HTC TyTN as a GPS Beacon ? - General Topics

Hi all,
I'm a frequent traveller, I often change countries for business and/or pleasure and am planning a very long journey by car, from Australia to Europe.
In order to let my friends and family know where I am, I was wondering if there was a app I could install on my TyTN II that would use the built-in GPS, get my position and upload it on a website (but NOT using the Internet). Such beacons exist for yachts, they send once a day the exact position to the vendor, using GPS only, and then friends can know where the boat is. I don't have a boat I have a 4WD
Any thoughts ? I've looked online and so far I could only find apps that would use the Internet... Not very practical when you're in the middle of nowhere in Mongolia, I doubt there is free WiFi in Ulaanbaatar
Thanks.
Boags.

Boags said:
Hi all,
I'm a frequent traveller, I often change countries for business and/or pleasure and am planning a very long journey by car, from Australia to Europe.
In order to let my friends and family know where I am, I was wondering if there was a app I could install on my TyTN II that would use the built-in GPS, get my position and upload it on a website (but NOT using the Internet). Such beacons exist for yachts, they send once a day the exact position to the vendor, using GPS only, and then friends can know where the boat is. I don't have a boat I have a 4WD
Any thoughts ? I've looked online and so far I could only find apps that would use the Internet... Not very practical when you're in the middle of nowhere in Mongolia, I doubt there is free WiFi in Ulaanbaatar
Thanks.
Boags.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How would the phone connect to upload the information then..? The boat-based GPS beacons transmit their position using a satellite transmitter, but that's separate from GPS (which is a one-way system). Your phone doesn't really have that capability, or any other way to broadcast its location or any other data, without using the internet.

Ha ! I didn't think of that, I didn't know GPS was one way... damn. Makes sense tho. Thanks. Now I feel like a tool

Boags said:
Ha ! I didn't think of that, I didn't know GPS was one way... damn. Makes sense tho. Thanks. Now I feel like a tool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all good man...the only way you would have been a tool is if you didn't come to xda to find out what you needed

Related

What's my cheapest option to trial GPS Navigation?

