I’ve wanted to be able to GPS tag my photos for a while now so I know where they have been taken. This will be great for when I go on walks around the city. The first thing I need to do this is a GPS module. I did some research into GPS modules which can connect to my Series 60 phone – a Nokia N80. To connect to the phone it the module needs to be bluetooth enabled and support the NMEA protocol. NMEA is a standard protocol which allows GPS information to be retrieved. There are several pieces of software for the phone which can then record the co-ordinates as you move. One of these pieces of software is the free Sport Tracker written by Nokia’s Research Center.
Sport Tracker can record your tracks as you walk, run, drive, etc. It can then export the data as KML files (which can then be overlaid onto Google Maps) or as GPX data which contains the co-ordinates and the time codes.
The module I decided on was the Nokia LD-3W Wireless GPS Module from Amazon which when I bought it cost around £50. It arrived a few days ago and so far the results are very promising. The GPS module and the phone connect seamlessly. It is able to acquire the satellite signals relatively quickly – about 30 seconds to a minute when it is started. Once it has aquired the sattelites then you can walk around at will and it will record where you are going.
After I’ve used it for a week or two I should be back with a review.
