2.)gps. I don't neeed pinpoint gps either. I really don't need gps at all. And for when I do, I have an $800 standalone unit that will smoke the socks of any phone gps and in chicago traffic, that's very important.
Err, that is amyth. Most smarphones GPS work properly and "smoke the socks" out of your $800 dedicated GPS device ("standalone" is not the right term since standalone GPS is a mode not a device type). Smartphones advantage is they are a(ssited)GPS and autonomous/standalone GPS, which means smartphones much always hot to warm start, where the typical dedicated GPS only has standalone GPS mode meaning it is more often on cold start. The accuracy on my Epic (with start fix applied) when in GPS is as accurate as any $800 GPS -- and I have had many.
Traffic on most dedicated GPS is conveyed by a digital radio channel which I have found to be less often updated than Google maps traffic.
On top of that your Epic GPS has hundreds of millions of points of interest and updates them and maps daily.
so advantages of smartphone GPS:
1) More accurate more up to date maps (updated for free as well)
2) Faster fixes
3) Hundreds of millions points of interest
4) points of interest more up to date
5) points of interest integrated with google, diplay phone number so you can not just find the CVS, but see its most curren hours of operation -- and call them.
6) traffic equal to or better than dedicated devices
7) often will run multiple software (I just installed navigon on my Epic). I had navigon and tomtom on my WM phones.
8) has secondary location system, "Wireless netorks", which whiles less accurate works deep indoors.
That "blows the socks " off of dedicated GPS units and is why sales of dedicated units has fallen so far so fast and why Garmin, TomTom and Navigon (the top three) are in such deep trouble. The fact is you get a data service with a phone which specifically for location based applications is a perfect storm of utilities.
And the Epic GPS issue isn't precision, it is the Epic sticking without getting a fix. (which users have foudn a workaround for) Sprint has already confrimed this as an issue, they are working on it with samsung. People are seeing precision as an issue because they are mistakenly enabling wireless networks, which has nothing to do with GPS, but which gives you a fix under almost any conditions, albiet less accurate