Basically I have an XDA2, and I'd like to get a GPS for it, but I have no car. Does sat nav provide any benefits for people walking the streets?
I was thinking maybe something along the lines of city maps with pubs marked on, or maps of popular holiday destination with points of interest highlighted, that kind of thing.
Is there anyting like this?
TomTom 5 has route planning options for *on foot* but if you are in town areas on foot walking on the pavement the satellite signal won't be as good, and you might find out it drops the line of sight quite often.
Gaz, as the man said, tomtom 5 has the pedestrian option when planning routes and will choose the shortest route by foot. You will need a bluetooth gps which you can strap to your arm with an armband or maybe on your head/hat. You could use an sd gps but then you wouldnt be able to use tomtom 5 because of memory restraints. It maybe that you can download smaller maps for sepcific areas, in which case the sd card method would be the tidiest and least cumbersome. Do not buy a cabled gps as this will be unusable in the pedestrian situation. The other option would be purchase of the backpack for xda 2, this gives you an option to use cf card gps while leaving the sd card slot free for your maps and tomtom. Having said all that, it might be cheaper and make more sense to buy a standalone gps which will allow downloading of street level maps plus poi's and maybe autorouting feature. Some of the cheaper ones allow planning a route on the pc which is then downloaded to gps as a series of waypoints, others allow full autorouting on pc or gps. Make sure you do your research and that the kit you buy actually achieves what you want. I would go for the bluetooth option with tomtom, there are a huge amount of third party points of interest freely downloadable and you can even make your own and share them on the web. Just do a search for tomtom poi.
The TomTom mk2 bluetooth GPS device that comes with TomTom 5 for PDA's has a hole through it so you can attact it to a lanyard or something.
Most rucksacks and backpacks have a pocket at the top of the bag, so of you carry one of these, it would be fine in there.
Except that Rucksacs are soon to become a banned item in the UK.
Yes, and dont wear a heavy coat either.
im thinking of getting a navigation system for my car. ive used a garmin c330 which my friend lends me on long drives. i generally like it for its ease of use.
now my question is:
1. since i have an 8525, is getting a gps bluetooth reciever (suggestions welcome) and a mapping software (suggestions also welcome) comparable to the garmin c330? like voice, turn by turn instructions and what not.
2. im thinking going the 8525 gps system will be cheaper. am i right?
thanks for the help guys.
Yes it will work out cheaper and do just the same in terms of navigation turn by turn instructions etc.
You will need a Bluetooth GPS device, and some Navigation software / maps there are plenty to choose from, I use Route 66 and TomTom. (Depends where in the world you are located though as to which mapping is best)
Don't forget to get a car holder and power cable for use in the car, if you run off just the battery you will flaten it very quickly running software such as TomTom - Mike
How good does the GPS work with the Polaris? Is it free to use GPS or do you need to pay a monthly fee to TomTom? Does it integrate the GPS into google maps?
Finally, do you need to have constant power flowing to the phone for the GPS to be maintained when walking in a city or driving Or can it run from battery?
I read somewhere that most phones only function as GPS devices when they are plugged into a car charger. Somehow it shuts off the GPS after a few seconds of battery power. ???
Works off the battery (for a few hours (3-4)), you don't have to pay monthly (there's no payment involved).
Yes, Google Maps can use the GPS unit
I think it does even better than 3-4 hours. I used GPS and Pathaway for 3 hours and listened to music all the time and lost about 50%.
The GPS itself doesn't consume too much power, but applications such as TomTom do tend to use the processor in a heavy way, this does consume power at quite a high rate, I always use a car charger when running a nav package in the car.
TomTom and any of the other decent navigation packages are subscription free unless you decide to use the Traffic system etc, once you have bought your map you can use it for as long as you want. - Mike
GPS is free to use depending on the application. If you are living in the states, I highly recommend downloading Microsoft Live Search, it's a great piece of software.
Many people are having problems with GPS. This thread is intended to discuss the different possibilities using an external bluetooth GPS.
I have just bought a Copilot GlobalSat BT359. I have tested it with Bluetooth GPS Provider V1.2.5 from the market.
