External Bluetooth GPS

[tsh]

Has anyone tried using an external GPS receiver connected by bluetooth for navigation? Was thinking it might be a way of reducing the power drain on the phone (so it can charge faster if nothing else).

 

[speedycolzalez]

Why would you? The whole point of such devices is that everything is built in. You may as well go the whole hog and get a TomTom or a Garmin.

 

[tsh]

did you bother to read what I wrote? With GPS on, the battery drains faster and if the charger is connected, it charges slower. I can have a bluetooth GPS hard-wired into the car to improve this. Not the same as having a 2nd device that I would need to plug in and stick to the windscreen.

 

[Smokinjoe18]

Has anyone tried using an external GPS receiver connected by bluetooth for navigation? Was thinking it might be a way of reducing the power drain on the phone (so it can charge faster if nothing else).

Had to have a little giggle there, do you not think the battery will drain just as much using the bluetooth option connecting to the unit.

I find bluetooth drains the battery just as much when transferring data...

Also found using a 1 amp car charger (standard 500ma) keeps the battery charging whilst using gps and maps no problem..

 

[sleepinabox]

I came across this thread hoping to find some kind of application or way of getting an external GPS to work.

I think the common misconception that all GPS radio's are created equally is the fault. A little education is important to clear this up.

The built-in GPS in your phone is a with a very high likelihood a pile of rubbish. Using a dedicated bluetooth GPS will improve your reception, essentially eliminate GPS lag, and not rely on Cell Tower data to obtain a lock at a reasonable speed.

A dedicated GPS receiver is usually 5Hz, which compared to 1Hz is a godsend. Especially when you are coming up to exits that are less than 100M apart, and you're doing 120+ KM/H. Having your GPS update itself 5 times every second instead of once per second can mean the difference between getting stuck going an extra 5KM out of your way or not.

Now if your lucky to have a phone with an excellent built-in receiver (like my old HTC TyTn II had) then this point is moot. But I'm finding as time marches on, fewer and fewer smartphones actually ship with a solid built-in GPS radio.

 

[max_crox]

Yep I would also like to know this. I have a dedicated 5Hz Bluetooth GPS that I currently use for Racechrono on a windows mobile as the inbuilt GPS is not accurate enough for track day work and I would like to know if I could get it to work with the Desire.

 

[akuaku]

I'd second or third (or whatever it's got to) this request. There are two very good reasons for using an external GPS (battery and signal quality). If my old Nokia N73 apps can access my BT GPS then surely Android must be able to.

There is an app in the Market called Bluetooth GPS which I am told (haven't tested yet) will connect but getting apps to use the GPS isn't supported. There is surely a strong demand for this...

Bluetooth GPS v0.1.0 Application for Android | Tools