Author Topic: sprint palm centro (Read 14511 times)

farfallen · « **on:** June 08, 2008, 03:11:26 PM »

does anybody know if there is a built in gps in the centro? there was talk right when it came out that palm would be unlocking the gps does anyone have any info? Thanks!

Scrable · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2008, 03:49:31 PM »

The 755p has GOS not the Centro.

Mordy · « **Reply #2 on:** June 11, 2008, 02:12:40 PM »

I've heard the new Palm 800 with the Windows OS has GPS support, although its possible the same hardware is in both devices (GPS-one chip).
Problem is, Windows has built in support for features like GPS chips, whereas Palm needs to have some propietary drivers written, which may be why they haven't "unlocked it" or offered it as a standard feature.

In other words, it might have the capability, but might be too difficult to "hack" it into a useable state.

Charles The Govenor · « **Reply #3 on:** June 17, 2008, 04:05:12 PM »

If I were you I'd try to exchange the centro for a blackberry it is a horrible phone with multiple issues.

aygart · « **Reply #4 on:** June 17, 2008, 05:44:19 PM »

Friends have told me that the centro gets better reception/coverage than others. They said that it was as if they switched companies.

Mordy · « **Reply #5 on:** June 17, 2008, 05:46:03 PM »

Charles, that's all find and good (I'm detecting a pattern from your posts... Blackberry fanboi?), but I know PLENTY of people (myself included) who'd rather have a Centro than a BB any day of the week, and I personally don't even like Palm! Read the BB vs Smartphone thread for more details.

aygart · « **Reply #6 on:** June 17, 2008, 05:51:57 PM »

One more thing, there are cell phone blogs such as Treocentral.com that say that as of April 1 there is a firmware update to allow gps and gives exact instructions how to get it to work.

Charles The Govenor · « **Reply #7 on:** June 17, 2008, 06:54:00 PM »

Well mordy actually I had the centro and I hated it then I got the pearl also hated it now I got the 8830 world edition and love it

Eli · « **Reply #8 on:** June 17, 2008, 10:19:22 PM »

Charles, get a life (But that's an entirely different story). The 8830 sucks. Switch it in for the Curve. It's the best BB out there. In fact one of the biggest complaints about the 8800 series is the keyboard so I'm surprised that the 9000 has the same keyboard as the 8830. I personally love the 8700 series because of the keys and the trackwheel, although admittedly the trackwheel starts to hurt my thumb after a few weeks. I heard people are happy with the "pearl" (not the phone model, the thing in the middle that you scroll with), but I never used it.

Berel · « **Reply #9 on:** June 19, 2008, 07:13:41 PM »

Quote from: aygart on June 17, 2008, 05:51:57 PM

One more thing, there are cell phone blogs such as Treocentral.com that say that as of April 1 there is a firmware update to allow gps and gives exact instructions how to get it to work.

That's its not going to happen, April came and went.

aygart · « **Reply #10 on:** June 19, 2008, 09:52:22 PM »

Quote from: Berel on June 19, 2008, 07:13:41 PM

That's its not going to happen, April came and went.

I don't have a Centro to test it but the users there say it worked.

rover771 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 22, 2008, 05:22:42 AM »

Quote from: aygart on June 17, 2008, 05:51:57 PM

One more thing, there are cell phone blogs such as Treocentral.com that say that as of April 1 there is a firmware update to allow gps and gives exact instructions how to get it to work.

can you please post a link to that thread. i tried to find it but i was not able.

aygart · « **Reply #12 on:** June 22, 2008, 07:39:54 AM »

I googled "centro sprint google maps gps" and found it at the top. It is hard for me to post a link using Opera Mini.

Mordy · « **Reply #13 on:** June 23, 2008, 11:15:59 AM »

by hard you mean "impossible", since Opera Mini is designed to play in the Java Sandbox for all phones, which doesn't support cut-and-paste.

A "real" smartphone browser would allow this, but I digress...

(couldn't help myself, had to comment)

Berel · « **Reply #14 on:** June 23, 2008, 04:14:39 PM »

http://gizmodo.com/5018937/palm-selling-centro-unlocked-for-299-gets-google-maps-with-my-location

ACH · « **Reply #15 on:** June 29, 2008, 11:33:00 PM »

I Believe The Only Sprint Phone With Actual 'built In GPS' Is The Sanyo 7050. Other Phones Are GPS Capable, And Can Determine Your Location By The Distance Your Mobile Device Is From The 3 Nearest Towers. But They Do Not Have Built In GPS Per Se.

aygart · « **Reply #16 on:** July 01, 2008, 09:03:03 PM »

Quote from: Mordy on June 23, 2008, 11:15:59 AM

by hard you mean "impossible", since Opera Mini is designed to play in the Java Sandbox for all phones, which doesn't support cut-and-paste.

A "real" smartphone browser would allow this, but I digress...

(couldn't help myself, had to comment)

It could be keyed in, but yes, copy paste is impossible.

Charles The Govenor · « **Reply #17 on:** July 01, 2008, 10:56:23 PM »

Don't some of the blackberrys with sprint have built in gps?

Mordy · « **Reply #18 on:** July 02, 2008, 09:59:19 PM »

Quote from: ACH on June 29, 2008, 11:33:00 PM

I Believe The Only Sprint Phone With Actual 'built In GPS' Is The Sanyo 7050. Other Phones Are GPS Capable, And Can Determine Your Location By The Distance Your Mobile Device Is From The 3 Nearest Towers. But They Do Not Have Built In GPS Per Se.

Wrong.
You're talking about triangulation, which is possible on any service that has properly ID tagged towers. That's how "my location" on Google maps works, even on old phones before GPS was widely available ("somewhere in this ginormous circle").

However, on Sprint, all phones have emergency location assisted GPS that the FCC mandated exist on every CDMA phone. This means that the phone has a very primitive position receiver, which unlike a full-fledged GPS only has a limited view of the GPS satellites in the sky. Without being able to process enough satellites at once, this simple system can't really get a cold fix on its own. However, when combined with location ID from the local towers, these phones can actually get a perfect position fix as accurate as any standalone GPS unit, and within seconds as opposed to the few minutes it takes a standalone to calculate a cold fix position.
The problem with this method is that you need the carriers to feed you the location info from the towers, which they won't give you for free. That's how the navigation based services such as TeleNav, Sprint Family Locator, etc. work.

However, there are now a handful of phones that are using the GPSone chipset, which support GPS standalone mode as well as the A-GPS and carrier dependent modes. Examples of devices on Sprint include the Samsung Instinct, HTC Mogul and Touch, and if I'm not mistaken also Motorola Q9. These phones will get an instant fix with a dead-on location without any help from the towers using line-of-sight to the satellites in the sky just like any other GPS routing device. Install some mapping software with turn-by-turn directions, and you won't have any need for a Garmin.

And even if you don't have one of those aforementioned phones, you could still pay the service fee for TeleNav or the like. Bottom line is that saying "Only Sprint Phone With Actual 'built In GPS' Is The Sanyo 7050" is about as incorrect a statement as I've seen here lately.

Not that it has anything to do with this thread, just FYI.

aygart · « **Reply #19 on:** July 02, 2008, 10:27:10 PM »

to say that the service providers will only give the location information for a fee is not true. There are free programs which provide location which work on Sprint. One is Live Search which is a free download from Sprint. Another is mgmaps which will work if you enable the developer root on your phone. They do not provide equivlent navigational services to a standalone device. I have found that the location on my phone is often quite inaccurate, sometimes by a half mile.