vB Easy Archive - What GPS software do you use?

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What GPS software do you use?
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Posted by: infamo

Exatcly what it says, which one do you use?

Posted by: Ishimaru

does gps software actually work well on a small smartphone screen?

Posted by: infamo

Oh i dont have the 220 ne more, i've gone through bout 5 phones since that, just haven't updated it.

Posted by: conan_troutman

yes it works great on the 220 but better on the sp5
I use tomtom and GPS dash

Posted by: pdazealot

I used to use Mapopolis, but this is much much better. Only one weakness that I had in Mapopolis that is not in TomTom, the ability to map a route to a Contact address. You have to manually type in the address. Besides that, it works great. You can purchase it, or find the torrent that is floating around if you are a bad person that pirates, but either way, it's the best software I've used for GPS tracking on a WM Smartphone yet, and I've tried a lot.

Posted by: infamo

well, the one thing I hate about tomtom is that the maps only come in seperate states(as far as I know). And I live in the DC metro area and technically go through MD, DC, and VA everyday to get to work(acually a 20mile drive, not bad).

Posted by: futuredoc

Tomtom 5.2 works like a treat on smartphone! However, i have heard that Copilot is quite good too. Destinator 6 also has a smartphone version but i really haven't read much about it. Mapking also works pretty well on the smartphone from what i have read but the screenshots were definitely NOT eyecandy

I wish iGuidance was made for smartphone, i would purchase it in a heartbeat!

Posted by: dwest218

Quote:

Originally Posted by infamo

well, the one thing I hate about tomtom is that the maps only come in seperate states(as far as I know). And I live in the DC metro area and technically go through MD, DC, and VA everyday to get to work(acually a 20mile drive, not bad).

Anyone else verify this is true? Lets say I have the whole TOMTOM maps for the Western US in the database. Can I drive from say Arizona to Washington and TOMTOM will pick a route?? When the 4gb mini SD comes out and if it works with my Qtek8300 then I am all over a GPS program.

Posted by: conan_troutman

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdazealot

I used to use Mapopolis, but this is much much better. Only one weakness that I had in Mapopolis that is not in TomTom, the ability to map a route to a Contact address. You have to manually type in the address. Besides that, it works great. You can purchase it, or find the torrent that is floating around if you are a bad person that pirates, but either way, it's the best software I've used for GPS tracking on a WM Smartphone yet, and I've tried a lot.

er my tom tom can map to contacts address its a seperate program called "contacts navigation" comes with tomtom in the uk as standard and hooks into your contacts list there you can chosse to show location in map ar navigate to it

Posted by: infamo

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwest218

No, if u have individual routes, you can't route from state to state, tomtom wont even let u punch in the address in a different state. I heard that there are regional maps that u can get that allow u to do this.

Posted by: e1 n0rt3

Has anybody tried to track yourself (the phone S300/8500) w/ Google Earth?

Posted by: cjasus730

If you purchased a full version of Tomtom U.S., you can use the map entitled Major Roads.

Posted by: dwest218

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjasus730

If you purchased a full version of Tomtom U.S., you can use the map entitled Major Roads.

So can somebody get me straight on all this. I am still very confused. Just a couple questions

1. Say I have the US maps loaded on my mini-SD card. Can I enter an address in say New York and have it guide me all the way to California if I were to do something that crazy??

2. If I bought TOMTOM for my Qtek8300(aka Tmobile SDA) then I would have to buy the UK version first because that is the only TOMTOM software released for the Smartphone WM5??

3. If I did step 2 then I would also have to download and buy the full set of US maps also, which would then end up costing me quite a bit???(UK software + US maps)

Posted by: mkrygeri

Now [B]I'm[/B] confused! Can I buy TomTom for my MPX220? I'm in the US. It seems that they don't offer a US version of Mobile for the US.
I'd like to dump mapopolis if there is some better software out there. It's too painful to find a city when you have 3 states worth of maps loaded.

Posted by: dwest218

I called Co-Pilot and the Rep. over the phone is saying that not only do they use the latest GPS Sirf3 Receiver but you can navigate across the US if you have the 1gb of maps loaded on your memory card. Is this true? Anyone not like Co-pilot or singing the praises for Co-Pilot?

Posted by: hylton

From a couple of post in the last few months, someone clarified for me the whole TomTom thing, you can get the Nav Mobile product and coupled w/ the TomTom maps from the PPC version, it'll work...but there is not a Nav Mobile product for the US persay...

