We've talked about the differences between aGPS and GPS before, but we can now add another form of aGPS to the bunch: QuickGPS. 

QuickGPS is from Qualcomm (technically called gpsOneXTRA Assistance) and is an Internet-based form of aGPS or offline aGPS whereby your device, once a week, downloads a data file that has all the ephemeris data contained (file = packedephemeris.ee).  This data is good for 7 days and helps calculate your position faster without the need for an Internet connection at the moment of initiation (ala network-based aGPS).  "Cold starts" go from a minute or more to just seconds. Very cool.

HTC has been incorporating this into some of its devices lately (e.g. Touch Pro) and Palm has it on the GSM Treo Pro.  HTC calls it QuickGPS as it made a nice app to initiate the system (see above photo). 

But as usual, some of us were not invited to the party (e.g. Sprint Mogul, Touch, etc.) and the community has effectively taken matters into their own hands, hacking this onto various devices.  The latest is the Sprint/Alltel Treo Pro and we have to admit, it works like a charm. 

So if you want to join in and speed up your GPS system, feel free to browse those threads!  And remember: back up before you do so!  This also may not work on all devices--if you get "QuickGPS.exe' cannot be opened. Either it is not signed with a trusted certificate, or one of its components cannot be found. If the problem persists, try reinstalling or restoring this file." that would be you, sorry.

We've gone to great lengths to explain the differences between GPS and aGPS and also generally celebrated the arrival of full-on aGPS on many a carrier. One thing, though, if you have one of these fancy, aGPS phones, you may not necessarily want to have the thing on, because it could potentially make your GPS acquisition times worse.

The advice comes to us by way of MyTodayScreen and here's the nut of it: if you're using an unlocked device or an otherwise non-carrier-supported device, it's a good bet that turning on aGPS is going to lengthen your acquisition time as the assisted part of it tries (and fails) to get location information from the local tower. They ran into the issue using a TouchHD, where turning off aGPS sped up acquisition time significantly. I've had the same issue on the HTC s740 on AT&T: turning off aGPS made a big difference for me, too.

Yeah, sorry, it's not a simple situation (this stuff never is). Even if you are using a fully-supported device on its proper carrier and aGPS is up and running in your area, it's still one more potential point of failure. Just because things are getting better on the GPS front doesn't mean that Microsoft, manufacturers, and carriers don't have a long way to go to making location hardware simple.

AT&T has flipped the switch on its Autonomous GPS service, which should help your aGPS enabled phone connect to the satellites much more quickly. (Surprisingly, AT&T hasn't had this enabled until now.)

"But Phil," you ask, "I already have GPS on my phone. What's aGPS going to do for me?"

To answer that question, we return to everyone's favorite WM Expert, Malatesta, who in January brought us a great tutorial on the kissin' cousins of the Global Positioning System.

Read GPS vs. aGPS: A Quick Tutorial.

Then step outside, fire up your favorite mapping app, and let us know in the comments if you can see a difference.

One neat feature that we've mentioned recently in our Podcast was Palm's unique "Maps" program and Today Plugin, which is nicely tied into the phone's aGPS system.

Palm has always done a nice job in marrying the hardware to the software and instead of just slapping some GPS on the phone, they actually made it...well, useful and easy.

Here are a couple of interesting things gleaned from past scoops and the recently released user manual...

Read on for more details on the 800w's GPS capabilities...

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With discussions and speculation about what features the new Treo 800w will have, the convoluted and very confusing issue of aGPS versus GPS naturally arises and which, if either, the 800w will include. So what is aGPS? How does it differ from “real GPS” if at all? We'll fill you in on the full skinny -- which sadly can be anything from "just e911" to "Better than standard GPS."

Read on to learn what all of these terms actually mean and what it means for Windows Mobile users in general as this technology spans CDMA and GSM across the U.S on every device.

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