Droid GPS letdown

[smokiedabong]

MOTONAV is an application developed by Nav N Go that supports Navteq and TeleAtlas maps , POI , speedcams etc. . Navteq and Teleatlas are the companies that provide maps and geographic information for almost all GPS systems out there Google Maps , MapQuest , Yahoo Maps , bing , Garmin , Tom Tom , MIO , Magellan , Sirius , XM etc. so they have the top of the line maps . The application uses local stored maps so you don't need a data connection for the GPS to work . I don't think it's available for US yet , for now they only sell maps for Europe and they are around 150 $ . But if you do your research you can find the software and then you need to search for US Maps , POI , speedcams etc. and compile them into a working version , it works great for me . I recommend the maps from Navteq because they are Chicago based and they have better maps for North America than TeleAtlas .

 

[OldguyMark]

MOTONAV is an application developed by Nav N Go that supports Navteq and TeleAtlas maps , POI , speedcams etc. . Navteq and Teleatlas are the companies that provide maps and geographic information for almost all GPS systems out there Google Maps , MapQuest , Yahoo Maps , bing , Garmin , Tom Tom , MIO , Magellan , Sirius , XM etc. so they have the top of the line maps . The application uses local stored maps so you don't need a data connection for the GPS to work . I don't think it's available for US yet , for now they only sell maps for Europe and they are around 150 $ . But if you do your research you can find the software and then you need to search for US Maps , POI , speedcams etc. and compile them into a working version , it works great for me . I recommend the maps from Navteq because they are Chicago based and they have better maps for North America than TeleAtlas .

Cool deal man, Thanks!
I will start doing my research, I really do like playing around with GPS, maps and UTMs and the like.

Thanks again!

 

[darreno1]

For the past several months I've been able to get a lock everytime. Previous to that it was more spotty. Not sure what changed but it is very reliable now.

 

[takeshi]

I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the GPS satellites today?

Doubtful. It's more likely the Droid itself. I'd suggest:

1. Toggle GPS off and then on. If that doesn't work...
2. Try a battery pull. If that doesn't work...
3. Try *228. GPS is assisted on the Droid, meaning that it does pull Ephemeris data from the network, IIRC.

I've mentioned it before but I never had lock issues with my Blackberry 8310's GPS receiver but it only operated in standalone mode (no reliance on the carrier network at all).

The application uses local stored maps so you don't need a data connection for the GPS to work .

If the GPS receiver can't get a lock (the OP's problem) then another app isn't going to resolve the issue regardless of whether map data is pulled from the network or stored locally.

Co Pilot Live is another GPS nav app that uses locally stored maps. No first hand experience with it but I think I've seen it discussed here before.

 

[nateccnn]

I can say that the GPS in my droid is way more reliable than the GPS in my old Touch Pro (WinMo). But it still is not reliable enough for me to not also carry a printed map when I need to get somewhere.

I travel a lot for business with a team from different parts of the country. Most of the team shows up with some form of GPS navigation. Usually a nuvi or garmin something or other. When my Droid doesn't work the other people's navigation usually screws up too. But between the two uints (sometimes three) we usually have one of them working when the other is not. Could be a tall building or trees blocking satellites or strellar interference. The funny thing is when it happens to my droid it is usually intermittently happening to other devices too.

I also use my Droid for hiking into wilderness areas. While it is cool to have that GPS when it works...I always carry a compass and paper map.

Do not rely 100% on the technology. Learn to read a map.

Doesn't the Droid have a setting to allow navigation to use cell towers to pinpoint your position which feeds that data to a look up table to find satellites faster? I know there were times that my navigation was using nothing but cell towers and it still worked...albeit, it was off a block or two at times, but still got me to where I needed to go.

Nate

 

[someone]

You know, this strikes me as a very odd story. The OP starts out on an "out of state" trip and finds that the GPS in his/her phone isn't working. So he/she cancels the trip???

Thank God the pioneers didn't depend on GPS.

It's difficult to diagnose the problem without seeing the phone first hand, but I'm also a bit puzzled that a VZW tech would decide that a non-functioning GPS would decide that a new phone is warranted when GPS units fairly often fail to function for one reason or another. (Been using them for years and I have to say, more than once I've reached my destination before my GPS found my location.)

By the time i gave up on the navigation it was too late to go.

On a side note, i tried everything the above posters mentioned, and nothing worked. For some reason when i go to "my location" it either works just fine or moves me to another state - and keeps moving.

Phone reset did nothing. Battery pull did nothing. I guess it's a hardware issue?

Why not just log into google maps and input the address to get directions?

 

[Shadez]

I notice around 3 pm EST for me it goes out.. same time.. I really think the time time of day and season has something to do with it..