[bedoig]

Originally Posted by nmhusa

The GPS chip has nothing to do with the radio. I can switch to flight mode and turn on GPS with Holux gps, run iGuidance and get a fix in seconds. The GPS receiver is a passive reciever and does not require the radio to be on. aGPS would require the radio to be on, but the Mogul is capable of regular GPS (like a TOM TOM, Garmin standalone unit) as well as aGPS.

As a test I just performed the above while typing this post.

My assumption is that the Comm Manager software interface that turns on Airplane mode predates the GPS activation software and either HTC/Sprint were to lazy to rewrite it, were not required to (as GPS is a passive reciver and not a transmitter), or just plain did not think about it (the most probable reason). If the FAA gives a hoot I am sure we will see changes in a later firmware release.

I realize GPS is a passive signal. That's why I said this in the post you quoted:

Originally Posted by bedoig

I think it is possible that Flight Mode could disable the GPS chip even though it is a passive signal.

Part of the debate centered around wether the GPS chip could still obtain a lock after a soft reset while still in flight mode. I recently tested this as well, and didn't have any problems getting a fix on my position. It seemed to take slightly longer, but that is understandable. So I think it is still safe to say that the chip is capable of getting a lock without assistance from the cell towers (ie true standalone mode). Wether this holds true when traveling to a vastly different location remains to be seen. Several people have reported having trouble when trying to get a lock after traveling to different countries. Perhaps a program like WiFiFofum could help in getting a lock by establishing a rough estimate of your location based on surrounding wifi networks. I think we still need more data to really put this issue to bed.