Cellular phones are full of a variety of peripheral functions. Cameras, personal planners, games, and of course navigation. A year or so ago, the first entries into phone navigation relied on Google maps in some way or the other. Now, even the latest Google phones come standard with GPS built in and many reports show that their performance approaches that of low end hand held GPS units. There’s rumors that Apple will release a better performing GPS phone over the next year or two, which supports the idea that with GPS on your do-everything smart phone, why use anything else?

Nokia, still the world-wide leader in cellular phone sales, announced today that they will offer free turn-by-turn GPS on several of their upcoming smart phones. On first look, their N97 phone resembles the iPhone in many ways, but without all the iPhone apps and appeal. Nokia does rather well in Europe and everywhere other than the US with smart and standard cell phone sales. Reports indicate that Nokia will be working with Tom Tom and Garmin for these new phone offerings.

So skeptics will first say, what about reception and power usage? Typical GPS chip sets are now a few square millimeters in size and are manufactured from sub 100nm silicon technology. They sip power when in use because after all, GPS units need only to receive or “listen” for a signal from three or more GPS satellites to figure out where the unit is located. The only problem comes with antenna size and location on the receiving unit. Standard GPS systems have a nice sized antenna that either swivels out from the back (car units) or are built into the body of the receiver (hand-held versions & some car units). The iPhone and it’s look alikes hide their antennas under the unit’s case. Such a form-factor tends to limit the size and visibility of the GPS antenna and makes it harder to receive location information. Apple’s iPhone 3GS needs both additional software and an optional booster for it to work as a turn-by-turn navigation device.

Today, both the hardware and software stand as challenges for smart phone makers to provide standard turn-by-turn GPS on their phones. Google’s Droid phones seems to have it beat. 2010 will be the year where we’ll see GPS for the masses either from Apple, Nokia, Droid or the other smart phone makers. By 2012, it’ll be standard on any smart phone available and in a way will eventually replace hand-held units. In 2009 Magellan  teamed up with Apple to offer a packaged solution, while Garmin and Novifone came up with an iPhone form factor clone called the M10. The other GPS companies will need team up with phone makers to keep their hand held business units alive.

Only Garmin offers sea-faring GPS, which makes them somewhat diversified, but when compared to the mass consumer market, they and other consumer GPS receiver makers don’t have much choice, but to find their way into a smart phone of some kind. Better now than never.