GPS - keep screen on

There is

go to settings >> general >> auto-lock and turn off the auto-lock. By default it is set to 1 minute.

Be aware though it will suck the battery so you may want to have a power supply hooked up to the phone so you aren't drained when you arrive at your destination.

I have auto-lock set to two mintues, yet when I'm Maps and the GPS is active (the pulsing blue dot), the screen does not shut off on mine. I drove for 15 minutes with GPS on and the screen never turned off.

GPS:

1) Do the step by step direction update once you pass that turn... or does it always say "make first left" even when you're up to the fifth turn?

2) Does the GPS talk to you?

3) Can we adjust the orientation? I'm driving forward and to the right but the map is going behind me to the left.

Way better phone than the Verizon Envy but this navigation by Google maps is not too great!

1. No
2. No
3. No

Also, the dot doesn't stay centered on the screen, like it does (and should) with most GPS nav' units. I was doing 80 mph on toll road 73 in Orange Cty and I watched my little blue dot just move from the right side of the screen to the left side and then out of sight.

Real navigation using the iPhone? darn tough

7 days left to return it. With this and the battery life, I'm seriously considering it.

The iPhone SDK specifically forbids the development of turn-by-turn GPS navigation software. However, I've read that TomTom, Magellan, and Garmin all have turn-by-turn, voice guided real GPS software waiting to be released for iPhone. So it seems it's just a waiting game...

The Google/GPS combo isn't meant to be a substitute for a real GPS driving system.

Settings > General > Auto-Lock; set it to "Never" to prevent the screen from locking.

The dot will stay centered in the map unless you move the map. Just touch the lower left find button again if you have touched the map.