[carraser891]

is there a Google Maps app for Blackberry like there is on the iTouch/iPhone? or is it just Blackberry Maps?

[gnegirl]

Check out m.google.com/maps from your phone's webbrowser.

[teufel_hunden_]

No you can download google maps for blackberry...and it is even better on blackberry because you can run google latitude in the background...here is a link:
Google Maps for mobile

[pkcable]

Moving this to the GPS Forum

[Phartsy]

Google Maps for Blackberry is horrible. It uses cell towers and not your real GPS. I never use it.

I'm waiting for an update.

[i7guy]

Google Maps for Blackberry is horrible. It uses cell towers and not your real GPS. I never use it.

I'm waiting for an update.

Maybe if one has a curve, but if one has a Tour it works great.

[goodB0Y]

my GPS works fine with google maps on my 8330 curve. when I'm out side I get a location within 10 meters. I did use QPST to rewrite my gps settings though... made a huge difference.

But if I look at my location from google latitude it shows me my location within 1000 meters... I think google maps used only cell towers while it is running in the background and gps when it is running on the front screen...

[christopherp]

is there a Google Maps app for Blackberry like there is on the iTouch/iPhone? or is it just Blackberry Maps?

Google Maps works awesome for me...the little blue dot does sometimes lag a wee tad...but overall it takes me where I want to go.

[cook46933]

Google Maps for Blackberry is horrible. It uses cell towers and not your real GPS. I never use it.

I'm waiting for an update.

Verizon has blocked the internal GPS from 3rd party apps for all bb models except Storm and Tour. Since Google Maps cannot use your GPS, it resorts to using cell tower location.

I use Mobile Google Maps all the time and typically have 5 meter accuracy.

[electro_sound]

Google Maps for Blackberry is horrible. It uses cell towers and not your real GPS. I never use it.

I'm waiting for an update.

sorry but i have to say, and i checked with my bold, that if your gps is OFF he uses the cell towers, BUT if you have the gps ON, he uses gps and it is very accurate +/- 10m.

d

[i7guy]

my GPS works fine with google maps on my 8330 curve. when I'm out side I get a location within 10 meters. I did use QPST to rewrite my gps settings though... made a huge difference.

But if I look at my location from google latitude it shows me my location within 1000 meters... I think google maps used only cell towers while it is running in the background and gps when it is running on the front screen...

I think that is the way it works. If it used GPS in the background:

1. it would be in competition for a foreground app that wants to use the GPS and,
2. it would suck the life out of your battery.

[RhinoBob]

Must I have cell service to use Google GPS. Like, if I take my Storm to Europe will the GPS work there if I don't have phone service? If it is a true GPS device I would think it would, just like Garmin, but if it works off cell towers I would guess not.

[jeffh]

The Storm and Tour have autonomous GPS, so they should work just fine. You can easily test for yourself by turning off your network connection and see if you lose GPS lock. What you won't have if you don't have phone service is data. Google downloads your maps in real time, so all you'll have is a blue dot with no map. There are a couple of apps that allow you to preload maps on a media card. If you need preloaded maps, you might want to consider TrekBuddy and Mobile GMaps. These are the only two mapping apps that I know of for the BlackBerry that don't use real-time data. I haven't used either.

[RhinoBob]

Jeff:
Thank you. I downloaded Mibile Gmaps. We will see how the GPS works.

[kmr3800]

Google Maps works great. It gives a position which is correct with 3 meters.
Navigation on the maps is pretty good to.
And If you use Latitude with it, you can always know where your friends are.....

[monsky1956]

The way to “fix” (activate) GPS. (Reminder: every time you reboot via battery pull, you have go through this process again.)

Step 1: Go to Options > Status and select it
Step 2: Type “test” (without the quotes) – “Device Self Test Application” appears
Step 3: Press trackball or menu key and select “Start”
Step 4: Scroll down to GPS and select it (checkmark will appear)
Step 5: Click "Run"
Step 6: You’ll be instructed to go outside, etc. With a clear path to the sky click the trackball and select “Start Fixing”

It could take up to 2 minutes to find your GPS fix. If you get a time out go to “Start Fixing” again. When successful you can click trackball and select "Next". If asked to go to the next fix select "Yes". If asked did this past the test select "Yes". It will now say no more test. Click "Close". Hit your menu button and close. If you are successful in “fixing” your GPS Google Maps will work with it.

[Evolved]

Good to hear monsky1956. I have an update as well to this. Today I called Verizon and spoke to a CSR whom I told I would be receiving my 8530 Curve in a few days and asked about actual GPS being used with Google Maps. I was told that it is now fully compatible and that in the past only some devices were able to use it.

I fully explained that in the past I had problems with my 8330 and using GPS on that to which he replied "The only programs authorized to use the device GPS for finding and tracking your location on Verizon are VZ Navigator, BB Maps, and Google Maps." and he also added that devices made in the past are not likely to receive any upgrades to enable their GPS so you 8330 users are SOL it looks like.

Hopefully he wasn't either A. lying, or B. a dumba.s.s and he actually knows what he is talking about. Meanwhile I'll be giving monsky's instructions a try and I'll report back with my results.

[jeffh]

There's nothing wrong with monsky1956's instructions, but I don't think you will be successful following them. Verizon only enables the GPS in their 8x30 devices for VZNav, BBMaps, Bing, and possibly one other app that they push. If they have enabled it for Google Maps, that's a recent development. The store employee almost certainly wasn't lying (that implies deliberate intent to deceive) but he is likely misinformed.

[gooberman]

Google maps is probably the best free GPS program. I use it on a daily basis.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com