Will Next iPhone Support GPRS?
Friday, August 31st, 2007Apple is hard at work making the next version of the iPhone worth every penny of its subsidized $499 price tag. The next iPhone probably due out at Macworld or early spring of ‘08 will incorporate a GPS receiver chip closely matching the SiRFstarIII from SiRF Technology. Even though the StarIII’s power consumption is a bit higher than Apple would like it is considered the best chip for a mobile device of this kind, having the capability to receive signals from 20 different satellites simultaneously and a super fast First Fix Time.
Because of the high expectations placed upon the iPhone, Apple is certain to use a chipset using Assisted GPS technology, which cuts down the time needed to determine a location using GPS. (A-GPS) is necessary in urban areas with tall buildings or locations with heavy tree cover.
The first phone/GPS devise to fully utilize this technology is CNS-4320 from DiXCOM. The CNS-4320 hybrid device uses GSM radio with GPRS data for text and multimedia messaging. DiXCOM has also equipped the CNS with the Traffic Message Channel (TMC) for real time traffic information, a technology Apple is thought to be developing.