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Old 06-16-2008, 01:54 AM   #1
ah2819
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Default Amazegps version 4.2

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The blackberry version of amazegps 4.2 was released over the weekend. I haven't had a chance to play with it much yet, but I can confirm that it is much faster than 4.1. It still has the weird non-blackberry ui, but it works after you discover which keys to press.

There are some demos of the new version at

amAze Demo movies - free GPS navigation for mobile phones || amAzeGPS.com

The bird-view navigation looks interesting, but I'm not sure how practical it be for use while driving.
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Old 06-16-2008, 12:05 PM   #2
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Check to see is your BT GPS unit works. I could not get 4.1 to work with my BT GPS and my 8330. They have added support for the 8330 at last.
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Old 06-16-2008, 07:38 PM   #3
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If works with my BT GPS (on an 8700), but it doesn't connect every time I start it. When it refuses to connect I can get it to connect by starting blackberry maps, doing a "Start GPS", closing bbmaps, and then starting amazegps again.

I tried the "bird view" navigation today. It looks like it is just a satellite image superimposed on a 3D map. The update was so slow that I had a blank screen most of the time, so it isn't very useful for driving. It might be useful while walking though.
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Old 06-20-2008, 05:05 AM   #4
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I've installed the new version and amAzeGPS now works for me (8820, T-mobile, BES) and seems to do a nice job. But I'm wondering if anyone has noticed amAzeGPS contributing to battery drain?

I've recently installed amAzeGPS and the newest beta of Viigo and my battery life has plummeted and I'm wondering if either amAze or Viigo is the factor.

I would appreciate knowing if anyone else has noticed battery drain increasing after installing amAzeGPS.

Thanks,
SMF
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Old 06-24-2008, 08:05 AM   #5
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Wirelessly posted

Wow...big improvement! Worked great from dc to ny yesterday..ditching nav4all
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Old 06-24-2008, 09:16 PM   #6
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Default Review on AmAze

Decided to give the new 4.2 version a try for my 8830. Definitely an improvement over the previous SLOW version! I was pleased to see that it continuously updated the GPS positioning WITHOUT having to run BBMaps in the background! Very colorful interface.

I have three comments so far:

1. Still "lagging" when using the trackball to select options. Just as you're ready to press and select a highlighted option, the highlight continues to move to the next option.

2. All the voice directions are clipped so that you don't hear the last word or most of it. Example: instead of hearing "In 500 yards, take a right", I'll hear "in 500 y, take a r" Very annoying, especially when the command is made up of two separate phrases linked together. Sound files don't have enough empty space after the last word??

3. But the biggest complaint I have is the apparent lack of an option to keep the screen lit. It is aggravating to look at a black screen and having to constantly press a key while driving so that I can view the info. My other free 3rd party nav program keeps the screen lit all the time, so that's possible.

Will be checking it out further and perhaps report again later
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Old 07-03-2008, 09:53 AM   #7
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My browser is not working to try this application !!!
pls. advice ...
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Old 07-03-2008, 03:46 PM   #8
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I am going to have to try it. I hated 4.1. By the time it loaded, I could have already been to where I was going.
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Old 07-11-2008, 11:30 PM   #9
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Im really digging this version. Wish the UI can be easier and yes, the option to keep the screen LIT will be great.
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Old 07-12-2008, 11:08 AM   #10
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Cool One thing about amazegps

I like it on my 8830. Would be nice to be able to search for a general restaurant like saying "pizza" and everything that has pizza for sale comes up.
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Old 07-30-2008, 07:04 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NobelNobel View Post
My browser is not working to try this application !!!
pls. advice ...
Download to PC and copy it to the device. Write down the username and password too.
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Old 08-08-2008, 10:49 AM   #12
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I made extensive use of Amazegps during a vacation in LA, from which I've just returned. I used it on my 8320 Curve, in conjunction with a Freedom Keychain GPS puck. I tried to install Nav4all a couple of times, but was unable to get it to find the GPS puck, for some reason, so I can't make any comparisons with that software...except for this one: Even without being able to get Nav4all to link up to the GPS receiver, I noted that it doesn't appear to be possible to exit Nav4all while leaving it running in the background. Using the hangup key results in being prompted as to whether you really want to exit Nav4all. AmazeGPS does allow you to leave the program running, which is, in my opinion, important.

Although this has nothing to do with Amazegps, I find that my Freedom GPS puck is pretty slow to find a satellite, most of the time. It can take several minutes. But even after it has found the satellite (icon on puck blinks), it can take Amazegps several more minutes to establish a link. I'm not sure why this is. The bluetooth connection with the Curve happens pretty quickly--usually within 20-30 seconds of turning on the GPS puck.

So, the stages are this:
1. Turn on GPS puck.
2. Activate Amazegps.
3. After 30 secs, blinking blue LED indicates that the BB and the GPS puck are paired.
4. After 2-5 minutes, blinking satellite icon on puck indicates that GPS data are being received from satellite.
5. After an additional several minutes, the connection icon on the Amazegps screen turns from red to green, indicating that Amazegps is fully functional.

So, a quick start is out of the question. I'd try to get this process going well in advance of getting in the car.

As others have commented, the "trackball lag" is annoying. When I initially set up the software, I set the default location to Pennsylvania, which is where I live. Once in LA, if I wanted to search for something I'd have to change this to California. This turned out to be quite time-consuming, due to the slow function of the scrolling. I soon changed the default to California, for the duration of the trip, in order to avoid this.

