Does the HTC Trinity Have GPS?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.europe.htc.com/z/pdf/products/HTC_PRODUCT_BROCHURE_V2_111006.pdf' target='_blank'>http://www.europe.htc.com/z/pdf/pro...E_V2_111006.pdf</a><br /><br /></div>To add some substance to the speculation that the HTC Trinity has onboard GPS, we've had a couple of reports that an unpublished brochure for the HTC Europe's P3600 mentions the device as supporting GPS. I hate to burst anybodies bubble here, but the language used in the brochure is ambiguous at best - it states: "...the HTC P3600 supports standalone GPS*" with the asterisk pointing to a comment that it will be "Available shortly". Call me picky, but that line signals to me that this is going to be a product bundle with an external GPS receiver and software or a hosted GPS service, rather than an activation of the GPS chip that HTC have reportedly hidden inside the device. It's a far cry from "standalone GPS" to "integrated GPS" :? The original Mobinaute article (<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mobinaute.com%2Fmobinaute%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D20060928183119&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools">Google translation here</a>) that triggered all this ruckus only mentioned the Orange SPV M700 (a Trinity variant), which would be used with the Orange Navigation system, which in turn doesn't require an onboard GPS reciever - I wouldn't bet on GPS being a general characteristic of the entire Trinity line. So until I see a real live Trinity with a functioning GPS receiver, I'm going to continue to be sceptical about this.

[andrewpmoore]

I think it might be true by looking at webraska's website (who write orange navigator 7 for orange)

Orange Navigation 7 will be available soon across Orange France's retail network. It will be compatible with a large range of mobile devices including recently launched Sony Ericsson M600 and GPS enabled SPV M700.

See details here:

http://www.webraska.com/News/PressReleases_Show.php?pr=20060929_orangenav7

[victorqtek]

I didn't find it my sample Trinity device. As far as I know it will not have it.

[surur]

Oh no!! The HTC Artemis (P3300) also has "standalone GPS", according to the same brochure. Do I have to get a bluetooth GPS unit for it too?

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2927/p3600pt3.png

Surur

[Paragon]

The use of the word "standalone" seems a bit ambiguous. If it had builtin GPS wouldn't they say something like " builtin GPS with the latest SIRF III chipset"

It sounds more like they are going to offer a bundle.

Dave

[vagelis]

Though I am not an authority on this, I distinctively remember having read a post in a european forum which stated that the Trinity indeed has a BUILT-IN GPS module, but in the current ROM is DEACTIVATED.
The reason given in the post was that apparently there were radio issues (interference and whatnot) with the other wireless components and rather than delay the launch HTC chose to release the device while they worked on ironing out the issues, with the mindset of reactivating the GPS in a future ROM release.

Take all this with the appropriate salty measure :)

[moaske]

I was one of the people who reported this new productline .pdf to the newsteam, which i found posted on the forum of Pocketinfo.nl. Of course (depending on your angle of attack to this topic) this info about 'standalone GPS' can be explained either way; as a bundle, or as built in. But does anyone remember the leaked roadmap of HTC somewhere last spring, where the trinity was shown in it's current, final design, and where the specs stated GPS with AGPS ?
Maybe it's also the tendency to think "this device is too good to be true", and therefore dismiss the chance of it having GPS at all...
GPS is the ultimate sales-drive these days (aspecially in europe) for mobile converged devices, and the recent cooperation between HTC and TomTom also makes this very clear. To offer only a sad bundle of two separate devices would not exactly be the thing to be expected i reckon...

True...it's still just wishfull thinking, or maybe a glare of hope shining on the horizon, as long as HTC doesn't say this much as "integrated Sirf III GPS/AGPS receiver"... But i keep up my hopes, and i've got time...

I came down from being a 'buy-at-least-one-device-a-year' geek last two years, and i'm replacing my trusty Jam with nothing less than a 'have-it-all' full blown powerhouse for the next three years or so this time... Or at least the 2-year contract time since PDA's became phones... :mrgreen:

We'll know soon enough about the GPS i guess 8)

[blissfull]

Though I am not an authority on this, I distinctively remember having read a post in a european forum which stated that the Trinity indeed has a BUILT-IN GPS module, but in the current ROM is DEACTIVATED.
The reason given in the post was that apparently there were radio issues (interference and whatnot) with the other wireless components and rather than delay the launch HTC chose to release the device while they worked on ironing out the issues, with the mindset of reactivating the GPS in a future ROM release.

Take all this with the appropriate salty measure :)

That is exactly what I heard/read. What I like to know if the TOMTOM sofetware is included in it with 100 countries maps that p3300 is advertizing.

[PerkyNerky]

From the PDF link:

HTC P3300 = "built-in with standalone GPS navigation and TomTom NAVIGATOR 6"

HTC P3600 = "supports standalone GPS"

Although the language is ambiguous it would suggest that whatever the P3300 has in terms of GPS hardware the P3600 has also.

[Faenad]

According to several European Websites, the SPV M700 will have a build-in GPS.
The restriction is that the GPS Chipset will be the Qualcom ONE.
This a a sub-sensitive Chipset, who need heavy AGPS assistance to perform correctly. Which is not a problem, as anyway the software installed by Orange (based on Webraska software) is Off-Board.

Maps and AGPS data will be downloaded with the GPRS/Edge/3G connection, and GPS will be sold at a service either on subscription or for one-shot use (24H).
Nice Business Model for Europe, as here GSM overage is very good :D

Alone, without AGPS, the Qualcom ONE is reported to be very very slow to get a fix, and not really usable without AGPS. (The Siemens SXG 75 phone already have such a chipset).

Now, I don't have seen anywhere any informations on wether the P3600 will include the receiver like the M700. It's not sure, as the chipset don't seems to be usable without assistance :|

[Nurhisham Hussein]

The restriction is that the GPS Chipset will be the Qualcom ONE.
This a a sub-sensitive Chipset, who need heavy AGPS assistance to perform correctly. Which is not a problem, as anyway the software installed by Orange (based on Webraska software) is Off-Board.


That's bad news - it's not everywhere that an AGPS service is available, no matter the GSM coverage. It also means that to be effective where AGPS is available anyway, you've got to pay extra for it :(