I tried Copilot and was pretty impressed w/ it. I used the version prior to the current version, it ran like a charm on both my SMT5600 and the MPx220. It's by far (IMO) the best smartphone product out there and as far as the US goes, probably the best nav/guidance program for the US as well. But you definitely pay thru the nose for it. Again, this is from just a couple weeks playing w/ a copy that I borrowed. I no longer have it and I ended up opting (for the time being) for iGuidance on the laptop until I end up settling on my MPx220 replacement. Copilot was too expensive for an interim solution. I'm currently waiting to see ihow long it's gonna take out this whole Qtek 8500 thing w/ the bugs and then see what Cingular puts out w/ regard to that model. After that happens, regardless (ppc or smartphone), I'm probably gonna get a copy of CoPilot to run on one of those platforms along w/ iGuidance on my laptop.

Just my 2 cents...

Chris

Posted by: mkrygeri

Just in case anyone didn't know, you can call ALK and "trade in" your old GPS software. I traded in Mapopolis by offering them my subscription reciept, they didn't need it. Mapopolis isn't listed, but they made the exception for me.
http://www.alk.com/switch/default.asp
I hope it is as good as everyone says it is.

Posted by: di2iftwood

Quote:

Originally Posted by cjasus730

If you purchased a full version of Tomtom U.S., you can use the map entitled Major Roads.

Maybe it's me, but I have to open up the Major Roads map, then for more detail, I would have to open up the specific state map.

Also, TomTom has some OLD maps. Places like NYC is fine as there isn't much change to the streets (there's no where else to build!). If you live in state that is undergoing urbanization or sprawl, watch out. TomTom's maps are supposedly several years old and it shows it. POIs are nothing to write home about either as like the maps, they too are outdated.

I read good things about Route 66, but I'm stuck with TTN for a while. I wish these GPS software guys would allow a free trial period (aside from Mapopolis).

Posted by: cjasus730

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwest218

I called Co-Pilot and the Rep. over the phone is saying that not only do they use the latest GPS Sirf3 Receiver but you can navigate across the US if you have the 1gb of maps loaded on your memory card. Is this true? Anyone not like Co-pilot or singing the praises for Co-Pilot?

Correct.
They rebrand a reciever made by Emtac.

Posted by: CurtisPulley

I have used TomTom devices in the past and have really liked them. I'm interested in getting either a 510 or 910 before I take my big summer trip.

Posted by: Quatre

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; Smartphone; 176x220))

have nav in car but friends vz nav progam on vzw moto phone came in handy in my wifes car that doesnt have nav but i think its 10/mo and only for reg phones not pda phones.

copilot 6 has been recomended for the Q before but havent tried it and dont know if its free or what

Posted by: eazymac

I also got the product for their "upgrade" price of $99, which was what converted me. The software you load on the PC doesn't leave much to be desired, but you really only interact with that once when loading the data on your phone. I loaded a customized map of roughly the western US to my phone, but if I ever need to travel to canada or eastern US, i just update what's on my mini SD card.

I'm using the Cingular 2125 with the app. For my usage which is driving to / from various locations, the app pretty much rocks. I have a bluetooth Sirf 3 receiver I bought for about $100, and the whole setup suits me perfectly.

It's probably not the best app for tracking waypoints the way you would with a handheld dedicated gps, like for hiking or mountaineering, but i'm sure there's a way to do it with the app. Otherwise, definitely go with the CoPilot!

Posted by: chawks2

Have you guys tried, google.com/gmm? It's pretty amazing.

http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html

Posted by: di2iftwood

Quote:

Originally Posted by chawks2

Have you guys tried, google.com/gmm? It's pretty amazing.

http://www.google.com/gmm/index.html

"Maps does not [sic] currently work with Nextel, T-Mobile USA or BREW-enabled phones (e.g. Verizon, Alltel, U.S. Cellular), or Palm devices."

Posted by: Sgt_Strider

Does Tomtom 6 work with WM5 smartphone? If so, is anyone using it?

Posted by: Dishe

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkJedi

does gps software actually work well on a small smartphone screen?

yeah, works better than on a ppc screen or even a touchscreen gps as far as I'm concerned...
I think touchscreens are dangerous to use while driving!
I use my SDA and I'm able to navigate the menus by tactile touch on the joystick/keypad. That means I can see how much farther there is to go, zoom in, check the next step, etc... all while keeping my eyes on the road until I can glance at the new info.

