[nofear41]

I'm sure this is not the first post about the GPS offered by Verizon and I'm sure it will not be the last. Today though I had the wonderful experience of trying to navigate using my Pearl and Google Maps. Usually I'm in my car so the GPS is a rarely used feature since I have a system in my car. Today though I was in someone else's car and decided to roll the dice on using Google Maps. To make a long story short i wasted my time. An absolute waste of time and functionality by Verizon. Why do they need to handicap this feature? Call a rep and they'll tell you that it is too big of a security issue.

Minutes after my frustration I decided to try using the Maps on a Cingular Curve. Talk about a drastic difference. My buddy doesn't pay for the GPS functionality from Cingular but they have done a wonderful job of not crippling their devices. The maps were almost right on and I almost considered throwing my pearl out of the window.

Once again Verizon drops the ball when it comes to blackberries...

[mrpd74]

Because they want you to subscribe to their proprietary GPS application VZ Navigator!..

[nofear41]

Of course they do... they never get tired of nickle and dime-ing their customers.

[mrpd74]

They may be the best network,but are hands down the most expensive of all carriers. So after we find the device that satisfies our addiction,we need then to pick a dealer...I mean provider whose services meet our needs...One day in a perfect world ALL phones,pda's smartphones and BB's will be created and distributed equally. One day, "we the people" will have the choice to take our business and BB device to the carrier of our choice with a "open network" and also not have to pay a ransom fee to "terminate service"! lol sorry had to vent!

[JRSCCivic98]

^^^ It's called Europe my friend. You can buy unlocked phones there (slightly higher price - retail) but can use them uncrippled and with any carrier. Hopefully when LTE comes to the US by 2010 we will see this same kind of approach from carriers stateside.

[plasticberry]

In a very miserable bad world/perfect world, the phone will be created and distributed equally. They will all look, work, and feel the same way. we will be all given one of very few phones to play with... and they will cost just as much..if not more. They will run out of phones frequently, so people have to wait for the phones to be made. When they are made, about 20% phones will not work for some reason.. and they to wait even longer for the replacement phones. Some will demand that they shouldn't have to pay for the cost of the service.. instead they will demand that others will pay for their needs. They will accuse and whine about how others are greedy.. but not them.

In a decent world, phones will be different and they will be distributed differently to meet the individual's need that individuals desires.. instead of collectivists/Marxist/know-nothing ways. There will be some flaws here and there.. but individual buyers will able to decide what they want to purchase based on their own needs and wants... without self-anointed do-gooders/regulators Marxist types telling others how, when, where, and what to buy. flaws in this type of model gives a rise to the competition and better products and services. Ultimately, the sellers are responsible for the buyers' demands. This means that if the buyers want a phone with no buttons, the producers will make phones that has no buttons. If the market demands phones with 3 buttons or 20 buttons, the market will produce such phones.

In collectivists ideal utopia perfect but miserable world, someone will decide what is perfect. So, they will dictate how the phone works, how it should be operated, who should operate the phone, and how much it should be.

Let me clearly explain who utopian people are....

Let's say you want to play a dodge ball. Utopians are the people who will tell you
1. How to play it
2. What to play it
3. Where to play it
4. How many people can play in it.
5. Types of people who can play in it
6. how much a the game can be won by.

If some reason, one team wins more than a desirable points, Utopians will order other team to loose a player.. maybe trade a player(s) with other team(s) to make things "fair" and "equal"
Also, they will decide how fast the ball should be thrown and how hard balls can be hit in their desire to make things "equal."

They will also make each team have 50/50 men and women ratio. Will require certain minorities to participate. Some minorities who aren't very good at it will have to be picked first to the team to make things fair. And bad players will have inflated player rankings so they can be picked to play with the team. However, most likely, team will be forced into having a player who isn't very good at all... sometimes, the team will be forced into having a player who doesn't even want to play.

They will also have some type of equal opportunity games. So, in a team, they are required to include person who are blind, deaf, and wheel chaired. The game has to be modified in a such way that it includes these conditional people. If none of these conditions aren't met then team can't exist.

What you end up having is.. no dodgeball but something other than dodgeball, like a dodgeball on a color board game with brails.

Don't you love Utopian vision of a dodgeball.

[SonnyBerry]

What's wrong with Verizon being the most expensive carrier? They are consistently rated the best, most Verizon customers would never switch carriers, and in my humble opinion you get what you pay for.

