Blackberry Passport large screen as GPS

[KTMphil]

Off-road trail riding, using a GPS, nothing beats a large screen so that you are able to anticipate turns even when zoomed into 200 meters, which has made the USD$ 600 Garmin Montana so popular.

An interesting option that ive been experimenting with is the Blackberry Passport phone, with its huge, square display.

When launched in 2014, this huge square phone, was offered retail for around USD$ 700. It wasn't a hit and was one of the disasters that eventually caused the failure of Blackberry.

http://www.alphr.com/features/389908/blackberry-passport-release-date-uk-price-and-specs


Now on Amazon you can pick old stock unlocked Blackberry Passport up for less than USD$ 200, I think I paid USD$ 180. Unlocked so put your Thai SIM card in there with data & you've got Google Maps & OSM too ... Everything the Garmin Montera has!

https://www.amazon.com/BlackBerry-Passport-Factory-Unlocked-Cellphone/dp/B00NET0PVI


It is a really strange phone, which explains it failure v's Iphone S6/ Samsung Galaxy S4 at the time, but some love it read below:

& at USD$ 200 with amazing gps capabilities:

Battery Life's Great

The BlackBerry Passport is in the top 1% of smartphones in this regard. With medium use you're looking at a good couple of days. Heavy usage, which, lets face it most of us do, will see you through a full charge in just over 24 hours. No other handset -- including the excellent iPhone 6 Plus -- can hold a candle to the BlackBerry Passport in this context.




http://www.knowyourmobile.com/mobil...ort/22959/16-reasons-love-blackberry-passport



OK, so why buy it? - There is a hack that allows you to run the full Google Play Store Andriod Apps, which means, the Orux Android map app will run, then you can run the off-road North Thailand GPS map (click here) & the Laos off-road GPS map on this massive display.

Click the link below to see the hack to run Google Play Android Store:

https://cobalt232.github.io/playstore/


Below using the Orux Maps App (now 95 Baht from the Google Play Store , no longer free!) is a look at the North Thailand GPS Map.


image by Triangle Golden 007, on Flickr

 

[LivinLOS]

Its really getting to the stage where, because we are becoming so used to interacting with 'smarter' data connected devices, going back to passive GPS's they feel really dumb.

I am spending a lot of time travelling and driving again, waze (partly in google maps but not as good) is just incredible.. Long journeys, every shortcut in time, not only distance like old GPS, every traffic queue, every rush hour reroute, every speed camera or parked cop, every car at the hard shoulder.. Hell in places its used a lot you even get 'pothole warnings' !!! it knows in all real time.

Its kind of annoying as I spent some bucks to upgrade my beemers in car system integrating bluetooth audio and ipod into the built in, all hidden.. And once again I have a damn phone and cable lumped on the dash, but the connectivity of it saves me massive amounts of time dynamically routing. Its the connectivity and smarts which is the change.

If it wasnt so ugly a Navdy would be my next purchase, just wish they were less obtrusive for a retrofit.