Friday, July 31. 2009

A bit off topic: Pan Mass Challenge Gets SatNav

I got word from a friend and "perennial road crew volunteer" for this weekend's 30th Pan Mass Challenge that TomTom had donated satnavs for the event. My contact at Tele Atlas confirmed that 30 will be in use in the event’s vehicles. Five thousand cyclists, including a team from TomTom/Tele Atlas, will cover six routes across Massachusetts to raise funds and awareness to end cancer.

The tricky part for the "road crew," which includes "all purpose" support vehicles that do everything from fixing bikes to offering extra drinks and snacks, to taking folks to the hospital, if needed, have a tricky navigation job. They "follow a route" but must be able to skirt around it to reach those in need of aid. And, as you can imagine, the smaller roads in the commonwealth can get busy with the combination of weekend car traffic along with the bicycles. Add to that the fact that volunteers come from all over the region and you can see how the devices are going to come in handy.

I'll be tackling a 150 mile route over the weekend in memory of two good friends who died of cancer.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Satellite Navigation at 06:54 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, July 29. 2009

Garmin Puts Toe into Crowdsourcing - New Nuvi Firmware Enables Rating POIs

Rich Owings at GPS tracklog shared a new feature in the new firmware for Garmin Nuvis.

In addition to providing a star rating [for a POI] you can also report an error and have the item removed from future searches.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Satellite Navigation at 15:20 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Thursday, July 23. 2009

Local Events on Your TomTom (for Corpus Christi)

The blurring of sat nav and smartphone continues. Corpus Christi, Texas will role out a program at the end of August that allows TomTom users to get event information for the city based on their location. It's not clear which devices will support this or how the data is transmitted.

The Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau, which is behind this effort and a similar text messaging one, said the city is looking to work with other providers as well.

- Caller Times

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Satellite Navigation at 06:57 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Tidbits from the TomTom Earnings Call

Among the details:

The company is still planning to release its iPhone navigation application this summer; it'll appear simultaneously in the U.S. and Europe. ( Navigon announced its offering for one-time fee of $70; price rises Aug 15 to $100.)

TomTom is in talks with “a number of” carmakers on the possible delivery of built-in navigation devices.

"Live" services are starting to catch on. Those "add on" charges for extra services such as its HD Traffic, which traces the road speed of participants to create live traffic reports, may mean enhanced revenues.

- TWICE
- Kansas City Star

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Satellite Navigation at 06:23 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Wednesday, July 22. 2009

South Dakota Makes GPS Maps of Public Land Maps Available Free

The South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department is offering up the digital maps of federal, state and government leased lands to provide another option beyond the paper maps and South Dakota Public Walk-In Atlas. The program provides downloadable files for newer Garmin, Lowrance and Magellan GPS units.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in GPS, Satellite Navigation at 06:42 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |

Monday, July 20. 2009

Verizon Opens Omnia - Now Users Can Choose GPS Apps!

Last week Verizon released CF03, a software update for the Sansung Omnia phone that unlocks the GPS for use with other apps other than its VZ Navigator. Verizon was one of a very few carriers locking down the garden...

- C|net

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in LBS, GPS, Satellite Navigation at 07:46 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) |