Blackberry questions.

[Duke{CLR}]

My wife is going to get a Blackberry Tour. One of the thing she would like to do is to use it like GPS. Verizon has a VZ Navigator application but it costs $9.99 a month. There are aps for the blackberry that seem to do the same thing without a monthly fee. Does anybody here use a Blackberry like this?

[mapes]

Google maps has an application for iphone, blackberry and symbian OS based phones(nokia). It's free and works fairly good

[Duke{CLR}]

Thanks, I'll check that one out.

[RobotBanana]

Google Maps is great, but it doesn't act like a traditional car GPS that speaks directions. I find it's best if I'm searching for a restaurant or something (Google has a far better database of locations than all of the standalone GPS units I've ever seen...). But for turn-by-turn directions while driving, it isn't all that useful. Plus it uses data for everything, and a few minutes of satellite map downloading can use a few megabytes... It can get costly if you don't have an unlimited data plan.

Garmin, which is easily the most well-known car GPS manufacturer (at least up here in Canada ), has Blackberry software available. I've gotten a chance to play with Garmin for Windows Mobile, and it's pretty cool. It looks and operates exactly like my standalone Garmin GPS unit does. I'd imagine the Blackberry version would be very similar (if not identical) to the Windows Mobile one.

At $100, it's a pretty expensive piece of software, but you don't have to pay any monthly fees, and it won't access the Internet unless you allow it to, so you won't get a nice big data bill. There's also a 7 day trial available, so I think it's worth trying out.

Of course, check to make sure your carrier doesn't lock GPS info to its own apps, and that the software is compatible with your phone, etc...

Garmin for Blackberry: Garmin Mobile | Garmin GPS navigation on your mobile phone

[Cain]

I think Verizon blocks GPS unless you pay the monthly fee to unlock it.

[Duke{CLR}]

Verizon used to block the GPS but for the latest versions they have unlocked it. They did install their VZ Navigator software which disabled the stand alone GPS but a quick and stern phone call from me fixed that. The weather app will get your location from it and there is a compass program that will give your speed as well. So far so good and my wife is getting addicted to it after just a few days, I can see why the call ti a crackberry. My hope is that it works so well for her that she abandons my gaming rig that she took over.

This is the app I'm looking at to replace VZnavigator and it's $9.99 monthly fee. e-Mobile GPS Companion: Maps, Directions and more - Travel BlackBerry Apps - Crackberry BlackBerry Software Store

[ChrisWW11]

I have never tried the e-mobile gps Companion but VZ Navigator works just fine for me. I was using google maps earlier and then decided to try a real GPS and it does its job. Also I'm using a Blackberry 9530 (storm) so the bigger screen is a plus.

[franklinmall]

I finally figured out how to add addresses and look up businesses on the web and synchronize them to my Navigator's "Favorites". If anyone is interested here is the link: TeleNav - Voice directions on your GPS phone

[Cain]

[{CLR} ObiTroy]

Try this [free] one out before you buy anything, Duke.

http://www.amazegps.com/

I tried it on my BB Storm a couple of months ago but it wasn't compatible with the touch screen. Seemed like a great app but was annoying for me to navigate around the app.

I think it would work fine on the Tour.