[bb9810user]

OK new to BB. Just got a BB 9810 torch been using android for years, and love all things android, but fancied a change, and as I hate all things rotten fruit, I have gone with BB. Now also looking for a tablet, and the playbook really interests me. Few things I would like to know before taking the plunge.

Does the playbook have built in GPS?

If so, are there any decent voice guided sat nav apps available UK and Ireland only really needed.

How good is the playbook at keeping a gps lock.

I have waze gps on my 9810, and it seems ok, so if that was available for the playbook, it would do, except it requires a data connection.

I have copilot on my android phones, as well as the good old google maps, which really takes allot to beat, but again requires a data connection.

So really need a stand alone sat nav app, which has built in maps, and only needs the gps signal to be used.

Cheers in advance.

[anindoc]

The PB does have an inbuilt GPS. But if you were to go and look up apps in app world, I (and others) will recommend using Magellan compass for navigation. It works very well (try the free trial and they you can buy if you like it), the other Compass app is not that great compared to Magellan.
The Magellan does lock very well onto your position, but it does not give voice directions. Another drawback is that it does not automatically reroute if you miss directions- but from people who have used it say its really good for the PB..... and thats the best thats available right now to use with PB.
The PB does have Bing maps- but honestly it sucks....

Happy hunting

[kbz1960]

Why do you say bing maps sucks? What makes it suck?

[anindoc]

Why do you say bing maps sucks? What makes it suck?

I should have added - in comparison to Magellan compass it does 'suck'. Bing won't even zero-in on my current location, while Magellan does it without a hitch even when I am inside my house (Bing- forget about it). Sometimes Bing will even give me random locations, somewhere 50 miles away than where I am currently at... even outside.... so in a nutshell it sucks when you compare it to Magellan.

Now some might find Bing great- good for them, for me Magellan serves me better.

[kbz1960]

I should have added - in comparison to Magellan compass it does 'suck'. Bing won't even zero-in on my current location, while Magellan does it without a hitch even when I am inside my house (Bing- forget about it). Sometimes Bing will even give me random locations, somewhere 50 miles away than where I am currently at... even outside.... so in a nutshell it sucks when you compare it to Magellan.

Now some might find Bing great- good for them, for me Magellan serves me better.

Thanks, was curious why you thought so. I don't have much needs for maps or directions but the few times I've used bing maps it finds where I am perfectly.

[Scrapegoat]

Bing works great if I could just believe I was adrift in the middle of the South China Sea as it would have me believe.

[FF22]

Bing works great if I could just believe I was adrift in the middle of the South China Sea as it would have me believe.

Are you STILL adrift in the South China Sea? You probably need an escape Ipod!

[Scrapegoat]

Are you STILL adrift in the South China Sea? You probably need an escape Ipod!

According to Bing? Yep, and paddling around on my "struggling to stay afloat Playbook"

[siung6]

I thought it was just me alone adrift somewhere in south china sea. well, i guess not. but why some can actually lock the location just fine,is there a problem with our pb or bing map perharps. btw, when using mapApp my pb can actually lock the gps location just fine. any input?

[clowrym]

I thought it was just me alone adrift somewhere in south china sea. well, i guess not. but why some can actually lock the location just fine,is there a problem with our pb or bing map perharps. btw, when using mapApp my pb can actually lock the gps location just fine. any input?

I don't have any issues with Bing finding my proper location. I do however have issues with Magellan's GPS lock, It never seems to lock down a position, Always moving around even while im stationary!

[lucian777]

Today i have tried Google Nav via Android player, all i have to say that was great not one single issue, the fix was almost instantly, the accuracy was also good. I simply couldn't belive that i was using my PB for gps navigation. If you want guys i will post a movie tomorow with the PB in action.

[peter9477]

I don't have any issues with Bing finding my proper location. I do however have issues with Magellan's GPS lock, It never seems to lock down a position, Always moving around even while im stationary!

How much does it have you "moving around", and where are you (e.g. near buildings?) when you're doing this.

It's the nature of GPS that it doesn't return exactly the same reading every time, and the location calculation has you "move around" a fair bit. Under the right conditions, on average, it will be fairly close (within a 10 meters or better), but any individual reading can be much farther off than that, especially under poor conditions.

I don't know whether Magellan does good averaging or not. If it does not currently, it's something that could be improved with software. Otherwise you're just looking at the nature of GPS in its current form.

[clowrym]

How much does it have you "moving around", and where are you (e.g. near buildings?) when you're doing this.

It's the nature of GPS that it doesn't return exactly the same reading every time, and the location calculation has you "move around" a fair bit. Under the right conditions, on average, it will be fairly close (within a 10 meters or better), but any individual reading can be much farther off than that, especially under poor conditions.

I don't know whether Magellan does good averaging or not. If it does not currently, it's something that could be improved with software. Otherwise you're just looking at the nature of GPS in its current form.

It can be anywhere from 10 to 100+meters, If i watch the Speedo info, i am generally travelling from 5k to 120k in different directions. Doesn't seem to matter if I am in a building or in a clear open area. While driving it generally tracks "Close" to the street I am driving, but usually shows me 10 - 50m+ off the road, and sometime going in a totally different direction, generally corrects itself in few seconds.

*Edit : Added Pictures, Please keep in mind that I am in a building at the moment, But the result seems to be the same even when in a clear open area. Note the black arrow in the bottom Right is my actual location.

