Om Malik says GPS on the iPhone is locked and loaded:

[T]here is one thing that’s for sure: The new iPhone has Global Positioning System (GPS) built into it, thanks to legal requirements put in place by the FCC.

The GigaOmster further says that new-to-the-space-space Broadcom has nailed the contract, which is great for them but panic-inducing for the stand-alone GPS market. (We know Google sees positively HUGE maps usage from the GPS-less iPhone already, so that makes the kind of sense that does.)

But Brian Lam of Gizmodo thinks the whole GPS on the iPhone thing is pretty poorly thought out:

No thanks. Don’t need it. I’m fine with the current location technology. It works for walking and that’s all I need it for.

Lam’s reasons? Current cell and WiFi location services are much quicker than GPS, they better suit walking and the iPhone is less useful while driving anyway, GPS kills battery life dead, and GPS chips would significantly fatten up the iPhone.

Personally, both 3G and GPS are still bleeding edge tech when it comes to realistic day-to-day usage in everywhere, USA when not hooked up to a generator, so while nice to have as an option, and fetishized by the tech media and the blogphere commentorati, neither will have the impact on my life that the 2.0 software update likely will. It just ain’t mainstream enough for me to be melodramatic about yet.

What do you think?

[More on the Broadcom GPS story, with thanks to reader southerntraveltourism]

Blog vs. Blog: GigaOm/Gizmodo GPS Showdown! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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