A challenge to all gurus: Help me keep my phone! - Page 4

Cmass · #31 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syrguy1969

As for GoogleMaps....it does utilize GPS if you activate it, but as for the tower locating 'My Location'....for some reason (especially with VZW) not many (if any) devices are compatible with that feature.....not sure why, but I haven't had any luck with it since day one!!

I just did a bit of research: As I suspected, the Omnia does NOT have a Geo Positioning Satellite receiver. It has a position calculator that uses cell towers the same way most newer cell phones do. The only thing "unlocking" it does is allow the use of other software such as Google and using non-Verizon cell towers in the calculation. Other than that, if you don't have cell service, you don't have a "GPS". Nothing fundamentally new here.
You CAN get a GPS reciever that plugs into it though....

Squantodog · #32 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 03:49 PM

I think the phone has been out too short a time for all the customizations to be resolved. Each question on this site and Samsung-omnia.org is reviewing way to tweak the Phone. Give it more time.

**syrguy1969** · #33 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 04:10 PM

Squantodog is right, it will get cracked in time. The i910 does have GPS, it is just provisioned by VZW for use with VZNav only!

P.S. Cmass....you can use plug in GPS untill we can use the internal GPS!

Cmass · #34 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syrguy1969

Squantodog is right, it will get cracked in time. The i910 does have GPS, it is just provisioned by VZW for use with VZNav only!
P.S. Cmass....you can use plug in GPS untill we can use the internal GPS!

Are you sure it is a REAL GPS system that uses orbiting satellites? Or does it just use cell towers like all other phones? They are completely different systems but often both referred to as "GPS". From what I read this morning it is just a tower-based system - except that "unlocking" it gives you access to non-Verizon towers and your choice of software. I hope I'm wrong!!

My Dare is advertised as having a "GPS" but once I get 30 miles from home and my cell service gets sketchy, it will not give me a fix on my location because it cannot communicate with the towers. My Magellan which is a real GPS will give my location no matter where I am because it is using satellite signals, not cell towers.

Some of the higher end car-based GPS systems with subscription services actually use both towers and satellites so they can determine your exact location anywhere regardless of cell service but then look up business addresses if they are within range of a cell tower.

If the Omnia is a cell tower based system it is fundamentally no better than any other phone.

Cmass · #35 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squantodog

I think the phone has been out too short a time for all the customizations to be resolved. Each customer question and Samsung-omnia.org user is reviewing way to tweak the Phone. Give it more time.

You are, of course, correct.
I don't mind being one of the guinea pigs but I really need to get the basics down ASAP.

Right now I'm getting ready to drive to a Verizon dealer further from my town to see if perhaps they have a different batch of Omnias that don't have the pink camera aberration that my local Verizon dealer has. (And refuses to see)

I am also comparing iContact to Inesoft to PocketCM. Andrynalyne suggested looking at Inesoft as a replacement dialer but it turns out it is actually a full-fledge contacts program and looks quite good. (Like many of these small pocket PC companies, it is based in Russia. I don't know why that is surprising to me. I guess I just don't associate Russia with software)
icontacts Burt Edition looks good but I'm a bit worried about support and bugs...

- Chris

**syrguy1969** · #36 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 06:20 PM

I am not an expert on the inner-workings of these devices, but if you skim this thread over at Modeco: http://www.modaco.com/content/i9x0-o...lease-help-us/

They have 'confirmed' the GPS is there, and can be utilized. To the best of my knowledge VZNav is a GPS app.

That is what I have to go on, and to the best of my knowledge VZW has never denied the GPS chip being there, it is just how it is accessed that is different than other GPS devices.

**Adrynalyne** · #37 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 06:32 PM

There has to be a GPS, because VZNav is very accurate in determining vehicle speed. No tower triangulation could ever do that.

Squantodog · #38 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 08:51 PM

Cmas, I was debating earlier in 2008 (dec) on returning this phone back for the HTC touch pro and I have to say I am getting more use to this phone. I like to see some of the tweaks mentioned. That is why we all like WinMo's over iPhone - for the tweaks!

For the Battery alerts I am testing a hack - because at 40% it is a little crazy to alert. I also have had better luck with the battery life - I have tons of items running, I just make sure to offcially close them all at the end of use with a finger swipe from the bottom of the screen up to the middle of the screen - quick access to task switcher.

Cmass · #39 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squantodog

Cmas, I was debating earlier in 2008 (dec) on returning this phone back for the HTC touch pro and I have to say I am getting more use to this phone. I like to see some of the tweaks mentioned. That is why we all like WinMo's over iPhone - for the tweaks!

Well, I think I'll keep her.

I just did a bunch of Youtube checks to watch the European Omnias work the GPS. While nobody directly answered my questions on one persons screen I DID SEE A ROW OF SATELLITE STRENGTH BARS! These look a bit like a series of tiny volume bars and they indicate the strength of each satellite signal. 2 of them give you a 2D fix while and 3 available will give you your elevation as well. That means it is indeed a REAL GPS! Which is a big deal for me since I do a lot of outdoor stuff and often in and out of cell tower range.

Now, if we can just kick some Verizon asss so we can use what we paid for....

JonV · #40 (**permalink**) 01-05-2009, 09:29 PM

Perhaps I missed an answer but one of your original complaints was about the "ridiculous dangling" stylus.

I trust you've gotten over it by discovering it's not needed any longer. Like all ex-users of Treos and Samsung i760s and the like, we were all used to grabbing the stylus when needed. When I unpacked my Omnia I dutifully hung the thing though I hated everything about it.

A few minutes of little research later and I discovered what a great thing the optical mouse is. On top of it, there's an app floating around that toggles the mouse on and off when run. By assigning that app to a long keypress of the camera key, I am doing the equivalent of pulling out the stylus using it when needed, then putting it back away. I took the stylus off my phone and hung it on my keychain "just in case". I haven't used it since and there it has sat ever since.

Even when you need to reset your phone, 99 of 100 times, it can be done by holding down the power button on top and not needing the paper clip or whatever.

Between finger-friendly software and the optical mouse I think the stylus has gone the way of high-button shoes.