Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, iPhone
GPS dongle coming for iPhone
We've posted a couple of times about "virtual" GPS solutions for the iPhone that depend on cell tower identification, but now The partfoundry has announced the real deal. They will be offering a GPS dongle for the iPhone based on the SiRF Star III chipset. Needless to say this will require a jailbroken phone and the software "will be open source/community based." They've already got a prototype working (video embedded after the jump) that can report its location and send it to the Google Maps application.No word yet on how the dongle will affect battery life. They're also working on the iPod touch, but support for it remains to be determined.
The partfoundary GPS module is apparently available for purchase now at $89 and is due to ship in February. Check out the prototype video after the jump.
[via Digg]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
BobbyW said 10:08AM on 12-17-2007
Does this mean a hacked iPhone has a completely accessible data port? I thought part of the closed iPod system meant access to that port had to be licensed. Does jailbreak open it?
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thethirdmoose said 10:21AM on 12-17-2007
So how much does it cost to add a feature on a free phone to a $400 iPhone?
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ZylogZ80 said 10:34AM on 12-17-2007
I really feel bad for all these community projects. Why put in all of this time and effort when an SDK is right around the corner? They're going to release a solution that requires jail-brake the same month the SDK debuts? That's just senseless.
You know we'll see something more professional and better integrated after the SDK that doesn't require the BS that is jail-brake. I know some people just love to tinker but this just seems like such an awful waste of time on the part of the developers.
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Dave said 4:33PM on 12-17-2007
I agree 100%. Does no one remember the refunds after the 1.1.1 upgrade broke apps people had paid for? I'm an avid iPhoner, and would not mind GPS, and might spend for it, but not if it only works with a Jailbroken phone. Anyone that pays for this will have to stay behind the upgrade curve, waiting until the next jailbreak for sure works with the new Apple code, and the GPS app. It's just not worth it. I own a jailbroken phone, for the record.
starkruzr said 2:50PM on 12-17-2007
You know we'll see something more professional and better integrated after the SDK that doesn't require the BS that is jail-brake.
We don't know this at all. It is entirely possible that the SDK will be so restricted that access to the serial port won't be allowed.
I'm not sure why you feel the need to come down on perfectly legitimate development work, but it kind of sucks.
My only worry about this device is that it's going to need its own battery if we expect it not to run down the iPhone.
Fred Manning said 10:44AM on 12-17-2007
I think that what you guys are missing here is that this will hit when the SDK goes live. I think that these folks are looking to be the first ones on the iPhone/GPS bandwagon, and when they get their hands on the SDK the turnaround will be minimal as far as getting it working within Apple's guidelines. Good for them! It looks like a great idea from where I'm sitting.
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Imahottguy said 10:54AM on 12-17-2007
@TheThirdMoose: What do you mean? How many 'free' phones offer true GPS?? I've yet to come across any.
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Adam said 11:00AM on 12-17-2007
Do you need internet access to be able to connect the GPS to the satellite system?
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mark said 11:09AM on 12-17-2007
@Zylog
What makes you think their efforts are a waste of time? Any hacks that work today should still work (with a few tweaks) once the SDK is released. Some of the hacks I've seen were very well done. I don't know what you mean by "more professional and better integrated" or are you talking about the dongle?
Their site states "Software will be open source/community based" sounds like they're leaving the software up to everyone but else.
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David Jerome said 11:24AM on 12-17-2007
@Imahottguy
I guess you don't live in europe then. The only phone that people pay for is the Iphone. But I am not going to get into one of those silly arguments about how much it costs for basically a less than average phone with a great ui.
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Steve said 11:54AM on 12-17-2007
I live in Europe (UK) and have yet to see a free phone that comes with GPS. Please do tell...
David Jerome said 3:19PM on 12-17-2007
http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-monthly/nokia/n95-graphite/orange/d35pr/
First page I found.
Dave said 11:36AM on 12-17-2007
An iphone that also geo-tagged photos would be a business expense for me. Apple - SOMEONE - hook me up!
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tom said 12:12PM on 12-17-2007
This is amazing, about time. But does this have an antenna connector? Don't think I want to have my iphone sitting in the sun all day...
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M2 said 1:24PM on 12-17-2007
Does it work in the UK, or only in the US?
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David Jerome said 3:22PM on 12-17-2007
It would work in the UK and most of europe as we have GPS coverage here.
Chris said 2:11PM on 12-17-2007
I'd love to see a similar dongle for the iPod touch, allowing it to be a cell phone, perhaps under Verizon. That would be so nice.
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basscadet said 2:32PM on 12-17-2007
nice going for those guys and if they managed to do all that bypassing barriers, it will be a lot easier to update it once the SDK comes out. Unless that same SDK is horribly delayed or includes so many limitations that it is rendered useless for proper application development.
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Fritz Laurel said 4:00PM on 12-17-2007
Cool proof of concept, but it looks like they've got a long way to go before they have a usable product.
First of all, they need to enclose that thing in a box and do something else with those flashing lights. What if I glanced away for a split second and missed the light flash and now it's 5 mins later and I'm all like "WTF, why won't this thing acquire the freaking sat?!"
And then they'll have to wait for the SDK in order to have better integration with things like google maps so it updates your location as you drive.
But, I already have a SatNav unit in my car. The killer feature for this, though, is if/when that google maps integration DOES happen and they work it in with the traffic data google maps offers and it alters your route accordingly (which my 2004 SatNav doesn't do but I know other units do). Now, that would be useful!
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Dave said 5:30PM on 12-17-2007
On second thought - has anyone hooked up a bluetooth GPS unit to the iPhone?
I'm not saying Dongles are bad - they are quite good. Lower battery needs (as in all from one set of batts, no transmitter), lower cost, but is anyone working with GPS on the iPhone already? iPhone cam + camera + geotag = urban planner technobliss.
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