[FrostyFire]

Hi everyone,

Fresh to the forums. I did a search for the answer I'm looking for but I was unsuccessful.

I'm getting a 7250 next week with Bell Mobility. I know it has bluetooth....so my question is, if I buy a third-party bluetooth GPS receiver, a) will it work with the BB, and b) what GPS navigation software can I download to make it work?

I'm going to be travelling through out the province of BC for work coming up. I already have an HP iPaQ that I know the GPS receiver will work with, however I don't particularly want to take my personal unit on the road with me to use as my navigation.

Can anyone help?

If this has already been answered I appologize.

[FrostyFire]

Basically something equivalent to Mapopolis or Tom Tom Navigator .

[FrostyFire]

170 views. Anyone????

[NJBlackBerry]

a) no; at the present time, Bluetooth is limited to wireless audio headsets and a few new keyboards

b) See a)

The only BB which can do GPS is the Nextel 7520, which has the GPS capability built in.

[Workingmen]

I have been watching the following website which says it has a GPS system that works with the 7100, 7290 and 7520. The website is:

http://www.redskymobile.com/blackberry/index.html

There is a brochure that describes it but not a lot more info yet. It does not list the 7250 though.

[FrostyFire]

Very interesting. I don't know to much about BB's, but that doesn't really make much sense.

I know that it doesn't have the GPS receiver built in, but if you add a 3rd party GPS receiver then technically it should work. That's kinda stupid that it doesn't. Oh well, I guess I'll have to lug my Pocket PC around with me :( .

[Dawg]

7520 has built in gps I am not sure about redsky they have had that brochure up for over a year now

[NJBlackBerry]

Vaporware.

[roofus]

Their office is about six blocks from where I work - I will drive over and demand some answers

[roofus]

There is also "Berryvine Companion" in beta testing.

http://bb.berryvine.com/

[Lord_ZealoN]

But this berryvine softwarre will work in 7100 with a Bluetoth GPS??

[Workingmen]

roofus,
Did you get any response to your drive by demands?

[jlopatin]

berryvine WILL work with a bluetooth GPS. I use it. However, They are having some issues with US maps at this time. Europe works, though.

[Varianta]

Hello jlopatin,
which BT GPS device are you using? I would like to do a trial in Germany.

Is it possible to get the GPS position information just from the GPS device displayed on the screen or do you always need to have a GPRS connection.

Thanks.

[paulfr2]

Originally Posted by FrostyFire

Very interesting. I don't know to much about BB's, but that doesn't really make much sense.

I know that it doesn't have the GPS receiver built in, but if you add a 3rd party GPS receiver then technically it should work. That's kinda stupid that it doesn't. Oh well, I guess I'll have to lug my Pocket PC around with me :( .

It may be stupid but, RIM built the blackberry with security in mind and since most bluetooth devices can be compromised in a matter of minutes, RIM decided to only allow audio headsets and a few keyboards that can associate with the device.

[jlopatin]

I am using a holux GPSlim device. You can get GPS position with no data connection to the network. Download it:

http://bb.berryvine.com

p.s. I don't work for them...

Originally Posted by Varianta

Hello jlopatin,
which BT GPS device are you using? I would like to do a trial in Germany.

Is it possible to get the GPS position information just from the GPS device displayed on the screen or do you always need to have a GPRS connection.

Thanks.

[jdh]

Originally Posted by paulfr2

It may be stupid but, RIM built the blackberry with security in mind and since most bluetooth devices can be compromised in a matter of minutes, RIM decided to only allow audio headsets and a few keyboards that can associate with the device.

Not entirely true... The Blackberry also supports the serial port profile, which allows it to connect to other devices over an emulated serial link. Since most external GPS devices are essentially serial devices, it is fully possible to write an application to support them (which is basically how Berryvine does this).

Unlike OBEX (Object Exchange), the serial profile is only a security risk if you're running third-party applications on your Blackberry that would deliberately expose your data.

[socket]

That's right. Almost all GPS devices use the NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) protocol which is usually served up over a simple serial stream, and the BB does support the btspp protocol.

Note that you can also make a gps unit into a bluetooth unit using some simple serial to BT converters out there (requires a bit of hardware knowledge and a serial cable for your GPS unit).

Check out http://www.aircable.net/ for one example of a serial-to-bluetooth device.

[bocavik]

Koterra works with Globalsat gps receiver thru bluetooth. Email me at and I send you a beta test version of koterra for your BB. If you happen to have a different gps unit, it may still work with a bit of luck. Koterra also runs on the 7520 gps BB.

[drunyon]

I'm currently checking out the trial version of "Spot" for BB.

http://www.skylab-mobilesystems.com/...s/spot_bb.html

I haven't had a great deal of time to figure it out yet, but on the surface it looks pretty good.