Windows Phone Thoughts: Size Matters: Globalsat's BT-328 Bluetooth GPS Receiver

The Software Side of Things
Pairing and connecting the BT-328 to a Pocket PC is simple. Long story short, you enter the passkey, select the desired serial port, configure the application's port settings, and you sit back and let the magic happen.


Figure 5: The BT-328, as recognised by Microsoft's Bluetooth stack. The naming convention is a bit odd; nevertheless, the receiver is still readily identifiable.

GlobalSat's GPS Information utility serves to verify the receiver's configuration settings, and also provide basic satellite and location information. It's basic to say the least, but it does what it's supposed to do rather well. If you wish to use the receiver for more advanced purposes (for example, geocaching and moving map navigation), you will have to look elsewhere for software. Two of my favourite GPS applications are GPS Tuner and Pocket Streets. Figure 6 shows the beta version of GPS Tuner 5.0, which has been completely rewritten from the ground up to deliver more features and an enhanced user experience. Figure 7 shows Pocket Streets 2006, which is included in Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 and Microsoft MapPoint 2006.


Figure 6: Geocaching with GPS Tuner 5.0.


Figure 7: The BT-328 and popular moving map application, Pocket Streets 2006.

The BT-328 operates very well in both of these applications, which isn't surprising given the fact that it's a powerful little unit!

Conclusions
On a tight budget? Beginner? GPS veteran? It doesn't matter. The Globalsat BT-328's excellent feature set and affordable price offers something for everyone. If you've been sitting on the fence deciding whether GPS is worth your time and money, the BT-328 may be enough to tip you over the edge.

Darius Wey enjoys all forms of technology. His time is usually channeled into mobile devices, digital media, application and web development, graphic design, his Xbox 360, and of course, GPS hardware! He lives in Perth, Western Australia.