xGPS - GPS for iPhone / iPod touch

First we would like to thank you for the interest in our project. More than 200 pre-orders have been received and we are still receiving some. Great and thank you!

A little clarification about our goals need to be stated. We want to sell these xGPS modules to enable you to use your iPhone v1 or iPod touch like a great GPS device. We are not here to make profit or to sell these modules in large quantity as a “normal” company would do. Hence we will accept only a limited amount of orders. We are planning to produce about 100 to 150 modules, depending on the demand. After that we will be done :-)! In the extreme case, where many people could not have ordered their modules, we could plan another production slot but that’s too far away from now! That was about our goals and our thoughts.

Now the juicy news. We are developing an application allowing the xGPS modules owners to use their iPod touch or iPhone as a GPS in their car or while they are walking etc… It means that the application doesn’t require an Internet connection at all. It works as follow: Maps are downloaded from the Internet before starting to drive or to walk by selecting the desired town’s maps. Then the users can enable the GPS mode and their position will be displayed on the map and updated each second without requiring an Internet connection.

Now many people will ask the question: Would it be possible to get directions or to search for a place ?. The current answer is no. But don’t be sad ! It is planned. It is the next major improvement that has to be done on the application. The big problem is that the application need to know somehow the street names etc… So it will be only possible to get directions when there is an available Internet connection. Fortunately the directions data will be very small (and so won’t cost a lot if you are using EDGE). Moreover when the directions are downloaded, they can then be used without any Internet connection.

To summarize our application will be likely the same as the iPhone Map application but without the need to have an Internet connection while driving! This application will be available on the same time as the xGPS module will be shipped. Screenshots and demo of this application will be shortly available.

We have also some great news to say about the xGPS module. As there were a lot of request about cables type or length, we have decided to produce different xGPS modules. There will be 3 models:

1. Standard xGPS module as presented on the final prototype picture.
   • Small cable between the module and the iPhone / iPod touch (30 cm)
   • Black case of dimension 54×37x21 mm (See picture below).
2. Same as 1. but:
   • Longer cable between the module and the iPhone / iPod touch (60cm)
3. Same as 1. but:
   • Long cable (60cm) between the iPhone / iPod touch with a USB plug to recharge the iPhone / iPod touch with the standard Apple© charge

The price of these different modules will vary. We cannot say a precise price for the models 2 and 3 but the model 1 will be a little less expensive as announced last week. The price of the first model of the xGPS module will be 70$ for the module AND the box. This price does not include the shipping fees.

The shipping fees will depends to which country you are ordering and which sending option you take (Economic or Priority). We will ship to all the Europe and the America (United-States and Canada). The shipping fees are as follow:

If your country is not listed, please contact us.

The orders will be opened in about 1-2 weeks. The 10 first orders will have 10% off on the original price of the module. We will not start the production until at least 30 orders have been received correctly. If there is not enough orders, the placed orders will be totally refunded (obviously).

We will start shipping the orders on the 28th of July 2008. Maybe a little bit before if the orders are placed rapidly.

If you still have any question after this (very) long article, feel free to contact us.

Thank you.

After the lot of emails we have received, we have decided to clear up the situation about the price of the hardware.

Unfortunately it means bad news because price of GPS modules are really high. That’s not our fault :-).

By adding all the components prices we get a total price of 70$, including the production of the device.

However this price doesn’t include the box. It is our current problem. We cannot find a good box for this device. Our goal is to add maximum 5$ for the box.

We are currently in touch with some GPS Module suppliers to get reduction with some bulk buy. It means that we will not start any shipping until a minimum of 30 orders have been placed.

To summarize, the total hardware xGPS module will cost 75$ for now (or 70$ without a case). We hope we can reduce a little bit the price. The package will include the xGPS Module, compatible with iPhone and iPod touch, and the xGPS software usable even if there is no Internet connection.

An important thing to know is that the firmware of the module can be updated through the iPhone / iPod touch. Hence it is possible to make it compatible with other software solution if a special protocol is needed.

We haven’t yet a precise date about the start of the shipping but we can expect a shipping date on the end of July. We will ship these modules worldwide.

For those who are interested in buying the xGPS module after having read these information, we ask them to register themselves with the form below. It is only a pre-order. It is here just to give us a precise idea of how many units have to be produced. When the sufficient amount of pre-orders requests will be received, we will contact you to confirm your order. You will have then the possibility to cancel it.

Pre-Orders are now closed. Orders will be opened next week (18-07-2008).

We are proud to announce you that the final version of the hardware has been finished and is fully working. It is based on the same hardware as the first prototype and work flawlessly.

The following main hardware is used:

• EM408 SirfIII 20 Channels GPS Module from USGlobalSat. (You can buy it from Sparkfun or directly from USGlobalSat)
• Microchip PIC18F25J10 clocked at 20Mhz. (Available here)

All other parts are standard (with the exception of the dock connector which you can buy from Ridax).

As told in the last post, the overall system seek the following:

As we can see, when the GPS module is disabled, it doesn’t seek any current (5 mA is really nothing…). We haven’t done any battery life test now but it should not decrease a lot the iPhone / iPod autonomy.

We provide the full schematic and the PCB used to built the xGPS module.

• xGPS Module schematic
• xGPS Module PCB - All Layouts and xGPS Module PCB - Only the TOP and BOTTOM layers

We are proposing to sell these GPS module for the iPhone / iPod touch if there are many demands. If you are interested, feel free to contact us here: http://www.xwaves.net/?inc=contact.

We are now focusing our work on the software side of the project to be able to use the GPS without any Internet connection.