The official Nokia N8 owners thread

Forums › Legacy mobile platforms (Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Web OS, Symbian, Meego, Blackberry) › The official Nokia N8 owners thread

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#405520 16-Nov-2010 20:07

Vodafone will be doing Silver White from this Friday, Telecom will be doing the Dark Grey early next year. :)

nikrolls

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#405531 16-Nov-2010 20:23

cdouble:
... It will make a connection to help with the GPS location though but the data usage there is minimal.

If you switch Ovi Maps to Offline mode and turn off Assisted GPS in the system settings you will get a 100% offline GPS system -- if Assisted GPS is left on it will use ~10KB to assist a GPS lock. This is the case for all devices running Ovi Maps. Devices originally sold in New Zealand have NZ and AU maps already loaded on the memory card or mass storage.

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#405964 17-Nov-2010 15:56

nikrolls:
cdouble:
... It will make a connection to help with the GPS location though but the data usage there is minimal.

If you switch Ovi Maps to Offline mode and turn off Assisted GPS in the system settings you will get a 100% offline GPS system -- if Assisted GPS is left on it will use ~10KB to assist a GPS lock. This is the case for all devices running Ovi Maps. Devices originally sold in New Zealand have NZ and AU maps already loaded on the memory card or mass storage.

I own a dedicated GPS unit, a rugged Garmin GPSmap 60CSx, which has topographical maps and is great for tramping in the bush etc. A unit like this obviously connects direct with satellites for its signal.

But, I have been told that, the GPS in some mobile phones doesn't connect direct to satellites, the phone GPS gets its data only from cell phone towers. Therefore, if you are in the bush and out of cell phone range, your mobile phone's GPS simply doesn't work.

Can anyone tell me please, whether the GPS in the Nokia N8 connects directly to satellite signals, or whether it is completely dependent on GPS data from cell phone towers?

Thanks very much for your help.

Fred

BrentR

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#405986 17-Nov-2010 16:50

Hi Fred,

Nokia handsets use proper GPS triangulation and can (and do) work independently of cellular traffic, this means that combined with the ability to download the maps you need to your handset the Ovi Maps system can work in an offline capacity also.

Hope this answers your question.

Technofreak

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#405993 17-Nov-2010 17:04

Hi Fred,

The N8 (like many other Nokias and other brand phones) has a built in GPS receiver. It will work anywhere there is GPS satellite coverage, just like any purpose built GPS unit.

The GPS in the likes of the N8 does have an advantage over a stand alone GPS units, in that when the phone is in cellphone coverage it can use the network to help the GPS more rapidly find its position which is very useful if the GPS function was last used at a different location. It can also use this feature to help maintain a GPS solution in places where there is poor satellite coverage e.g. inside a building or while driving thru a tunnel.

This is generally call A-GPS (or GPS-A) or assisted GPS, it downloads small amounts of data using the phones data plan to assist with the GPS solution. If you don't have a data plan this function can be switched off.

There is also a function that uses info from the cell phone towers to aid in the GPS solution, I'm not so sure how this works.

What you friend might be thinking of is the feature on some Vodafone handset that gives your location based on the name of the nearest cell site, this is not GPS.

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frednz

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#406220 18-Nov-2010 10:59

Technofreak: Hi Fred,

The N8 (like many other Nokias and other brand phones) has a built in GPS receiver. It will work anywhere there is GPS satellite coverage, just like any purpose built GPS unit.

The GPS in the likes of the N8 does have an advantage over a stand alone GPS units, in that when the phone is in cellphone coverage it can use the network to help the GPS more rapidly find its position which is very useful if the GPS function was last used at a different location. It can also use this feature to help maintain a GPS solution in places where there is poor satellite coverage e.g. inside a building or while driving thru a tunnel.

This is generally call A-GPS (or GPS-A) or assisted GPS, it downloads small amounts of data using the phones data plan to assist with the GPS solution. If you don't have a data plan this function can be switched off.

There is also a function that uses info from the cell phone towers to aid in the GPS solution, I'm not so sure how this works.

What you friend might be thinking of is the feature on some Vodafone handset that gives your location based on the name of the nearest cell site, this is not GPS.

Thanks very much for your replies. I have owned several standalone GPS units, and the latest one certainly can pick up "marginal" satellite signals, even under bush and in narrow valleys etc. So, I wonder whether it will be necessary in future to buy standalone GPS units if phones like the Nokia N8 have a good GPS function?

My old GPS units struggled in marginal signal areas, so do you think the GPS in mobile phones can match the efficiency of the receivers in the latest standalone GPS units? Or, for important tramps etc. in bush would it be wise to also take the latest dedicated Garmin GPS unit as well as your Nokia N8?

Thanks a lot for your help on this interesting topic.

Regards
Fred

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freitasm

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#406257 18-Nov-2010 14:09

Anyone of you folks experienced the Dead N8 yet?

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Technofreak

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#406258 18-Nov-2010 14:09

Hi Fred,

The only way you're really going to know is to try one in the bush. I use the GPS in my 5800 in the car regularly and it must get marginal coverage at times depending on which way the car is facing and it has always kept working.

I do know that the performance of the phone GPS is dependant on how the phone is mounted since the GPS aerial is on one side and it is possibe to shield the aerial with the phone mounted/held in certain positions. Most dedicated GPS units have an external aerial of some description so should in theory be better than your phone.

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nikrolls

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#406387 18-Nov-2010 19:37

For work I frequently drive outside coverage areas, and so far have never had issues with Ovi Maps even in the middle of nowhere. But as Technofreak said, you'd have to test it to be sure -- my wife would murder me if I pulled out my phone during a tramp!

Nokia devices are designed for walk navigation as well and I can tell you that I've never had any GPS reception issues while holding onto the phone in various and awkward orientations.

nzmate

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#406458 18-Nov-2010 21:52

Just to add to everyone's info, All Cell towers (Vodafone or Telecom) Have GPS installed, this GPS helps with the clocking of the tower, I do not believe its for navigation but will check for you tommorow.

Wife got a Nokia C7 today 95% similarity of the N8

(Her X3 had the white death screen so it went back "Only 2 weeks old", and she loved my N8 but was to big for her)

nzmate

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#406550 19-Nov-2010 08:06

As I suspected, GPS on Cell towers are only for Clocking and Not for GPS navigation

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#406862 19-Nov-2010 18:08

freitasm: Anyone of you folks experienced the Dead N8 yet?

I haven't. It looks like this problem affects only a very small number of handsets, compared with how many have been sold.

There's a good link here: http://mynokiablog.com/2010/11/18/video-nokias-niklas-savander-talks-openly-about-nokia-n8-quality-issues-and-boot-up-problem/

smgoverno

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#407542 22-Nov-2010 09:48

Overall really happy with my N8, however, is anyone else having issues connecting to Social Networks? When I try to start the App I get a message "Network is not available. Please try again later". This happens both on 3G & Wireless. I have spoken to both Vodafone and Nokia and have no resolution from either, except to wait for a future firmware release....

lyonrouge

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#407716 22-Nov-2010 14:54

I've searched a bit but can find a confirmation, has anyone found and installed the software that allows the N8 to become a WiFi access point? If this works it will push the N8 ahead of the Android 2.2 for me.

cdouble

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#407717 22-Nov-2010 14:57

lyonrouge: I've searched a bit but can find a confirmation, has anyone found and installed the software that allows the N8 to become a WiFi access point? If this works it will push the N8 ahead of the Android 2.2 for me.

Look for Joikuspot in the Ovi Store. It works fine on the N8.

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