1. GPS device listens to GPS frequencies.
2. Satellite frequencies detected, attempting to get an interrupted data package from each satellite containing their almanac, location, precise time, etc. This takes around 30 SECONDS TO ONE MINUTE, of 100% uninterrupted data.
3. Satellite location detected, able to know precisely where the satellites from which the device receives random code strings. Based on the lag of the random code (the device compares its own identical code to the satellites, and calculates the latency -> using the physical constant c: the distance from the satellite) and by knowing the satellites’ locations in space, it can calculate your location.

That whole process can take from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on where you are and how good satellite coverage you’re getting. I have a Nokia 5800XM and the satellite works wonders.. INSIDE! Yes, it works goddamn good inside, let alone outside. Sometimes it might go off by 5 meters off the road but that’s only initially when it hasn’t locked on that many satellites. Just turn on your device, preferably “GPS locatro” instead of Nokia Maps and go into Satellite View and just wait patiently.

Same in EU/UK.   Traffic updates worked well and redirected me off rather than keep me in the blocked motorways. 

So I can’t see what all the fuss is about.   Did you RTFM?

The problem was that I found the assisted GPS was fine if you were in the city, but once you got into the countryside, rural areas then it became a problem once again.

Assisted GPS is their work-around to poor GPS satnav eqipment.
Assisted GPS is NOT “true” satnav. Rather than getting the signal directly from the satellite (as in your cars satnav system), assisted GPS gets its positioning by using ground base stations (Nokia says that it gets it’s initial positioning by using these base station and then connects to satellite, I am skeptical of that, I’d love to see their proof of this).

I’ll tell you what happened to me & my Nokia N95 (maybe it was just MY phone that was faulty??),

Without assisted GPS the satnav capabilities of my phone was zero.

With Assisted GPS, the satnav at last started to work quite well.

But it was a false dawn, because although in the city all worked well, I wanted to see what happened when I was in more remote areas (country lanes & on a mountain). what i found was that the GPS satnav was useless. It would not find the satellite and location. I ran it alongside my cars satnav. Whereby the cars satnav pinpointed my position wherever i was in the countryside, the N95 failed dismally. After all that hope i was back to square 1.

There equipment must be flawed? Look at the evidence? Why would they come up with assisted GPS?

Essentially you need to get rid of the operators specific S60 OS version and move to the Nokia generic version, this removes all limitations imposed by the operators such as disabling SIP phones for use over WIFI.

“Goods “not fit for purpose”.Claimant purchased a Nokia N95 mobile phone with GPS satnav. At no stage did the GPS work properly.  The Claimant contacted T-mobile(sellers)who informed him that responsibility laid with NokiaUk. Nokia offered many fixes&advice on various software updates and patches &other ways to correct the defect(e.g “assisted GPS”). Many hours (hundreds) were expended over several months followingAdvice but to no avail. In Nov2007 the defendant informed the claimant that nothing further Could be done&the claiment took this as an admission that the product was “not fit for purpose”. Prior to purchase the claimant researched the manufacturers specs (nokia.com). The phone was purchased from T-mobile (In-house sales line). TheClaimant made it clear to the salesperson that he only wished to purchase a phone with GPS capabilities. He was assured that the GPS would be effective.During the same call the purchase was made. The GPS proved innefective and the claimant now seeks a refund of the costs incurred with this purchase”

The N95GPS is so good that I have retired my Garmin 60CSX to the drawer.  

I have just spent 4 weeks in EU/UK and it did not miss a heartbeat, what with the nav and traffic updates which then reroutes you.   I could find any restaurant, historical feature, POI within a few metres, and the navigation is just awesome.   I am so impressed with the Nokia as a all round phone/www/gps that I have uploaded a GPS www page to demonstrate what you can do “to have fun”.   I only wished I had published this page before leaving for the UK/EU.
http://www.myshanghai.tv/gps

So in short – get your phone checked out B4 EOW (end of warranty) or better still fly to Shanghai and I’ll take you in to buy one that does works.

Cheers – a very happy N95 GPS owner.

Also the internet phone is great apart from the fact it is not obvious which phone is in use. Mobile or internet. Ringing your mobile answerphone at home or in wifi range probably uses your sip voip phone and could cost more!

http://www.simplysymbian.com/2007/08/16/how-to-use-the-nokia-n95-gpsa-gps

I have the N82 and the GPS is flawless… locks on faster than my old Tom Tom SirfStar III chipset, and once its got a lock it even keeps the signal inside my house, in my bedroom, with an attic directly above me. Now THATS impressive.

The GPS, get the latest version of the firmware and the latest version of the maps software from the smart2go website.

Then follow the GPS tips on the nokia website, you need to do what it says. I get lock on my position within 20 seconds.

If you’re deciding to buy this phone for its gps functionality – don’t. Get a proper gps device. Used to have HP 6550 with gps as well and I thought that one was bad … The truth is: the gps is quite slow and unresponsive, the navigation through it is a bit confusing, most of the time it does not find enough satellites. Some of you say it works OK. Well, depends on your standard. I’ve had the need for navigation several times and on each occasion it failed. Plus you have to purchase the part of software that does the actual guidance. What good is a location fix if you can’t navigate? At least other providers offer a trial period …

Anyways, as the other functions go: the 5Mp camera is not as good as advertised. Sure the image produced is big enough but it appears dotted. It actually already locked some of the buttons up until I restarted the OS.

But all together, since iPhone is now out in UK, if you’re deciding between 2 as I did, still go for Nokia. It’s got its faults but overall it’s still a good gadget.

Brilliant! Sent a couple of emails and I got my money back. I know it was only £40 or so, but it was still really annoying paying for something I’ve never been able to use.

Will do a post later with my experiences.

Barcode reader sucks ass too by the way, but I wasn’t going to use that for anything anyway :P

I brought a TomTom 720 and I’ll never go back

Did you get anywhere with getting a refund? Coz I stumped up for 3 years too and am going to devote considerable time and effort to getting my money back, along with a grovelling apology for their bug-ridden crappy software. And they can shove their firmware update where the sun doesn’t shine – you can’t polish a turd.

Apart from that, excellent phone ;)

Unless you honestly thought the N95 GPS would be better than a dedicated SatNav device … :-|

Apparently the time it takes to get a signal is reduced from 10-15 mins to 10 seconds.

Look around http://myn95.com/ as well.

cheers