The Search function of Amazegps is disappointing. For example, if searching for a specific address, I'd be required to enter city and state; I couldn't just use the zip code. Keyword searching was also disappointing. I don't think it should have been that hard to find "disneyland" for example, but it took a bit of work. In comparison, searching using Google Maps was effortless, and I sometimes found myself exiting Amazegps to use Google Maps to find things, then plugging the data back into Amazegps for the turn-by-turn. This aspect of Amazegps definitely needs to be improved in future releases.

As for the actual turn-by-turn functionality, I'd give it a grade of B. I used it a lot, and it mostly worked well, but there were some glitches. Occasionally, it would tell me "keep right" when apparently "turn right" was what was needed, and so on. The worst situation was when I'd need to make two turns in fairly quick succession. Because of the delay in updating after the first turn was made, the instruction for the second turn might come too late, after I'd already passed the intersection. Then there would be a significant delay for the route to be recalculated. This sort of thing was mainly a problem, as you'd expect, in tight city street settings. Some or all of this lag may be an unavoidable consequence of Amazegps having to talk to its servers over the relatively slow EDGE network. I don't know how much lag is due to the software.

I also played with the real-time mapping function, and found it to be very laggy in comparison to Google Maps. It took a long time to draw the map on the screen as I changed position; Google Maps did it very quickly.

So, that's my review after using Amazegps fairly heavily for five days in LA.
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Old 08-08-2008, 05:50 PM   #13
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Thanks for a detailed review of Amazegps. I, too, was recently in LA but used a variety of other tools (my sister hated the nagging and she generally knew where we were going). I used BBMaps, Google, LiveSearch. Also with the Freedom puck.

I think until the BB's contain faster chips and the gps in the phones work without bluetooth, and data has to be downloaded the lag can be a problem.

My standalone TomTom is much faster (although its points of interest are somewhat disappointing)
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Old 08-08-2008, 09:33 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FF2 View Post
I think until the BB's contain faster chips and the gps in the phones work without bluetooth, and data has to be downloaded the lag can be a problem.
Yep. It's clear that *some* optimization could (and should) be achieved in the software, since Google mapping works so much more efficiently using the same hardware and network. I wish I had been able to get Nav4all to find the GPS bluetooth puck, so I could have made some performance comparisons, but it just wasn't happening. But the inability to have Nav4all run in the background would be a dealbreaker for me in any case.
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Old 08-09-2008, 03:16 AM   #15
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Do you need a data-plan to use this, or can you use it through wi-fi?
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Old 08-09-2008, 09:16 AM   #16
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I have been able to use my BB with Nav4All running in the background. If you press the menu key it will take you back to the main screen without exiting Nav4All.

Hope this helps someone

Last edited by neelsonwheels; 08-09-2008 at 09:18 AM..
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Old 08-09-2008, 10:11 AM   #17
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I also recently used amazeGPS for true navigational needs (as opposed to testing it in a known area) and I was pretty happy with its performance. Other than the pains that have already been mentioned earlier (slow trackball response, not so user friendly menu style, etc.), it worked pretty well. I also used the keyword search (Six Flags) and it did correctly find the destination. Directions were accurate, although one annoyance was that it kept saying "recalculating the route" even though I was on the right course.

I also use my BB as a music player to play the songs stored on my 8-gig media card over the bluetooth to my car stereo. Whenever I had amaze running in the "map" mode, music was stop and play. Seems like amaze uses a lot of CPU horsepower in this mode. Once I switched to "arrows" only mode, this problem was almost non-existent.

I did not test the feature of "recalculating the route" by missing any directions on purpose. Also, if you keep glancing at the arrows map, it generally tells you in how many miles is the next directions and whether it is left or right. Also, I found that on those occasions where there were turns on quick successions, it did warn me by saying "make a left and then make an immediate right". My phone is a 8110, so it used built-in GPS.

Overall a good experience, though there could be a lot of improvements in amazeGPS. Considering that it is a free software, I'm pretty happy with it. Oh, by the way, it does not announce street names, just says make a left or right...
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Old 08-09-2008, 11:45 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ubizmo View Post
I wish I had been able to get Nav4all to find the GPS bluetooth puck, so I could have made some performance comparisons, but it just wasn't happening. But the inability to have Nav4all run in the background would be a dealbreaker for me in any case.
If you have the Freedom Keychain, try this: Turn on the puck, then WAIT till both orange and blue LEDs blink, THEN turn on Nav4All.

I agree that pressing the "menu" key (left of trackball) will bring you to home screen AND leave Nav4All running in the background. Then press the Nav4All icon to get back to it.
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Old 08-09-2008, 12:25 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Organman View Post
If you have the Freedom Keychain, try this: Turn on the puck, then WAIT till both orange and blue LEDs blink, THEN turn on Nav4All.

I agree that pressing the "menu" key (left of trackball) will bring you to home screen AND leave Nav4All running in the background. Then press the Nav4All icon to get back to it.
I'll give Nav4all another try and report back. Thanks for the advice.

Update: It still won't pair with my BB from Nav4all, even with both LEDs blinking. It just stays in "Searching... 0 devices found."

Last edited by ubizmo; 08-09-2008 at 12:42 PM..
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Old 08-09-2008, 02:27 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ubizmo View Post
I'll give Nav4all another try and report back. Thanks for the advice.

Update: It still won't pair with my BB from Nav4all, even with both LEDs blinking. It just stays in "Searching... 0 devices found."
You might want to go back into Bluetooth settings and check the gps there and maybe even remove and re-discover it. I also occasionally have to tweak the bluetooth puck and check its properties and then do something like "reservice" or similar.
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