BlackBerry and GPS

location based services

In this post I will write about using GPS enabled applications on your Blackberry.I will present you the solutions available on the market today and the options you have with your device.Compatibility
I will begin telling you what options you have with your device and which programs are compatible. After that I will give you an introduction to each program. As you after that know which program is compatible you might just want to skip some programs which would not run on the particular device anyway.
In general there are two options for using GPS with a Blackberry. You ether have a device with an internal GPS receiver, or you will need an external bluetooth GPS receiver, which will provide the GPS data to your BlackBerry. At the time of writing there are only two BlackBerry devices which have an integrated GPS receiver: 7520 and 7100i. For all other device you will need a Bluetooth GPS receiver. If your device does not have bluetooth support you are out of luck. Below is a detailed compatibility matrix. It shows you which program is compatible with which device.
Note: Some devices do have “Location Based Services” options. This does not necessarily mean they have GPS. Especially the 7250 does not have GPS. The device is often confused with the 7520, which has GPS.
There is a software for the antique RIM 857/957 which works with a serial GPS receiver attached via cable. If you are still using one of these devices, you might want to take a look here: map viewer for RIM
GPS Compatibility Matrix:
BlackBerry Device
GPS Type
Berryvine Companion
CaffeeinFinder
Fastfoodfinder
MapQuest Find Me
Mobile Locator
Naggie
Spot for Blackberry
Telenav
Trimble Outdoors
7520*
internal
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
7100i
internal
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
yes
yes
7100g
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
yes
no
7100r
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7100t
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7100v
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7100x
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7105t
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
yes
no
7130e
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7210
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
7230
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
7250
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7280
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
7290
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
7730
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
7750
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
7780
not supported
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
8700c
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
yes
no
8700g
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
8700f
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
8700r
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
8700v
bluetooth
yes
no
no
no
no
no
yes
no
no
* To make use of the GPS capabilities of your 7520 you need the latest BlackBerry OS. Earlier version did not implement the “Loacation API”. You can get it here.
Software
There are basically three types of GPS software:
Navigation Software
Mapping/Field Navigation Software
GPS enabled tools
Most people think of Navigation Software when they hear the word GPS. It is obviously also available for BlackBerry. There are however a lot of other things you can do with your GPS device. Mapping and “Field Navigation” Software is mostly targeted for outdoor use and for navigation in a terrain without big streets. You can use it for hiking, biking and a lot of other activities like geocaching which got popular recently. This kind of software sometimes can offer you detailed topographic and satellite map in addition to street level maps. Another application are GPS enabled tools which incorporate the location with other functions.
Navigation Software
- TeleNav
TeleNav turns your BlackBerry in a full featured Navigation System and is currently the only real navigation solution for users in North America. It has an easy to read navigation screen which shows the map, speed and direction. You will also get audible driving directions to know when to turn. An integrated POI (Point Of Interest) management system allows you to quickly find restaurant, gas stations, etc. that are nearby.
Telenav is subscription based and costs $10.00/month for the “TeleNav Unlimited Plan“.
- Berryvine Companion
Berryvine Companion is the only real Navigation Solution if you are living in estern Europe. The program makes use of a third party data provider “Locatienet” which provides the maps and driving directions. The Regions “BeNeLux”, “United Kingdom” and “Most of western Europe” are covered. It also features POI (Point Of Interest) support but lacks audible driving directions like Telenav has. Berryvine Companion works with Bluetooth BlackBerry’s only. (As there is currently no BlackBerry with internal GPS in Europe that should not be much of a problem).
Mapping Software
- Trimble Outdoors
Trimble Outdoors is designed to create and exchange outdoor trips with your Blackberry. It includes an application to prepare and plan outdoor trips on the PC and is targeted to users in the United States, as they only provide maps for this area.
You have to pay a monthly fee to use Trimble Outdoors. Different plans are available from Nextel.
- Spot for Blackberry
Spot for Blackberry is a very feature-packed Mapping application which even integrates some advanced GIS features. It has a lot of integrated Map-Services which provide streetlevel data of the United States and topographic / satellite imagery with worldwide coverage. Best of all - there is no monthly fee to use them. It features extensive waypoint support, including a pseudo-routing function which directs you to your target and can import GPX and LOC waypoint data. It even support getting geocache data from geocaching.com. However I got server timeouts when testing this feature. Spot for Blackberry can also log your tracks. I was testing it on a Blackberry 7290 and a 8700. The program was a bit slow on my 7290 after using the Tracklog for a few hours while the 8700 was still very fast. The different map-services are very impressive. You can get satellite photos of your terrain, get environmental maps or even use your companys map-server, as the program supports the OGC WMS standard which is used by ESRI, etc.
Overall this is probably the best GPS mapping software available. For real navigation however I would suggest to get Telenav too. You can download a free demo version of Spot for Blackberry or buy it for $49.
GPS Tools
- MapQuest Find Me
MapQuest Find Me allows you to locate you family, friends and co-workers if they are also using the tools and allow you to locate them. You can search for POIs (Point Of Interest) and let the program guide you to them showing turn-by-turn directions (although without map).
MapQuest Find Me costs $5.99/month with 300KB of Data Access Service included or $3.99/month if Data Access is purchased separately.
- MobileLocator
MobileLocator is similar to MapQuest Find Me. It allows you to locate people who are using the same program and can direct you to them. It can also locate POIs (Point Of Interest) like gas station, ATM, bank or restaurant.
The Mobile Locator Service costs $9.99/month.
- Caffeinefinder and Fastfoodfinder
Caffeinefinder and Fastfoodfinder are two small application specialized to find a coffee shop / fast food restaurant nearby.
They work in the United States and are available at no costs.
- Naggie
Naggie is a location-based reminder application which will remember you of things to do that are related to your current position.usage examples:
“When you’re leaving the office, Naggie can remind you to pick up a pizza on the way home.”
“The next time you’re in Paris, Naggie can remind you to check out that great restaurant your friend just told you about.”
“When you arrive at the grocery store, Naggie can remind you to pickup some milk.”
It is available at no costs for a limited period of time.
Rumors
According to the press letter from blackberry.net which is already more than one year old, there is a lot of software to come.See: http://www.blackberry.net/news/press/2004/pr-14_12_2004-01.shtml
There were some rumors on bbhub.com about a BlackBerry 8700 with internal GPS support but now news on that yet.
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2 Comments »
mike said,
May 30, 2006 @ 9:25 pm
OK, i am looking for a way to use my bb 8700c as the gps device to use with software loaded on my notebook
BlackBerryInsight » BlackBerry Outdoor Compatibility #1 said,
July 7, 2006 @ 3:51 pm
[…] The BlackBerry itself was basically designed to be a business device - targetting the need of mobile email accessibility and security. The time changes, the users change and the user’s behavior changes too. Such changes came along with mulitmedia support (i.e. MP3, Video), higher display resolutions and even GPS capabilities. Inspirated on the article BlackBerry and GPS some time ago, I thought it is time to check the outdoor compatibility of my BlackBerry. […]
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