superstition

GerritS, I believe the N95 GPS antenna is under the keypad. I've had better GPS performance with the N95 when I slide the keypad open and then navigate to the cache with the keypad open. Unfortunately, the N95 GPS is not quite as sensitive as some other smartphones. The Blackberry Curve GPS performance is simply outstanding for example. Rich at Trimble

mgh24, I happen to work for Trimble and I use the Blackberry Curve smartphone too. The GSM version of the Curve has extremely good GPS performance (on AT&T for example). It's definitely as good as my Garmin 60 CSX. But not all smartphones are equal. Some have better GPS and others fair worst. Here is a good series of posts that I believe will answer your questions: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=179822 Rich

Hi Skippermark, Geocache Navigator, Allsport GPS, and Trimble Outdoors are all available for the AT&T Blackberry Curve 8310. I use this unit myself. You can try a free trial here: Blackberry Applications Rich at Trimble

Rich, thanks for the great reply. I think you have answered all my questions regarding smartphone caching. I have only one more question. I am going to purchase a smartphone this week, either with my existing ATT service or change to Sprint. If you were making this decision, which phone model would you go with, what service provider apps to I need to purchase and do you have a preference of ATT vs Sprint. I guess that was three questions. Thanks, Tom Tom, both Sprint and AT&T generally carry the same Blackberry models including the Pearl, Curve (soon for Sprint) and the enterprise 8820 (AT&T) or 8830 (Sprint) unit. AT&T uses a wireless network technology called GSM while Sprint uses a technology called CDMA. So while the Blackberry units look the same they are very different inside. This difference also extends to the GPS chips. The GSM units use the SiRF StarIII GPS chips (same as most new conventional GPSr's). The CDMA units use a GPS chip from Qualcomm. The SiRF chip performs better in my opinion. So my personal favorite Blackberry is the AT&T Curve and I use this phone with all of the Trimble applications. The AT&T Pearl or 8820 work just as well (GPS wise) but I have found the battery life on the Pearl and the Curve to be better than the 8820. So, if I were making a new Blackberry purchase and wished to use Geocache Navigator I would buy the 8110 Pearl or the 8310 Curve on AT&T (or another GSM carrier). You do not buy the Geocache Navigator application from AT&T though. Instead you can buy it from a Trimble partner called Handmark. You can purchase directly from your new Blackberry or on the web. All of this info is on Trimble's web site here: Geocache Navigator Info Trimble is offering a free 30 day trial though so try that first before you buy. Furthermore, if you end up buying and annual Geocache Navigator subscription ($39.99 per year) Trimble has been "known" to provide the Trimble Outdoors waypoint navigation Blackberry software and the Trimble Adventure Planner PC mapping software to Geocache Navigator users for free. This software is very helpful if you hike, backpack, boat, etc... I use it a lot for outdoor fun. Hope that helps and let us know how it goes - Rich at Trimble

Hi, I work for Trimble and stumbled across your thread. The Blackberry pearl is fully supported by Trimble's Geocache Navigator application. The Centro is not unfortunately. You can get a free 30 day trail for the Pearl here: Blackberry Geocache Navigator Trial If I recall Sprint has a 30 day return policy. So you can get the Pearl, load Geocache Navigator, and see if you like it at no risk. We've had a lot of customers do this so they can determine if they like a particular phone overall. Rich at Trimble

Team DEMP - thanks for the great feedback. A version of Geocache Navigator for the Blackberry that allows you to filter out caches already found will be available next week. Nope....we're not that fast but we have been working on this feature for a while. If you want a general purpose waypoint navigator (like your Garmin 76) we have another product called Trimble Outdoors for that purpose. It comes with free mapping software that allows you to pre-plan your routes (and maps) and download them to your BB. It's fully GPS functional outside the cell network if you have the right BB unit. It will also import pocket querries to navigate to remote caches that are outside cell coverage. Additionally, you can record GPS tracks, waypoints, audio clips, photos (if you have the right BB unit). Contact Rebecca at Trimble Outdoors support and she will set you with a free trial to see for yourself ( support@trimbleoutdoors.com or 1-800-773-5996). As for your other thoughts to improve the product, some are on the list and the rest we'll add for future updates. Thanks, Rich at Trimble

