Bluetooth GPS support for iPhone and iPod Touch

mostdom

A new application has been relesed on Cydia which inserts the nessesary Bluetooth stack to connect the iPhone and the Bluetooth enabled touch to connect to a Bluetooth GPS receiver. Its called Roqybt and is only available for jailbroken devices.

Early reports suggest that the software works fine with igo and navigon apps which means that navigation is now available to the 2G iPhone and the newer Touches. The app will set you back 8 euros for an activation code online.

This may also mean access to other bluetooth applications for the iPhone which up till now have been barred by apple.
http://www.roqy-bluetooth.net/
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Dom

HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot

mostdom · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 2:18 pm Post subject:

Have now registered my copy of the software and been trying to connect to a variety of non gps devices with no luck. I am hoping to get a chance to try a BT gps receiver soon so watch this space!
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Dom

HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot

mikealder · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 6:34 pm Post subject:

mostdom · Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 10:15 am Post subject:

New forum found, specifically for RoqyBT.

http://www.roqy-bluetooth.net/forum/index.php
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Dom

HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot

mostdom · Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:50 am Post subject:

Finally got round to testing this last night. I've still got a few other tests to do on this but I've realized that all I'm really doing is trying to find out if this roqybt software and bt gps receiver combo is comparable to the standard iPhone GPS receiver, although the people interested in this would be 2g iphone and ipod touch users.

First impressions are quite good. Works well with Motion X, and Navigon, but failed on iOSMaps but i need to redo that test with a nearby wifi as only the maps didn't display but it did seem to get a fix. I'll do Copilot this w/end and am hoping for a smoother ride as the Roqybt software seemed very laggy when running with Navigon. A test with the standard iphone gps proved that navigon is a little laggy anyway but it did make it worse.

I was particularly impressed with the results with Motion X, which seemed to provide the results I was hoping for with the benefit of having a more accurate gps fix on the iphone. I had no dropouts or loss of strong signal and the fix itself seemed more accurate than the standard iphone fix. Again I have a couple of easy tests to perform with that too.

An early conclusion:

Is this a suitable replacement for the iphone 3g & 3gs? NO, too impractical and fiddly, but may provide a more accurate gps fix for those that require some sort of accuracy outside of navigation, (spot location).

Would it be useful for non gps enabled idevices? Well Yes. It won't work with early not bt enabled ipod touches but it will work with the later touches and the 2g iphone, but it is fiddly to set up. But be aware that some of the app store navigation apps may not install onto these devices to begin with and it didn't work with the default maps app.

There is also a very high risk that apple will shut down this app in the next firmware update as it is playing very close to their bluetooth restrictions.

I am intrigued with the app because of the bt stack implementation and the other potential bluetooth applications that could spin off from it but it's gps functionality needs more work. When this happens it will be a very handy app indeed.
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Dom

HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot

mostdom · Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 9:48 pm Post subject:

RoqyBt has just had an update to resolve some bugs in the software but imo it is still buggy and impractical. but a couple of nice changes anyway.
_________________
Dom

HERE LIES PND May it rest in peace.
Navigon 7310/iPhone Navigon&Copilot

DWiskow · Lifetime Member Joined: Sep 16, 2006 Posts: 10

I have used Roqy Bluetooth extensively on both a 2G and 3GS iPhone with an external Holux GPS receiver. It has always worked pretty well, and the latest version very well - with seamless disconnect/reconnect.

The accuracy and speed of positioning significantly exceeds the 3GS internal GPS receiver.

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