Nextel GPS
We mentioned on the How GPS Works page, that gps helps answer the question: Where am I? It's interesting that the most common question asked over a cell phone is: Where are You? So the combination of cell phone and gps receiver into a single device obviously creates a powerful tool.
Many newer cell phones are already equipped with GPS tracking, to aid in locating you in a 911 call situation. To make these phones complete GPS units, we need to add a GPS navigation service, and map browsing capability to the phone.
Nextel has pioneered the phone + GPS solution. Early basic navigation services included TeleNav and ViaMoto. Nextel is now offering the very complete Trimble Outdoors service. This works on Nextel phones that are gps- and Java-enabled.
You can do essentially anything that would expect a standalone GPS receiver to do:
- Find your latitude, longitude, altitude, and speed.
- View compass direction and distance to where you are going.
- Plan trips at your home computer with U.S. topographic, aerial and street maps.
- View trips posted by other users.
- Download routes, maps, waypoints and points of interest directly to your phone.
Plus, you can make phone calls!