Hi all
I'm toying with the idea of getting a GPS based navigation system to use with my QTEK 2020i.
I think that the Navigator kits are quite pricey for someone who isn't sure they;lll get the use out of them though.
What's my cheapest option if I wanted to try this stuff out?
I don't mind buying a generic GPS receiver as I'm sure I can use it for something else (!?????) other than satnav.
Is it as simple as buying one of those £29 GPS reciever jobbys off ebay and then downloading a trial version of tomtom???
Cheers all
Wayne
there is no version for trialing tomtom. your best bet would be to to buy a kit from 1 of the online shops to be honest and i wouldn't recomend ebay as they are not legal copy's and hence don't work properly
andy-c1 said:
there is no version for trialing tomtom. your best bet would be to to buy a kit from 1 of the online shops to be honest and i wouldn't recomend ebay as they are not legal copy's and hence don't work properly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eh?
So I can't download like a 30-day trial!...How do they expect people to know if the product is anygood?
I know it probably is but that for me isn't the point...I want to see if I'll actually use it and how I'll use it, that's how I'll know if it's worth me buying it.
Cheers
Wayne
Well, I bought a Qstarz BT-Q880 32-channel GPS receiver, which works excellently with the XDA 2i and TomTom 5.
However, I did download TomTom 5 via BitTorrent... Purely for evaluation purposes. Of course.
If you have €369 to lend me (with long-term repayments at a low interest rate) so I can buy the damn thing straight away, then hell I'll buy it straight away. I do think they charge an arm and a leg - and the Plus maps (the more detailed versions of the maps) cost a good €150 extra - at least.
The long and short of it is that you'll have to break the law in some way or another if you want to evaluate GPS software before you make your own purchase of the software - which I do intend to do when I have the cash (Uni students don't really have that much spare to be honest, but I do buy the software for my XDA whenever I can).
just to say though, no matter how you aquire the software, a basic GPS receiver is still gonna cost you around £45 - £50 via Ebay.
And I'm not sure what other use you would have for it other than SatNav, except maybe wifi hotspot logging.
Geocacheing!
Gajet said:
just to say though, no matter how you aquire the software, a basic GPS receiver is still gonna cost you around £45 - £50 via Ebay.
And I'm not sure what other use you would have for it other than SatNav, except maybe wifi hotspot logging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still, that's a lot cheaper than paying £££ on TomTom!
If I did it this way and then used a less-than-legit version to trial it, I could then upgrade to a proper version later and then sell the GPS receiver.
If I buy TomTom now and don't use/like it then I stand to loose a lot more money (especially seeing as the general impression people seem to have is that TomTom on ebay is fake or no good).
...you see my predicament
Cheers
Wayne
If you did fancy Geocaching or even just the chance of an Ordanace survey map. I recommend 'aquiring' a copy Memory Map too. I have both on my xda iis, Tomtom drives you to the local area, and memory map will plot everything after that.
Now that sounds like a plan...
Gajet said:
If you did fancy Geocaching or even just the chance of an Ordanace survey map. I recommend 'aquiring' a copy Memory Map too. I have both on my xda iis, Tomtom drives you to the local area, and memory map will plot everything after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Geowhating? Sorry to sound dumb but you've lost me now :S
Cheers
Wayne
dispite all it's bad press on most websites tomtom on the whole is a very good product ,i persoanlly havn't had any reall issues with tomtom apart from the problem being the sd card being to slow with the 2i , i've signed up for the traffic updates which i find to be about 90% correct
i also think most of the problems arise because people are using illegal versions
andy-c1 said:
dispite all it's bad press on most websites tomtom on the whole is a very good product ,i persoanlly havn't had any reall issues with tomtom apart from the problem being the sd card being to slow with the 2i , i've signed up for the traffic updates which i find to be about 90% correct
i also think most of the problems arise because people are using illegal versions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure I agree with the problems all being down to illegal copies (more so on the 2i).
This is my main concern. If I shell out for an app that crashes etc with little to no support/help from TomTom.
As it is I will probably try a dodgy copy and if it's stable I'll get a proper version. I know that a bad copy may be the cause of the crashes but with TomTom not supplying a trial copy how do they expect people to make an informed decision? You wouldn't buy a car without test driving it would you?!
Nearly all software (including that on the Pocket PC platform) provide trial versions. I've even seen some posts on here to suggest that TomTom used to do this...but not now for some reason?
Lost business I say.
Cheers
Wayne
dotn got to halford and have play with a tomtom go or one the app is the same as is the maps as anis the andy says there have been problems with the 2i this is mainly down to a hardware issue the way round it most users have found is to get a the fastest sd card you can find currently mappopolis is the olny vendor to have a 30 day trial
Aye, I must say for the record that TomTom on my 2i MOSTLY works fine, it only crashes out if you do something like try to use the Ring Number feature - it'll show the screen, but as soon as you select the Point Of Interest category you want, it has a think about it then crashes back to the desktop.
The same if you load up too many Points of Interest on a map, I've also found. I guess that's most likely down to the fairly old SD card I have, an old PNY 256Mb card - but it does the job very nicely, and just has enough space on it (6.66Mb! remaining) to store the TT files, the Netherlands map and the Great Britain Plus map. If you want to load more maps though, you'll definitely need the 1Gb card, the France plus map is something like 370mb - and the main Western Europe map is even bigger.
DotN said:
Geowhating? Sorry to sound dumb but you've lost me now :S
Cheers
Wayne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say I've ever tried it, but Geocaching is a bit of a GPS treasure hunt. People leave these caches hidden in "interesting" places and provide the GPS coordinates to a website, then other people can use their GPS devices to locate the cache and leave a message in the notebook, take photos with the camera or maybe even recieve a little prize. It's for those odd people who go outside, when they could be huddled up in the warm over their PC's
If that vaguely interests you you could look at
http://www.gagb.org.uk/
DotN said:
Hi all
I'm toying with the idea of getting a GPS based navigation system to use with my QTEK 2020i.
I think that the Navigator kits are quite pricey for someone who isn't sure they;lll get the use out of them though.
What's my cheapest option if I wanted to try this stuff out?
I don't mind buying a generic GPS receiver as I'm sure I can use it for something else (!?????) other than satnav.
Is it as simple as buying one of those £29 GPS reciever jobbys off ebay and then downloading a trial version of tomtom???
Cheers all
Wayne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
www.mapopolis.com
Mapopolis looks promising from the site, their bundles are quite handy if you don't want all the extra steps of buying the phone holder, buying the carkit... All of which I did, hasssssssle - I do think I would miss the nifty 3D view which TomTom displays whilst you're navigating your way through the world, but I guess that's only because I'm feeling spoilt now.
When it comes to caching, geocaching.com used to be one of the definitive sources of info on the net, but it's suffering server problems at the moment.
Other good sites:
http://www.gpss.tripoduk.com/caching/
http://www.gagb.org.uk/guidelines/guidelines.php - deserves a second mention, as it's a very useful site...
And of course, http://www.geocaching.org.uk/ ! Get caching kiddos.
mapopolis
download mapopolis demo and ill show u how to register it free...its good software and free!
christopherwoods said:
Aye, I must say for the record that TomTom on my 2i MOSTLY works fine, it only crashes out if you do something like try to use the Ring Number feature - it'll show the screen, but as soon as you select the Point Of Interest category you want, it has a think about it then crashes back to the desktop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you upgraded your tomtom as mine did exactly the same till the new upgrade i havn't had to soft reset since then
I don't have to soft reset, the program just crashes back to the Today screen. I don't really need to use the Ring Number feature anyway, kinda pointless as I can just 118 500.
The issue is moot anyway, since I'm using a less-than-100%-legitimate copy... I'm sure once I have a job post-University I'll be able to afford to buy it, but until then I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Google GPS without a GPS!!!!

