Gaming With GPS On Your Smartphone 43
Barence writes "If your handset doesn't get you out and about, tramping through mud, climbing around and hunting for hidden treasure, then something needs an upgrade. The iPhone, Blackberry's Storm and Bold lines, and many Symbian and Android handsets, now sport GPS, which makes your smartphone the ticket to join a global movement of outdoor games. These are outbound challenges that pit teams and solo players against themselves and each other in the search for hidden treasure, undiscovered landmarks, and hidden spots all over the world. This article delves into several of the best smartphone-friendly real-world games, each of which is a bridge between the online and offline worlds."
You mean 4 things.... (Score:3, Informative)
Travel bugs are a part of Geocaching, not some separate game. (To be even more specific, travel bugs are a part of geocaching.com's version of geocaching.....)
Love geocaching, not too sure about geodashing though, it's a bit too random for me!
GPS is old! (Score:3, Informative)
Phones with GPS are by no means a new phenomenon at all. Even the RAZR has GPS, and it's rapidly approaching 6 years old now.
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although I think it'd be a pretty big stretch to call the RAZR a "smartphone"...Certainly by today's standards
That makes no sense. No smartphone of the past, even the best on the market of the time, would be a smartphone by "today's standards". The original Iphone certainly wouldn't either, for example.
And anyhow, if it isn't a smartphone, that just proves the point even more - if even years old non-smartphones had GPS, there's certainly nothing special about a modern high end smartphone having it.
smartphon
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My RAZR is from 2006, and it has GPS. As far as I know, it's one of the original models. Go into Settings -> Location and you'll see that you can turn GPS on and off.
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While I do agree that not all games have physics models that allow flight and underwater breathing, I'm pretty sure my twitch skills will allow me to take on even the scariest mobs.
Real life Zork (Score:5, Funny)
If camera is all dark and GPS is not receiving any signal, player is eaten by the Grue.
Boring list (Score:2)
Hello, my name is Al Gore...... (Score:2)
The idea was that this would be a sort of server-based Atari "Battle Zone" game, but played in your car. The PC would show a real-time radar map, and your car on it. You would have to visit r
Please Rob Me (Score:4, Insightful)
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I love the game where you blather about your brand new *expensivewidget* you will be missing while you are out, post false GPS coordinates showing you in another state, and then wait in your living room closet with a weapon and a video camera.
N5800 (Score:2, Interesting)
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Geeks will finally rule the planet (Score:2)
End privacy rights! (Score:2)
Lame. (Score:3, Interesting)
I’ve tried these “games”. And while there are many out there, they are pretty lame. And GPS is way too inexact anyway. And it doesn’t work in buildings. Or between high buildings. Or in the woods. Or pretty much everywhere where it would be fun.
So it’s a lot of moving. In your everyday scenery. ;)
Sorry, but this can’t beat alien 3D worlds and game physics.
Plus: What geek likes sports anyway?
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Plus they don't have respawning worked out yet.
Re:Lame.... Not that lame anymore (Score:1)
No.... plain GPS receivers doesn't work in buildings, in the woods. But if there is data network, then things change.
The new wave in LBS is merging A-GPS with social location information and other data.
Mobile phones have A-GPS (Assisted GPS) and other technologies, like Cell ID based locations and WIFI Hotspots information. By merging all this information, "positioning systems" that are not simply GPS anymore are getting much better.
A-GPS gathers Almanaque and Ephemeris data from the network, "making a weak
Nice list you got there (Score:2)
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And many/most Windows Mobile smartphones had it too, before half of these even existed. And it's not like they're at a disadvantage for "GPS games", e.g. Geocaching Live [geocaching.com] is only available for Java/WinMo. I know this is Slashdot, but come on...
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It's the mobile market according to Slashdot, don't you know: it consists of Apple (with apparently greater than 50% share), with the rest filled by Google, and then RIM. Windows is only mentioned to make the Iphones look better. No other company exists. Although I'm gobsmacked that they referenced Nokia for once.
What about Wherigo? (Score:2)
Aagh! What happened to that link? (Score:2)
Geocaching (Score:1, Informative)
My family has been geocaching for about 10 years. I've tried it about 10 times with a smartphone and found the GPS to be less than accurate enough for that use. At times, the phone GPS would tell me to head in an opposite direction from where the cache actually was located and getting within 20-50 ft was my only expectation. Well, they fail on that too.
A $120 Garmin hiking GPS that my sister uses was always more accurate. It seemed to point directly into the location and was always within 20ft of the cache.
Dont forget the backseat (Score:1)
Back Seat Driver
Our goal is to build smart-cars that drive themselves. Piece by piece, we will achieve this.
First speed limits
Then aftermarket self-steering (for limited roads at first)
Then auto-trains, so you can go coast-to-coast and wake up in Yellowstone!
But first, we yell at you if you speed....
speedlimits [wikispeedia.org]
Gps (Score:1)