Database Info

Off Road GPS Software

I know TomTom is good at on road navigation. Is there any Decent GPS software that uses OS maps, maybe 1:50000 or 1:25000 off road for hill walking etc.

I've tried most of them, and I reckon the best for O.S. maps is
http://www.memory-map.co.uk
They have a CD with all of them on it.
If you don't mid georeferencing them yourself, you might also try http://www.gpsdash.com or www.oziexplorer.com.
GPSDash is the only one that lets you georeference on your PocketPC. The others make you reference the maps on the PC and export them.
Ozi Explorer is faster, and re-projects maps from other formats into WGS84 (so you can use lat/long on OS maps instad of easings/northings). if you are using a bluetooth GPS, there is an issue with using Ozi on the XDA2 (see http://216.218.220.254/ozice/faq_ppc2003.html) which you can solve using Bluetooth Tools (see the article).
A free (but basic) alternative is www.locbrowser.com
One other thing to bear in mind is that TomTom 2.7 upwards will have messed up your bluetooth stack (unless you're running WM2003SE), so you need to soft-reset your Pocket PC after using TomTom before any other GPS program will work. It happens because Tomtom doesn't release the com port even after it has shut down.
Hope that's useful!

Thanks for the suggestions, I will have a look at them. What Would be perfect is a moving 1:25000 map with a cursor where I am. With waypoints and route planning in advance, like real GPS units do.
I have not had any issues with TomTom3 however i dont have any other GPS software to test it with. Yet.
Thanks. M8.

I use Memory-Map and it has all that you mention. 1:25000 is limited at present to National Parks etc but more areas are coming. We've full reviews on our site. You also get both PC and PPC clients so can plan on the PC, upload to the PPC and then copy the actual route you took back to the PC afterwards.
MM2004 has many additional features such as 3D bump mapping on the PC to give a virtual 3D respresentation of an area. Both PC and PPC Clients can be used with a GPS.

yes i like the look of this, will download over the weekend and trial it out in the parks 20 mile away.

Possibly a little late but the trial has no GPS functionality. Just in case you were planning to test this!

Doh, thanks for letting me know, i hadnt downloaded it yet.
Whats the point of a trial that doesnt trial the full software. Its just forces people to look elwhere.

To be fair few offer any trial at all so Memory-Map are to be applauded for offering something.
And as you can only 'trial' it with the small sample map they offer which is unlikley to be of your area then its only purpose is to show you the interface etc.
It is however the best in its field for good reason and I can highly reccomend it.

OK, will take a look at their software, and the maps, for the price it does look good value.

GPS Users : Doing anything interesting other than TomTom ?

I'm looking to get more out of my GPS usage....
Is anyone doing anything interesting other than road navigation ? I'd like to load in things like way points for walks and cycle rides - either ones from the net or just ones I plot in advance.
But I'm even worse at GPS than I am a cycling - so wondered if anyone has tips ?
Thanks,
JJ

You can use ather off-road programs, like OZI CE and COMPE Pocket Land.
They're ideal for biking

Go flying!!
I took mine up in the plane yesterday while flying around my local airport. Dumped the GPS data and made a 3d track file for Google Earth that is color coded with speed too. The result is pretty cool! Download the free version and import the file attached to see the kind of things you could do with any other activity - not just flying!!

Hi, how do you manage with this file ?
What do we do with it after dl ?

jef1968 said:
Hi, how do you manage with this file ?
What do we do with it after dl ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download the free version of Google Earth http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html (if you have not used this it is *very* cool!)
You can then open the KML file above and you will see the 3d track of the flight. You may not be exactly interested in flying but there are many applications for the same idea.

bodypilot said:
I took mine up in the plane yesterday while flying around my local airport. Dumped the GPS data and made a 3d track file for Google Earth that is color coded with speed too. The result is pretty cool! Download the free version and import the file attached to see the kind of things you could do with any other activity - not just flying!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really cool!! could you tell me, how to prepare klm file by myself? what kind of software do i need on my Wizard? (of course i have gps receiver) - this is really nice, i'd like to be able to generate this kind of tracks of my trips...
Ok, i took a good look at google earth application and i've found a link to gpv visualizer (http://www.gpsvisualizer.com)
i believe that's what You used ;]. whats the greatest thing about it is the fact it supports gps track file of Automapa - polish road navigation software - very popular and quite good - now i'm able to visualize my own roadtrips... thanks for the idea.

Yes you got it right. The GPSVisualizer web site lets you convert lots of different GPS data formats to get a KML file. My GPS software on the TyTn is called GPS Tuner. It saves a TRK file with position, altitude, time etc in a text file. I opened it in M$ Excel and saved out a CSV file which the web site would read and convert to KML - there may be a much easier way but I got this to work so never looked deeper!!
It's fun to try this kind of thing!!

