NaviGadget

blackberry with GPS

Aug 17, 2007 gps navigation, phones 1 Comment

We decided all the blackberry models RIM is coming out with these days is getting out of hand and we need some help understand which ones features GPS and which ones don’t. We plan an expanding this article with help from our users. Just comment if you see any missing info with the URL and we’ll update.

BlackBerry 8310
This is the latest from RIM. It is the successor of the 8300 but now has navigation software and an embedded GPS receiver. 320×240 screen, 2MP camera, multimedia player and a microSD slot memory expansion makes this BlackBerry 8310 (also known as Curve) very attractive to average daily user in addition to business professionals.

Currently only available through Vodafone in Germany.

BlackBerry 8820
We’ve known about the Blackberry 8820 for a while now. This is one is famous for having integrated GPS and Wi-Fi in one device. It will be available with AT&T in the U.S.

LATEST: Some rumors say AT&T may leave out GPS on 8820 to not create competition for the iPhone. Keep your hopes high though, T-Mobile probably keep GPS capability alive.

BlackBerry 8830
8830 is available through many carriers such as Alltel, Bell, Sprint, TELUS, and Verizon Wireless. 8830 also has GPS functionality but you’d have to check with your network provider to see what kind of features they make available – meaning you won’t be able to use any software you like… you’ll have to pay for your maps and directions. Also no Wi-Fi.

BlackBerry 8800
Blackberry 8800 has integrated GPS but no Wi-Fi. The difference between 8800 and 8830 is that 8800 uses a faster processor and has a longer battery life. 8800 is also works on 850, 900, 1850, and 1900 MHz GPRS/EDGE networks whereas 8830 works on 800/1900 MHz CDMA2000 Ev-DO and GSM/GPRS networks.

GPS enabled phones not up to the task?

Jun 25, 2007 gps navigation, nokia, phones 9 Comments

In one hand we have people saying how stand-alone GPS navigation devices will soon be obsolete, since eventually all phones will have an embedded GPS chip, and in the other hand we have the state of the art Nokia N95 and Blackberry 8800 which do come with a GPS chip but can not deliver reliable GPS features.

Check out these people complaining about the fix time of their Nokia N95:

Robert Scoble says GPS on N95 sucks:

The GPS? Frustrating to use. You’ve gotta be outside and even then it takes several minutes to get a “fix”.

Since that’s one feature the iPhone doesn’t have, that tells me that Steve Jobs was probably smart in leaving GPS off of the iPhone.

A review on CNet also mentions not being able to connect to satellites:

However, we weren’t able to lock onto a GPS satellite for some reason during our test period — perhaps the areas we tested in didn’t have a clear enough view of the sky.

And lets look at Blackberry 8800 which is not as bad since it gets helps from cellular towers to get a fix.

This review mentions lack of available maps that don’t rely on cellular networks:

Make no mistake, though, you don’t need to see a cellular tower in order to get a GPS lock. Though in this case, it may not matter as much–without access to a cell tower for data service, there will be no maps from TeleNav, Google, or anything else but what’s already on the device, and to my knowledge there aren’t any cellular-independent mapping packages for the BlackBerry.

However you can still find very unhappy customers of GPS enabled Blackberry 8800:

So how does the GPS perform? Well, like the performance of the device itself, rather slowly. The built in software (Telenav) for GPS (which costs a monthly fee of $9 extra) has a nasty habit of taking a significant amount of time to get a fix before letting you even make use of the navigation features. I was very disappointed in the software’s inability to quickly get up and running. Having to wait up to 5 minutes just for the phone to get a GPS fix really limited the usefulness of the software for quick navigation tasks such as finding a local gas station or fast food restaurant.

(Note: Engineers at Nokia must have realized how bad the GPS performs so just recently the word came out that they’d be releasing a new firmware update for N95 to enable use of A-GPS)

So we believe there’s enough evidence to claim that GPS enabled phones are not up to the task of replacing standalone GPS navigation devices just yet. Their satellite fix times are slow, the maps need to be downloaded which can require a costly data plan.

