sprint palm centro

[Mordy]

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.

Aygart, you just contradicted yourself and proved my point.
Windows Live Search uses some advanced triangulation techniques and does a better job than google maps when it comes to your location. Additionally, yes, some phones allow you to access the raw data from the e911 chip on your CDMA phone if that part of the firmware is "unlocked" to give you access. The point is, without letting the carriers help by broadcasting tower ID locations to your handset, you won't get an exact fix, sometimes being off by up to a mile.
If you actually paid for a carrier-supported service, like telenav, you'd find that your position can be surprisingly accurate, getter a better and faster fix than your average Garmin or in-dash receiver.

[aygart]

I'm not quite sure where I contradicted myself. Either way, I can tell you that from my experience Live Search did no better than mgmaps. Neither did Family Locator or trials of the paid services. It seemed to me to be dependent upon reception. I don't know about Google Maps since it doesn't give location on my Samsung a900m. If you have a way to get it I will try and see if it's different.

[Mordy]

I'm not quite sure where I contradicted myself.

Ok, pay attention, I'll speak slowly.

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.
...
to say that the service providers will only give the location information for a fee is not true.

Basically, I think what you're missing here is that the providers always charge for the necessary information to be given to your handset to get an accurate fix. Without that information, an app like Windows Live and Gmaps can see the sky using the built in hardware, but the chip isn't sophisticated enough to get an accurate fix without help from the providers.
You said you don't need to pay them to get the information, yet it wasn't an accurate fix. That's the contradiction- you didn't have an accurate fix BECAUSE you weren't paying for the necessary data!

Either way, I can tell you that from my experience Live Search did no better than mgmaps. Neither did Family Locator or trials of the paid services. It seemed to me to be dependent upon reception. I don't know about Google Maps since it doesn't give location on my Samsung a900m. If you have a way to get it I will try and see if it's different.

Family locater relied entirely on the A- part of AGPS. It wouldn't wait to get a fix via the GPS chip, just the initial tower data and whatever part of the sky was currently visible is analyzed and returned with a vague location. The idea was to quickly determine where approximately a family member is, not to get an exact fix and give them turn by turn directions. Sprint Navigator (using TeleNav technology) will actually pinpoint you on the road and follow you with an accuracy of a couple of feet.

But even working like this, Family Locater shouldn't be a mile off. In fact, it should be no more than few hundred feet at worst (with a clear view of the sky at the moment of tracking, it should be able to get a near perfect location). When I tested this feature a year ago, it didn't know where inside the building the phones where, but it located the building's property successfully every time. The phones being used were LGs and Samsungs.

Once again, if you want an accurate standalone GPS signal, the "blade" phone you've got doesn't  have the proper hardware. It depends on the provider to broadcast additional information to get a proper location, and that you'll have to pay for. Without it, your location can be anywhere within a 5 mile radius, usually about a mile or 2 off on average.

If, however, you opted for one of those new Blackberrys or Windows Mobile devices, you'd have a GPS fix independently. In fact, you could cancel your service, or take your phone to China and still use it like a GPS receiver.

[aygart]

Yes, it is rare for it to be off by a half mile (I never wrote a mile) and is usually when in a building and in an area with poor reception. Whether inside or out, I did not notice any appreciable difference between the free or paid ones. When there is good reception both are good (mgmaps has correctly located me to the exact place in a house with the map zoomed as much as possible), when there isn't both are bad. I understand that they may work differently, and you seem to be more knowledgable about this than I, but this is my experience. BTW, YOU first used family locator as an example of the "better" type that one must say for, and now you are saying it is not a fully accurate type (albeit based on the better system).

[Mordy]

. BTW, YOU first used family locator as an example of the "better" type that one must say for, and now you are saying it is not a fully accurate type (albeit based on the better system).

That is sort of what it looks like, sorry about that. I meant to mention it as an example of a service that uses information from the carrier instead of trying to rely on the weak internal GPS chip. I didn't mean to imply it would always get a perfect fix, that kind of precision requires both chip and carrier data (like telenav, which is the only one I mentioned would actually be accurate).

Anyway, its all a moot point. This is the Palm Centro thread, and the Centro doesn't have standalone GPS as far as I know, only the same E911 FCC mandated chip (unless there is a crippled GPSone chip in there).

[yehuda]

does anyone know of a browser for sprint centro I find blazer to be slow and freezy very often

[Mordy]

Opera Mini. Best browser arguably on ANY mobile platform.

[bn]

Opera Mini. Best browser arguably on ANY mobile platform.

Is there a way to get java for the palm centro.I want t o be able to watch my business live cameras.
what about internet explorer for centro?

[aygart]

Opera will only let you see still images. Sometimes you will at best see one frame of a video.

[whYME]

Java is no longer supported by palm.

I just installed Java and Opera on my Centro.

I found a Java installation online somewhere (I dont remember where)

So far opera has been very, very buggy. I suspect the Java installation I used is no good.

[aygart]

Opera Mini has a forum which is a default bookmark. In that forum there is a sticky "help us help you with settings". In there it should say how to set Java to be more stable. If you don't find it there, search the forum.

