Navigation system working perfectly on the iPod Touch (2nd Generation)

Managed to get the GPS (Global Positioning System) working on my iPod Touch 2nd Generation. Took the above picture while traveling back home from Serene’s place. Yeah, I know it is kind of dumb to take a screen shot when I am on PIE but hey, at least it is working as it should – detecting the vehicle speed, distance to destination, estimated arrival time. Too bad the application isn’t smart enough to check the traffic status and include it in it routing algorithm.

This would come in useful when traveling overseas as I prefer free & easy type of  travel rather than group tours. In the past, I used my GPS enabled mobile (Nokia E66). The performance isn’t that spectacular as it is assisted-GPS. Assisted-GPS means that it would need Internet connection most of the time to locate GPS satellites. That is why I decided to go for GPS tracker solution. It would definitely make free & easy tours a more enjoyable process.

I had paired my iPod Touch (2nd Generation) with a GPS Tracker (Holux GPSlim 240) via bluetooth. I guess most people know that bluetooth on the iPod Touch is a nuisance as the bluetooth stack only recognizes audio devices (yes, even your bluetooth mobile phone is not detected). What you don’t know is that there are people writing their own bluetooth stack to recognize GPS trackers! Installed a copy of Roqy GPS and viola! Holux GPSlim 240 recognized and it is reading data as it should!

Roqy GPS reading GPS tracker information

The native Maps application works perfectly with the GPS tracker too. Time to plot some POIs!