There’s no need to throw away your Garmin, Mio, or Magellan just yet. If you are looking for a GPS integrated phone that delivers reliable GPS feature you may have to wait a bit longer. We can’t wait to hear about how the GPS functions on the new Mio A702 by the way – it uses SiRFDirect which may improve its performance.

GPS tracking for Blackberry 8800, 8830

May 23, 2007 gps navigation, phones, software, tracking 18 Comments

First 3rd party GPS applications for the Blackberry 8800 are starting to surface. One of these is the MobileTracker from SkyLab. It utilizes the A-GPS chip inside your Blackberry 8800 or 8830 to record a tracklog. It will work anywhere in the world regardless of having cellular service or not. If you are battery conscious you can also customize the delay between each way point so it doesn’t power up the GPS chip every five seconds.

MobileTracker saves your track log on the microSD card so you can easily transfer it to your PC to get a visual on Google Earth or even Google Maps. It costs $24. But what are its uses other than seeing where you’ve been that day?

… the tracklog can be published and shared over the web using the free Google Maps service. So you can now easily embed a tracklog from your hiking, biking or running trip into your website. Imagine of publishing your current and previous running logs on your website or blog to let people take part in your hobby. Taking advantage of the BlackBerry you already have will minimize your expense on additional GPS hardware.

MobileTracker also tracks your height, and can be used in the background so you can still take calls, make appointments, etc. on your phone. There’s no limit to the length of the track you are recording.

Now if you could turn this into a Trojan and get regular emails about the location of your stalkee, then it would be really useful.

Blackberry 8800 GPS navigation

Feb 14, 2007 gps navigation, phones 6 Comments

In case you haven’t heard yet, the new Blackberry 8800 from RIM has integrated GPS capabilities. Today we know that the on board GPS software is from Telenav.

What makes this BlackBerry unique is its GPS capability. We were very impressed with the bundled TeleNav GPS Navigator. For a reasonable $9.99 per month, you get spoken turn-by-turn directions (including street names), 3D maps, and local search via the Biz Finder tool. We tested the system by asking the 8800 to get us home from a park-and-ride using local roads. The very natural-sounding female voice told us the distance before the next turn and alerted us at just the right time before the turn itself. TeleNav also pulls up addresses from your contact list. The local search function worked well, too, allowing us to map a business address, navigate to it, or dial the number.

This review from Laptop magazine gives the Blackberry 8800 3.5 stars out of 5 – but calls the GPS navigation feature “surprisingly good” and the GPS system “excellent”.

Blackberry 8800 will be available from Cingular for $300 with a 2 year contract.

Blackberry 8800 has integrated GPS!

Feb 13, 2007 gps navigation, phones 11 Comments

A lot of people have been talking back and forth about the RIM’s new Blackberry 8800 but nobody was sure if it would have GPS navigation capability or not -until today- when it was officially announced at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Through its built-in GPS, the BlackBerry 8800 can pinpoint its location and provide “out-of-the-box” support for a wide variety of location based applications and services, including BlackBerry Maps. BlackBerry Maps provides driving directions — with the ability to track the route via GPS — and integrates with other BlackBerry applications, so users can generate a map from an address in their BlackBerry Address Book and send maps via email from their BlackBerry 8800.

It hasn’t yet been confirmed but the GPS in the 8800 will be the network reliant A-GPS, not a standalone GPS chip like SiRF Star III. The A-GPS platform will interface with the on board Blackberry Maps application to provide directions or other location based services.

The new Blackberry 8800 is expected to be available in about 8 days (Feb 20th) at Cingular.

UPDATE: We were wrong. The Blackberry 8800 does contain a standalone SiRFstarIII-LT chipset. However it may still be using Assisted GPS to conserve battery and such. We didn’t know SiRF made those kind of chips. We’re confused.