Blackberry Curve 8310 GPS Hack?
 

Ok folks I'm hoping someone can help me out here. I just moved over to the BB Curve 8310 for the ATT network. (Previously I was using windows based smart phones) The 8310 comes with the hardware required for GPS (It says it right on the phone). To activate the service you have to go into Applications and register with "TeleNav" Personally I would rather not pay for the service. Does someone out there have a work around or hack for this application? Perhapes another 3rd party app that I could use instead of the "TeleNav software".

I would appreciate input from anyone who knows how to do this or knows where to find the info needed. Thanks

you can use any GPS application with the 8310 on AT&T. it doesnt have the GPS locked to anything.

Ok cool do you know of a "Free" app I can use and where to get it?;-)

well depends on what you are looking for. in my opinion, as well as many others on here, TeleNav is by far the best GPS out there. THat being said, if you do a search of No cost mapquest navigator you can find that. Also try the GPS section of this website.

TeleNav is the best. Nav4All, AmazeGPS, GoogleMaps, and many many others. All the free ones have their drawbacks, and you do get what you pay for with TeleNav.

Nav4All is good

Have you looked in the GPS forum at all? Most apps have been discussed many many times. I personally prefer Telenav.

That has been my experience as well.

either you guys don't know what you are talking about or AT&T has changed things up with the curve 8310.

I have one, brand new, and the GPS feature does not work. I have tried using it with google maps and while it will show you in an area, it is usually miles off from my actual location.

If I go into settings/options/advanced options/gps and then hit the menu button to refresh gps the phone will scan for satellites but it never finds a single one. GPS data source is set to device gps and can be changed to "8100" but niether option changes the results. No satellites found, no fix time etc.

I don't need turn by turn on my phone, I pay 30 a month for the internet and am pretty good with directions so all I would like the gps for is a way to find out where the hell I am when I can't find a street sign. If I know my location, I can enter it on google maps or any other sight to get turn by turn directions and I have been doing things that way for years. No need to pay att another 10 on top of the 30 on top of the regular plan as it is....

So, whats the deal? Did att change this and lock the phone to screw over loyal customers some more and is there any way to beat this? I've contacted att and was told by multiple reps that the gps for the 8310 requires usage of the telenav service even though the sales rep at the store said it would work you just wouldn't get turn by turn directions.

If I remember reading correctly, there are certain conditions that need to be met for the initial connection to the GPS satellite.

any recollection as to where you remember reading that? I haven't found what I was looking for in the manual and like I said, the att rep (who defines poor service) the gps was unavailable unless you pay for telenav.

I can't seem to find any way to make it work on my end

The AT&T 8310 gps is not affected by TN being subscribed or not.

Make sure you are outside in an open area, clear sky, and let the refresh (options > advanced > gps > Menu > refresh). Let it run for at least 10 minutes if needed.

Wirelessly posted (Dick Wiggler)

I bought an 8310 less than a month ago thru att. If I go to gps settings it will acquire a fix of at least 4 sattelites and I've seen as many as 10. I got bbmaps to work before I upgraded to os 4.5 and I could get a sat fix on that too. I'm using livesearch now and that's getting a gps fix. I don't want to pay for telenav since I wouldn't use it more than once a month.

@redvtr1000:

I purchased my 8310 from at&t a month ago. gps is working fine with bbmaps and google maps. I had a few problems with google maps, but they might have been self inflicted. I also have the unlimited data plan if that makes any difference.

Oh yeah, and I do not subscribe to the telenav service.

screwy.... Ive sat outside trying to get this to work and this thing just continues to sit there saying "Scanning for satellites" after a while, it times out and then shows a summary including time for fix, # of satellites etc. Always stays at 0.

The csr from ATT was a total useless human being. She told me that gps features are only enabled with telenav. I've tried leaving it sitting in the open and just waiting but so far no go. Is there any other option to change that I am missing maybe??

I own a few garmin gps handhelds that were designed for aviation use and those things will pick up satellites without much trouble sitting right next to the berry.

I have the unlimited data plan and everything else to run the phone, not like I had an option on that with ATT. They force me to pay 30 dollars to use the bb which is silly if you ask me, my gf has an iphone that I got her for xmas and it's only 20 bucks.

I use AT&T and I have TeleNav. Like most others, I think it's the best. I travel a lot and use it often so the price makes sense for me, but I totally understand why a once or twice a month user wouldn't want to pay for it.

Not sure why GPS isn't working on your phone...to rule out defective hardware (and maybe to get it working!), I'd call customer service or maybe take it to a local dealer.

Good luck!

In your Options > Advanced > GPS, do make certain your GPS Data Source is set to "Device GPS".

On the initial start up, try to locate yourself on a map as close as possible to your actual position. You need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and it could take as long as 10 minutes or more for the first lock on.

Nope -- look at my profile to the left of this message. It is up to date. I've been using an 8310 on at&t for quite some time. It could be that your 8310 is defective as mentioned above. Have you tried getting a lock via Options->Advanced Options->GPS or are you always trying to get a lock via a GPS app? Also, are you making sure that you're closing whatever GPS apps might have been opened (and therefore tying up the GPS receiver)?

I'm not even sure that this would really make a difference but it always helps to minimize variables if you're troubleshooting. It would help to eliminate the GPS apps from the equation entirely by obtaining your initial lock via Options->Advanced Options->GPS.

No, they did not. It's just carrier paranoia striking.

If you've been with at&t for any length of time you should know that their reps are notorious for varying widely in having proper training with a tendency toward not knowing what they're talking about. In this case, the sales rep was closer to on the mark. You don't have to use Telenav. Again, Telenav is just one of many GPS apps for the BB that you can choose. Your GPS receiver works independently of Telenav. The receiver isn't activated or deactivated via Telenav.

If you're fine with not having what Telenav offers then you can use any of the other GPS apps. The sales person was a bit off the mark as features (such as turn by turn/voice prompts/POI's/etc) are detemined by the GPS app. You can get turn by turn and voice prompts with other BB GPS apps as well. Again, it depends on the specific GPS app you're talking about. These aren't features built into the 8310. The GPS receiver is just a GPS receiver. It doesn't do anything but determine your latitude and longitude. Everything else is up to the GPS app.

I figured that was the case in your other thread. By loading OS 4.5 your browser isn't recognized by the server that you're downloading Google Maps from so you're not getting the GPS enabled Google Maps. You need to manually enter a specific URL to get the correct version of Google Maps. There's a thread somewhere that covers this...

Just to add to it. My 8310 is exhibiting similar behavior to the OP. GPS doesn't ever pick up a signal even when accessing from Options... GPS. Never.

Googlemaps is likewise not working other than with triangulation (to be expected if the BB can't lock onto any sats).

Running 4.5.0.42 on AT&T. I don't think it's the carrier doing anything malicious.

I definitely don't use this a lot for GPS as I prefer Garmin for that function. Add to that: I'm coming from Sprint and (when I had signal) became very spoiled by the comparatively faster download speeds for the maps.

The OP in this simply wanted a free GPS application, and was mistakenly under the assumption he had to register with TeleNav to get it, and one doesn't.

In your case, according to where you are, you really need to pull the battery on the device, reboot, walk to an open outside area, with a clear view of the sky. In Manhattan with tall buildings all around might just not be good enough. Get a clear view of the sky. I know one user here from Manhattan had to go to some park on the Hudson and finally his GPS locked.

The Ephemeral Tables for the satellites must download to the device the first time after loading an OS, or traveling long distances, such as by air.

Give it 10 minutes.