[Pilot_Berry]

Yes, the GPS working would be a welcome addition. Anyone know whether this GPS will work unassisted? It would be downright magical if that were the case, and an application such as ForeFlight that could be supported by this GPS. Wouldn't have to buy charts (day vfr) anymore!

[sk8er_tor]

I just tried my GPS and it worked in both Bing and Poynt apps.

[sportline]

This explanation is not explaining anything. Its the same as anyone calling rim on bridge or battery or wifi or whatever and the response is
This is not hardware issue. This is software issue and will be fixed immediately. Sometime. Or next. Later.

[maestroplaybook]

Well, Bing Maps does not open without a Wifi/data connection, but this is still a very relevant question if someone were to make a 3rd party App with preloaded Maps. I would love that for travel on my Wifi only model!

Bing maps its okey with wifihttp://images.crackberry.com/forum_images/smilies/rolleyes.gif


Sent for my Playbook Blackberry demo 128 GB http://images.crackberry.com/forum_i...ies/tongue.gif

[LOY80Y]

has anyone been able to get gps working? specially with bing maps?

[FF22]

There's a shorter, more recent gps thread where it took someone about 1/2 hour to finally get a gps fix using the free Compass app. Find a wide open field, few trees and sit the pb down and let it find satellites.

[peter9477]

Yes, the GPS working would be a welcome addition. Anyone know whether this GPS will work unassisted? It would be downright magical if that were the case, and an application such as ForeFlight that could be supported by this GPS. Wouldn't have to buy charts (day vfr) anymore!

Yes, the GPS can work entirely standalone. When someone gets around to it, I'm quite sure we'll see such apps for the PlayBook.

[big samm]

i just bought a playbook yesterday and i can confirm gps is working with bing maps...

[sk8er_tor]

I think the issue with Bing is that it searches for a GPS signal for only a short period of time and then times out. Bing needs to increase the time-out as it sometimes requires a longer amount of time to lock the GPS.

[FTWrath]

Fixed shortly? Meaning we should expect a OS Update.. shortly...

[FF22]

Fixed shortly? Meaning we should expect a OS Update.. shortly...

You can expect anything - just don't be disappointed when it does not occur, shortly, longly or in the middle-ly!

[FTWrath]

You can expect anything - just don't be disappointed when it does not occur, shortly, longly or in the middle-ly!

Yeah it was a sarcastic response, notice the ...

[PatrickMJS]

i went outside with my PB for 5 minutes and bing maps exactly picked up my location. Worked quite nicely.

[shlammed]

Not going to bother reading the entire thread to see if anyone mentioned this but the main difference between the GPS on your BB and PlayBook is that the PlayBook has no cellular connection which means it doesn't have cellular assistance.

Without cellular assistance it is normal that it takes longer to pickup your location.

hope that helps.

[manofice1]

does the bing maps work like the google maps does on the ipad?

For one, it's always showing me stupid longitude and latitude, anyone know how to turn that off?

I would like for bing maps to start my directions from my current location and give me directions to where I want to go and show me moving on that route. Does it work that way?

[Blacklac]

Not going to bother reading the entire thread to see if anyone mentioned this but the main difference between the GPS on your BB and PlayBook is that the PlayBook has no cellular connection which means it doesn't have cellular assistance.

Without cellular assistance it is normal that it takes longer to pickup your location.

hope that helps.

Not bashing and I'm far from an Apple fanboy, but iOS has no issue with Wifi assisted GPS.

That said, I just redownloaded that Megallen Compass? App and it found my location within a couple minutes while I was sitting in my apartment. Before I was one of the few that had never had my GPS picked up. Maybe before I ditched the App before the recent OS update came out, but I think I've tried it since then. I can't explain that one. I never expected my location to be found without direct line of sight until RIM allowed Wifi assistance.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[lnichols]

I've found that if I open up Bing maps, then open Poynt, and let Poynt find my location, then tell Bing maps to find it that it finds it much quicker than just letting Bing maps find it on its own.

[FF22]

does the bing maps work like the google maps does on the ipad?

For one, it's always showing me stupid longitude and latitude, anyone know how to turn that off?

I would like for bing maps to start my directions from my current location and give me directions to where I want to go and show me moving on that route. Does it work that way?

I don't know how googlemaps works on the ipad.

It does not appear that there is any way to turn off the lat/long values.

Bing is somewhat limited and needs wifi. It looks as if you always have to tell it Start and End and that it does not necessarily use your current location. And if you do not have wifi, it cannot update as you drive/walk. I don't know about tethering.

[ElitDarkPhoenix]

Does the wifi location pinpoint the playbook or the router?
Does the Built in GPS in the playbook lynks up directly to the Satelite?
When does the 3g Playbook come out?

[FF22]

I not sure of the answer but since the wifi pb - router combo is limited in distance between them, what 100 or maybe even 200 feet, unless you are trying to find a missing diamond, they should be almost the same.

The gps system gets its location info from satellites - so direct.