[hedone.hawker]

Hey... here is also new app you can use with GPS... VCMS... i-Mentalist... VCMS | i-Mentalist


with Night mode:


and Day mode:


and features are:
- Compass
- Odometer (dual (A, B) counter with reset function)
- Latitude and Longitude (Where am I)
- Altitude (How high am I)
- Speed
- Angle (left / right – forward / backward) – when not driving!
- Accelerometer
- Day / Night mode
- Calibration for angle meter
- Speed units (km/h, mph, knots)
- Trip units (km, mi, nmi)
- Altitude units (meter, feet)
- Override device backlight timeout
- Clock
- Date

[peter9477]

It can be anywhere from 10 to 100+meters, If i watch the Speedo info, i am generally travelling from 5k to 120k in different directions. Doesn't seem to matter if I am in a building or in a clear open area. While driving it generally tracks "Close" to the street I am driving, but usually shows me 10 - 50m+ off the road, and sometime going in a totally different direction, generally corrects itself in few seconds.

Would you mind trying that again some time with WiFi turned off, if you haven't already? I've noticed on my unit that under some conditions having WiFi on greatly screws up the readings.

I believe it has something to do with scanning for networks, as I don't see it much when I'm actually connected, but if I'm walking around the neighbourhood with WiFi on it gives messed up readings somewhat like you see.

This is another issue I've been meaning to ticket, but if you can confirm it I can report the issue without having to do a lot of work narrowing it down further to exclude my own issues (since I've been using various apps-in-development of mine to check this).

[clowrym]

Would you mind trying that again some time with WiFi turned off, if you haven't already? I've noticed on my unit that under some conditions having WiFi on greatly screws up the readings.

I believe it has something to do with scanning for networks, as I don't see it much when I'm actually connected, but if I'm walking around the neighbourhood with WiFi on it gives messed up readings somewhat like you see.

This is another issue I've been meaning to ticket, but if you can confirm it I can report the issue without having to do a lot of work narrowing it down further to exclude my own issues (since I've been using various apps-in-development of mine to check this).

Without the WIFI connection my Magellan won't open, Turning WIFI off once it is open, the signal stabalizes, still shows a little moving, but no more than a couple meters, Once WIFI is turned on again, we are all over the map!! Sometimes below sea level!

[mapsonburt]

Interesting that the Android GPS maps seem to get a quick lock and are fairly stable... having developed my own GPS navigation application, I must say that I`m less than impressed with the Flash implementation of GPS on the PlayBook (although Peter seems to have sussed out how to get it to lock better than most of us with his Magellan application). I`ve noticed it can take up to 20 minutes to get a decent lock when sitting outside with a clear view of the entire sky. Other times it can lock within 30-40 seconds. I haven`t figured it out but I`m thinking that perhaps there is some defect in Flash if Google Maps on Android can get good fixes - through presumably the Native API`s under the Google VM. It would be interesting to do a Flash wrapper around the Native API`s to see if this was actually the case (and you could get orientation and better compass support as well).... unfortunately, I`m on a sabbatical and don`t have my development environment here with me.

[peter9477]

Without the WIFI connection my Magellan won't open, Turning WIFI off once it is open, the signal stabalizes, still shows a little moving, but no more than a couple meters, Once WIFI is turned on again, we are all over the map!! Sometimes below sea level!

Unfortunately Magellan (being a Google Maps app) cannot function without a network connection, so you'd need to be bridged via Bluetooth for my experiment to work.

[peter9477]

(although Peter seems to have sussed out how to get it to lock better than most of us with his Magellan application).

For the record, John Tegen (jtegen) is the author of Magellan Compass. I have no connection with the product. Sorry if anything I said above inadvertently gave you that impression...

[clowrym]

Unfortunately Magellan (being a Google Maps app) cannot function without a network connection, so you'd need to be bridged via Bluetooth for my experiment to work.

Once Magellan is open, it will work fine with the WIFI off, Bridged or not, although if you go out of the current map location, it doesn't get more data. I did take a video of the difference between WIFI on and off, but have nowhere to upload it to. (I did have the PB bridged)

I have left it running for the last 20 minutes of so with wifi off, and it hasn't moved at all on the screen, as soon as I turn it on, its sparatic again, so you are right, there seems to be an issue with location while wifi is on.

[peter9477]

Thanks, @clowrym.

For the record, I reported the issue as https://www.blackberry.com/jira/browse/TABLET-338 (but you need to log in to view them, and new tickets are generally private until someone internal flips them to public anyway).

[rhochstrasser]

Today i have tried Google Nav via Android player, all i have to say that was great not one single issue, the fix was almost instantly, the accuracy was also good. I simply couldn't belive that i was using my PB for gps navigation. If you want guys i will post a movie tomorow with the PB in action.

Where did you find "Google Nav?" The closest I see at playbookbar.com is "Google Maps." Is this what you're using? It's reported to be buggy.

[jproy12]

A quick question for you all, does the GPS apps require an internet access, either wi-fi or tethering from he phone?

If not, I'll be looking for a GPS app for sure!
JP

[FF22]

jproy12

The pb's gps does NOT need wifi, etc but it only has gps lat/long coordinates until used by an app. Currently, What's Up, a StarGazing (sorry, buzz) program does not need the internet. But most of the mapping/routing "get you from here to there" apps do require access so that they can show/draw maps. If an app comes along with maps for the device, then access wifi/internet would not be needed.

[BuzzStarField]

jproy12

The pb's gps does NOT need wifi, etc but it only has gps lat/long coordinates until used by an app. Currently, What's Up, a StarGazing (sorry, buzz) program does not need the internet. But most of the mapping/routing "get you from here to there" apps do require access so that they can show/draw maps. If an app comes along with maps for the device, then access wifi/internet would not be needed.

Thanks for the mention F2. There are two very long threads going on concurrently on the topic of GPS on the PlayBook. There are so many misconceptions being bandied about that it makes my head spin. Your summary and all the others that you have posted is short sweet and to the point. Peter9477's numerous posts explain the process and problems at great length and with absolute precision. You would think that all this would be enough. But it ain't. Sigh...