[shlammed]

So, I just did a little test in the exact same spot inside of my house:

I downloaded the Google Maps app and clicked GPS - found my location instantly

I downloaded the GmapLE app and clicked GPS - found my location instantly

I downloaded the Digital Compass app - 5 minutes later it's still looking for my location

I downloaded POYNT - took about 25 seconds to find my location

BING - wouldn't find my location at all

[lnichols]

I downloaded the free GmapsLT app and it finds me quick and accurate indoors. I agree the apps seem to be the issue.

[FF22]

What google maps app? Official from Google?

[Darlaten]

What google maps app? Official from Google?

There are two new map apps in App World. One is called MapApp by Flint Management. It brings google maps to the Playbook using the GoogleMaps API.

[dcscott]

Wow - you're absolutely right. I've tried Poynt, Compass, and the Magellan apps and was never able to get a GPS reading. On several occasions I stood outside for over an hour and was unable to get it to work. After reading this thread I downloaded the Google Maps app and it found my location within about 3 minutes.

[lnichols]

Wow - you're absolutely right. I've tried Poynt, Compass, and the Magellan apps and was never able to get a GPS reading. On several occasions I stood outside for over an hour and was unable to get it to work. After reading this thread I downloaded the Google Maps app and it found my location within about 3 minutes.

That still seems slow. Poynt usually finds me in under a minute, and if I have it and bing maps open after poynt finds me Bing will finally find me (Bing takes forever on its own). GmapLT finds me in about 20 seconds or less. Of course I wonder if this is all GPS or some of the Google scanning access points thing and it know where my access point is?!?!

[dcscott]

That still seems slow......

I don't consider it slow as it is the first time it's found my location. The first time always takes longer. Heck the Garmin in my car takes 4-5 minutes if I fly it across the country and then turn it on.

[mttomas]

but the playbook has no own gps or? it is using the blackberry mobile to get the information or?

Tomas

[anon(1603170)]

but the playbook has no own gps or? it is using the blackberry mobile to get the information or?

Tomas

It does have GPS. But maps require internet connection to be downloaded, unless its an offline map application.

[mttomas]

and offline maps are not avalable yet i guess

[PlaybookPlayboy]

remember it can take 5+ mins to download the satellite data the first time in a new area... it is a sat. limited speed, it takes that long to send at the rates they send it. this has been written up before. Once my GPS locks, which does not take much time lately, it works equally well in all apps.

[xwestwood]

too slow. it can't compete with iPad 1 GPS anyway. Besides, there is none real digital compass working.
I tried all apps above. I even wasted one buck to get that GPS monitor app(which at least tens of such free app are available in apple store) to prove it.

[howarmat]

some people have reported 30-60 minutes to get a GPS lock, which in really unacceptable IMO. i have tested the PB GPS in best buy alongside 2 android phones, a xoom and a tab. All got fixes and were ready to go in less than 20 seconds while the PB never acquired a signal after 5 minutes. Why rim didnt do aGPS for the thing is beyond me. Most everything else does and works properly

[jjrimfan]

Took about 15 minutes after downloading app and standing the PB against a window. We have lousy GPS coverage in the particular part of the building I'm in, but I now have a lock on my position within 15 m. The site is subject to a lot of multipath. Signals bouncing from metal walls and cladding on very close nearby building walls. A U-shaped building around a traffic circle.

So, after all that, it may be the apps that were holding up positioning. The GPS may need optimization. Are the apps getting a position (in which case the GPS may need work)? Or is the GPS fully optimized, and the apps poorly executed? I can't tell, since I don't program this type of thing.

BTW: Go Canucks!!

JJRIMFAN

[jjrimfan]

Fired up that app, and had correct position data within 45 s, including pretty good guess on altitude. This AFTER finding a position with MapApp.

JJRIMFAN

[FF22]

The new version of Mapapp is giving me a javascript error!

[billyhoyle13]

I got a GPS lock within 5 seconds using Mapapp, and I'm on the 2nd floor of an office building nowhere near a window. Can't wait for an actual google maps app though. This thing is pretty basic.