Hey just thought id share this ran across it while on gsmarenaapparently google has just announced a new version of google maps that will tell u ur location within 1-2 km of u actual location and u dont need to have a GPS
i have used it and it tolod me my location within 500m
apparently it will use the tower that ur near to triangulate ur position
its great also has a meter to show how much KB`s ur transfering here the location http://www.google.com/gmm
enjoy!
Google Maps 2.x is nice, and thats an interesting feature, but for me it had my location about 2 miles from where I really was (my location was even outside of the circle it showed saying that I was somewhere inside that circle).
I've tried it in 3 places and same result in all three.
Ah well. Nice for getting a general idea of where you are, but don't expect to use it for real navigation
I tested this today driving down 45 miles of Los Angeles freeway and was literally shocked out how closely it tracked my location. Most of the trip it had me pinpointed (no range circle at all). Some locations it had to guess a range, between canyons or tall buildings.
I knew the towers could find your general vacinity, but had no idea they could come that close.
Neat feature!
any one have a package for this new google maps?
I like it. Now I'm not so pressed to get a phone with GPS. I guess if you're in a metro area it will work better (assuming more towers). I like how it even will do directions to addresses in the contact app.
Loved My Location for the 1 day I had it. I upgraded my AT&T 8525 from WM5 to the official htc WM6 Professional and now everytime I try to use My Location it tells me, "Your current location is temporarily unavailable." I think the answer to my problem and others who are experiencing it maybe be in Menu-.Options-> GPS settings, and properly configuring the My Location Settings. If anyone has a solution, any help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
ANTC said:
any one have a package for this new google maps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here is the GoogleMap 2.0.
it is amazing!
woww...dats superb job by google...Even it catched me too while m sitting here in Dubai... awesome utility..
As you wish sir!
It's working already on mine!
ANTC said:
any one have a package for this new google maps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know if there is an ap like this that can track anyone in your contact list? Like actually get there position not just home address?
cybercub said:
Anyone know if there is an ap like this that can track anyone in your contact list? Like actually get there position not just home address?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that boost mobile (or whatever that company is). I wouldn't want that service. Talk about "Spyware". I'd imagine there are privacy laws against such a thing. Kind of like it being illegal (in the US) to record a phone conversation unless you let the person being recorded know about it.
hey yeah i get that sometimes here in pakistan but dont worry abt it just give it another try in a coupl eof minutes and it will show
hmm well in my case it pin points to about less than a km so its great and the details are great
enjoy everyone!
my experience
i used the new Version of Gmaps yesterday in the Atlanta/decuater area. i was on the free way on GA-400, I-285 & other various streets(in decuater,Ga).
on GA-400 i received a general 1,200 meters from exits 15-11. Ounce in a more populous area i was getting even better range within 1,000 meters or so.
i also started using the traffic Feature which provided me with information leading to make the decision to take I-285. on that highway i continued get about 1,00 meters ounce out of the red and into the yellow after the first few exits or so i got a real good distance was about 300 or so each time and continued until i got off the freeway though sometimes it had me on the opposite side. (though a quick "my location" and back where i belong) ounce off and on a suburban area with stores shopping centers and sub-divisions i had no idea where i was yet Gmap new the way. with finding my location every5 seconds i arrived about 10 minutes off of the expressway
oh and the addresses in the contact app is prty kool. like if you have a contact's adress stored on there number and click it
Not so good here in Central Oregon. It is showing my current location actually 37.5 miles SouthEast of my actual location. I don't understand the BIG discrepancy as the closest T-Mobile tower is less than half-a-mile from my current position.
Cool concept though.
this is just in Beta man. im sure itll get better & more precise later. at my house im about 1.1 miles from where i should be, but then again im in the country
epimazzo said:
As you wish sir!
It's working already on mine!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man
I'm guessing that you really need to be covered by two or more towers for the location to be accurate.
tekknogenius said:
Isn't that boost mobile (or whatever that company is). I wouldn't want that service. Talk about "Spyware". I'd imagine there are privacy laws against such a thing. Kind of like it being illegal (in the US) to record a phone conversation unless you let the person being recorded know about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is what I was thinking. Now that google has released something like this I can imagine that anyone might break down the code and make it so they can track any phone?
I do a lot of visiting stores for my company and the last thing I want is someone knowing we are in the area by using something like this.
So I added it to my MDA and I get the screen that is blank for the most part with the little sqigglies in the square fashion.
Now is this becasue I don't have the Data or Hotspots plan??
I'm guessing that it won't work correctly (read: at all) unless I have one or both of these.
Can anyone shed some light? I'd really like to have this feature as well.
Thanks,
Ivan
the problem some of you dont realise is that if live in a small town with a little bit of cell towers than the acuracy is not that great. i live in nyc and the acuracy is pin point, perfect. it locates me exactly where i am and the more u use it the better it gets. remember it picks up your locstion by bouncing you signal off cell towers. less cell towerless accuracy, more cell towers greater the accuracy

