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Verizon Ungrinchifies, Unlocks GPS on BlackBerry Pearl and Curve

Categories: BlackBerry, Verizon
By: , IntoMobile
Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 10:34 AM

That’s the holiday spirit, Verizon – throw your subscribers a bone and let them use BlackBerry Maps instead of pigeonholing them into the $9.99/month VZ Navigator service like you have for so long. The latest firmware for the BlackBerry 8330 and BlackBerry 8130 isn’t all roses, though – reports say that Google Maps, easily the fuller-bodied mapping app, is still out of commission. It’s a step in the right direction, but maybe one Verizon should have taken from the get-go. Hopefully they’ll stay in that spirit and allow other apps to access the integrated GPS in the near future.

[via HowardForums]

About The Author

Simon Sage

Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.

  • Engr.Bassey Ogar Egbe

    How can i get the newest blackberry storm phone and whats the prize please i will be happy to get this information

  • Travis Tubbs

    It’s good to see Verizon take this stance as more phones comes with GPS features free of charge. Unfortunately, it’s sad that they have yet to open it to anyone else.

    Competition is great. Hopefully RIM will update their mapping software to be on par with features from Google Maps and Garmin or else this may not really mean much later.