GPS and shadow [Archive] - T-Mobile User Community

qbangringo

11-10-2007, 04:37 PM

Nwahs

11-10-2007, 04:40 PM

Hey does anyone know if there is like a GPS adapter I could get for my shadow? Do they even make anything like that? I just wanted to know if there was something I could get to connect to my shadow to get it running!

I know that there are often times bluetooth GPS devices that you can use with cell phones or smart phones...but I'm not sure that this will work with the Shadow. T-mobile phones don't support GPS, nor does T-mobile's networks, but there are applications you can get that will use bluetooth to connect with an external GPS devices and will allow you to have bluetooth on your phone.

qbangringo

11-10-2007, 08:43 PM

The reason why i asked was cause I have google maps and it had a option to show current location and then it would say searching for gps . So i just wanted to know what gps device i could hook up or if there was some small antena that would allow me to do this and hopefully not too expensive thanks!!!

analogs

11-13-2007, 09:22 AM

One of the main reasons to buy a Windows Mobile device is expandability. There are a number of Bluetooth GPS receivers out there just waiting to connect to your Shadow. And one of the coolest things about a Bluetooth unit is that it's going to be compatible with other things like your laptop.

I bought this Belkin model like two years ago and I still use it:
http://reviews.cnet.com/gps-kits/belkin-bluetooth-gps-compact/4505-9337_7-30713236.html?tag=prod.txt.1

I use it primarily with my laptop but I successfully connected it to a Wing (which I had for a week), as well as a Sprint PPC 6700. Granted, both of those devices run WM6 Professional, as opposed to WM6 Standard on the Shadow, but everything I've read indicates that Standard should support it (I'm planning on getting a Shadow so I'll probably know by next week).

I haven't personally used this model but I saw it on Engadget not too long ago and it looks pretty sweet:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/16/globalsats-bt-359-bluetooth-gps-receiver/

Again, *in theory*, any Bluetooth GPS receiver should work with any Windows Mobile device. You still have to download a map application or use it with something like Google Maps.

Also, to clarify Nwahs' statement above, T-Mobile's network doesn't "support" GPS any more than any other network. First of all, there are two types of GPS, regular ol' GPS and A-GPS, or "assisted" GPS. Regular GPS uses the actual GPS satellites, whereas assisted estimates where you are based on location of cell towers. "Real" GPS devices will tout chipsets from SirfStar, where as A-GPS devices like T-Mobile's Blackberry 8800 (http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/Detail.aspx?device=b7240caa-3ba4-4422-b49f-fc2e2d264d11) doesn't mention anything about a chipset since it's using cell towers (see this Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS) for details). But make no mistake, the 8800 is functioning GPS-enabled phone, offered by T-Mobile so it's a little bit misleading to say that they don't support GPS.