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NightShade

Got a smartphone with GPS

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8 Comments
by
NightShade
, 10-08-2010 at 12:08 PM (2088 Views)
Not really reef related but can be useful just the same.

My phone has GPS ability and it is really nice for a lot of things, Especially paired with Google maps and the search by voice functionality. All you have to do is search for something like "auto parts" and it will show stuff close to where your location is and don't have to pay for the feature especially if your carrier has a map program.

I dont' really do the social sites. . . not a twit [twit] noun: A "pregnant goldfish"; which is impossible. Some species of fish do give birth to live young (e.g. guppies and some species of shark), but goldfish, like all cyprinids lay eggs. My space has a FQDN and why would I want my face in a book. . . LOL. Anyway I found something that uses the GPS function and adds a little fun to the mix. http://foursquare.com/ Free to signup and use, if you have friends that are on the go there are probably a bunch of times that you are within the same vicinity and never know it. If you both check in then it will allow you both to catch up with each other much easier and it makes it kinda fun ( at least in my opinion ) to go do normal mundane things. And if a place nearby is having a special made specifically for foursquare users after you check in there will be a message at the top that says "special Nearby". Our WalMart is right next to office depot and office depot has a 10.00 off a purchase of 25.00 or more special with the code you receive. A lot of other places have specials as well.

My user info. . . friendless but having fun goofing around.
http://foursquare.com/user/-3688039

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Comments

  1. Midnight's Avatar
    so, what kind of phone did you get?
  2. NightShade's Avatar
    I actually have a BlackBerry Bold 9700 got it last February after upgrading from a Curve 8310 and my wife has a Curve 8520 but I started playing with FourSquare about a week ago and since it seems that a lot of people are getting smarter and smarter phones this may be of interest.
  3. clstreak's Avatar
    I dont mind GPS on a phone i just dont belive i should have to pay for it twice ill stick to my garmin and get my free updates on my computer.. and not have to pay extra 10 bux to my phone bill just my .02 cents
  4. Midnight's Avatar
    My phone actually has a free navigation system on it that uses google mapping and gps sats for your location.
  5. clstreak's Avatar
    I have seen those but there not true gps are they? i thought they used the cell towers only to triangulate your posistion.. not and actual stalite to find your way.. I could be wrong though.. considering they have to pull up google maps too there using the internet too..
  6. NightShade's Avatar
    Nope, I can get my location within 3 meters once the full gps comes online, it may take a min or so but will give pretty good directions to get around. And since you have a phone on you anyway you don't have to worry about carrying an extra device around say when you go to downtown for a convention and want to find someplace to eat (did that and helped a few other people during CRASE) and don't know exactly what is nearby. I do not pay for anything extra with my phone after the internet service is paid for. I have an app called "endomondo" to keep track of how far/fast/long I go when I go out for a walk to drop a few pounds, cost free. Google maps, Free. Foursquare, Free. Weather plus, Free. DropBox, Free for up to 2gb of data stored. Itookthisonmyphone, Free.

    LOL, I have a stock reader that is about 20 mins behind the market which is free too. I hate paying a monthly service fee and will sit on my hands before paying for an application to wait and see if I can find it for free or wait until someone does make something similar for free. My phone's address book is backed up to google all the data is backed up weekly, including address book calendar pics, etc for free. I could go out and have my phone get ran over by a MAC truck and go pay the 50.00 deductible on my phone and be up and running where I was within an hour or so. Call me cheap or. . . Frugal but why pay for something I can get by just looking around a little more.
  7. clstreak's Avatar
    I guess they finnaly made it free when i had my blackberry curve the onboard app when you clicked it automatically charged you $9.99 a month which i thought should have been for free it just discusted me for the price of the phone and extra i paid for smartphone service then they wanted 10 more dollers for that too.. I felt i was being robbed for and extra feture that was already there and didnot really cost them anthing but bit of data that you already paid for.. Since the phone already knew where it was at, at all times anyhow.
  8. NightShade's Avatar
    AT&T and a lot of others still have the "Navigator" app but if you go to m.google.com you can download the google map application which is really good and does not cost you except the data transfer and generally is included with your phone plan. I am grandfathered in to the AT&T unlimited plan so transfer doesn't bother me a bit