Mobile Phone GPS software, OS maps, Tom Tom Software?

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jonajuna

Banned
Jul 12, 2008
701
1
s
Forgive me if this is a thread drift but a friend of mine has just got a samsung GT b5320 on contract. It has a GPS chip and he wants to know if there is a way to run GPS mapping on it without internet connection . I have suggested trying to get his Tom tom mapping on it somehow via the memory card - does anyone have any other suggestions? ( Apart from changing his phone).

does it have a prop OS on it? i "think" this is the corby pro type touchfone which means only apps from samsung will work on it

so i suspect the only option is to use the (presumably googlemaps) bundled gps/mapping software

or get another phone :p
 
Oct 6, 2008
495
0
Cheshire
Thanks, we spent a couple of hours trying stuff today - then he decided he needs to change his phone, but vodaphone won't let him.I'll look at his conract tomorrow.
 
Hi, I have a Nokia 5800 and frankly love it, at least because the GPS, has three excelent apps that uses the GPS, google maps, ovi maps which is a free , as free beer, not in freedom, mapping software with many interesting features and sportstracker, wich is a nice service to track your training or hikes and let you share em later on their social network

btw the 5800 has a normal GPS (wich is battery hungry) and an AGPS wich uses the cells signals to locate you instead if available, extending the battery lifeand the precision

Esteban
 

Far_Wanderer

Full Member
Oct 29, 2009
161
3
Lancashire, England
Hi I have a HTC Touch Diamond 2 with a extended life battery and I can run my phone with memory map all day while out walking up mountains and so far I have used it for a 2days trip and for watching 2 movies on it in the evening and I only used roughly 25% of battery life.

The big thing to remember about these is you can turn off the phone side while your out of signal as the phone automaticly boosts the power to help pick a signal up when it loses it. You can also choose to turn off the rest of the wireless bits. The HTC phones like some of the otheres has Advanced GPS which uses phone recieption to boost GPS fix time which I have disabled and my phone still gets a fix in 5-15 seconds. They have a radio built in and if you got to sites like xda-developers.com you will be able to find ways of moding a windows mobile phone to do the job you want better and on this site there are also GPS apps that are free that are used to give you general information like direction of travel distance traveled and they will even track your route.

Hope this helps some and let me know if youd like any more information about the HTC devices.

Andrew
 

Minotaur

Native
Apr 27, 2005
1,605
235
Birmingham
ask vodafone about the Sony Ericson Xpedia X10i, i just upgraded from a BB Storm to this one, it`s got email,gps,google maps, an add on app` to turn phone to sat/nav, 3d compass and loads more, i would recommend it.

I am looking at this as well. Looks the best of the current android phones. You can get an armor case for it which might be a good idea for out and about.

The big thing against the IPhone for me is that it is a closed unit. Do not like this sort of tech.

Would do some network checking for where you go a lot. Vodaphone has a lot of coverage but have seen Orange, and to a lesser extend O2 beat it in and around Wales.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,200
1,569
Cumbria
I know among other outdoors forums the Nokia 5800 with viewranger seems to have been accepted as the best option. As far as GPS chips and the like goes a lot of the "better" phones will probably have a dedicated GPS chip as opposed to the AGPS which runs off the cell network whish as you will prbably guess is not that good in wilderness areas (or as wildernessy as the UK allows).

I personaly have a BB on contract through work with O2. I only use the GPS on business trips with its search function to find things such as restaurants. I use a GPS60 bought many years ago occasionally, but more often than not I find a GPS and an uneccesary piece of weight to carry that only sits in my sack and gets dragged out to locate the exact top for some hillbagging list or other that some friends drag me out to tick. I just go out for the walk, htey go out for some obscure un-named peak that happens to be a "Birkett". I find a map and compass useful however and would never go out without them. hang up I do that a lot. In fact IIRC I don't even know where my two pairs of compasses are these days. My maps goout with me in a bag to the car and I pick the ones I need when starting the walk. Usually a BMC Lakes map and a OS 25k map too. Occasionally a superwalker as well as it offers different, additional information.

Sorry off topic.

My concern about using a "one device does all" approach is that usually the functions are non-specific and a watered down version of a dedicated kit. Also battery life. I know that my BB will need charging after a day's use if I use anything more than the phone occasionally and the odd email and check the mountain forecast. If I used GPS I am sure it will run out one day just when I need to call out MRT. IMHO it is better to have a dedicated phone for using as a (shock! horror!) PHONE then having a GPS / MP3 / camera all in one device separate if one existed. Its just that the other functions I can live without in an emergency but a phone with sufficient battery power left is more important in the same way a good first aid kit is. Its not that you'll necessarily use it but it is ther for when you really do need to communicate with emergency services.
 

Paul_B

Bushcrafter through and through
Jul 14, 2008
6,200
1,569
Cumbria
BTW From what I understand from other forums different networks are better in different areas. I think orange is generally the best all round network. BTW these days a lot of networks are sharing their masts such as Deutche Telekom (T-mobile) uses Orange masts and vice versa. This should make T-mobile as good as Orange but it doesn't as the other parts of a network mean that T-mobile is a little behind Orange which has the better software/hardware associated with the masts which is better able to handle the information.

I can't recall which network is best in which region but IIRC O2 is best in parts of Wales and isn't too shabby in the Lakes but not too good in other wilder regions. Orange is best overall, then perhaps Vodafone then O2 I think. Generally speaking avoid 3 as it is not good in wilder areas and is behind the others except in built up areas. I am not too sure of Scotland though. BTW O2 is increasingly becoming the supplier to virtual networks such as Virgin and Tesco. It used to be T-mobile but is now O2. It has become part of their business model and an important money earner. Hopefully it will allow it to improve in areas it is weak in. I think I heard or read somewhere that some of the bigger names (Vodafone or Orange I think) will be improving their network connection as IIRC there will be new tech added behind the scenes. Could have been mistaken or fed duff info though.

I hope this helps too as it is often important to consider the network as well as the phone.
 

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