Verizon Wireless Pulls Plug on BlackBerry 8830 GPS Features

And Some Other Ways the Company Has Nickel and Dimed Their Customers

Verizon Wireless, a long time heavyweight in wireless communications, has been disabling the GPS feature on the BlackBerry 8830 handsets it sells, after advertising the feature as one of the device's selling points. In fact the Blackberry 8830 comes equipped with a fully functional gps locator and tracking system but Verizon Wireless their customers to use VZNavigator service, which makes them a cool Ten Bucks a month for each user.

Every BlackBerry 8830 Smartphone was made with an autonomous GPS receiver. Meaning it is able to calculate its location relying solely on GPS satellites, with no input from cellular towers at all. In theory a BlackBerry8830 user could stroll around the planet Earth, receive a complete GPS system at no extra charge and not even sign up for Verizon service, at least that's how the manufacture intended it to be.

Hey now! Verizon is not giving any "freebies" to its customers! Being the obedient dollar extracting corporation they are, Verizon has killed the GPS at its roots, by shutting down the software on each Blackberry 8830, leaving their customers in a sea of darkness and confusion, inextricably lost without directions.

Blackberry has remained a fly on the wall regarding this issue. Although Blackberry and Verizon are completely separate companies, they exist in a symbiotic data/service relationship. So in order to appease its master, Blackberry RIM has been tight lipped about the problem, hoping it doesn't get out to the public. However, BlackBerry is advising its customers to contact Verizon and enable the GPS function on their handsets. No word if anyone has been successful as of yet.