Not only does Google's new wonder known as the
Cr-48 have Bluetooth, it has GPS also. The GPS hardware comes courtesy of the
Gobi 2000 3G Modem. Like Bluetooth, Google just hasn't built the interface into Chrome OS for making use of the GPS just yet. With the emphasis that Google places on location these days though, I fully expect that one of those silent updates the Cr-48 receives every few weeks (days?) will bring the GPS to life. Unfortunately, at this point, it doesn't look like the low level GPS interfaces are finished in Chrome OS just yet. If we get to our
root shell there's just a few things we can find out:
- A gpsd command exists, but it seems to just be a wrapper script for the real GPS daemon which isn't yet included in Chrome OS builds
- Running "dmesg | grep -i "gobi\|novatel\|qualcomm" will search through the kernel messages and display those that reference the Gobi/Qualcomm/Novatel device (no idea why there's 3 companies involved in 1 3G modem). Unfortunately, it looks like Google has yet to include the kernel patch that enables the Gobi 2000's GPS device.
Looks like we'll just have to keep an eye on those Chrome OS updates as they roll out.
Thanks for a great set of articles. As a non professional computer hobbyist I really appreciate the effort you have put into your articles. Please keep them coming. While I don't plan to jailbreak my CR 48, that knowledge that I can helps me in understanding its potentials and making sense of other technical articles and posts.
ReplyDeletePlease keep up the good work. People are out there!
Gobi is just the brand name of the chipset, which is produced by Qualcomm. Novatel produces some modules based on the Gobi, but I don't think they have anything to do with the Cr-48's implementation.
ReplyDeleteThis is good stuff! I am going to have to swap back on developer mode and play some more! Thanks for the great set of articles.
ReplyDeleteNovatel is the frontend reseller, from what I understand. It's a great peice of hardware, full CDMS/GSM/EDGE/GPS support. I'm researching on how to change the radios to support other carriers than Verizon.
ReplyDelete