Who ever though touchscreen + GPS was a good idea while driving should be shot!

Anyway, just to chime in, I LOVE mapopolis. TomTom is good, but its a matter of preference. Mapopolis serves me well on smartphone.

Posted by: jerryk

Another vote for Mapopolis. I like being able to buy one map subscription and have the same application on my Smartphones (Cingular 2125 and HTC s620) and PPC (Axim x50v). Not the fanciest or sexist looking package, but it works fine.

Posted by: hylton

I'll have to agree w/ Dishe (imagine that, somebody write that down on a calendar) on the touch-screen thing. I used my iGuidance on a PPC (non-phone) for awhile and finally gave up and put it back on my notebook where I had shortcut keys. Touchscreens and driving (alone at least) are not a good combination, I guess if you get really good at it, but even after a few days, I was still uncomfortable w/ it.

Something built w/ the smartphone interface is much better for use in the car when you are alone (IMO).

I've used Copilot (borrowed from a friend) on my MPx220 and it worked great. I have yet to purchase it yet for my 3125, I've been kinda waiting to see how TeleNav works on it, it just in the last few days is now coming up on TeleNav's site as supported...anyway, to answer the question, yea, nav works great on a smartphone, especially if you use the driver safety mode provided by at least two of the major players (Copilot Smartphone or Destinator SP), not sure but TomTom probably has this too.

I personally would like to see voice commands integrated into one of these products. It would make it much safer to use in the car.

Chris

Posted by: SockMonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by hylton

I'll have to agree w/ Dishe (imagine that, somebody write that down on a calendar) on the touch-screen thing. I used my iGuidance on a PPC (non-phone) for awhile and finally gave up and put it back on my notebook where I had shortcut keys. Touchscreens and driving (alone at least) are not a good combination, I guess if you get really good at it, but even after a few days, I was still uncomfortable w/ it.

Something built w/ the smartphone interface is much better for use in the car when you are alone (IMO).

I've used Copilot (borrowed from a friend) on my MPx220 and it worked great. I have yet to purchase it yet for my 3125, I've been kinda waiting to see how TeleNav works on it, it just in the last few days is now coming up on TeleNav's site as supported...anyway, to answer the question, yea, nav works great on a smartphone, especially if you use the driver safety mode provided by at least two of the major players (Copilot Smartphone or Destinator SP), not sure but TomTom probably has this too.

I personally would like to see voice commands integrated into one of these products. It would make it much safer to use in the car.

Chris

Read your post and just realized Telenav is available for the 3125 now..cool!! I too am looking at a GPS solution and think I'm narrowed down to CoPilot and Telenav. Telenav has some possible downsides from what I see, mainly it's dependence on network coverage to get maps...but I like the short term price. CoPilot would be cool because it's not network dependent. It would just be a bit more expensive, because besides the $300 for the software and GPS puck, I'd also need a large microSD card.

About Telenav..I know it does routes...but what if you just want it to display where you are? I mean you just want to leave up the map view and track your location? Is this considered a route that I'd have to pay for? I know there is unlimited routes for $10/month...but if you've already downloaded the map, can it just sit there and show you where you are (without charge)? Or is there a time limit or something?

Posted by: hylton

I don't know anything about TeleNav and what it can/can't do beyond routing. Like if it functions as just a moving map. You'd have to try it, or talk to someone that has used it. You could always use TeleNav as your nav program and then get MS streets and trips for your moving map app.

From what I've played w/ on the Copilot product on a smartphone and iGuidance on a PPC and laptop, the moving map is OK but I found that I liked S&T and folks that use Mapopolis seem to like it's mapping capability better than other nav products too...so even if TeleNav does it, you might find that you dont like it's implementation and features.

I agree, the short term price is nice, but as you said, it's dependence on network access is a downside.

If you try it out, definitely post a mini-review of it. I'm sure alot of people (including myself) would be interested in your experience.

Oh, and if you consider Copilot, buy your GPS seperate, the product they sell is now a SirfIII product, which is good, but it's battery life is pretty low, compared to something like a GlobalSat BT338/BT359 or a Holux GPSlim product. They will run you the same price $100ish.

Chris

Posted by: Dishe

Quote:

Originally Posted by hylton

I'll have to agree w/ Dishe (imagine that, somebody write that down on a calendar) on the touch-screen thing.

Heh, I'm not always so difficult to agree with!