Here is the skinny on the Blackberry GPS performance and Geocache Navigator. FYI - I work for Trimble. First, the Blackberry Curve GPS operates independent of the cell carrier's network. It is as close to a conventional GPS unit as you can get including using a SiRFStar III GPS chipset. For example, I was backpacking in Grand Canyon last week (believe me....no AT&T coverage) and I used the Trimble Outdoors off-road navigation application on my Blackberry Curve very successfully. Not all phones are independent of the wireless network though. Many require assistance from the wireless network to get rapid GPS fixes and if they are not in the network then they cannot acquire GPS. Some phones (Blackberry units, Nextel GPS phones, Nokia GPS phones and the Sanyo 7050 Sprint phone) are GPS autonomous. The only reason that Geocache Navigator requires cell carrier connectivity is because the cache information comes off Groundspeak and Trimble computer servers in real-time as it is requested by the user. That real-time access to cache logs, hints, and caches around you no matter where you are in the World is what makes Geocache Navigator unique. Instant satisfaction Unfortunately, to get real-time info you need to be in the cell network. But...the Blackberry GPS will still work fine outside the cell network. Trimble makes several applications that do not do network transactions until you are back in coverage allowing GPS to continue to operate normally but they are not specific to geocaching. We are considering a future version of Geocache Navigator that will allow you to "cache" your geocaches ahead of time and then geocache outside of the network. For now our Blackberry Trimble Outdoors application will take a GPX file pocket querry result and navigate you to geocaches the same way a conventional GPS will - all without cell network coverage. We have a lot of customers that dump hundreds of cache coordinates into their Blackberry units for out of network use using the Trimble Outdoors application. But, you don't get to read cache logs, hints, etc. - just like you don't with most conventional GPS units. I hope this makes sense. The cell phone World is full of inconsistencies and unique situations based on the carrier you use and the phone you use. Sometimes the exact same phone will behave differently on different carrier networks! Rich at Trimble

Anyone using this on their BB 8310 with AT&T? Do you like it? I'm seriously thnking of getting one of these as I need to upgrade my current phone. I've used the AT&T Curve and it works really well. The GPS performance is extremely good in that device since it uses the SiRFStar III chip, the same chip used by new Garmin units. A lot of people have downloaded the Curve free trial too and the feedback to us has been good. Here are a couple of ideas though for you to run a test: 1 - Most carriers these days offer a 15 day exchange policy on phones. Check with AT&T to be sure they do too. That way you can try out Geocache Navigator (and other Curve features) before you are committed to the Curve. 2 - Email or call Trimble Outdoors support at Trimble Outdoors Support Info and we'll send you one of our Curve units for you to try for a few days. Rich at Trimble

Trimble now has a version of Geocache Navigator for various Blackberry units with built in GPS. It's totally paperless: discover caches around you instantly, navigate to the cache you want, read hints and logs for the cache, and mark the cache as found/not found - all from the Blackberry. You can try it for free here: Geocache Navigator For Free Let us know what you think Rich at Trimble

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do for the non-GPS Pearl devices, however, for you Blackberry Pearl fans....Sprint just released a new Pearl (8130) that has internal GPS and we have built a new version of Geocache Navigator runs on that device. It will be released to the public in the next few weeks so check on the Trimble Outdoors web site for news. I've been playing with the Sprint GPS Pearl enough now that I can almost deal with the truncated keypad It's a really nice device. Rich at Trimble I assume that the EDGE-based non-internal GPS Blackberry Pearls are out of luck? Any future support hope there?

