God, I’m such a fanboy…Apple have anounced the new iphone 3G. Due to ship on July 11th it includes 3G support and Assisted GPS along with a price tag that has been cut in half, $199 for the 8gig.
Apple 2.0 software for iphone will ship with it as well, with lots of new cool features.
Anyone want to buy a second hand iphone?
Just been looking at the specs. Looks really nice! I bet you can pick up a second hand iphone on ebay for a fiver now ;)
Looks like a great phone. anyone know what assisted GPS is? Is there a good descriotion on how it will work?
In fact, any links to good reviews? or is it too early?
Its GPS SirIII chip that in built up areas uses to Cell broadcast to work out its location. when it cant see enough sats.
I think i am going to buy one in the states when i am over in August. at 2:1 its only 100 quid, and it now supports exhange.
Very nice update!
What is AGPS? Assisted GPS describes a system where outside sources, such as an assistance server and reference network, help a GPS receiver perform the tasks required to make range measurements and position solutions. The assistance server has the ability to access information from the reference network and also has computing power far beyond that of the GPS receiver. The assistance server communicates with the GPS receiver via a wireless link. With assistance from the network, the receiver can operate more quickly and efficiently than it would unassisted, because a set of tasks that it would normally handle is shared with the assistance server. The resulting AGPS system, consisting of the integrated GPS receiver and network components, boosts performance beyond that of the same receiver in a stand-alone mode.
There are three basic types of data that the assistance server provides to the GPS receiver: precise GPS satellite orbit and clock information; initial position and time estimate; and for AGPS-only receivers, satellite selection, range, and range-rate information. The assistance server is also able to compute position solutions, leaving the GPS receiver with the sole job of collecting range measurements. Figure 1 shows the architecture of AGPS implementation compared to conventional GPS.
The main advantage of Assisted GPS (AGPS) for the iPhone is that it will allow the iPhone’s GPS to operate in weaker signal conditions and determine positioning quicker than most standalone GPS receivers. AGPS also helps save battery power by handing off some computational duties to an assistance server and by allowing iPhone users to turn GPS off and on with less inconvenience.
How does it work? From a cold boot-up, a regular (non-assisted) GPS receiver requires a strong signal in order to search and discover satellite signals, decode information relating to satellite positioning, and then calculate its position. This process can sometimes can take up to several minutes depending on initial signal strength. This startup time is why GPS users don’t like to turn off their GPS receivers. However, an always-on connection is a major problem for battery life in a cell phone.
AGPS discovers its position with the help of GPS equipment at cell phone towers, which maintain a constant strong connection to GPS satellites. The cell phone towers use approximate positioning of the iPhone, similar the first-gen iPhone’s My Location, to send predecoded ephemeris satellite positioning and clock information to the iPhone. The result is that the iPhone will discover its position quicker, and thus be more condusive to being turned off and on to save battery.
http://www.o2.co.uk/iphone/existingiphonecustomers
Yeah, just got a text from O2 with the new price and tarriffs. £99 for the 8gig on the £30-35 tarriff and free upgrade on the higher tarriffs.
ALL upgrades are subject to a new 18 month contract. I hate phone companies so much!
Thats a great deal tho isnt it? Never heard of early iupgrades before!
Go for it Ferr, you can give us another of your fab iphone reviews :)