Greetings! I was disappointed to read in the N900 user's manual that "You need an internet connection to be able to add geotag information to your files." Is this in fact the case? Why doesn't the device just save the coordinates if available via GPS (not A-GPS), even if the city, country, etc. are unavailable? Just curious...

Thanks in advance,

zeze

I think it does, if it already running. Mine doesn't really lock without network. I'm 99% sure it instantly tags if a lock is already established, say, via maps.

these sort of phones are not gps, well if there are they dont work like stand alone types. and i habve never tried getting a lock without network. taking pictures is fast, and there is no chance in hell that you will get a lock as quick as it takes to take a pic without network

Uhm... "You need an internet connection to be able to add geotag information to your files." is not correct. I can edit geotags just fine, even create new ones like "Dubai". N900 has the option of Country, City and/or area.

ok mand you can do it manually- thats not the point of the thread tho is it?

Funny, I thought it was?

"Why is basic offline geotagging not possible with the N900?" is the title, and if I can define a basic offline geotag to an image.. Well. I'm tired anyhow.

It's true, I think I can't add the numbers, but adding a geotag with the country name is pretty basic to me.

And the device does remember the latest locations for quick manual add later.

no it wasnt mandibela.

this thread isnt about manually adding.

also there are users of this device that dont have a network sim. therefore no way of geotagging automatically if away from any wifi networks.

this unit had assited gps- not gps thats the problem here. if it had full on gps this phone could geotag without a network connection..


but what phone has full on gps- i cant think of one.

with this phone you can call and sometimes even videocall for free via wifi without even be in a mobile data network. if everybody would have a phone like this where all the mobile broadband companies would go? dont you think they are powerful enough right now to obtain something in return of this damage and this risk?
maybe im wrong maybe there's some technical reason for not being able to put real gps and real front cameras in a phone like this. i dont know. im ignorant. and hard to please.

A-GPS is GPS, assisted. A-GPS should works just as any GPS except it locks way faster if online. There's a bug in the old(?) firmware that made the app give up if no lock in 30 seconds - and a generic GPS lock is obtained, on average, in 288 seconds from a cold start with this chip, as reported via bugs.maemo.org.

Edit: "True" GPS aquisition times as high as 10 minutes
Edit2: Locking: an interesting if technical read

With patched or alternate software, one can get a lock with no assistance. It's enhanced GPS, not crippled GPS.

The reason this doesn't work for images is because camera only has a default 6 seconds until it releases old image and takes new one. That only gets tagged if a lock is very fast. As I posted, while I was online, images got insta-tagged if already locked, but offline (no data link). Now I can't swear to it, but I am 99% sure.

I'll try tomorrow, right now I'm in concrete.

For some, country and city are not acceptable substitutions for reasonably accurate and precise longitude and latitude. And manual editing is not a substitute automatic insertion of these values.