Apple Unleashes The iPhone 4, Now What's This Mean For GPS Navigation?

Were you glued to your monitor yesterday for the Apple announcement?

Well, if so, take a look at this Consumer Reports piece on the new iPhone and what it exactly means for GPS navigation...

Steve Jobs and a cast of industry characters introduced the new Apple iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010, Apple's annual worldwide developers conference in San Francisco. True to form, the new-generation, touch-screen smartphone adds a notable roster of new features and services, chronicled in detail on the Consumer Reports Electronics blog. For those of us on the autos side, we were anxious to see what changes might appear that would impact GPS navigation. There are a few.

The iPhone 4 uses a 3.5-inch screen--same as the current iPhone 3G and 3G S. With some Android phones boasting screens over 4 inches, not enlarging the iPhone's screen was an opportunity missed for Apple that would have aided map reading, as well as viewing email, documents, and Web pages. However, the screen does boast significant resolution improvements...

[Source: Consumer Reports]

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HSCenterconsole - 6/8/2010 9:20:58 AM

+1 Boost

I can't wait to pre-order the iPhone 4 to replace my current iPhone 3G. I'm surprised that the abundance of smart phone GPS aps and the cheapness of windshield mounting GPS units have not brought down the price of in-car systems more.

Whelan - 6/8/2010 10:00:22 AM

+4 Boost

Means nothing to me cause they still won't offer it for Verizon yet. ATT service sucks where I am.

t_bone - 6/8/2010 10:04:04 AM

+5 Boost

Hopefully...it will mean that 5" and larger GPS units get more popular. My iPhone is handy but for the road you want a bigger screen. I'd actually like to see portables in the 7" size range.

indifferent - 6/8/2010 11:37:54 AM

+2 Boost

I wonder if it could compete with the Google Maps Navigation on the Android phones. Even though I have a Navigation system in my 2008 3, I still use my phone because the Google Navi is so much better than the Navi BMW used.

quizz - 6/8/2010 11:42:33 AM

+4 Boost

Nothing beats the Droid navigator app. If only it was easier to use while driving without a passenger.

uaw_lax - 6/8/2010 11:30:26 PM

+1 Boost

I to like the droid nav in my HTC Hero.

Caraficionado - 6/8/2010 12:11:37 PM

+2 Boost

Iphone owner and fan here but can't imagine gen 4 working well on ATT's current network. Coverage sucks already with my old Iphone

BHump - 6/8/2010 12:55:57 PM

+2 Boost

Go get the HTC EVO, the GPS app is great!

EVO > iPhone 4

thstone - 6/8/2010 5:15:56 PM

+1 Boost

With the same 3.5" screen, the 4G won't affect portable nav systems any further than the 3G/S did.

Personally, I am disappointed that Apple didn't increase the screen size. And while I am not a fan of the new squared off shape, I understand that the curved shape of the previous models reduced internal volume.

With that being said, I plan to upgrade from my 3G to the 4G as soon as I can.