Samsung is presenting its “flagship 4-inch chic smartphone,” the Wave 3, along with other new models, at IFA 2011, a global trade show for consumer electronics that begins today in Berlin.
Samsung seems to be the first major international handset manufacturer to offer a mobile phone with a GLONASS+GPS supported satellite location system. But the new feature has been introduced in the most discreet way. While emphasizing the capabilities of the new Bada 2.0 platform – including multi-tasking, Wi-Fi Direct, voice recognition, and Near Field Communication – Samsung’s press release does not even mention the GLONASS feature.
Samsung’s Russian representation office confirmed to CNews.ru, a website specializing in IT news, that Wave 3’s chipset supports GLONASS, but software support is still not guaranteed. The GLONASS navigation feature could be made available only in certain regions, according to CNews.ru.
Samsung’s Wave 3
Last month, Xiaomi, a Chinese startup claiming to offer low-cost but high quality Android smartphones, presented a model – conveniently named the Xiaomi Phone – which supports a GLONASS+GPS navigation system.
The first ever smartphone supporting GLONASS was launched in April 2011 by MTS, a major Russian mobile operator, in partnership with Chinese manufacturer ZTE.
Compared to GPS-only solutions, the combination of GPS+GLONASS makes for more accurate positioning in certain situations – especially in dense “urban canyon” environments – since the combination almost doubles the number of satellites available for triangulation.