If I knew my service was the best in town, you better believe I'll charge a premium for it. It's not always about the cheapest service, my friends -- that's an incredibly shortsighted view. Those of us who depend on consistent and reliable cellular service to carry out business choose Verizon because, in the long run, the higher cost of the service pales in comparison to the amount of business I'm able to transact as a result of the better coverage.

Look at the big picture.

[nofear41]

I agree with the best service hands down... you'll never see me complain about that.

Verizon crippling the devices they sell... now that's a bunch of BS

[mrpd74]

To plasticberry I think you missed the point of my sarcasm. I'm not suggesting their be only ONE manufacturer or ONE carrier that we must be told to who to use or buy from..Nor was it subversive socialist endorsment. My SARCASTIC rant is to suggest the OPPOSITE. I'm all for a free markert economy, where the CONSUMER benefits from freedom of choice based on personal preferences and ecomomic needs. I made a point in another thread regarding ETF and how the wireless industry has been regulated much differently than tradtional telecom. The issue here is in device versatility. I'm sure you would agree it would be ludicris for say Verizon to tell its customers in order to receive dsl broadband or fios service it will only work on HP PC's or Laptops Or Comcast to tell comsumers in order to subscribe to our bundled tv broad band and phone package it will only work on sony tv's dell computers and panasonic phones..See were im going with this? DEVICES created and distributed (SOLD)equal means if I decide im not happy with the "service" im getting from my current carrier(t-mo) and decide hmm VZ is much better a little pricey but I would love to take my BB with all the features I have now and only switch my "service provider" without losing say...wi-fi or my gps enabled device I should be able too without paying a ridiculous ETF or having to "buy" a new handset that only works on VZ's network

[SonnyBerry]

Can someone please show me where Verizon actually advertises that its Curve 8330 actually has GPS? Seriously, nowhere does Verizon make this claim in any of its advertising materials. The only mention is that VZ Navigator is one of the features of the phone, but even then they don't say "this phone comes with GPS". All they say is that the phone can use VZ Navigator.

So I suppose, if you go by what Verizon is actually saying about the phone, they never even made the claim that it has GPS capability. Those who bought the VZW 8330 thinking it had GPS obviously did not read what Verizon was actually saying about the unit's capabilities. You can't be upset about not having functionality which the provider never represented to you.

Whether the unit has a GPS chip is a different matter, but Verizon is not advertising the GPS capabilities of the phone outside of being able to use VZ Navigator.

[nofear41]

Can someone please show me where Verizon actually advertises that its Curve 8330 actually has GPS? Seriously, nowhere does Verizon make this claim in any of its advertising materials. The only mention is that VZ Navigator is one of the features of the phone, but even then they don't say "this phone comes with GPS". All they say is that the phone can use VZ Navigator.

So I suppose, if you go by what Verizon is actually saying about the phone, they never even made the claim that it has GPS capability. Those who bought the VZW 8330 thinking it had GPS obviously did not read what Verizon was actually saying about the unit's capabilities. You can't be upset about not having functionality which the provider never represented to you.

Whether the unit has a GPS chip is a different matter, but Verizon is not advertising the GPS capabilities of the phone outside of being able to use VZ Navigator.

No one mentioned anything about a Verizon Curve...

I mentioned my Verizon Pearl which GPS was originally advertised. Even with my 8830 WE (where the GPS is boldly advertised), the GPS is still disabled... unless using the Navigator

[John Yester]

hence the class action lawsuits in order right now this day in age.


It's aGPS.. and they are getting nailed hopefully for false advertising. but who know they got lot's of money to fight for it....

[plasticberry]

VZ does offer GPS functionality, you just have to pay for it.
VZ does advertise that the phones can make calls.. but you have to pay for the calls. There is no false advertising there. I mean most phones do not have actual GPS chips inside them. Yet, they have GPS functions.

People have this concept that they can just say anything that are baseless and that it has to be true.

[Fire620]

i just called verizon to give them my two cents on the GPS issue and they gave me 5 months credit for VZ Nav. not want i wanted but apparently they cant control. when i said i had to explore other options they were like what do you mean and i said switch to ATT they gave up the credit. I told them i felt deceived.

[mrpd74]

Once again the issue is DEVICE capabilites verses Carrier based services. Vz wants you to subscribe to their own proprietary GPS service. There is a push to stop phones from being locked by carriers to their own services.

[jpnh23]

I actually just called vzw and asked about vz nav. I was told by a rep that the curve 8330 does not have a built in gps chip, rather it uses cell towers to fix on a location. Kinda sucks but others are right when they mention vzw not listing this in the device capabilities.