I just speak from personal experience...

Posted by: SockMonkey

Now...riddle me this Batman...

I had thought that you needed BT 2.0 to do simultaneous BT connections to a device, but I did some reading and some BT 1.2 devices can do simultaneous connections, just not the same profile at the same time. Depends on the manufacturer, BT stack, etc.

I have a Toyota with factory BT (which I love and can't do without)...could I use a BT GPS and still have the handsfree system active? GPS would use serial (I imagine) and the car would use the handsfree profile? I went out to the car and tried something, I turned the car on so it would pair with the phone and grabbed my laptop with BT, and tried to transfer a small file to the 3125. The car's BT icon stayed active and the transfer worked. However...I made a call via the handsfree and then tried to make a call...the file seemed to stall. I'm going to try again later (instead of sneaking out during a break) at home and see if it works.

Now..I thought I had read that if the phone initiates BOTH pairings..then it should work, but if it's not the initiator, it would not work.

Long story short...anyone have a WM5 device like a Cingular 2125 or 3125, a car with BT (or BT headset, I suppose...should be the same) and a BT GPS device that can report on what works? Can you use the headset/handsfree and the GPS at the same time?

Thanks

Posted by: hylton

Yes, you should be fine. You are correct, the BT GPS will use the serial port profile and your car the handsfree profile. Should be no problem w/ that, unless the 2.4ghz spectrum gets crapped on and you could loose one or both, but that should be fine, wifi is the only thing I've had step on some of my BT 1.1 stuff in the past.

I have not tried connecting both my BT GPS and establishing an ActiveSync connection, not sure what would happen there. ActiveSync over BT uses a virtual COM port over the serial port profile (I think) and that may fail while my GPS is connected, or it may boot my GPS.

Chris

Posted by: SockMonkey

Well...I'm going to try and grab that BT GPS receiver from Cingular as soon as possible (I called and no store in the area seems to have it) and try Telenav for the 30 day trial, report back on my findings.

If I don't like telenav, then I'll at least have a GPS puck compatible with WM5 and I can go out and get some software like CoPilot and try that out

Posted by: hylton

Quote:

Originally Posted by SockMonkey

Well...I'm going to try and grab that BT GPS receiver from Cingular as soon as possible (I called and no store in the area seems to have it) and try Telenav for the 30 day trial, report back on my findings.

If I don't like telenav, then I'll at least have a GPS puck compatible with WM5 and I can go out and get some software like CoPilot and try that out

Which GPS are they selling and how much is it, you can probably get it much cheaper on the internet, but returning it to Cingular would be tons easier. Check out semsons.com and buygpsnow.com, both are super reputable and know pretty much everything about GPS technology. I bought my BT359 from semsons awhile back, they were great after the sale answering software questions.

Chris

Posted by: Sgt_Strider

Guys, can someone please answer my question about Tomtom 6?

Posted by: jerryk

Quote:

Originally Posted by SockMonkey

Now...riddle me this Batman...

I had thought that you needed BT 2.0 to do simultaneous BT connections to a device, but I did some reading and some BT 1.2 devices can do simultaneous connections, just not the same profile at the same time. Depends on the manufacturer, BT stack, etc.

I have a Toyota with factory BT (which I love and can't do without)...could I use a BT GPS and still have the handsfree system active? GPS would use serial (I imagine) and the car would use the handsfree profile? I went out to the car and tried something, I turned the car on so it would pair with the phone and grabbed my laptop with BT, and tried to transfer a small file to the 3125. The car's BT icon stayed active and the transfer worked. However...I made a call via the handsfree and then tried to make a call...the file seemed to stall. I'm going to try again later (instead of sneaking out during a break) at home and see if it works.

Now..I thought I had read that if the phone initiates BOTH pairings..then it should work, but if it's not the initiator, it would not work.

Long story short...anyone have a WM5 device like a Cingular 2125 or 3125, a car with BT (or BT headset, I suppose...should be the same) and a BT GPS device that can report on what works? Can you use the headset/handsfree and the GPS at the same time?

Thanks

It should work fine.

But you really should have opted for the factory Nav system. The Denso units in Toyota products are great.

Posted by: SockMonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerryk

It should work fine.

But you really should have opted for the factory Nav system. The Denso units in Toyota products are great.

