GPS Software out there??

[Jerry Raia]

I just got a Socket BT GPS for myself. It works great with streets on my 5600 but are there no other utilities out there like VitoNavigator for the Pocket PC?

[Sven Johannsen]

What all do you want to do? Mapopolis's Smartphone version works pretty well. You do need the maps, which is pretty consistent with any of the vector based nav programs. I haven't had a SP long enough to have looked for raster based map programs though.

[Jerry Raia]

Yeah I was looking at the Mapopolis site and saw that. I also got word that a Smartphone version of gpsdash is due out soon. :)

[Mike Temporale]

Well, there is that RunDo app that uses Bluetooth. Are you using this for work or personal? Driving or hiking?

[Jerry Raia]

Goofing :mrgreen:

[Santa Fe]

The man with the most gadgets wins.... :wink: Do you have a GPS unit in that silver Mercedes starship?

[Jerry Raia]

Naaaw...what do you think I am? A geek?? :lol:

[Santa Fe]

Hey, I have one in my Truck!

[Jerry Raia]

Well I may be getting in too deep with this. I got Mapopolis and a map. Put in a destination and went for a walk with the phone up to my ear while it told me where to go. During the stretches of no voice instruction I watched the moving map and looked at the satellite positions. I need a life.

[Mike Temporale]

But did it work? Did you get to the right place?

[Jerry Raia]

But did it work? Did you get to the right place?

It actually got a little confused. I gave it an address to get me to which was a big apartment building that wrapped around a block. It was having me walk past it and turn the corner to the other street the building was on. I found that while walking any of the gps software I have been playing with both on the phone and PPC can get a bit messed up especially when you walk slow or stop. I'm not surprised by this though as a lot of what it is computing is based on motion. Overall I am still impressed.

As a side note here I have only tried this a little in the car. It is so distracting to set it all up while driving (still learning the software) that rather than pile up my car looking for the option I want I'm gonna wait till I can get somebody to drive me around while I mess with it.

[hotdram]

Jerry,
Are you still testing/playing/toying with Mapopolis? What are your thoughts? Likes and dislikes? I assume you are you using the the "Navigator" maps that let you auto-route (because you mentioned the voice capability). How are the voice commands?

Thanks,
~Rob

[Jerry Raia]

Overall it think it is a descent application. I'm not too crazy about the menus and navigating through the software itself but most Smartphone software has this problem. The voice prompts on my 5600 are quite good and easy to understand until it gets noisy like if you are walking on a busy street for example. They have demo maps, have you tried them?

[hotdram]

Overall it think it is a descent application. I'm not too crazy about the menus and navigating through the software itself but most Smartphone software has this problem. The voice prompts on my 5600 are quite good and easy to understand until it gets noisy like if you are walking on a busy street for example. They have demo maps, have you tried them?

Thanks Jerry. Yes I have loaded some demo maps and have been playing with them w/o a GPS. I am waiting (patiently) for my wife to come home from work after she stops at the Fedex place to pick up my BT GPS receiver so I can see how well the program works with a receiver.
I am trying to decide if I want to drop another $100 bucks on mapping s/w. I already have a Garmin gpsmap60cs and their s/w for it, so the phone gps is more of a toy/gadget. I have pocket streets 2005 for it, I just wish it was routing capable.
I looked at Co-pilot as well, but they are very proud of their s/w, I think they are out of the running.

EDIT: One bonus for mapopolis, is that since the s/w is free, I can download both their smartphone and pocket pc versions (for my HP4155). The maps that you purchase are the same, no matter what device you put them in (at least between the PPC and the Smartphone).

~Rob

[Jerry Raia]

Exactly. I use it the same way. I bought the map pack and use them on both my 5600 and 4705. :)