Comments on: Google unveils GPS-less location-detection

By: dlj

dlj — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:39:57 +0000

Works perfect for me. But I do live and work in central London.

By: BossHogg

BossHogg — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:55:41 +0000

Let´s get one thing straight: this doesn´t triangulate SHIT. In order to triangulate a cell phone (this is, using three towers and measuring the distance… assuming the hardware is installed by the operator, which is not likely) you would need to have a special warrant AT LEAST. I work in special projects in the largest cell operator. The thingy is very much on the line of most google products: let the users work for google (which harms noone actually).
All cells know what antenna they´re connected to (some ID), and they´re connected always (while in coverage) by one and NOT MORE than one. So what Google does is take advantage of its already emplaced GPS apps on many Blackberrys, all of the GPS-BBs upload the cell tower ID related to the GPS location to Google and they can map in “what location” a tower is… then, with enough data, they have the problem covered.
About the people that say that the error is too large. It´s most probably because you are in less populated areas. In cities a single antenna can cover as little as some meters while in rural areas it can reach miles.

Cheers.

By: Google Updater for BlackBerry | BlackBerry Cool

Google Updater for BlackBerry | BlackBerry Cool — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:45:51 +0000

[...] GTalk, and Google Maps, which often get little upgrades without you noticing. New features like My Location might grab your eye and get you to go through the chore of updating, but now The Big G is making [...]

By: Google unveils GPS-less location-detection - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 04:17:55 +0000

[...] tower triangulation, so even if you don?t have GPS, you can still get some location-based service. Google unveils GPS-less location-detection | BlackBerry Cool BlackBerry Cool – the voice of the BlackBerry [...]

By: Dave Hughes

Dave Hughes — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:37:46 +0000

It seems to me that the farther I get away from a highly populated area, the worse it gets. I’m guess that if it doesn’t have three towers to triangulate your position, it gets lost. I’ve only got one tower near my rural-area house and it puts me up to 10 miles away. Other places closer to the city it puts me about 3 miles off. But at my office, it puts me right where I am correctly.
Hopefully Google can figure out a way to make it more reliable. It’s certainly a great first step.

By: BlackBerry Beard

BlackBerry Beard — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:43:13 +0000

Well obviously it doesn’t like me. Over 30 hours since I installed it, with it running continuously (mostly in the foreground) and its still 5 miles/8 kilometers off. At home it thinks I’m Shrek because its also 5 miles off but here it puts me in the middle of a swamp. Sigh.

By: Cliff V

Cliff V — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:26:02 +0000

To me it seems to really just locating the tower nearest to me, but not me in general. I have only used it at work and at home, and funny enough there is a tower from each location less than 1/4 mile away. But the blue dot seems to be in that exact location where the TOWER is. What about me! LoL ill test it out once I get my phone turned back on, couldnt pay my bill!! any donations? lol

By: Dave Hughes

Dave Hughes — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:12:59 +0000

I opened it up and it showed me almost exactly where I was. I’m guessing that it won’t work well in rural areas where cell towers are not numerous. But I’ll be testing it.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:01:54 +0000

I kind of like it. Yeah it’s not dead on, but it beats paying for verizon. If you are getting directions from your current location to you final location, and you are familiar with your current location, it’s pretty handy. My 2¢

By: Google unveils GPS-less location-detection - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:07:03 +0000

By: BlackBerry Beard

BlackBerry Beard — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:41:38 +0000

I did a distance check with the web version of Google maps and the real error is huge. Its approximaelty 5 miles/8.1 km off. Not even close to either 1000 or 1700 ft. Hopefully it’ll get better in the next few days. I’ll let ya know how it goes.

By: BlackBerry Beard

BlackBerry Beard — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:28:03 +0000

To clarify my comment with respect to bbva’s. My actual location jumps from double the edge of the light blue circle to four times that of the light blue circle. In Google’s advert scrren it used 1000m as a distance they stay within so I just doubled and quadrupled that.

By: BlackBerry Cool Simon

BlackBerry Cool Simon — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:28:03 +0000

Remember, they mention that the more you use it, the more accurate it gets. I gather it’s because it can parse more data from nearby towers you go through to better zone in on your location. Give it a few days of moving around, and I think the accuracy will climb up.

By: BlackBerry Beard

BlackBerry Beard — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:24:38 +0000

Well I downloaded it and “my location” jumps back and forth from about 2000 meters to 4000 meters from my real location – even though I’m stationary at my desk. Not even close to the 1000 meter variance that Google claims. It be really great if I could set my current location; that way it’d be better for me and it would help Google to make their system more accurate.

By: bbva

bbva — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:16:42 +0000

Tried it on a 8130. Shows user location estimate within a radius of 1700m. My location was at about twice that from the point indicated.

By: Sumit

Sumit — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:54:28 +0000

Can this do even a semblance of (updating) navigation?