I am very please to report this works very well. Got a fix in seconds and is very accurate. Need to test it on a long run.
Can people please post any info on bluetooth GPS's and any results they get.
The Copilot GlobalSat BT359 cost just £14 from eBay.
cool downloaded the program works fine with my bluetooth gps(holux) thnx very much! nice to have a backup! my internal gps works fine too!
Try oruxmap from the market. It supports external bluetooth gps. And working great.
I use a Nokia LD-3W bluetooth GPS module. It's nice and small and it works an absolute treat and locks on to satellites instantly. The battery lasts for ever and it also has the in car charger just in case lol. I use the copilot sat nav app as it has built in maps so I don't need to worry about data useage and it is available to buy from the market.
Edit: loads for sale on ebay HERE
symanuk said:
Many people are having problems with GPS. This thread is intended to discuss the different possibilities using an external bluetooth GPS.
I have just bought a Copilot GlobalSat BT359. I have tested it with Bluetooth GPS Provider V1.2.5 from the market.
I am very please to report this works very well. Got a fix in seconds and is very accurate. Need to test it on a long run.
Can people please post any info on bluetooth GPS's and any results they get.
The Copilot GlobalSat BT359 cost just £14 from eBay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tested Copilot GlobalSat BT359 and it works great. Did have some phone crash problems. Fixed it i hope...
I've ordered a keyring gps:
http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.ph...gps-receiver/63a0c4b6f743d7f3f396c7497be2aa58
Testing with my Nokia phone as the gps device I found making the bluetooth connection was difficult. Once connected it worked great. Hopefully the Nokia was at fault there and not Android and the keyring device will connect every time.
snaff said:
I've ordered a keyring gps:
http://www.handtec.co.uk/product.ph...gps-receiver/63a0c4b6f743d7f3f396c7497be2aa58
Testing with my Nokia phone as the gps device I found making the bluetooth connection was difficult. Once connected it worked great. Hopefully the Nokia was at fault there and not Android and the keyring device will connect every time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats a neat little device and handy it can clip on to your trouser belt or jacket etc. I notice that the website has some mark up on the Copilot UK maps! Its only about £27 from the Market!
Got the BlueNEXT BN-902MM today and took it for a short walk with My Tracks. All seems good. Look forward to running with it on Monday.
Importantly, the routine each time I want to use it is no more than 10 seconds:
* switch on the keyring
on the sgs:
* disable internal gps from the icon on the dropdown menu
* tap the Bluetooth GPS widget
and it's ready to go within a few seconds with no more fuss. Same in reverse to disconnect and go back to using the internal GPS.
I wanted to clarify that as if the connection is more like 30 seconds+ or is unreliable then you don't want to be doing that every day.
Does this work with all aplications, like Google Maps, trapster or Sportypal or only specific apps?
Thanks
t1mman said:
Does this work with all aplications, like Google Maps, trapster or Sportypal or only specific apps?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In theory with all apps. The data is passed to the Android OS so any apps using the standard Android interface for reading positional data will get that which comes through the bluetooth link.
The only difference I've seen is in the GPS Status app which gets the positional data but not the debug data with regard to each satellite and its signal level, etc. I don't think any normal apps would need that sort of detail.
Here is my modded armband. It's an iphone band so I'd already butchered it to fit the SGS in and felt I had nothing to lose. First I made a hole to attach the keychain to, then unpicked the thread on part of the velcro strap so the GPS could slot behind that. Then I did a bit of sewing (no homo) to tidy it up.
snaff said:
In theory with all apps. The data is passed to the Android OS so any apps using the standard Android interface for reading positional data will get that which comes through the bluetooth link.
The only difference I've seen is in the GPS Status app which gets the positional data but not the debug data with regard to each satellite and its signal level, etc. I don't think any normal apps would need that sort of detail.
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Click to collapse
Good! So it's definitively my planB if it's not fix by next spring (I probably won't run outside that much in winter in Canada eh!)
Here is the Nokia LD 3W in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM2gm5DAOjM
But since I started working with the "gps status"app., the internal
gps is doing quite well as well....but I dont know if it's related,
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I'm overall happy with the external Bluetooth GPS.
