically been lacking but I can honestly say that I've always had coverage anytime anyone else around has had coverage. Of course I've only been with Sprint for a few years too.

I work for Sprint, and our coverage is good-same as Verizon's. They both work off of CDMA, and we dont charge for roaming (not sure if Verizon does or not). Nothing is locked out either. I use a BB Curve, but will be upgrading soon, to something with wifi as well.
The BB apps are great-I have bunch of useful ones installed to include weather, news, and live feeds. I have plenty of friends here who have ATT & their service is lacking. Now, ATT doesnt have a large footprint in my area, so I am sure that has something to do with it. But, if you are primarily concerned with staing in the US, I would suggest CDMA, as its more prevalent here. And, the newer BB devices have wifi capabilities, so you can surf & talk.

because roaming agreements generally only apply for voice and SMS, not data services. That's why it matters what network you pick. Also, increasingly, carriers are NOT allowing their phones to roam to save on interconnect fees.

You left out the part about Sprints data speeds kicking ass over the other guys.
I disagree with your assertion that you have the same coverage as VZW, it's good - but having had a kindle and a Sprint phone on test, I can say with certainty that Sprint didn't cover (with data) where I needed it. This was in August 2009.

We have 4G now...in lots of places (more coming soon). Philly has it...I havent seen a demo of it yet, but I hear its faster than cable. They JUST activated it in Seattle this week-I just left there on Friday....go figure.

Unfortunately the term GPS gets substituted for aGPS or navigation services far too often so people get a phone with a navigation service or aGPS and assume it has GPS. Then there are phones that are the same model but has a GPS on one carrier and not on another. The GSM version of my phone had a real GPS and my phone has only aGPS. I just upgraded to a new phone with a true GPS but needs the cell service to download maps. I've contacted Garmin asking when they will have software ready that can utilize my garmin maps

2 Real world experience between Verizon and AT&T.

A buddy (BB-verizon) and I (iPhone-at&t) climbed 4 Peaks about 40 miles north of Phoenix a couple weeks ago, it takes almost an hour of forest service road to get to the trailhead.

When we got to the top we pulled out our phones and he had service I did not. I made a call to my wife to tell her I was behind schedule.

Same two guys, same two phones in the grand canyon in October. At the 1.5 mile resthouse, (1.5 miles down into the canyon)he had service on verizon and I did not. He made a call and I sent a text.

So Verizon in this area kills AT&T on coverage.

Ouch. I just read this from the Associated Press.

NEW YORK - The Federal Communications Commission on Friday asked Verizon Wireless why it recently doubled the fees it charges customers when they break their contracts on "smart" phones.

In November, the carrier hiked the maximum early contract termination fee for smart phones to $350 from $175.

That increase was kind of ovious, you sign a contract to get a $600 phone, break the contract for $175, then eBay the phone for $500 and walk away with a nice profit. They are trying to cut that out.

+1 on verizon, been with ATT ever since it was bell south in 91, after years of dropped calls when they switched to digital and lost coverage when traveling I switched to Verizon and ATT's response of leaving after over 15 years of service was pretty much if you don't like it leave, so I did. Since being with Verizon the service has been near flawless, and I've had excellent service with them and the coverage has been far outstanding. I recently picked up the Droid from them and I am running it through tests right now, but so far it has almost everything I need to do on my laptop and can run off a power cord with no battery in the unit. I'm waiting for a non rainy day to test it on solar but with all the apps available for it and the awesome voice Google map GPS, it blows any GPS away. The draw back is there is no base map for the GPS so if you turn off the service in the options, the GPS works but you are navigating on a white grid. I'm trying to figure out if there is away to put a base map on it. Unfortunately I haven't seen a rugged smart phone I would replace my Garmin but as time goes forward I can see the inevitable. I can see a smart phone with a built in 406 locator and GPS that is military rugged, but I have a feeling it won't be in my lifetime but the capability exists now.

Usually "Assisted GPS" also means the ephemeris data is downloaded over the network instead of from the satellite itself. The ephemeris is data that tells the phone where the satellites are; that plus distance to the satellites tells the phone where it is. The satellite download is very low bandwidth and typically takes 45 seconds or more, so using the network saves time to first fix. On my phone, I can see the data connection every time I use the GPS.

This raises the question of whether an AGPS phone will get a fix without a network connection. Can it get the ephemeris data from the satellite as well as from the network? I'm not completely sure, but I suspect my N97 can't. I recently had a holiday in Ecuador, where I kept my phone offline to avoid roaming data charges, and I was never able to get a fix from its GPS. (I didn't care much because I also had a Garmin device, which worked fine.)

Other phones may vary. If you are relying on having phone GPS when the network is down, you should probably test it before hand.