Supposedly, the 3g has been delayed.

[ElitDarkPhoenix]

Thank you F2 for your quick reply.

So if i understood correctly, if we have a street with open wifi chanels and access from each one and try to pinpoint the location it should:
(In a perfect world)
Pinpoint each and every wifi access (with the playbook) throught each router
Be able to access the GPS satelite with the (ex: Compass) aplication as soon as i turn the aplication on

(In reality)
It only pinpoints the area
Quote: ..."the wifi pb - router combo is limited in distance between them, what 100 or maybe even 200 feet, unless you are trying to find a missing diamond, they should be almost the same"...

And Direct satelite access well i guess we need to find the correct satelite at a specific time to access without delay (start looking up everyone)...

It is just too bad that the 3G was delayed it could resolve once and for all the GPS location issue... and improve it.

What do you think?

[FF22]

Satellite "acquisition" can take time. When a normal gps gets data, it stores an "almanac" which shows where satellites will be for a certain period into the future. That makes its next turn-on faster. But if you have not used it for a longer while (not sure how long), it will have to again find satellites. Similarly, if you moved from LA to NYC or Europe, it will again take time to figure out the location of satellites vis a vis your location/time.

It needs a view of sky - too many tall buildings, parking garage, indoors, it may not work - the satellite signals are quite weak. Mine works upstairs in my wood home with asphalt shingles.

I'm not really up on wifi locations - kind of like phones using cell towers. I'm not sure that the pb gps uses its wifi location but it is possible apps can use that wifi info which is what? based on ip address?

Unless the 3g version were built to use cell tower assist, the only thing 3g would gain is the ability to download map/route data on-the-go. Right now any mapping data needs to come over wifi - therefore limited to being in wifi contact (or contraption that provides portable wifi). NO connection would be needed if some developer (garmin, tomtom, other) provided maps for storage directly on the playbook. Then all the app would need is the gps data (lat/long only) that the pb provides along with onboard maps. Many "real" gps devices do not have any connection to the outside world other than the gps signal. My garmin hiking unit and my tomtom driving unit (both recently used on a trip to Colorado) have no 3g or wif and worked perfectly - maps were on board. PB can perform the same with the right applications.

[Schlymer]

I finally got my gps working. Read below.

[Schlymer]

So I finally called RIM support today about the gps. It worked once with bing maps, when I first tried it back in May and had not worked since. I have been patiently waiting up until now for some magic OS update. Customer support asked me to do a clean reinstall, not a wipe, to make sure it was not the gps, but a software issue. I have the latest desk top manager, but it didn't seem to want to let me back it up. I did it manually by coping files right to a new file in my computer.

From there I restarted my playbook, while I was still hooked up to my laptop with the desk top manager open. The desktop manager recognizes it is off then prompts you with a few choices. Hit the retry button, then it prompts you to enter your email, skip and hit download. It will take between an hour or an hour and a half. When it is done you will have a factory installed version of the OS. You have to go through all the start up procedures all over again and update tetris and need for speed. Don't forget to accept the agreement on video chat. After all that the browser was running quicker and smoother.

Finally, I went outside to check bing maps, which I figured would still not work. I opened the app, watched the blue circle pulse and nothing. I pushed it this time and on the left a please wait and a thinking circle appeared and it found my location in about three seconds. I closed the app and tried it again and it worked again. By doing the clean install of the latest OS, you do not lose the demo video, like you do when you wipe. Some people were sad they lost it, when they wiped. Not included in the clean install, was the 7 digital app or the Kobo app pre loaded, but you can get them in app world.

I finally called today as I am fast approaching 90 days and I want a working gps, so I hope this helps. Customer support is great and were very helpful. Good luck with this.

Also, it nailed my exact location within 6 feet. I usually get no less than 8 satellites locking on when I do a manual gps check on my bold, hence the accuracy. All you need is 3 to be able to lock on. There are no shortages of satellites over Japan.

[togardergrosse]

Not bashing and I'm far from an Apple fanboy, but iOS has no issue with Wifi assisted GPS.

That said, I just redownloaded that Megallen Compass? App and it found my location within a couple minutes while I was sitting in my apartment. Before I was one of the few that had never had my GPS picked up. Maybe before I ditched the App before the recent OS update came out, but I think I've tried it since then. I can't explain that one. I never expected my location to be found without direct line of sight until RIM allowed Wifi assistance.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

iOS has no issue with Wi-Fi assisted GPS? In which devices?
All iPad WiFi (not 3G version) even don't have GPS.
For iPhone, just the same as BB, they have Cell Tower first to point their location area and the GPS will try to lock it within that radius.

Does the wifi location pinpoint the playbook or the router?
Does the Built in GPS in the playbook lynks up directly to the Satelite?
When does the 3g Playbook come out?

To answer your last question, there won't be PB 3G, but 3.75G
Because it will be the HSPA+ version, along with the 4G and LTE version.
When will it be available? It is scheduled this FALL.