I've used this app with many other gps apps. Like Google earth, maps, Cell mapper 2, c:geo, DRoute, G-Mon, GeoRecorder, GPS Status,Maps(-), My Tracks, Speedview and more. Only one states that gps is turned off but works anyway which is Waze and iGo won't start because it can't find a GPS-signal.
Accuracy with internal varies between 100m and 10m and external GPS between 10m and 1m.
For navigation in cities I use the external GPS and for rural navigation I use the internal GPS receiver.
Does this prove that the internal gps on the sgs has a hardware issue? Or there other factors involved?
I am just wondering if the issues can really be solved, by software updates?
householddog said:
Does this prove that the internal gps on the sgs has a hardware issue? Or there other factors involved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't, because the drivers may be buggy, and external receivers do most the processing, so it isn't a timesensitive operation really.
householddog said:
Does this prove that the internal gps on the sgs has a hardware issue? Or there other factors involved?
I am just wondering if the issues can really be solved, by software updates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth gps navigation works very well on the sgs as you can see on video.
It is a hardware issue in the sense that most standalone gps receivers or external bluetooth gps receivers got more capable gps chipsets (like sirfstar chipsets) than most smartphones nowadays, so it is not an exclusive sgs's problem
It could be an antenna issue as well so a less serious hardeware problem...
Anyway I dont think this thread is the right one for that kind of discussion.
This thread I think is to show if bluetooth gps is working on the sgs and how.
Or why it is an option for some users and for others not...
Bluetooth gps works on my sgs and that's a fact.
For the other gps issues there are already enough threads with speculations, assumptions and facts like:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=821863
And more:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=732030
And so much more...
Let's keep this thread just to the point and that's bluetooth gps navigation.....
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sean2476 said:
I use a Nokia LD-3W bluetooth GPS module. It's nice and small and it works an absolute treat and locks on to satellites instantly. The battery lasts for ever and it also has the in car charger just in case lol. I use the copilot sat nav app as it has built in maps so I don't need to worry about data useage and it is available to buy from the market.
Edit: loads for sale on ebay HERE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's interesting how long that battery goes without recharging!! How is that possible?
The specs say 3 days stand-by and 4 hours active...well on stand-by it lasts forever and during navigation is so many hours I dont even know exactly!!!
If its a software issue, I guess 6 months is not even close enough to fix it. Im already convinced that this is a hardware issue since my 5800 seems to have a very accurate GPS
hmm i want free GPS(w/o trial).. and also i want cheap bluetooth GPS with good quality
..
just tell me if you know any product
I have older standalone gps devices that work ok, but I would like to run a gps app on my android, and being that it only has WIFI I was wondering two things.
1. Does the Shield have a reliable enough antenna for GPS Navigation?
2. Which is the best "off line" GPS app to use for Canada/USA? (I was thinking of using TomTom, as it is on sale?)
Edwii said:
I have older standalone gps devices that work ok, but I would like to run a gps app on my android, and being that it only has WIFI I was wondering two things.
1. Does the Shield have a reliable enough antenna for GPS Navigation?
2. Which is the best "off line" GPS app to use for Canada/USA? (I was thinking of using TomTom, as it is on sale?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. It seems more than adequate to use for GPS navigation. Mine personally seems to take up to a few minutes to find enough satellites but other people reported really good GPS usage.
2. If the Tomtom is as good as it is on iOS then it should be good enough for offline navigation. I used Tomtom on iOS with a XGPS300 with my ipod touch which obviously didn't have data either and it gave me usually good directions. Although after getting a hotspot I've since used Waze on my ipod touch and sometimes my Shield and it works well on both.
The best offline GPS Android app for Canada/USA is Copilot. Fast satellite lock and fast rerouting.
Its visually appealing and is very easy to navigate the menus compared to TomTom.
I have Sycig, for Europe and it works flawlessly. You can install it from the store.
I made 1300 KM with it and worked great. Had no problem.
I am so glad I have the shield!!
For usa you can get GoPilot or IGO, for Europe definitly Igo, also Route 66 is nice , Sygic too.