Originally posted by ~erik~: nice, but can you download caches or enter coords manually and use it to find a cache?
The iPhone really being a computer with phone and GPS features requires an application to access the GPS chip. There are just a couple supplied one of which being the application to read the location from the GPS chip and pass it to google maps. It doesn't come with even with an applications for door to door directions as you drive. But TomTom claims to be very close to shipping an iPhone application to give door to door directions. So some enterprising person could write an application to allow the entry of coords. Or even better a geocaching application which could read the gpx from a pocket query and allow hunting, finding and logging the find (or DNF). But currently neither appears to be available.
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Posts: 2411 | Location: NE Corner of Georgia | Registered: November 09, 2002
Originally posted by AllenLacy: It doesn't come with even with an applications for door to door directions as you drive.
The webpage sez: "Get directions to wherever from wherever. View turn-by-turn directions or watch your progress with live GPS tracking." so maybe you can enter coordinates and navigate to them, perhaps thru the google map interface itself.
Also, the App Store page has this blurb, "The App Store is coming soon... you’ll find applications in every category, ... These applications have been designed to take advantage of iPhone technologies such as Multi-Touch, the accelerometer, wireless, and GPS."
I guess we'll have to just wait and see what's gonna be available but like you said above, some enterprising person could and probably will write a killer geocaching app.
So it does, I even read it the first day you posted the link. But later when I did google searchs for "iphone 2 GPS" I had forgotten that. Then I ran across the pages saying that it didn't do door to door direction such as iPhone 3G Banned From Turn-By-Turn Directions?. Which says
quote:
With Google Maps already a native iPhone application, we've been more or less certain such real-time direction guidance would arrive as a simple integrated feature in the iPhone 3G. Sadly though, such is not the case, as in the recent iPhone 3G unveil, Google Maps on the iPhone 3G was shown to lack real-time route plotting. This realization didn't hit us very hard at the outset, as, we figured, the lack of such a feature was nothing a little iPhone SDK magic couldn't overcome. Coupled with well substantiated rumors that TomTom (a major GPS manufacturer) already has an iPhone SDK app ready to launch, our outlook on iPhone 3G GPS functionality remained bright following the Jobs keynote. ... Tucked away in the iPhone SDK usage agreement, netzens have discovered an ominous passage barring developers from adding real time route guidance. From section 3.3.7:
"Applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance; automatic or autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices, dispatch or fleet management; or emergency or live-saving purposes." ...... Optimistically, there does exist the possibility that the feature-ban applies only to apps that aim to use Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions. This would mean that firms like TomTom, who have their own street maps, will be free to implement fully featured GPS on the iPhone 3G.
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Posts: 2411 | Location: NE Corner of Georgia | Registered: November 09, 2002
