Wednesday, August 12, 2009

GPS - Bluetooth adaptor or inbuilt GPS?

Whilst trialling the Nokia E75, I was able to find out which device gets a satellite lock fastest - the GPS dongle for the Nokia E63 or the in-built GPS in the Nokia E75?

The result? The GPS dongle got a lock in a stationary car almost two minutes before the Nokia E75 in-built GPS. To test it, I turned on the bluetooth GPS dongle and opened Nokia Maps on both devices and waited until the bottom right GPS status bar went from a small yellow (and occasional red) bar to a longer green bar. You will know when Nokia Maps has a GPS lock when the red dot moves to your current location.

The bluetooth GPS device that I have is the Freedom Keychain GPS 2000, of which I have two, if anyone is interested in buying. Read more about the possibilities with your Nokia E63
  1. when enabled with a GPS for sports here
  2. a previous article on Google Maps for Mobile 3.2 here
  3. quick look at Nokia Ovi Maps here

8 comments:

  1. Some questions:

    1. How usable is the E63 as a GPS? I've currently used Google Maps (without GPS) and it's OK for walking around but it doesn't give you a rotating map view of where you are going. I am guessing Nokia Maps will work for this, but I don't know as it doesn't really work without the GPS dongle.

    2. Does Nokia Maps give voice directions? I think it does a 3D map right?

    3. Do you use the E63 for driving?

    4. How much are you selling the GPS dongle?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Peter - the E63 works really well with a GPS. The Nokia Maps does rotate the map as you walk/drive. Its especially handy when you are using it in a place without mobile phone reception like when we went fishing in the Northern Territory, in a billabong 30minutes from Darwin.

    Nokia map has voice directions but requires $$ for a subscription. Amaze GPS program is free for voice nav and good for driving. Nokia maps does have satellite, terrain and map modes as well as 3D view.

    I have the Freedom 2000 GPS keychain for $90

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi MyE63,
    I've been reading your posts about Nokia Maps and Google Maps in use with a GPS dongle, and I have a few questions about it.
    I can get Google Maps to work, not very accurate but it is free. If I decide to get the dongle, will that make Google Maps more accurate, or do I have to use it with Nokia Maps only?
    Sorry about the noob questions.
    Cheers,
    Luau

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Luau, good question. Currently, Google maps is guessing your approximate location based on which mobile phone towers you are currently relying on.

    When you get a dongle, this will be more exact, showing your location within a 5m radius or so.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi MyE63,
    Thanks for the quick reply!
    I'm with 3 Mobile, when I use Google Maps (without GPS dongle), I get charged for data, I had a look at AmazeGPS which you mentioned, I assume you get charged for data as well?
    Cheers,
    Luau

    ReplyDelete
  6. yeah Amaze does attract data charges as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. hey there
    can i use amaze voice guidance on nokia maps??

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Guru, sorry it won't work well, the GPS will find it hard to decide which program to give the information about your location... but you can try and let us know how it went. :)

    ReplyDelete

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