Are marine electronics obsolete?

[yottyboy]

With Iphones and Palm Pre heralding the start of the next generation of smart devices (they aren't really cell phones any more) the apps available now have already rendered separate GPS devices redundant. Will it be very long before we are doing all of our navigating with our phones? Here's hoping.

[Bend-Lure]

I still havent figured out how to hook a transducer to my iPhone. Does the GPS on iPhone work outside of cell service range?

[yottyboy]

I still havent figured out how to hook a transducer to my iPhone. Does the GPS on iPhone work outside of cell service range?

I don't know about IPhone, but the navigator on the Pre needs a connection to Google. Global coverage is on the way in the next few years. I still can't get a signal here in the basement of my building where my office is, except thru WiFi. You should be able to connect a transducer via Bluetooth. All we need are the apps. For the Chesapeake and other close in waterways it wouldn't be an issue right now since all that is pretty much covered.

[Kamper]

Cellular "GPS" fixes off the towers not the satelites. It's only required to be accurate to 100 yards.

Someday I expect all "mobile" phones will use satelites so the service will be available over a much larger portion of the globe, if not all of it. At that time their "GPS" accuracy will probably be closer to "real GPS" so they can sell navigational apps to people who would be interested in them.

Don't put your chart plotter on Craigslist yet!

[ReelAddiction]

Havent hooked up a radar antenna or a transducer to my phone yet....lol. IMHO, put down the electronics and learn paper and pencil navigation.

[Sandy]

Navigating in rough seas trying to get useful information from a bouncing 3" screen with my bouncing eyes has no appeal to me, and I question the water-resistance of most of these devices.

Can you communicate on the phone and see nav data simultaneously? Are the phones WAAS enabled and the NAV apps work out of cell range and under a metal hardtop? Oops - I see Kamper answered that last.

Perhaps nice to have in your pocket as a backup to the backup, but for now it seems silly to even think in terms of these things being used as a primary marine navigation device. Fun toys though!

[cjohnson]

I don't think they make a waterproof cell phone. Most of them are far too fragile for any mission-critical application, regardless of what they can do when used at home.

[Kamper]

I don't think they make a waterproof cell phone. ...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology...ws/4324010.html

This article has reviews of 3 units being advertised as waterproof. I have the G Z One through Verizon. I've held it under water several times. The problem wiht the current generation is they aren't sealed to withstand any kind of pressure and pushing the buttons can cause leakage.

These are problems for engineers. Soon there will be mil-spec grade phones for those who want or need them. Each generation of tech is just a teaser for things to come.

[JeffK]

Will it be very long before we are doing all of our navigating with our phones?

Working overseas in Africa and Afghanistan (not military) everyone used cell phones. And when the bullets started flying everyone had a cell phone to their ear which overloaded the system and there was no communication. The good old VHF worked like a charm. Cell phones are great but don't count on them in an emergency.

[Sea Tow Ethan]

The iPhone uses GPS technology for finding its position, not cellphone positioning. It works fine when out of phone service range.

That being said, the GPS in the iPhone is not nearly as accurate as what you find in marine electronics. The "sampling rate," or whatever it's called, is also much lower so it can't calculate speed and direction accurately.

I'll use my iPhone for casual use on the road, but I'm not getting underway without good marine electronics on my boats. I've never seen a mobile phone with a radar either! :-)