As i mentioned - i was lucky and i can put my Automapa's *.gps file directly to GPSVisualiser. I'm gonna play around with POI files as well, i think it will also work. anyway, its a good news for my fellow polish friends on this forum ;]
But i am still hungry for any other funny/impresive use of gps software, anyone has something even better in mind? sorry bodypilot, but since i don't own the plane myself, the coolest thing i can do is to record a track while ice-skating - which is kinda funny, but still ... ;]

have a look at this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=294682
Im trying to find out a way of geotaging the standard camera pictures of the pda

i think i have an idea that is a bit round about, but might work. i'll give it a thought tonight. anyway, useles for me, since wizard camera sucks, so i don't plan posting any picture taken with it ;]

Hi, though I don't have gps, I have been looking up what I could do with it, to see if it really is worth it...
I found the following link, that really seems to have a great potentiall!
http://www.gpstuner.com/googleearth.htm
regards,

Geotaging pictures on pda (gps question)

I have looked for any info on this over the last few weks and im really surprised that nobody else wants to do this on a pda!
I have posted in the Artemis area but nobody can help!
What im after is a 3rd party program to embed gps coordinates when i take a picture on my pda.The Artemis has a built in gps but im sure other bluetooth receivers would do the same job
I have since learned that this is called geotagging and some digital cameras with now embed the gps coordinated onto the picture. Web sites like http://www.panoramio.com/ which make a kml file to view your pics in google earth.
At the moment tho i have to find these coordinates by using picasa 2
and using their geotag option but you still have to find the location manually on google earth
download picasa here: http://picasa-server.com/?s=yp_uk&OV...MTC=s tandard
It would be so much easier to be able to just take a pic on the Artemis and have the coordinates automacally embedded on to the file!
Any new ideas please please????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocoded_photo
it mentiones quite a few methods of including geotag into a picture. i think the best method suiting your needs would be:
Wikipedia said:
Syncing coordinates from GPX tracks into the Exif header using software that compares time stamps. The software programs RoboPhoto, RoboGEO, Quakemap, and TopoFusion, as well as the web-based services GeoSnapper and Thingster, can match up photos in this way. For the Mac, PhotoGPSEditor will do the trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also, i remember seeing somewhere a software which logged gps position into a simple log file, so it would be easy to develop an app which use that data without dealing with gps receiver. Now if we had a software that edits exif jpeg tags on pocketpc, we could use this gps log file... i know thats the big if...

got it sorted check this thread out http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1143082#post1143082

GPS software with Speed Logging and Replay

I'm trying to find a gps app to run on my Raphael that is capable of recording/logging a trip including timestamps.
I want to be able to replay the trip precisely, preferably on the phone, but if absolutely necessary I'd be willing to replay it on a laptop computer (I have a macbook pro and am running windows vista in a virtual machine) and logically I can replay it from a website as well.
Specifically, I want to be able to replay this in a courtroom in front of a judge, but I don't need to make a grand show of it (thus the reason I prefer replaying from the phone rather than carrying in a laptop).
Any advice would be great. I've considered writing my own app for this, but I really need to be able to replay the trip with graphical maps visible, which makes it more difficult to do. I've got TomTom installed already (which doesn't have this feature built-in as far as I'm aware).

tracking
I have not found a software which does what you are expecting, so I have acquired a TRACKSTICK PRO which does all what you require including tracing the trip on google earth!!
Hope this help
Chris from snowy Chamonix (France)

A completely new device, especially one without it's own ability to navigate would just add to an already excessive bunch of cables and take up a valuable power plug.
I can't figure out where or how to purchase one. The "get it now" button just takes you to a form to submit for them to call you back...This and the fact that it claims to be a "low-cost" solution makes me think that they aren't very interested in dealing with single unit sales.
Thanks for the advice, it's just not what I had in mind.

TrackMe might be what you are looking for.

bubble said:
TrackMe might be what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This looks pretty good I think. At least it's great for tracking and exporting, at least a little easier to work with than GpsGate which appears to only do NMEA sentences and a few file formats that nothing else reads. But this still leaves me trying to find the best way to present it.
I'd still like to be able to do sort of a playback of the trip rather than just data points on a map...and I'm still holding out hope for demonstrating the trip from my phone, but I'm starting to realize that none of the major GPS nav apps seem to have this feature, or at least I haven't found proof that they do. I think iGo might have a record/playback feature, but i haven't been able to verify.

