[lachlancrawford]

I'm ditching my storm for the Tour when its out, however i've been searching around on the internet as to whether or not the GPS on the Tour is the same as the Storm. I use Google Maps and Poynt alot and if i have to go back to a locked GPS (aka. my 8330) its gonna drive me nuts!

If there's a thread somewhere that clearly states this, feel free to point me in that direction.. (unless there is no clear answer on this yet..!)

thanks

[Joel S.]

I recall VZW coming out and saying they weren't gonna lock the GPS anymore, so I'd imagine the Tour is like the Storm, GPS is unlocked, aGPS is locked.

[lachlancrawford]

I recall VZW coming out and saying they weren't gonna lock the GPS anymore, so I'd imagine the Tour is like the Storm, GPS is unlocked, aGPS is locked.

I had heard the same thing - future devices wouldnt be locked, but they werent going back and fully unlocking previous devices. I cant remember where i read it, so i wasnt sure if this was actually the case of not..thanks

[Tdubby]

Guess you'll have to wait and see..

[jonlong724]

it's unlocked

[bacon.jay]

I remember seeing something about aGPS being unlocked on one of the BB devices as well and that it allowed for faster sat connection and increased battery performance due to reduced satellite search times when using 3rd-party nav apps. Was i just seeing or misinterpreting things or is this an actual feature? How would you achieve this?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[radioguinea]

You will have the same results as the Storm. A-GPS is locked to BB Maps and VZ Nav only, while GPS is unlocked.

[noaim]

I would be willing to bet that pretty much every BB storm and after will come out the same as far as GPS is concerned..

[jonlong724]

From RIM's website:

GPS on the Tour:
"Assisted, Autonomous and Simultaneous GPS enabled with preloaded BlackBerry Maps application and for e911 capabilities."

Assisted - Means that it uses cell towers to more quickly identify its location. This is a byproduct of the e911 requirements.

Autonomous - Doesn't need the carrier for the GPS to function. This means it's unlocked.

Simultaneous - GPS and phone radios can operate at the same time.

[bacon.jay]

From RIM's website:

GPS on the Tour:
"Assisted, Autonomous and Simultaneous GPS enabled with preloaded BlackBerry Maps application and for e911 capabilities."

Assisted - Means that it uses cell towers to more quickly identify its location. This is a byproduct of the e911 requirements.

Autonomous - Doesn't need the carrier for the GPS to function. This means it's unlocked.
Simultaneous - GPS and phone radios can operate at the same time.

Is the bolded text in the above post the same as what i asked previously from the following post?

I remember seeing something about aGPS being unlocked on one of the BB devices as well and that it allowed for faster sat connection and increased battery performance due to reduced satellite search times when using 3rd-party nav apps. Was i just seeing or misinterpreting things or is this an actual feature? How would you achieve this?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I really hope someone can shed some light on this for me, i'd really like to know.

[Joel S.]

I remember seeing something about aGPS being unlocked on one of the BB devices as well and that it allowed for faster sat connection and increased battery performance due to reduced satellite search times when using 3rd-party nav apps. Was i just seeing or misinterpreting things or is this an actual feature? How would you achieve this?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

aGPS is NOT unlocked to programs other than the two Radio mentioned.

[bacon.jay]

aGPS is NOT unlocked to programs other than the two Radio mentioned.

how would you go about getting in unlocked? is it possible?

[radioguinea]

how would you go about getting in unlocked? is it possible?

No, as this is carrier controlled.

[Syco54645]

So wait the Tour has both GPS and aGPS? I thought it only had aGPS... Really hope I am reading this right. Poynt, here I come!

[kbremington]

what is aGPS? will i be able to use third party apps for audible turn-by-turn directions?

[infamyx]

VZW has been very good recently about not crippling their phones, and they even released updates to unlock GPS on some smartphones out currently, like the HTC Touch Pro and Samsung Saga.

Would be highly surprised if they decided to let the phone roll with locked GPS

[0xcb]

Will Garmin for Blackberry work on Tour ? Does it depend on just GPS or aGPS ?

Thanks.

[si_chindo]

What does it mean by locked and unlocked GPS?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[noaim]

So wait the Tour has both GPS and aGPS? I thought it only had aGPS... Really hope I am reading this right. Poynt, here I come!

the regular GPS will work with poynt..

the agps is locked only to the carrier I believe so you need to have the navigation to have agps

[noaim]

Will Garmin for Blackberry work on Tour ? Does it depend on just GPS or aGPS ?

Thanks.

yes it will..

GPS is whats normally used for most things..

aGPS adds the ability of cell tower triangulation so it makes it more accurate..

but with just plain GPS its accurate enough for anything we will use it for.

[jonlong724]

A few points:

aGPS does not use cell tower triangulation. It uses cell towers to assist in determining location, but not by means of triangulation.

Secondly, aGPS is more broad than GPS. This is to say that the aGPS in the 9630 has a fully functional standalone GPS.

Whether or not the GPS is locked or unlocked to other programs is not dependent on it being aGPS or GPS. It's just a matter of the firmware disabling access to the radios.

RIM's website advertises the tour has having a fully capable GPS that is accessible to 3rd party software. Whether or not Verizon decides to cripple it cannot be determined by the type of GPS chip in the Tour.

[richro]

A few points:

aGPS does not use cell tower triangulation. It uses cell towers to assist in determining location, but not by means of triangulation.

Secondly, aGPS is more broad than GPS. This is to say that the aGPS in the 9630 has a fully functional standalone GPS.

Whether or not the GPS is locked or unlocked to other programs is not dependent on it being aGPS or GPS. It's just a matter of the firmware disabling access to the radios.

RIM's website advertises the tour has having a fully capable GPS that is accessible to 3rd party software. Whether or not Verizon decides to cripple it cannot be determined by the type of GPS chip in the Tour.

QFT, especially the part about aGPS not using cell tower triangulation. This seems to be a common misperception.

That said, Verizon seems to be trending towards leaving the GPS unlocked, and only locking the aGPS for VZ Nav (and BB Maps for BlackBerries). The Tour is no exception, so expect it to be exactly like the Storm, i.e. aGPS locked but GPS unlocked. Be aware that for all intents and purposes this should suit 99.9% of your navigation needs. Some people make a big fuss about aGPS, but they should realize that those big expensive Navi units you buy for your car never had aGPS.

[bacon.jay]

So with standard GPS unlocked on the tour, we should be able to use 3rd-party apps that provide turn-by-turn directions, and we won't have to use VZNav? Not only do i not like it, it's a **** of an expensive service if you ask me...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[jonlong724]

So with standard GPS unlocked on the tour, we should be able to use 3rd-party apps that provide turn-by-turn directions, and we won't have to use VZNav? Not only do i not like it, it's a **** of an expensive service if you ask me...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I'm not entirely sure about this. The Tour will support 3rd party apps. I'm not familiar enough with Verizon's policies to know whether or not they will actively disable access to the GPS radios. I think it's stupid if they do. You are paying for the device and its advertised functionality. You may not be able to use aGPS, but standard GPS, like in any automotive GPS, is extremely accurate.

[JRSCCivic98]

yes it will..

GPS is whats normally used for most things..

aGPS adds the ability of cell tower triangulation so it makes it more accurate..

but with just plain GPS its accurate enough for anything we will use it for.

No, absolutely not. aGPS (assisted) only uses cell location and a PDE to get a faster "fix" on which SATs to use for quicker fix. That's it, nothing more.

In reality, once GPS is fully primed, the "fix" time differences are very small... less then 2-3 seconds... and that's just for SAT locks.