How many yards away is Augusta National?

Get your yardage and see aerial images of August National on nRange Golf GPS.

nRange Golf GPS has recently made course information for Augusta National available on your Blackberry. While we watch some of the best pros in the game compete at one of golf's great venues, check out how many yards you are from some of those fantastic holes.

Verizon not as open as we thought

We've been working through some issues with very patient users over the last couple of weeks, and it finally appears like we can conclude that Verizon has not really opened up the GPS chip on the Curve and 8830. We've included some horror stories from users below. Please let us know if anyone has been able to get a different answer.

"I just switched to the Curve 8330 from the Storm. I was not impressed with it at all. Anyway, I downloaded the nRange, but it keeps telling me that the GPS chip is missing or not on. My GPS is set to on, but still nothing. nRange worked great on the Storm. I just got the Curve yesterday, any ideas?"

"Spoke to verizon again. Looks like the only way to get it to work is to buy a storm per employer.They have unlocked third party gps for the storm only. He thinks it is a hardware issue. I think its software. Thanks for the reply earlier. "

Going on a Golf Trip? Make sure all of the courses are ready to play

We recently got an email from a user who is going on a golf trip this week. Other than jealously thinking about how nice it would be to get away for a few days, we also wanted to make sure he was ready for his big trip.

If you have a special occasion or are going on a once in a lifetime trip, here are some tips to make sure nRange Golf GPS will help you create some special memories:
1. Search for all of the courses you will be playing and see if they are available
2. If any are not available, be sure to indicate when you will be leaving by checking the right radio button next to the days remaining till you leave.

Optional: drop us a quick email to nrange@nrange.com to let us know about your big plans so we can make a special effort to get the courses mapped and ready to play. Besides, we like hearing about the great trips! After you get back, drop us a photo or at least an email telling us how it went!

Verizon unlocks GPS chip - Blackberry OS update needed for it to work

This post explains how Verizon just unlocked the GPS chips on their Blackberry phones, but you will need the 4.5 version of the Blackberry software for it to work. The post explains how to get it.

http://www.blackberrycool.com/2008/12/gps-now-unlock-for-verizon-blackberry-8130-and-8330-blackberry-bytes/

"unlocking" the GPS chip on Alltel

On Alltel and having an issue getting the GPS to connect? Read this thread on a Blackberry forum:
This may also be the case for Verizon.

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gps-mapping/110191-gps-not-working-8830-alltel.html

There was another post that included this info as well:
urious if anyone has tried downloading Telenav? I have an 8830 with Alltel and I had to download Telenav, purchase a trial subscription, and the first time I logged into Telenav on my BB, GPS started working on all other programs (Google Maps, Blackberry Maps, Berry411). I have since canceled Telenav, but GPS still works.

Telenav offers a 30day free trial. The software is downloaded from
VERIZON:
TeleNav
ALLTEL:
TeleNav

New version of Free Golf GPS nears official launch!

New version nears official launch!

Please try the new version and tell us about any bugs. This will help as we wrap up final testing.

Try by pointing your Blackberry browser to nrange.com

What's new?

* Better error handling. If you've had trouble downloading the app, please give it another try!

* More streamlined and easier to use rangefinder screen (see below).

* New green outline feature so you can see the shape of the green without even opening the map

* Easy shot measurement - Exactly how far was that monster drive?

* Enhanced map functionality including a movable "target" to help you determine distance to any feature on the course

* More little changes to improve your experience including a GPS signal strength indicator and online help topics

Why change the name?

After a lot of discussion, we wanted a more distinctive name that would be easier to register the trademark. This marks an important milestone for us. We appreciate all of the feedback that helped us get to this point. Keep the feedback and suggestions coming!

Mailbag

Several users have been very helpful in providing testing feedback on the new version. Through this process, we've been able to assemble info on ensuring that your Blackberry has its GPS chip unlocked and ready for nRange Golf GPS to use it.

We get excited to hear your feedback - the good and the bad. Here is a selection:

OMG this thing is AWESOME! - Knoxville, TN

It does not work with the blackberry pearl, so if that could happen, I would try to get it again.
Our Response: we found out that this user was on a carrier that currently restricts access to the phone's GPS chip. Many users use the Perl quite successfully. This particular carrier has hinted that they will soon open up the GPS.

Make the controls more accessible and easier to use. Too difficult to press.
Our response: Good feedback. Our usability testing has told us the same thing and we think you'll be excited to see the next version that should be released very soon!