No..I didn't want the factory nav (or sat radio) for the reason of portability. I understand the ease of use, etc. from having both in the car...but that's just it, they are tied to the car. My wife and I camp and do lots of outdoor activities and we like portable things...just our preference. I tend to buy lots of modular things that I can plug together as I see fit instead of a large monolithic device. I think it's cool that WM5 offers SO much of this very thing. It's like a little hub device that can be a GPS, a music player, an email device, whatever...but I can still just grab the small (that's the key here) phone and just toss that in my pocket if that's all I need.

Anyway...it's kind of a hobby-ist thing too. I'm always looking for "THE" perfect setup for a new mobile, smartphone, whatever as far as car integration goes. My dream setup would be to get A2DP stereo going to a small adapter that plugs into the Toyota AUX port going, the BT GPS and have this all working with the BT phone integration. Then I just have to figure out the perfect mounting solution for my needs,etc. (I like things to look "nice" and almost OEM, with no wires dangling all over the place, etc.) Maybe it sounds crazy, but like I said, some people have little trains, some have stamps...I like to do this. I also got a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio now and I've downloaded the Windows Mobile SDK's and I'm playing around with building my own apps...like I said...it's a hobby.

Posted by: efjay

Any new GPS software for Smartphones available? I currently have a PPC but am considering the Dash temporarily (since its $200 atm) but I really need decent GPS software. I have used Destinator so far and its been very good. I would prefer not to use Copilot since they use their own proprietary maps and TomTom uses Teleatlas maps and its not available for the US. Thanks.

Posted by: hylton

I don't know that I would consider Copilot 'proprietary' as much as 'enhanced'. They use Navteq (I think) as their base maps to start with and then it's overlayed and corrected w/ information from the 'fleet' of trucking users that use ALK products. That's at least my understanding, maybe I'm wrong about that, but I've been reading alot about their stuff here and there.

I still have not purchased a product for my phone, still waiting on a real need to have GPS on my phone. But I've used Copilot on a PDA and borrowed a smartphone from a friend who had it and in both cases, I was pretty impressed with it.

I currently use iGuidance on my laptop. Too bad they seem to refuse to go beyond the PDA/laptop world...I will eventually drop them and move on to something smartphone based, most likely Copilot.

Chris

Posted by: butzchan

I just purchased CoPilot live6 for smartphone. I have been using it for about 2 weeks now, and am very impressed with it. I have used Mapopolis, iGuidance, Smart2Go, and a few others on smartphone and PPC. CoPilot is by far the best in routing.

Posted by: CorporateMonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by efjay

Any new GPS software for Smartphones available? I currently have a PPC but am considering the Dash temporarily (since its $200 atm) but I really need decent GPS software. I have used Destinator so far and its been very good. I would prefer not to use Copilot since they use their own proprietary maps and TomTom uses Teleatlas maps and its not available for the US. Thanks.

By far the best smartphone GPS software is GarminXT. You have to use their GPS BT receiver, but it is actually quite good (25+hrs of battery life). Works just peachy on my dash w/ wm6

Posted by: butzchan

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorporateMonkey

By far the best smartphone GPS software is GarminXT. You have to use their GPS BT receiver, but it is actually quite good (25+hrs of battery life). Works just peachy on my dash w/ wm6

I have not used Garmin. Checked out some screen shots...looks great. CorporateMonkey, how is the routing and rerouting? ie..if you take a different road, does it reconfigure, or does it tell you to turn around? How quick is it?

Posted by: puffdc

i have the garmin gps 10x and it works great!
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=420

Posted by: CorporateMonkey

Quote:

Originally Posted by butzchan

All you could ever want to know, and then some can be found here

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...?TOPIC_ID=56827

This is one of the largest threads I have ever seen on GarminXT.

Posted by: butzchan

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorporateMonkey

All you could ever want to know, and then some can be found here

http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/...?TOPIC_ID=56827

This is one of the largest threads I have ever seen on GarminXT.

Thank You!

Posted by: jontymisra

My P3300 came with TomTom6 and was loaded with all North American maps. Works like a charm, its voice guided except she, the voice wont pronouce the names of the streets, just "right, left" etc.

I was impressed regardless since the SIRF Star chip was amazingly sensitive and worked well with TomTom.

Posted by: invite2Islam

i'm looking at a couple of options now. the big brand option with more features than tomtom looks like garmin. and the smaller-brand option may be route 66... the garmin comes bundled with a receiver, but the route 66 does not. but from what i read, you can fit all the maps on a microsd card...