Enhanced GPS features for iPhone 3G on tap?

The latest iPhone can't compete with in-dash GPS devices when it comes to guiding you from point A to point B, but that could begin to change thanks to an upcoming firmware update.

The bloggers at Gear Live (via MacRumors) say they've got the scoop on iPhone firmware 2.1 beta, and among the (rumored) improvements are new Core Location features that can determine both the direction you're facing and the speed at which you're traveling.

Those two features alone (if they are, indeed, coming) would go a long ways toward improving the half-baked navigational features on the iPhone 3G. For now, the new iPhone does a solid job of pinpointing your location within a dozen yards or so, but it won't point Google Maps in the direction you're facing, and it only manages to follow your current position in fits and starts.

Also, don't forget that TeleNav has already confirmed that it's making an in-car navigation app for the iPhone, which (according to Gizmodo) will include 3D moving maps and voiced turn-by-turn directions.

No word on when firmware 2.1—or the TeleNav iPhone app, for that matter—will pop up on iTunes. Stay tuned.

Related:
Apple beta testing iPhone 2.1 firmware, adding more GPS features [Gear Live]