GPS dongle coming for iPhone

Nice dongle. Some comments above miss the point: Why delay tech development, when innovators can get most of the work - the actual functionality - done beforehand?

Assuming that a bluetooth connection is a viable option, why would you want this thing sticking out of your iPhone? Couldn't it just sit at the bottom of your bag and work just as well?

""Do you need internet access to be able to connect the GPS to the satellite system?"

GPS has nothing to do with internet access. So, no. No internet needed to use any GPS.

They really need to add this to a car charger, or have some way to charge and run the gps. the unit will most likely suck power like crazy. i would so spend around $100 for something that charges while allowing gps at the same time. on longer trips how the hell will the battery last?

Also, the law requiring cell phones to have "GPS" is only requiring the ability to triangulate a single phone's position using signal strength from different towers...the same functionality currently used by some GMaps iterations and Navizon's app for the iPhone. It is accurate to only about 3-5 blocks at best, and depends on accuracy of the cell tower position database.

By law (in the US) GPS is supposed to be in every cell phone introduced after 2006 (for emergency location services). So, I am not sure what's going on with all these phones that "don't" have GPS. Anyone got any insight into this?

It may be that the GPS receiver is extremely limited in functionality (fewer number of channels, minimalistic antenna, both of which could lower price and performance), plus obviously the GPS/positioning/map application.

This law has been coming for a long time, I just read in either the WSJ or NYT that it did go into effect. So what's the big secret?

(Yes, GPS works everywhere in the world, BTW, except in places where the US deems it necessary to degrade performance for security reasons.)

Working on adding a bluetooth stack would be more useful than hacking a bluetooth dongle, there are tons of bluetooth GPS receivers out there....

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!

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.

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.