BlackBerry and GPS
I will present you the solutions available on the market today and the options you have with your device.
Compatibility
In general there are two options for using GPS with a Blackberry. You ether have a device with an internal GPS receiver, or you will need an external bluetooth GPS receiver, which will provide the GPS data to your BlackBerry. At the time of writing there are only two BlackBerry devices which have an integrated GPS receiver: 7520 and 7100i. For all other device you will need a Bluetooth GPS receiver. If your device does not have bluetooth support you are out of luck. Below is a detailed compatibility matrix. It shows you which program is compatible with which device.
Note: Some devices do have “Location Based Services” options. This does not necessarily mean they have GPS. Especially the 7250 does not have GPS. The device is often confused with the 7520, which has GPS.
There is a software for the antique RIM 857/957 which works with a serial GPS receiver attached via cable. If you are still using one of these devices, you might want to take a look here: map viewer for RIM
GPS Compatibility Matrix:
| BlackBerry Device | GPS Type | Berryvine Companion | CaffeineFinder | Fastfoodfinder | MapQuest Find Me | Mobile Locator | Naggie | Spot for Blackberry | Telenav | Trimble Outdoors |
| 7520* | internal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| 7100i | internal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| 8800 | internal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| 8830 | internal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| 7100g | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | no |
| 7100r | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7100t | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7100v | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7100x | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7105t | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | no |
| 7130e | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7210 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 7230 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 7250 | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7280 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 7290 | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 7730 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 7750 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 7780 | not supported | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| 8100 | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | no |
| 8700c | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | yes | no |
| 8700g | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8700f | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8700r | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8700v | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8707h | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8707v | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| 8703e** | internal | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | 8703e | bluetooth | yes | no | no | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
* To make use of the GPS capabilities of your 7520 you need the latest BlackBerry OS. Earlier version did not implement the “Loacation API”. You can get it here.
** Only Sprint/Nextel and Alltel - all other vendors deactivated the built-in GPS. So you need to switch to an external Bluetooth GPS receiver.
Software
- Navigation Software
- Mapping/Field Navigation Software
- GPS enabled tools
Navigation Software
TeleNav turns your BlackBerry in a full featured Navigation System and is currently the only real navigation solution for users in North America. It has an easy to read navigation screen which shows the map, speed and direction. You will also get audible driving directions to know when to turn. An integrated POI (Point Of Interest) management system allows you to quickly find restaurant, gas stations, etc. that are nearby.
Telenav is subscription based and costs $10.00/month for the “TeleNav Unlimited Plan“.

Berryvine Companion is the only real Navigation Solution if you are living in estern Europe. The program makes use of a third party data provider “Locatienet” which provides the maps and driving directions. The Regions “BeNeLux”, “United Kingdom” and “Most of western Europe” are covered. It also features POI (Point Of Interest) support but lacks audible driving directions like Telenav has. Berryvine Companion works with Bluetooth BlackBerry’s only. (As there is currently no BlackBerry with internal GPS in Europe that should not be much of a problem).


Mapping Software
Trimble Outdoors is designed to create and exchange outdoor trips with your Blackberry. It includes an application to prepare and plan outdoor trips on the PC and is targeted to users in the United States, as they only provide maps for this area.
You have to pay a monthly fee to use Trimble Outdoors. Different plans are available from Nextel.
Spot for Blackberry is a very feature-packed Mapping application which even integrates some advanced GIS features. It has a lot of integrated Map-Services which provide streetlevel data of the United States and topographic / satellite imagery with worldwide coverage. Best of all - there is no monthly fee to use them. It features extensive waypoint support, including a pseudo-routing function which directs you to your target and can import GPX and LOC waypoint data. It even support getting geocache data from geocaching.com. However I got server timeouts when testing this feature. Spot for Blackberry can also log your tracks. I was testing it on a Blackberry 7290 and a 8700. The program was a bit slow on my 7290 after using the Tracklog for a few hours while the 8700 was still very fast. The different map-services are very impressive. You can get satellite photos of your terrain, get environmental maps or even use your companys map-server, as the program supports the OGC WMS standard which is used by ESRI, etc.
Overall this is probably the best GPS mapping software available. For real navigation however I would suggest to get Telenav too. You can download a free demo version of Spot for Blackberry or buy it for $49.