[APP][1.6+] MM Tracker

Hi,
i created an App called 'MM Tracker' which is able to read QCT maps from Memory Map from SD Card and displays them.
The current GPS position is displayed and tracks can be recorded, saved and (re)loaded.
There is a free version called 'MM Tracker FREE' to test the App on your device.
The free version is just displaying your current position on the map.
All other features can only be used with the full version.
Features are:
Tracks are stored to SD card as GPX files
GPS track will be drawn on map
Track properties can be adapted (color, width and opacity)
Overlay Manager for Tracks, Routes and Waypoints
Waypoints can be created at GPS position or by manual entry of coordinates
Routes can be created
Displays compass on map
Map can rotate in direction of travel or by compass
Pinch zoom
Support for landscape and portrait display
MMI files can be used to search places
New maps at current position can be selected with context menu
Maps with larger/lower scale can be selected with on screen buttons
When leaving the current map a new map will be automatically loaded (when available)
'Lock to GPS' can be enabled to scroll the map while you are moving
'Screen Lock' can be enabled to prevent unwanted touch input
When device is switched off (standby) MM Tracker is still recording tracks
Displays the map scale
Volume buttons can be used to zoom in and out
MM Tracker does not support the new Memory-Map format QC3 / DRM encrypted QCT!
Important:
Due to limitations of the Android NDK currently only maps smaller than 2GB are supported! If the map is bigger than 2GB, the map tiles beyond 2GB will displayed as white tiles.
'MM Tracker' runs on Android 2.1+. For Android 1.6 there is a special version of 'MM Tracker' called 'MM Tracker 16'
The development of 'MM Tracker' is ongoing and new features will be added frequently. Feel free to suggest....
You can find all info about 'MM Tracker' here: http://sites.google.com/site/mmtrackerinfo/
Have fun...

MM Tracker is now available for Android 2.1.
As i only could test it with the SDK emulator, it would be great if you could post some feedback.
Michael

Michael,
thank you very much for releasing MM Tracker. I have downloaded the free version, and it's absolutely brilliant. I would say it works so much better than MemoryMap, since MemoryMap on WM had a problem with maps bigger than 200MB. The 2GB limit that still holds for Android makes things so much easier, in that I don't have to split maps any longer.
A few updates that I would suggest are:
speed vector
ability to read elevation data (*.qed files) and to display the elevation profile of a route or a track.
ability to read mmi data and search for a place by name.
With the above features, MM Tracker would be an ideal replacement for MemoryMap Mobile.
Keep up the good work, Michael...
ccristal

Hi ccristal,
thanks for your feedback.
The speed vector is a feature which i am currently working on. But i am not yet satisfied with the results. So it will be available with one of the next updates.
Rgearding QED and Search-Function... the problem is that i do not know how to read QED and MMI files. So for now this is not possible.
It would be great if anybody could supply a specification of the QED and MMI files
Best regards,
Michael

Map Man said:
Rgearding QED and Search-Function... the problem is that i do not know how to read QED and MMI files. So for now this is not possible.
It would be great if anybody could supply a specification of the QED and MMI files
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... you were not supposed to know the format of the .qct file either. If you reverse engineered that one, I'm sure you can figure out qed and mmi as well...
EDIT: oops... I just realized that the QCT format is public... but we can still work on the other two. I've just opened a .mmi file with a hex editor, it doesn't seem impossible to decode. Let me investigate some more and I'll let you know...
ccristal

Yep you are right ... QCT is sort of public As you can find various descriptions in the internet it was just about to put them in code.
As far as i know the QED format is similar to the QCT format. Only the tile size differs and maybe some other details. I will check this.
And i had a look into some MMI files. Seems to be very straight forward:
1.Section defines Categories
2.Section: Placenames and coordinates
But details have to be figured out.
If you get some more informations, it would be great if you could let me know.
Best regards,
Michael

Map Man said:
If you get some more informations, it would be great if you could let me know.l
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check your private messages...
ccristal

GREAT app mapman...
Downgraded to 2.1 as dislike android 2.2..
Works well but occasionally lags a bit when moving fast cross country.
Would like to suggest OSGB grid refs and map rotation to compass direction and a compass too..
With these features it will run circles round Memory map.
Have to say there are a lot of us where am stationed who are very pleased with this app...
Looking forward to future releases and YES will be buying full version in next week or two...
regards
Lohtse