[Mordy]

Its really a shame they don't make Opera Mobile for Palm OS devices... there were rumors about Opera 9 having a native Palm OS version, but apparently Opera doesn't consider the Palm OS much of a contender anymore.
The Symbian and Windows Mobile versions are top-notch, rivaling the smooth kinetic scrolling of the iPhone (the only thing I beleive iPhones have to their credit), and integrating as the default system browser. Sure, Opera Mini is scrollable with your finger on a touch screen if you've got java, but it doesn't run as smoothly as a native application and you lose integration such as ajax/java, direct access to the file system (for downloading and upload to sites), copy/paste, etc... not to mention the full screen graphics acceleration which makes everything so smooooth...

*Sigh* Sorry folks... I know most of the users on this board are Palm fans, but sadly most of the mobile world (including possibly Palm itself) is not as optimistic as you...

::prepares flame-resistant shield for onslaught from fanbois::

[Berel]

Palm will release a new operating system soon, but by then I will be using android (possibly with a Palm emulator on board for the jewish books and such...)

[whYME]

I know most of the users on this board are Palm fans...

Does having a palm phone automatically make you a "fanboi"?

Here's a challenge for you (Mordy):
If the Centro is really as terrible as you make it sound, what's a better phone in the same price range, and why?

[Mordy]

Palm will release a new operating system soon, but by then I will be using android (possibly with a Palm emulator on board for the jewish books and such...)

Berel, won't be necessary- There's plenty of judaica for WinMobile as well as LinuxMobile and Symbian.
There's no reason to think Judaica is limited to only Palm OS!

Also, Palm has been promising innovation for an eternity now, and I do hope you're right... I'd love to see more competition in the market, however they just haven't done it and I fear it may be too late.

Does having a palm phone automatically make you a "fanboi"?

Ooh! Someone's getting defensive!
whYME, I didn't say you were automatically a "fanboi"! All I said was that I'm sure I'll get some nasty responses from the fanbois. However, this retort from you may begin to reveal something...

Here's a challenge for you (Mordy):
If the Centro is really as terrible as you make it sound, what's a better phone in the same price range, and why?

Um... I didn't say the Centro was terrible!
I know plenty of people with Centros, and recommended them personally to 2 of my friends, and they love them. Its a cute phone!
I say the same about the iPhone... for certain people, its wonderful (if you just want a straight-forward flashy "wow" interface with cool features- style over function). Personally, I could never deal with something that has so many restrictions and limitations. Palm OS is a large degree better than Apple as far as open functionality and libraries of software, but it still falls short of the power and versatility of a true multitasking OS like Windows Mobile.
I'm not saying WinMobile is the greatest thing ever, its not. Its just the lesser of all current evils for someone who wants a high end device.

There's no "better" phone- its subjective. If you want a basic range of your classic Palm applications on a simple OS that also handles phone calls, the Centro is great. If you want new high-end features, more power and capability, the ability to tweak and control how your experience works and customize it to do ANTYTHING (host ftp servers, voip, desktop extension emulation, 2-way video chat, open-webkit browsing, etc) Palm OS won't do.
But then you'd have to deal with the complexity of Windows Mobile, which is not for everyone, admittedly.

I don't want to hijack this thread too much... but what I'm trying to say is that if you want things like Opera Mobile integrated into the OS, Palm unfortunately is not the way to go.

Oh, and price range shouldn't be such a big deal... I paid about $30 more than the $99 Centro when I bought my Mogul, after rebates. Who pays retail for phones?

[whYME]

whYME, I didn't say you were automatically a "fanboi"! All I said was that I'm sure I'll get some nasty responses from the fanbois. However, this retort from you may begin to reveal something...

Actually far from it.
Here's a quote from the one time I mentioned anything about my like or dislike of the Centro:

However, now that I got my Centro and was able to play around with it a bit I'm starting to reconsider. I know Dan is in love with the Centro but so far it's just not doing it for me...

In fact, the only thing I have at the moment keeping me from throwing it at the wall as hard as I can is that it would probably make it far more difficult for me to switch it in for a different phone.

My point was that just because somebody is using something a product it does not necessarily mean they are a fanboi of said product.

There's no "better" phone- its subjective...

You're right, I should rephrase that.
how about a more capable (or more powerful) phone in that price range?

Oh, and price range shouldn't be such a big deal... I paid about $30 more than the $99 Centro when I bought my Mogul, after rebates. Who pays retail for phones?

Who said anything about paying retail?
current price for the Centro after rebate (Sprint): $99
Treo 800w: $249
Mogul: $299
If you know of some way I can get the Mogul or Treo 800 cheaper then that please do share.

[Charles The Govenor]

I personally hated my centro so i got rid of it.

[whYME]

I personally hated my centro so i got rid of it.

Yeah, but we already know you're a Blackberry fanboi.
(Sorry Mordy, beat you to the punch.)

[Mordy]

LOL

[Charles The Govenor]

Lol I was waiting for that lol.