So really what’s the deal, why does Verizon cripple the 8830?

I’ve been diggin around for a while trying to find a hack to renable the GPS hardware on my Verizon provided 8830.

(See similar story here: What Does Verizon Have Against GPS In BlackBerrys?)

Around here, Verizon’s network is simply the best. Hands down, no doubt about it.

For years Verizon has butchered cell phone interfaces (see the lovely Razor Verizon UI, or any LG for that matter).

They’ve already been smacked around for disabling Bluetooth functionality, but the only thing that got them there was some advertisements that said it would work.

In the article listed above they do show that Verizon did advertise the 8830 with GPS functionality.

Truth be told, I don’t want VZ Navigator. There are plenty of other free solutions out there. Google Maps and plenty of other sites that are just fine and dandy (if) they can tell where you are.

I get that it’s all about money, I do. But it’s also about crippling your customers and limiting their options. I don’t see what Verizon does as any different than Microsoft bundling ie in the OS. For which they were certainly beat up over.

So who’s up for a class action suit?

We can tackle a number of Verizon anti-competitive issues all at once. We shouldn’t be forced to:

Use their music or media service.
Use their GPS/VZ Navigator just to use the hardware.
Use their inferior UI
Use crippled Bluetooth technology.

All in favor, say eyeeeeee!