Thanks
Hi MapMan
Thanks for this great app, having been 'forced' to switch recently from an HD2 (WM6.5) to a Desire, I became resigned to the fact that Memory Map appear not to want to support Android this side of the next millennium, so the ability to use my OS maps on my HTC Desire is very welcome indeed. Thanks. !! I switched from the free app to the full version after about 2 mins of evaluation.
The App works well for my basic needs, although as commented above, the ability to see height profiles would be welcome, although in terms of my priority wish list I would welcome the opportunity to :-
1 Accurately create routes on the device - with route properties in Miles and Knots (as well as Km). I would like to be able to create routes and edit route points - perhaps by nudging them with the central optical button. This was a great problem with WM6.5 on my old HD2 where all you could do was move the very small point with a very large finger !, and perhaps in slower time look at the route elevation profile.
2 Whilst its good to see tracks displayed, I can't seem to be able to save them - perhaps I'm doing something wrong.
3 A route arrow - although not a high priority for me.
Overall a great app and given my large investment in paid OS maps, this really is worth every penny. To be honest I would have paid 10 times as much for it. I just hope you don't get hassle from MM. Thanks

Hi lohtse,
congrats, finally you got rid of Android 2.2
I spent some hours to get it on my Desire ..... tastes are different
lohtse said:
Would like to suggest OSGB grid refs and map rotation to compass direction and a compass too..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a lot of people were asking for it i have planned to implement some support for OS Grid. But honestly... i think map rotation is not on the "roadmap" of MM Tracker
Today i added the speed vector as a first step. I think compass could be a nice feature too.
Happy tracking,
Michael

Hi paul144,
great to hear that you like MM Tracker.
paul144 said:
1 Accurately create routes on the device - with route properties in Miles and Knots (as well as Km). I would like to be able to create routes and edit route points - perhaps by nudging them with the central optical button. This was a great problem with WM6.5 on my old HD2 where all you could do was move the very small point with a very large finger !, and perhaps in slower time look at the route elevation profile.
2 Whilst its good to see tracks displayed, I can't seem to be able to save them - perhaps I'm doing something wrong.
3 A route arrow - although not a high priority for me.
Overall a great app and given my large investment in paid OS maps, this really is worth every penny. To be honest I would have paid 10 times as much for it. I just hope you don't get hassle from MM. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Creating routes is definitely a feature i would like to have too. But as it is a little bit of an effort to implement, it will not be realized too early.
Tracks are saved automatically when you close MM Tracker. But you have to define a correct path for the Tracks (the latest update of MM Tracker has a more convenient dialog to choose the directories).
Regards,
Michael
P.S.: Thanks for your suggestion... i was thinking of raising the price too

hi
mapman are you uk based? if so drop me a pm...

So how easy would it be to create an Anquet Maps equivalent?
Knew I should have gone for Memory Maps!!

Hi Map Man,
Your software seems to be very interesting.
I have a winmo 6.5 and I am looking for a new phone. I know there is no solution for the new WP7 and don't like iphone. So I think about Android.
I just want to know if it's possible to import/export waypoints/tacks between Memory Map PC software and your MM tracker.
Thank you.

Hi sorimina,
sorimina said:
I know there is no solution for the new WP7 and don't like iphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think we have the same opinion there
MM Tracker creates and reads tracks as standarized GPX files.
These files can be imported/exported with MM software.
Waypoints are currently not supported, but will be in future.
Best regards,
Michael

Great, Map Man.
Hope you could add waypoints import/export in the near future.
It's the last thing that prevents me to quit my winMo 6.5 for Android
Thanks for your work !

Hi sorimina,
sorimina said:
Great, Map Man.
Hope you could add waypoints import/export in the near future.
It's the last thing that prevents me to quit my winMo 6.5 for Android
Thanks for your work !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just to make my explanation from before complete:
If you export your route from MemoryMap as GPX-track and load it with MM Tracker, you can at least see the 'route' on the sceen.
Of course navigation to WP/routes is not yet possible, but maybe this helps you...
Regards,
Michael

Hi,
just want to inform you about the latest update V1.1.5
History
Feature Added: Switch between metres, statute and nautical units
Feature Added: Tracking can be started and stopped
Improvement: Status icons in statusline
Fix: ConcurrentAcces to tracklist while loading fixed (was leading to crashes at startup)
I would recommend this update, especially because of the last item in the list
Regards,
Michael

Thanks Michael, this is such a great app! Really look forward to each update, nautical units much appreciated
How easy would it be to implement quilting / auto loading of next map?
Thanks
Sean
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

Hi Sean,
Soupe said:
How easy would it be to implement quilting / auto loading of next map?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great that you like MM Tracker
But what do you mean by "quilting" ?
Auto loading of maps is actually supported. When GPS-lock is on and you leave a map, the map with the best scale which fits to your position will be automatically loaded.
(Currently no support of subdirs, but this will be fixed)
Regards,
Michael