[loccom]

Hi guys and gals

I was thinking of upgrading from the curve to the BB Bold.

I am off to Mongolia this year on the UK to mongolia rally and i wondered if the Bold GPS would be suitable for getting co-ordinates... especially in Mongolia.

Also I am with UK Vodafone and wondered if they will charge me for using the GPS mapping?

I would be most grateful for any info

regards
Steve

[Smith_RS]

BB's (or any smart phone with GPS) can be used as a convenient alternative to a dedicated GPS for some applications, but not as a replacement for them.

[funkym]

Originally Posted by loccom

Hi guys and gals

I was thinking of upgrading from the curve to the BB Bold.

I am off to Mongolia this year on the UK to mongolia rally and i wondered if the Bold GPS would be suitable for getting co-ordinates... especially in Mongolia.

Also I am with UK Vodafone and wondered if they will charge me for using the GPS mapping?

I would be most grateful for any info

regards
Steve

Hi Steve,

GPS applications on BlackBerry should work world wide. However, if you want "mapping features" you need to have network coverage (say: vodafonr, china mobile, mongolia mobile?) to be able to download maps. Especially in remote areas like some in Mongolia you might not have coverage from a network provider. I only know one 2 applications that can work without network coverage and both are from the same vendor: Spot is a fairly old program with lots of features (tracklog visualization, waypoint management, web map services, and even offline maps) but it is a bit cumbersome to use. But you can give the free demo a try on your Bold

TopoExplorer is a new program that is still in beta test (free download available). It has been built for offline mapping only. Therefore, it only works with map packages stored on your SD card. Though it is nice to have maps downloaded to your BlackBerry when you need them (like Google Maps, BlackBerry Maps, TeleNav, Trimble, and others are doing); you might end up in a remote area without coverage. Or you just want to save money by avoiding data transfer

I hope this helps a bit.

[loccom]

hi

thanks for your replies

Is it possible to get co-ordinates from the phone without having to bother with the maps? At the moment i have the BB curve, but that only has gprs, would have been nice to take an old phone in case we get mugged.

There are no road signs so having some form of indication of where you are so we can pinpoint on a map helps a lot.

thanks

[G M Fude]

Originally Posted by loccom

Is it possible to get co-ordinates from the phone without having to bother with the maps?

Sure, but it's buried away in Options>Advanced Options>GPS then Refresh GPS from the Menu. That will show you the present latitude and longitude.

You'd probably find it eaiser and more convenient with an app such as bbTracker which will give a display like below, that is continuously updated as you move:




Another option is GPSLogger in the sticky above, which is very similar but probably a bit prettier. I haven't tried it though as bbTracker does what I need and from my experience is solid and reliable.

[WillWeb]

>Sure, but it's buried away in Options>Advanced Options>GPS then Refresh GPS from >the Menu. That will show you the present latitude and longitude.

Or from BBMaps: Menu / Find Location / Where I Am
and then: Menu / Send Location / PIN
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