[phone9]

I'm just curious about the iphone's compass - is it always ON? As I mentioned earlier in the thread, my Garmin gps with REAL compass eats batteries if you leave it on. Maybe there is another form now-a-days.

I don't know about the 'i', but in the bb it says in the docs that if you have the accelerometer on continuously it uses a lot of power.

From a theoretical point of view I could see how a mechanical compass being on would use more power, same with an accelerometer. In both cases, you have to energize something in the sensor for it to work.

[cenloe]

lol, yeah, i guess its cool if your trying to get lost and find your way home or something. You know well a compass is useless now a days.

WOW, what an ignorant attitude. Some people actually leave the comfort of the big city and like to "get lost" in the woods now and again.

It seems that a compass in a Blackberry device could be useful, those newfangled augmented reality apps could certainly put a compass to good use.

For those who spend time in the bush, a standalone GPS and an old fashioned compass is what is really needed, although a BB with a magnometer could work in a pinch. When I was a kayak guide in Alaska, a compass was the way we plotted our location and direction of travel.

For someone to say that a compass is useless now days is just the most clueless attitude to have. What happens if the dung ever hits the fan, the world is in chaos and no electronics were to work?? You would be paying me in women and food to get you to safety, thats what.

Or maybe I would just leave you behind and take your women and food, LMAO.

[phone9]

I usually like to know which way is North. Best thing is a small compass add-on to the wristwatch band, much more convenient than an app. May look unusual in an office, but not as weird as a lot of people you have to work with these days.

[pkcable]

I doubt we will ever see a hardware compass on a blackberry, but who knows? HOWEVER there already are software apps that approximate a compass function.

While I don't know for certain I suspect that the Droid & Iphone compass function is also software based.

[phone9]

While I don't know for certain I suspect that the Droid & Iphone compass function is also software based.

Coulda sworn I saw in the Apple Store that the iPhone has a hardware compass.

How else could a device know which way it's pointed? GPS can know which way it's moving, but not which way it's pointed.

[cavingjan]

Assuming that people walk forward. Note: this is the same method that handheld and car mounted GPS units work unless they specifically have a hardware compass. Most units do not have the hardware compass due to battery drain.

[southafrica2]

But what about a stand alone compass?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

We guys who love the outdoor now have a digital compass as a standalone feature in the Blackberry, but........
To do outdoor hiking one needs a topographical map to be integrated with this compass feature which unfortunately the blackberry gurus[clever guys] are not aware of. [Street-maps do not work out in the bush]
Well thats why I came to ask for help:
Is there any way/means that I can integrate my 9790 bberry digital compass app with Google maps INSTEAD of Blackberry maps as BBMaps do NOT have the function "Satellite view" as do Googlemaps.

Needless to say that after spending so much money on a Blackberry 9790 here in the 3rd world county, I was amazed when told that I can not check out the functions of the phone before purchacing it !

Please if any person can help with advice on how to integrate the compass with googlemaps , I will be gratefull.