Phone with PDA, Google maps & GPS
 

I am looking for a new phone which has PDA capabilities, Google maps and GPS. I would like the Google maps and GPS integrated and would prefer not having to get a separate bluetooth GPS adapter. Is there such a device out there?

I found this page which lists only 3 phones which meet this criteria. http://www.google.com/gmm/gps.html but when I look for features on the Samsung Blackjack I see it does not have GPS built in!!

You can use Mobile GMaps on the Nokia N95 and many other devices with built-in GPS. It gives access to the Google mapping data amongst others. Why Google Maps in particular though?

http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_p3300.htm

Or wait for the upcoming HTC Kaiser.

Of course, like the page said there are some Blackberry devices that'll work with it.

before you commit to Google Maps, take a look at Windows Live. This is new and, IMHO, much nicer than Google. I have both on my phone. I also use Tom Tom Navigator software on my phone (a real GPS routing system). I do have to use an external bluetooth gps unit, but it is about the size of a Zippo lighter and last several hours on a charge. One big advantage of an external GPS is you can put it somewhere it gets a good signal (ie dashboard) and still look at your handheld map without breaking GPS signal. If your unit has built-in GPS, you will need it to be in a position to get the gps signal all the time for it to work. My unit is a Verizon WV6700, which is about 2 year old technology now. There is an idential ATT unit (silver vs black) and others under the name HTC Apache. This is a Windows Mobile 5 unit. I had Palms and a Treo 650 before. This windows unit does a lot more than a Palm could. It is a real PDA with a touchscreen, which opens it up to many more PDA options than the "smartphone" stuff without a touchscreen. I got mine for under 200.00 on ebay.

You also might consider the O2 Orbit (which is actually a re-case of of the HTC3300 IIRC), and the Dopod 810 now has a software upgrade available to 'activate' its internal GPS capability.

I am just used to Google maps. When they integrate Steet View with GPS it should make for a killer app.

Some of these phones like HTC and Dopod seem to be available only in Asia. Are there US resellers? Which services does this work with AT&T, Verizon?

Which external bluetooth device do you have?

i love www.smart2go.com. You can download the whole region map to your memory card, no data fees!! and its free ;)

Although quite expensive, the BlackBerry 8800 has a built-in GPS and Google Maps supports it.

(But now that I clicked on the link you provided, I see that's one of the three phones, so sorry for being redundant!)

I see the 8800 available on Amazon for $50 with 2 year service agreement.

I actually have a Palm branded gps (bought the Palm GPS Tom Tom thing). Most of the bluetooth GPS units will work with each other--they trasnmit standard codes. My Palm unit works with Microsoft Streets, Google Maps and Windows Live along with Tom Tom. However, I think most of them will do the same thing. If you do buy a bluetooth GPS, get one with the new SiRF III chip (fairly common now) as it will work WAY better under more conditions.

Yes based on the input here I am considering a seperate phone and bluetooth GPS drive instead of getting an all-in-one. Here is the GPS bluetooth device I am considering since it has the SiRF III chip

http://www.freedominput.com/site/ind...tent&task=view

that bluetooth gps looks fantastic. Like everything else, your stuff (mine) is obsolete so fast anymore!

I use a Sirf III GPS puck with the TomTom software with my Nokia E61. Just spent 4 weeks in the UK and it worked brilliantly. However - I had 2 instances of the TT software shutting down after around 2 hours. Methinks it may have been Goodlink synching at the same time - asking the processor to handle an intensive app like TomTom and synch email at the same time may have pushed it over the edge.

However, being a Nokia, it shut down nicely (the app - not the device :)) and when it restarted it did so still "live" - ie still on the same destination...

A quick note - the TT software assumes you have the TT puck - so you have to search deep in preferences to change the GPS device.