According to an email from Big Red, the death grip currently in effect on standalone GPS for some of their Windows Mobile devices might be loosened as early as Q1 2009.  The Samsung Omnia, Samsung Saga, and HTC Touch Pro have been ‘targeted to add open standalone GPS in the 1st have of 2009′, but no specific dates have been announced just yet.  The news comes after a long history of online users began petitioning that the carrier unlock the GPS features being limited by Verizon that have finally resulted in the official statement from the carrier included below:

Verizon Wireless, like all carriers, orders devices to meet certain specifications inclusive of features. Each of these specs is tested to determine if it meets our performance goals. There are instances when the phone will pass our extensive testing process but a specific feature may not meet the standard. We will often choose to introduce the phone without that feature but ask that the manufacturer come back to us with revised software that has to be tested to make sure the service works the same across our entire wireless footprint –from Maine to Hawaii. In the case of open standalone GPS, we are partnering with the Windows Mobile device manufacturers to provide a software upgrade that will add this capability to the existing assisted GPS capability. This is a complex development project to provide open standalone GPS while maintaining the assisted GPS capability with the level of performance and security that our customers expect. The recently introduced Windows Mobile devices including Omnia, Saga, and Touch Pro are targeted to add open standalone GPS in the 1st half of 2009.

Steve Schwed
Verizon Wireless
HQ Executive Relations Supervisor

It looks like with enough support and endless emails the smartphone community can accomplish the impossible.  You can expect to see an official announcement from Verizon Wireless early next year and in the meantime go ahead and pat yourself on the back, job well done. [WMExperts]