In-Flight: HTC Thunderbolt GPS Tracking at 500 mph and 45000 ft - Android Powered
Here’s an area Apple iPhones have nothing on the Thunderbolt: REAL GPS Not only was the HTC able to get a weak cell signal from 45000 ft in the air, its real GPS chip was able to get enough of a satellite location fix that it could match where we were flying!
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@MikeonTU The iPhone rocks. It is my primary phone. It doesn’t change the fact that it does not have a real GPS in it. Great for maps and other location based apps but for turn-by-turn directions, you need a real GPS so you don’t keep missing your turns and exits.
@fuckinhellnotagain Ignoring it in what way? I have an iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, iPad 1, iPad 2, and a handful of iPods. I love my iOS gadgets but none of them have a real GPS chip / antenna inside of them. It is why I have to carry around a Garmin Nuvi 265WT if I want accurate turn-by-turn directions. AGPS is fast, convenient, and reasonably accurate to tell you where you are but it is not the same as a real GPS.
@hettbeans My quick googling tells me that AGPS is not a negative. It is used to improve startup performance of finding your GPS location and can also be used to improve accuracy when there are problems getting clean satellite data. So, your comment, was it supposed to be an insult?
So are you fuckwits ignoring the current iPhone and iPad?
@MikeonTU Too bad the iPhone’s GPS wouldn’t do shit-all without a cell signal. Move along fanboy, you bought the wrong phone.
@D14BL0 Yeah, shit gets cold 45,000ft in the air.
@hettbeans I will carry on. I have loads of extra time since the iPhone performs autocorrect when I misspell something.
@MikeonTU You have no idea what you are talking about.
No amount of software will change the fact that the iPhone does not have a real GPS receiver. It relies on AGPS. Carry on, Apple fanboy.
Man. When the audio cut, I thought my ears popped. I hate you for bringing back those terrible memories.
@D14BL0 Next video: The Thunderbolt tracking location OUTSIDE the plane… :-)
@TheJohnp1943 That is a GOOD question. Can someone help answer?
@xAlexKiblerx That’s a good question. We did in fact have WIFI (you can see the little WIFI signal icon in the upper right) so maybe that’s how it got map data to overlay the location.
@cecilkorik I should have gotten a video of it but before it got dark, you could see the clouds were below us and it got a little dark looking up.
@denimvest No they do not. All iPhones to date are A-GPS. They require location information from cell towers for location data. Try to find an iOS app that shows you the signal strength of the GPS satellites like in this video….
@bossyman15 Not sure man. This was someone else’s phone. I think that was a google map app.
@guicapone2 That’s because this was not a commercial flight. :-)
@Ch1naManChan Ohhh not to worry. I just found 15,000 GPS apps on the iTunes app store that are better than this. Seems developers still think the iPhone doesn’t suck!
@MikeonTU u can’t cause the iphone sucks
So how do I get this app on the iPhone?
Turn the phone off on the plane its a bomb.
@guicapone2 They will fly wherever they get the best winds and fuel mileage for the flight, but 45,000 is pretty high. The 747 is the only Boeing airliner that I know of that has a service ceiling above 45,000 feet. Not sure about Airbus.
What could also be happening is a difference between physical (GPS) altitude and density altitude, which is measured based on air pressure and temperature. Density altitude is all the airplane cares about for flying purposes (including service ceiling).
That plane looks so much nicer than the one I was just on. My GPS didn’t work either. Did you need to be connected to WiFi so maps could update?
HEY!! That’s over my neighborhood!! Turn that off before you wreck the plane!!!
LOL!!!
45000 FEET??!!! Almost all commercial airliner fly at an altitude of 35000 feet.
what gps app is that
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