There are two versions of the Blackberry Curve. The 8300 (sold by T-Mobile) has WiFi but NO GPS. The Curve 8310 sold by AT&T has NO WiFi but HAS built-in GPS. I've been using the AT&T GPS Curve for about a month and it's really good. The GPS chip is SiRFStar III (same as new Garmin units) and the GPS performance is outstanding. Those of you with an AT&T Curve (or BB 8800, or BB 8820) that want to check out Geocache Navigator for a free trail can get it here: Geocache Navigator . Let us know what you think! Rich at Trimble

The Fusic is a nice phone but I really like the M1 even better. GPS performance is very good on the M1 and it has a very high res screen that looks really good with topo, aerial, and street maps. By the way, the new Sanyo 7050 is on sale now. It is the first Sprint phone to have GPS availability outside of the Sprint network. It basically works like a regular GPSr. The Nextel phones all work out of the network too but that does not help Sprint folks. However, most cool features of Geocache Navigator require network access. For example, to get caches around you or to read logs require you to be in the network to get to the cache servers. But if you have the cache coordinates when in the network you can navigate to the cache even when out of the Sprint network. Geocache Navigator will be out on the 7050 soon - it's in Sprint certification now. BTW - the Sanyo 7050 has a great high res 320 x 240 display like the M1 and it's rugged. Not quite as sexy as a Fusic or M1 but tough as nails. On the a900M - sorry folks....this has been taking a lot longer than we had hoped. We have too many new GPS phones coming out that require our engineers to get running. And the a900M is proving to be difficult. I don't know if we can get it to work in the end but we'll keep trying as time permits. Rich at Trimble

It's cool to see folks in the geocaching community checking out the new Google Earth layer. Let me answer a few questions that have been raised here: 1 - You can download the Trimble Adventure Planner PC mapping software for a free 90 trail from the Trimble Outdoors web site. This software allows you to import tracks and waypoints from your conventional GPS unit (Garmin or Magellan only) or from a GPS phone. You can use the Planner to annotate your imported data and to add photos and video content that is geo-located. If you want to share these trips with friends online you simply check a box and all of the content becomes viewable on the web. You can also export or import GPX files. All Google Earth layer trips are on the Trimble Outdoors web site where you can copy them to your Adventure Planner account and download to your GPS for free. You cannot download to a GPS unit from Google Earth directly unless you buy the Google Earth Plus product. It's $20/year so it's pretty reasonable. 2 - you can view thousands of trips online at the Trimble Outdoors web site. Simply select the state where you want to search in the upper right corner of the browser and you'll get a list of trips for your state. You can also select "Find Trip" in the navigation bar to filter the trips you search for. Again, any public trip can be downloaded to a Garmin, Magellan, or GPS phone. 3 - Google Earth has around 1,000 trips for the initial layer. They will get more trips every few months when we send them more content. The Goggle Earth layer is static so you will not see your trips online instantly. You'll see them on TrimbleOutdoors.com instantly. Google has high standards for the quality of the content so the layer is not dynamic and requires a review process before a trip gets included. If you post a GPS track on a trip that has photos it's likely the trip will get included. In general, we're including all trips from Backpacker Magazine, Mountain Bike Magazine, and Bicycling Magazine since they have a solid editorial process for collection and editing of content. Thanks, Rich at Trimble

I'll be taking my GPS skiing next week and had the same question. Warm and safe for the GPS is an inside chest pocket, but I know of some people that have cracked ribs landing on cell phones that way.... I just tucked my GPS flip phone inside my beanie cap to track my runs - worked well. I guess I'm lucky I didn't fall on head though.

Trimble makes a GPS cell phone application called Allsport GPS. It basically keeps track of distance traveled, speed, elevation changes, and calories burned. When you click 'stop' it sends your workout to your personal fitness calendar on the web. It has a ski/snow board mode too. Anyway, I used it skiing at Snowbird in Utah a few weeks ago with my Nextel i580 GPS phone - great fun. This link will show you one of my runs and you can select different types of maps to view it on. I almost hit 35 mph once (fast for me ). Elevation change was over 3,000'. The beauty of this app is that it is so simple. I hit start on the lift and stop at the end of my run - end of story! (ok...it was not a double black diamond run) I work for Trimble - FYI. I have several Garmin fitness GPS units but the phone app is the simplest for this kind of stuff. Skiing Snowbird

Sorry for the delay - we are trying this on the a900M ourselves to see what happens. Hope to have some results to share (and something for you to try out) next week. Rich at Trimble

If Trimble Outdoors or Telenav works then we can make Geocache Navigator work. I'm really intrigued now to have you check it out for us. You're right about the Katana - its only a Vision phone....not Power Vision. By the way, some of the new phones are 320x240 display res and Power Vision including the M1, M610, and 8400. The Sanyo 8400 is available with Geocache Navigator right now and we are working on getting the app to run on the M1 and M610 - should only be about three weeks before its released for the M1 and M610.

