Verizon Blackberry 8830 GPS update
I now have updated my Verizon Blackberry 8830 with the update that hopefully enables the GPS that Verizon so thoughtfully disabled originally and can offer some first-hand information about the update. FIrst off, the update procedure, one normally rock solid with Blackberries, hung up toward the end and I had to remove the battery from the 8830 to recover. Once I did that and reconnected to the Blackberry Desktop Manager my 8830 was restored with all of my data and the device reactivated with the Blackberry network. The total process ended up taking over an hour but my 8830 at was functionally the same as before the update. I had some scary moments in there where I thought my 8830 had been bricked but thankfully the battery removal did the trick.
Once the 8830 was updated the first thing I noted in the Settings menu was that GPS now shows "Device GPS" under the GPS Data Source option where before it didn’t. This leads me to believe that the GPS is at least enabled under the basic OS level which is cool. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to use it yet. Blackberry Maps, the program that RIM preinstalled as part of the OS will still not use the GPS, which is a big shame. It is obviously still disabled by Verizon which is absolutely friggin’ horrible. The GPS Settings under BB Maps still shows "None" as the only option under GPS Source. Bad, bad Verizon! Google Maps on the other hand seems to be trying to use the GPS as it shows "Updating location" when it starts. I haven’t had time to wait long enough for it to get that first satellite lock but I think it’s trying to which could be a good thing. I’ll keep trying to verify if Google Maps does in fact use the GPS under this new OS update and report back.
I suspect that the update is designed to let the GPS work with Verizon’s VZ Navigator service for $10 a month and a few minutes ago I activated that service on my account which is required to test it. I then downloaded the VZ Navigator application to the 8830 OTA and when I try to run it it starts and then quits rapidly. I suspect it’s because it will take Verizon a while to actually activate the service on my account and that the app is checking for service up front and that’s why it quits immediately. I’ll give them some time today and then test it again and report back. It would be very odd if their own service won’t use the GPS, it’s obviously the main reason Verizon has enabled the GPS.
If I am going to have to pay for an additional service to use the GPS in the 8830 I would much rather use TeleNav, a service I use on Windows Mobile. TeleNav is an excellent navigation solution and it would rock on the 8830. Unfortunately a visit to the TeleNav web site still says that you need an external GPS receiver to use their service with the 8830 which may not be accurate with this update. I went ahead and ordered the service from TeleNav since there’s a free 30 day trial and downloaded the application OTA to the 8830. It installed and no go, the TeleNav app tells me it needs a Bluetooth GPS receiver. I went into the TeleNav Settings and lo and behold I can select "internal GPS" which I’ve done but haven’t been able to get a satellite lock yet. I’ll keep trying and report back.
Ok Verizon, this totally sucks. You personally told me that 3rd part apps would work with the GPS and other than Google Maps which I can’t get to work yet NONE OF THE MAJOR 3RD PARTY APPS WORK WITH THE GPS. It may be time to switch carriers, and I’ve been with Verizon for years and years. Your decision makers just don’t get it.
I am really hoping that Verizon just hasn’t had time to get everything working since the update is so new but somehow given their track record I just don’t think so. Caveat emptor.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
I strongly suggest you stay with Verizon, they have the best service around Houston, I live in the Conroe/Woodlands area and made a huge mistake to switch to AT&T when the iPhone came out, I had sooooo many drop calls it was ridiculous, well 4 months later I am back to Verizon and expecting to get my Voyager today :)
James, I’m impressed! Your energy level was so high in that posting that I immediately needed to find and consume a sugar coated doughnut with sprinkles! ;-)
I’ve been promising a navigationally challenged friend of mine that they’d be able to use their 8830 for GPS so all I can say is go get ‘em!
It’s amazing what you can get away with when you have what is probably the best coverage in the nation, or at least that’s what the perception is. They can cripple their phones and have highly limiting data plan restrictions, but people won’t switch out of fear of bad coverage. At least some class-action lawsuits have gotten them out of their worst habits.
I have an 8800 and the GPS works great. It has it’s own little GPS app and while it doesn’t talk and tell me where to turn, there are apps that will do that. It also has bluetooth and the bummer of it is that you can’t use the phone as a GPS device for something else. That is, I can’t connect the 8800 to the Mogul as a GPS. The kicker is I got the 8800 from Vodafone. That’s the only way to get a decent phone with a built-in working GPS in this country because all cell providers here suck. All of them in at least one way or another. T-Mobile’s data is so slow I could call and speak the zeros and ones faster than the phone could send it. Cingular is a combination of two ancient Incan words “Cin” meaning “bill” and “ular” meaning “rape”. Sprint’s EVDO is pretty awesome but I think it’s now confirmed that their entire management system is occupied by monkeys who couldn’t make a decent decision if their lives depended on it. Because it does and they still can’t.
So there ya go…find a provider with high speed data, at least. Then import and decent phone and you’ll be set.
Actually, I take back one line of the above, it’s not the only way to get a decent phone with a working GPS in this country. What I meant was it’s the only way to get a decent phone in this country, period.
Come to AT&T, the 8925, the new Motorola Q9 Global, and the new BlackJack II all have built in GPS that can be used with any 3rd party software such as TomTom :)
And another thing….I’m tired of hearing how cell companies only sell crap because Americans want something cheap. That’s bull. Yeah, that Walmart still makes money speaks volumes about how America has abandoned quality, but a quick glance at any phone site will show that there are LOTS who value quality over cheap, lead lined Chinese trash. I was reading about a Nokia that looks really, really, sweet and comes with all this stuff, including ringtones by Brian Eno. I never gave a damn about ringtones before but I’m a huge Eno fan and it really irked me that, like every other decent phone ever made, the only way I’d ever get my hands on one would be to import it, at undoubtedly great expense, from the UK. What a crock! Not that I’d want one, I’m a PDA kind of guy, but that I can’t get it because, here, it’s the lowest common denominator uber alles really ticks me off. I’d expect Sprint and Cingular to have their heads that far up their asses but T-Mobile, a German company? They should know better.
James,
I had the same problem with VZ Navigator starting and then quitting quickly. The following fix (from blackberryforums.com) cleared up that problem for me:
Go to Options>>Advanced Options>>Applications>>VZ Navigator, click your Menu Key and edit the permissions for the app, changing “Connections” to “Allow” and “Interactions” to “Allow.” That should do it.
Although Verizon are not part of the Open Handset Alliance, its this sort of behaviour from the network operators that worries me when it comes to the upcoming Android release.
I posted about it just yesterday:
http://www.guyontechnology.co.uk/2007/11/20/concerns-with-android-and-the-open-handset-alliance/
(hope you don’t mind links James / Kevin)
Hi. I went through this install last night and ran into some problems. Here’s what you’ll have to do to get the application to stop quitting shortly after opening it. Go to the permisions option through the Options/Advanced Options/blah…. menu. Set all of the permissions for the VZ Navigator application to Allow. After doing this you should be able to use the application. When you use the application and try to get it to find your current location using the GPS you should receive a message stating that your GPS has not been provisioned. Here is where you will have to call Verizon to add the VZ Navigator service to your account and provision your GPS> This may take some time with Verizon as the person I spoke to didn’t even realize they had enabled the GPS on this phone. I had to spend 30 minutes convincing her that they had :-) Once provisioned it was able to find my location using the GPS.
Gary,
Thanks, I changed the permissions in VZ Navigator and it now works. I just need to get it provisioned as you mentioned. I’ll see how well it works. Unfortunately, BB Maps, Google Maps, MS Live and TeleNav still do not work. :(