Is GPS on mobile phones as Good as the Stand Alone GPS Devices?
Posted in GPS by Abu Duha on June 17th, 2009 Since we live in a fast paced world, it’s hard to keep up with today’s technology. Take the GPS for example. It’s something that came from nowhere and flooded consumer’s households in the blink of an eye. All it took was a little piece inside of a cell phone’s SIM card and many families could utilize them. The most important part to them was whether or not they can set themselves apart from stand alone features.
GPS is offered on most of the newest Sim free mobile phones as long as you have access to a 3G network, but is it as good as a stand alone GPS unit like the hand held Garmin units or the ones built into cars? The simple answer is not yet. Cell phones try to be a lot of things all at once: camera, keyboard, MP3 player, video game console, GPS unit, oh yeah – and a telephone. The result is they are not the best at any of these things compared to a stand alone unit.
One huge advantage that a stand alone GPS unit has over a Sim free mobile phone is the size of its screen. If you are driving by yourself, it is difficult (and dangerous) to be peering at a little cell phone screen in your hand as compared to glancing at a large built in or dash mounted unit. If you have passenger, they can use the phone just fine, or on some phones you can use turn by turn voice directions.
What it comes down to is the stand alone is better while you’re driving your car. However, a cell phone gives you the opportunity to take the GPS with you anywhere you go. Then again, it is feasible to carry a bulky stand alone all the time. However, you won’t see anyone attempting to do this at all.
Even with all the debate that surrounds which one to choose, both industries are growing like crazy. While this may be true, you don’t find too many people who buy one of each. Instead they feel that since they have an option with their mobile phone, a stand alone is not necessary, even if it’s not as good. This is because mobile phones don’t charge anything extra for GPS tracking.
In the upcoming years you will continue to see GPS units grow at a fast rate. While many believe it’s the wave of the future, most don’t realize that stand alone versions will evaporate from the marketing world. Marketing analysts believe that within the next few years they will continue to climb, but as mobile phones get smarter, stand alones won’t be needed. Even with the safety issues while driving, phone companies will focus on multi-functionality and portability as their selling points.
The hand held GPS will inevitably go the way of the PDA, which was replaced by the cell phone as soon as smart phones, like the Blackberry, started coming equipped with decent keyboards and useful software.
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