Mobile Fun Blog

The Ultimate Guide To Mobile GPS Applications

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

If you’ve read our Ultimate Guide to GPS on Mobile Phones you’ll know that GPS isn’t all about Satellite Navigation and turn-by-turn directions. Using a Bluetooth GPS receiver with your mobile phone will open it up to a whole range of applications that will allow you to do things you may not even realise were possible on a mobile phone.

This guide will run through some of the free and paid apps for Symbian, Java, Windows & BlackBerry phones for each of the 5 types of application – Sat Nav, Tracking, Mapping, Location Aware & Geo-Tagging.

amAze GPS

Sat Nav | Free | All Phones that support Java, Windows Mobile & BlackBerry

amAze GPS is probably the best free Sat Nav application available. While it’s not quite as pretty to look at, the features of this amazing free app really make up for it. It has detailed maps of Europe, North America and Australia, and unlike most applications that store all this map data on your phone, taking up valuable space, it downloads the maps as and when you need them. amAze will automatically rotate the map in the direction that you’re driving, and will even overlay your route with a satellite image of where you’re driving. Weather updates are included at no cost. If you want to reduce the amount of data being used, you can also switch to a simple mode that will just display an arrow pointing the way instead of downloading the detailed maps. Speed Camera alerts aren’t available just yet, but are coming soon. amAze GPS is easy to download and install.

The application is free, but as it relies on an internet connection and downloading very small amounts of data, we’d recommend adding an internet bundle to your account to prevent any nasty surprises on your bill.

amAze GPS works on almost any phone

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The Ultimate Guide to GPS and Mobile Phones

Friday, July 17th, 2009

GPS has been around in mobile phones for a few years now, but for a lot of people it’s purpose isn’t all that clear.  As well as being a basic requirement for Satellite Navigation, GPS has a number of other really useful applications that you may not be aware of.  This guide explains the basics of GPS and runs through the different types of GPS receiver and software available.

So What Is GPS?

GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers use a network of satellites in orbit around the earth to pinpoint your location (longtitude and latitude) to within a few metres. GPS receivers don’t require a signal from a mobile phone company to work, they just need to be able to see the sky.  Locking on to GPS Satellites normally takes a couple of minutes, sometimes longer if you’re already on the move.

Over the last couple of years GPS receivers have found their way in to a number of mobile phones. Mobile Phones work slightly differently to stand alone GPS receivers as they can triangulate their location using nearby transmitters. Mobile phones combine the information from nearby transmitters with the information received from the GPS receiver to give them an exact location.  A brief internet connection is normally required to find your location. This type of receiver is called A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System).

Both GPS and A-GPS have their strengths and weaknesses.   External GPS Receivers tend to lock on to more satellites for more stable tracking.  They also have better battery life than A-GPS as they don’t need an internet connection and have no screen to run the battery down. Phones with A-GPS tend to lock on to your location a little bit faster and may still be able to track you if you are indoors or under cover.

GPS Receivers

Generally speaking most GPS receivers are designed to communicate over a Bluetooth connection.  Bluetooth is a way that 2 devices can talk to each other wirelessly and is found in most mobile phones and computers.  If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, you can add this function easily by purchasing a USB Bluetooth Adapter.

If you want to use a GPS receiver with your phone, you just need to make sure that your phone has Bluetooth and you’ll need to pair the GPS receiver with your phone. When you launch an application on your phone that requires GPS data, your phone will automatically make the connection to the GPS receiver as long as your receiver is turned on.

External GPS Receivers can add functionality to your phone

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