[T_Touch]

So, I just did a little test in the exact same spot inside of my house:

I downloaded the Google Maps app and clicked GPS - found my location instantly

I downloaded the GmapLE app and clicked GPS - found my location instantly

I downloaded the Digital Compass app - 5 minutes later it's still looking for my location

I downloaded POYNT - took about 25 seconds to find my location

BING - wouldn't find my location at all

... and no matter which I use on my cell phone, they all pick right up every time.

It's the device.

[FF22]

how a device gets its signals depends on the nature of the gps.
the pb gps is not assisted by cell towers. it is like my hiking Garmin gps. it needs a reasonable view of the sky. It may or may not work indoors depending on building materials and windows. How fast will depend on the last time it got a position and where you are in relation to that last signal. Also if you are in a mo ing car and constantly moving will affect speed of acquisition.
cell phone are very different than a gps.

[Schlymer]

I haven't been able to find my location on bing maps playbook app, since the first time. It worked once then never again. I thought it might be a faulty gps, but before I went through the trouble of calling support, I decided to try MapApp to check if that worked. I tried it indoors and nothing. I tried it outside and in 10 seconds or less it had my correct gps location.

To sum it up the gps works by global positioning satellites, not like the phone gps on the google map app. That works by radio and it works inside or out. The playbook may be able to find your gps location inside a car as there are many windows. Just to be sure if you are in your house and you need to use gps to find your location on a map, stick the playbook out the window for a few seconds. lol

[Tiberius1]

If you have unlimited internet,
you can use samsung galaxy tab GPS:
YouTube - ‪Galaxy Tab in-Car Demo. Navigation, Audio, Speakers.‬‏

Can you use BP the same way?

[MedChemist]

Folks GPS is very subject to conditions, and the number of birds it can receive good timing data from. 3 years ago i took a trip and brought my hand held Garmin Rhino GRMS/FRS radio GPS. Had not been on in over 6 months and its internal clock was off. When I arrived at my destination, it took well over an hour to acquire my location. Gave up waiting for it so i left it on overnight in my hotel room while i slept. Next day it was spot on to within 6 feet which is very good.

Also you should note that sat coverage is not uniform everywhere every day. The birds are not geostationary like Dishnetwork or DirectTV. You need a good signal from at least 4 birds to get a good fix within 3 meters 5 birds are better. My Garmin Rhino lets me see graphically how many birds its receiving signals from and their strength and location on the horizon around it. You can watch them come and go. I believe there use to be about 24 or more up there but over the years some have failed leaving holes or gaps in the coverage. Cell phone GPS utilize timing from cell towers in addition to the birds to to speed up and increase accuracy of the measurements needed to set your position. The present Playbooks don't have cell receivers in them at this point and thus can't take advantage of this technology until the 3G/4G models come out. So right now the Playbook is completely dependent on the GPS receiver and its antenna (also quite important btw).

Now all this said some days with my PB I get my location pretty accurate in a few mins, sometimes I don't get it at all, before the App gives up. I think tbere is a very good application available in Appworld, that displays GPS acquisition information directly without the maps. Similar to the compass application. I haven't tried it myself, but its from a company that produces a lot of GPS apps. You might use that to test your GPS rather than the mapping POS software, which will give up or only take the first set of coordinates the receiver provides and could be very far off initially.

So before you start ripping RIM about the the PB GPS capability try learning something about the technology, and its limitations. The follow web site has a Ton of Information on the subject:

GPS Receiver Information, Software, and Hardware Reviews of Garmin, Lowrance, Magellan and other GPS Receivers

Everything you could possibly want to known about the subject!

[sid_kid]

i have only tried bing and poynt and both find me in less than a minute...that is also inside of my apartment with windows about ten feet away or so...

in fact, bing is actually more accurate at first than poynt is, after about a minute or two they both are spot on though...by spot on i mean within about fifty feet, however if i go outdoors with a clear view of the sky it gets down to about ten feet or less...poynt will even pick up my address within two or three apartment units...

[peter9477]

No thread on PB GPS problems is complete without someone (apparently only me, so far) pointing out that the antenna is in the lower right corner (when held in the default landscape mode) and that covering up that corner with your hand, which is very likely how most people would do it, serves to significantly block the satellite signals and reduce accuracy, increase time-to-first-update, or simply makes a fix impossible.

[kris3kgt]

thanks for sharing