Samsung Galaxy S GPS-gate: two problems, not one (and what to do about it)

You’ve gotten noticed the update on our Epic 4G review from yesterday where we lauded the undeniable fact that Samsung appeared to have fixed the GPS problem plaguing every other Galaxy S flavor released to this point, however turns available in the market are actually two distinct issues. One has a fix — kind of — while the alternative is hopefully what we’re going to get next month. Listed below are the two failure modes, based on what we know to date:

” Use wireless networks” is now turned off by default, but in spite of it on, the phone could also be slow or unable to establish even a rough location. Originally, we’d believed this was the best problem. Samsung tells us that it’s a new Google mandate that Android devices be shipped with the ” use wireless networks” option disabled, meaning you’re hoping on traditional GPS alone to decide your location — a lost cause indoors, in urban canyons, or under dense tree cover. Indeed, we discovered it was turned off on our Captivate, Vibrant, and Epic 4G after fresh hard resets, and there’s no indication to the user that it’s probably in their best interest to enable it; we’re familiar with being presented with the option during account setup on other Android devices, nevertheless it doesn’t happen here. After enabling it from settings, we found that both the Captivate and Epic 4G were ready to get our location with 1,000 to one,500-meter accuracy practically immediately in Google Maps, though the Vibrant still never came through; it had the weakest signal of the three, that may have accounted for that (though it never dropped the signal altogether).
The regular GPS circuitry and software isn’t doing it’s job. Cell tower triangulation and WiFi location database services like Skyhook only take you up to now — at the tip of the day, you still must tune in to the birds several thousand miles up to determine precisely where you’re. All Galaxy S models appear having trouble turning GPS reception into coordinates, even when the phone is in a position to peer four or more satellites in view (four is the minimum you normally need for an exact, three-dimensional lock). Now and again, resetting the phone apparently helps, nevertheless it ceases to work again after a day or two of use. To our knowledge, none of the homebrew fixes obtainable had been ready to solve this section of the issue perfectly and permanently. The Captivate and Vibrant are both laid low with this one; we’re unsure on the Epic, but we’re working to nail it down.

What this implies for you: for now, simply make sure to have ” Use wireless networks” checked for your Galaxy S’s settings under the ” Location & security” menu. It won’t get you essentially the mostsome of the most reliable, precise location try to be entitled to, but it surely’s a start — and next month’s round of firmware updates should hopefully take us the remainder of ways.

[Thanks, Carl]

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This post is tagged: AND, GPSgate, IT, NOT, problems, Samsung