Thank you for your reply and willingness to help! It's truly welcomed! So from what I read, the worst case scenario is the GPS will be innacurate, correct? I don't mind that, It's better than what I have to put up with currently! I may switch my phone out though, what is, in your opinion, your favorite GeoNav capable Sprint phone? My peeves on the a900m are the 160 character texting, and I prefer the RAZR (had one with tmobile) interface to T9. Other than that, the flash is much appreciated, and I like the swiveling camera and external display. I must have PowerVision though. I'll have to look into the V3m more, I wish they had a black one the m610 is supposedly really nice, but the outer display is a huge turn-off to me. Thanks again! Hope to get some input! -Landon I don't think the GPS accuracy on the a900 is the problem. You simply can only get one fix (the first one) so if you move the GPS position will not update. The RAZR is a great GPS phone. The new Motorola KRZR is also very slick. I would get the KRZR if you care about playing music on the phone and the RAZR if not. The Katana is also a great GPS phone and it has the 320 x 240 res display that the a900 does. The Katana is the most popular phone for Geocache Navigator right now. The Fusic is also a great GPS phone and it has an internal FM transmitter so the music in your phone can blast through your car stereo speakers. There are actually quite a few good GPS phone options now with both Sprint and Nextel.

Set your i730 Trimble phone setting on the Setup Page under 'Settings-->Position Format' to 'Deg Min' and you'll be set to go. The Trimble Outdoors default is in a different format than used by geocaching.com but once you set it it will be stored as your default permanently. I've been using my phone for geocaching for a while and it works quite well. I have the Platinum plan instead of Silver so I can send caches directly to my phone from geocaching.com over the phone wireless link. Slick.

you go to the Set Up Page, select 'Settings', then 'Position Format' and then select 'Deg Min' format. The Trimble Outdoors default is in degrees.decimal degrees. The geocaching coordinates are in deg minutes.fractions of minutes. Once you set the position format it will be saved to your preference.

We have discussed the a900M with Sprint and they tell us that the 'M' version definitely does not fix the GPS problem that the original a900 had. The phone seems to get the first assisted GPS fix but cannot get any further GPS fixes in track mode. I'll see if we can prepare a test version for you to try next week. We definitely want the feedback. Keep in mind that this test version is likely to be pretty 'rough' around the edges but we are difinitely interested in if the GPS will work. Thanks for the post! Rich at Trimble

The M500 is a very nice phone. Slim, sleek and a smaller form factor than the RAZR. It has been submitted to Sprint for certification and should be available to buy from your M500 within the next 3 weeks or so. We're doing our best to enable every GPS phone ASAP. Check back with our support folks by email ( support@trimbleoutdoors.com ) next week (after Jan 2) and we should be able to give you a better time estimate. Rich at Trimble

This problem sounds like there is not a data plan on your i560 account or Nextel set up the data plan wrong. We see both situations often. If you could contact Christy Capek at Trimble Outdoors support at 1-800-773-5996 she can call Nextel with you on the phone to resolve the issue. She starts at 7am EST so feel free to call early. I'll let her know that you'll be contacting her. Rich at Trimble

Wow, I did not think that the micro SD format came in 1GB. I definitely need to get one

I've been using the i580 for the last few weeks. You're right...it's bullet proof! I had it out in the rain Sunday and launched it off my mountain bike Sat. What a great totally rugged phone. I installed a 500 MB micro SD card to hold more music. It has a nice display too for Geocache Navigator and it picks up GPS sats really well. It's now my favorite phone for rugged outdoor abuse. The i615 is also rugged but it's kind of big (candy bar phone) compared to the i580 flip profile Rich at Trimble