GPS Tools
MapQuest Find Me costs $5.99/month with 300KB of Data Access Service included or $3.99/month if Data Access is purchased separately.


The Mobile Locator Service costs $9.99/month.
- Caffeinefinder and Fastfoodfinder
They work in the United States and are available at no costs.


- Naggie
usage examples:
- “When you’re leaving the office, Naggie can remind you to pick up a pizza on the way home.”
- “The next time you’re in Paris, Naggie can remind you to check out that great restaurant your friend just told you about.”
- “When you arrive at the grocery store, Naggie can remind you to pickup some milk.”

Rumors
See: http://www.blackberry.net/news/press/2004/pr-14_12_2004-01.shtml
There were some rumors on bbhub.com about a BlackBerry 8700 with internal GPS support but now news on that yet.
Looking for a Bluetooth GPS Receiver? Take a look to our Recommended BT GPS Receivers!
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Tags: blackberry, gps, Software






(15 votes, average: 3.53 out of 5)

























mike said,
May 30, 2006 @ 9:25 pm
BlackBerryInsight » BlackBerry Outdoor Compatibility #1 said,
July 7, 2006 @ 3:51 pm
Problems with HelloWorld (GPS) - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community said,
August 5, 2006 @ 8:54 am
k said,
September 21, 2006 @ 9:58 am
Spot Overview Site
BlackBerryInsight » Spot GPS Tool supports BlackBerry 8703e said,
September 21, 2006 @ 4:49 pm
BlackBerryInsight » GPS Mapping Tool Supports the BlackBerry Pearl! said,
October 26, 2006 @ 11:31 am
Chris said,
December 9, 2006 @ 6:10 am
my friends download GPS software to cell phones, and their phone become the navigation system. so cool! but, how i can get
one too?!
k said,
December 29, 2006 @ 10:11 pm
first of all you need to be clear which cell phone you have and what features your cell pone has. If you are an owner of a Motorola iden phone for example you can be sure your phone has a built-in GPS receiver. So you just need a software to use this receiver. If your phone does not have a GPS receiver you will need an external one which will bring positioning features to your phone. Once you have such a receiver you will also need a software for that phone. One of the oportunities is “Spot” (http://www.skylab-mobilesystems.com/en/products/spot.html). It runs on a variety of devices and one of them is the BlackBerry.
Best Blackberry GPS Software? - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community said,
January 17, 2007 @ 10:58 am
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March 19, 2007 @ 4:33 pm
anne rifici said,
March 19, 2007 @ 9:01 pm
GRANT LAIRD SR. said,
March 22, 2007 @ 11:58 am
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May 3, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
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May 4, 2007 @ 9:09 am
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June 23, 2007 @ 12:27 pm
GPS Software? - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community said,
July 22, 2007 @ 12:13 pm
Rags's Soapbox said,
July 23, 2007 @ 12:46 am
My friend Brad and I were playing golf yesterday and we used his Blackberry to navigate to the course. I didn’t realize that new Blackberry models have built-in GPS chips and that, with the TeleNav service provided by Sprint/Nextel, you…
best gps software for 8800? - BlackBerryForums.com : Your Number One BlackBerry Community said,
August 14, 2007 @ 2:56 pm
Cell Phones Tracer said,
August 22, 2007 @ 7:30 pm
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…
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Patrick said,
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Vaibhav said,
April 19, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
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April 23, 2008 @ 2:32 pm
Carousel: BlackBerry Compatible Bluetooth GPS Receivers! | BlackBerryInsight said,
April 28, 2008 @ 5:39 am
blackberry 7100 gps said,
May 6, 2008 @ 8:52 am
EM said,
May 7, 2008 @ 12:11 am
thanks a million
barry parsons said,
May 8, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
I have a nikkai gps which appears to have paired with my blackberry( its listed in the devices list) . However when I fire up
telenav it tales me that the gps device is invalid.
I note you suggest that the GPS has to be the first blue tooth item in the list — how do I move the list around? Also do you have any other suggestions. Would be very grateful for info as currently pulling hair out!!
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May 22, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
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Gilberto Vargas said,
June 19, 2008 @ 10:31 pm
Thanks!
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Rock said,
May 2, 2009 @ 10:33 am
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Nextel BlackBerry in Argentina | Blackberry Software said,
June 30, 2009 @ 1:25 am