HTC s730 has GPS!

[heavyduty]

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I really like the s730 even though I had accepted the "fact" that it doesn't have GPS. But to me [awesome] surprise I came across this later on today:

http://superiorgadgets.blogspot.com/2007/09/htc-s730-worthy-successor-of-popular.html

Read the text above the last picture:
"Something else in regards to this unit... we were able to start GPS on it and use it with Google Maps."

And look at the picture below: it says that the GPS is activated.


Just as I suspected from my post here:
http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/showpost.php?p=125467&postcount=16

Great news indeed!

[Mike Temporale]

I don't know if we can take that picture as proof on an internal GPS. It just says GPS activated. That could be refering to an external bluetooth GPS. The article doesn't specifically say it has internal GPS. They just say that they were able to active GPS on it. Kind of vague.

If it had GPS, I would expect it to be listed on the product page at HTC --> http://www.htc.com/product/03-product_s730.htm But I don't see any mention of it. I'll ping some of my contacts and see if we can get a better answer on this. It would ROCK if it had GPS. It's still not the form factor for me, but it would be a great addition.

[heavyduty]

You're right Mike, it *is* vague. The phrasing used in the text could mean either thing (external or internal GPS), and it would have been easy to express it in a precise way. But if you read the posts below, you'll see they respond to the GPS-related questions:

superiorgadgets said...

This unit has WiFi, which is announced and ... GPS, which is actually working... at least we were able to start and use it with Google Maps. Picture of it will be attached to original post.

Either way, I still find it odd that they kept announcing the s730 with GPS so shortly before launch; in such a short time frame they wouldn't have had time to neither remove or add it, which makes me tend to believe (=hope) that it has ROM-disabled GPS. But yeah, I'll admit there's a large portion in there of wishful thinking on my behalf....


If you could shed *any* light on this, I and many people with me would be much obliged.

EDIT:
I forgot to mention that that's exactly what they did with the HTC Trinity; when it was first launched they didn't mention anything about GPS and it was sold as such for many months, although there were rumors in the forums that it had a disabled GPS chip in it, but HTC wouldn't confirm this. Eventually HTC released a ROM update which enabled the chip. I know this because I was about to buy one for myself: the retailer said it had GPS but on HTC's website there was no mention of it even after they had released the ROM update. When I asked about this (from the store) they explained everything to me, and the reason for them not activating it from the beginning seemed to be to not cannibalize sales of the Artemis. All this took place this year.

So what I'm saying is that it wouldn't be the first time HTC does something like this. I guess it could be as easy as compare the chip-specs in the Trinity/Kaiser and the s730....

[Mike Temporale]

Ah, I didn't see how it was confirmed in the comments to the article. Odd - I haven't been able to get any response from my sources. Hopefully they'll get back to me soon. :confused:

[heavyduty]

Please insist with your sources Mike (are they HTC employees?); as you can see the answer is not as obvious as it might seem at first, given the info circling and HTC's past record regarding these matters (i.e. the Trinity).

Let's hope the s730 really is the first GPS enabled WM SP. IMO it does have GPS but it will be ROM disabled, at least initially. My hope is that they will officially enable later on.


As soon as your hear *anything* regarding this matter, please let us know.

[heavyduty]

....as I suspected. Check it out here:

http://www.howardforums.com/showpost.php?p=10078443&postcount=20

[Mike Temporale]

My sourece tells me that the s730 is using the Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset so there is a GPS onboard. There is also an antenna on that GPS. However, it is not something that HTC is supporting. That means that there is no software to 'enhance' the connection or useability of that GPS. But it is there and can be used.

That's as official an answer as you're going to get. ;)

[heavyduty]

So they pulled another "Trinity" on this one, just as suspected.....

That's great Mike, it definitely doesn't get any more official nor more clear than that. I think we can refer to your post as the definite and final response regarding this matter. And no need to change the title of this thread either ;)

Thanks! :)

[MTM]

Mike Temporale, that sounds very good!

A little off topic, I know, but is there any chance your sources can tell anything about WiFi and GPS on HTC Touch Dual? Similar case with that one? :-)

[heavyduty]

It's an impressive device, but they really dropped the ball on the RAM. With those specs, it should have at least 96 Mb of RAM, ideally 128 Mb. It really deserves that. It reportedly has about 20 Mb of free RAM upon booting up, which is almost critically low. A real shame HTC crippled it that way....

Also, there are some reports of it being slow. Hopefully it's something that can be solved with a ROM update, but again, it could be a RAM related issue.

http://www.howardforums.com/showpost.php?p=10085454&postcount=30

[heavyduty]

I bet HTC will officially support GPS in a future ROM update, adding the "enhanced" usability that is currently lacking.

When? When sales start to drop; officially supporting GPS will be like a v2.0 without them having to come out with a new device.

But I still maintain that it's RAM crippled......

[jvanliew]

That is good news that the s730 will come with GPS capability, I am going to buy the phone.

But I'm not sure what GPS means. Is it like the GPS in a car, that will give you directions. Or is it some kind of location ability. All of the above.

If anyone can clarify, I would appreciate it!

[Mike Temporale]

That is good news that the s730 will come with GPS capability, I am going to buy the phone.

But I'm not sure what GPS means. Is it like the GPS in a car, that will give you directions. Or is it some kind of location ability. All of the above.

If anyone can clarify, I would appreciate it!


GPS = Global Positioning System. It's the technology behind the turn by turn directions that you can get in your car. The phone as a GPS built-in, which means it can read it's position relative to the satelites that are floating around the earth. That's it. You need to add some software to do something with that information. Something like Windows Live Search will take that location information and tell you what's close by and how to get to it. There are plenty of other applications too.

[jvanliew]

Thank you, that is what I was hoping.

[Mike Temporale]

No problem - glad to help.

[jvanliew]

I was just looking at the Garmin Mobile™ XT software that works on top of the mobile phone gps, and it lists the HTC s730 as compatible with their mobile software. Looks like a good sign to me.....not sure it is ok to do this or not, so sorry if it is not, but here is the web site for the Garmin software.....https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=11413

[YMM]

My sourece tells me that the s730 is using the Qualcomm MSM7200 chipset

Do you know what RF chipset they spec'd? Spec Sheet Link (http://www.cdmatech.com/download_library/pdf/msm7200_chipset.pdf)

This would tell us if it will do UMTS in the US...