Sony (Ericsson) has confirmed that the recently announced Sony Xperia S , and Sony Xperia ion (for the U.S. market), the Russian navigation system GLONASS support. GLONASS is the counterpart of the American GPS. The phones can use the Sony U.S. and Russian satellite navigation. The Sony Ericsson Xperia phones like the Xperia Arc 2011, Arc Xperia and Xperia PLAY S via a software update support for GLONASS received.
GPS stands for Global Positioning System and this system uses 31 satellites. Its management is controlled by the U.S. Air Force. GLONASS stands for Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema. The Russian version of GPS uses 24 satellites. The management of this is in the hands of the Russian Air Force.
According to Sony Ericsson introduced the combination of the two systems into a better position. This would be about fifty percent better than with GPS alone. The disadvantage of two navigation systems is that your battery a lot more empty. Therefore, the Sony (Ericsson) phones only use GLONASS as strictly necessary, such as a poor or no GPS signal.