GPS software?

Which software do you guys use? i download a few from ppcwarez but they dont work..........any suggestions to compatible software?
copilot live 7 works flawlessly
http://www.alk.eu.com/buynow/htc-copilot-dach.asp?language=German
iGo 8 in my opinion is the best.
The usual procedure here is; try a few different pieces of software until you decide which has the best maps / features / interface for you. No harm using ppcwarez for this I suppose. Once you've decided, buy it. Ironically enough, you will probably still end up using the cracked version from ppcwarez as, for example, iGo8 comes on a microSD card, so it can't be used with the Diamond. Diamond 2 has a microSD slot, but I don't know if it works as I don't have my Diamond 2 yet. Anyway, I prefer having my navigation software and all my other apps on the one large memory card, rather than be swapping them out all the time. But the main thing is that you've bought a licence, and you have access to their technical support, online map and poi resources etc.
Also consider TomTom 7. Many people here seem to use it and like it, but I'm not particularly fond of it.
Unless the search engine on this site allows 3 letter word searches then a new GPS thread is going to start for the Topaz every week!
For some reason the last thread was not under the software topic either. Here it is .....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=511298
I use iGo 8 by the way
Is there a problem with Google Maps or Windows Live Search?
You can't beat the price (free), and they get the job done.
I prefer Windows Live because I can speak my destination.
harolds said:
Is there a problem with Google Maps or Windows Live Search?
You can't beat the price (free), and they get the job done.
I prefer Windows Live because I can speak my destination.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
... except to people that do not have an unlimited data plan!
i also i dont belive that those also do turn-by-turn navigation...but i could be wrong.
They both have turn by turn navigation.
Why would you own such a phone without unlimited data plan?
harolds said:
They both have turn by turn navigation.
Why would you own such a phone without unlimited data plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i stand corrected.
because some carriers do no offer it , like mine, and the ones that do at least where i m want something stupid like £80 per month contract.
at the moment i pay £10 for 100mb.
harolds said:
They both have turn by turn navigation.
Why would you own such a phone without unlimited data plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
where im from we dont have unlimited data plan and even so the data plan is really expensive.......so i bought the phoen cuz it has a internal gps antenna and if have maps loaded on the phone already it will be free...........that is why i bought this phone for that and many reasons
I have try to install Igo8 on my Diamond 2. Install works fine, but when i start i see a short time the loading symbol and then back to desktop?
I use Garmin Mobile XT for European and US maps and MapKing for Asian main cities.
Both run fine from my SD card.
Personally i really like Amigo
It's basically a skinned version of Igo 8 but i really like the menu's. They are very easu to use. So currently i am very satisfied witj Amigo
I use Garmin Mobile XT and love it!
Works perfectly!
well0549 said:
Personally i really like Amigo
It's basically a skinned version of Igo 8 but i really like the menu's. They are very easu to use. So currently i am very satisfied witj Amigo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using iGo My Way 8.3.2. My only issues are:
- can not tell it to avoid traffic lights
- I can not tell it to find a petrol station but it knows where they are and draws pretty graphics of petrol stations
Do you have these issues?
extracrunchie said:
Which software do you guys use? i download a few from .... but they dont work..........any suggestions to compatible software?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't seem to bright. XDA is no warez related site! Please modify your post and do some reading about different navigation software.
we don't do warez here
people have answered your question....now go and buy the software
thank you
thread closed.

[Q] What GPS software do you use?

Well is obvious. Since it's qhd i can't use igo anymore, so what do you use (besides maps and htc locations)
I'm in the USA and the T-Mobile version comes with "TeleNav GPS" I don't know if it's available where you are but here is the LINK
nccu_eagles said:
I'm in the USA and the T-Mobile version comes with "TeleNav GPS" I don't know if it's available where you are but here is the LINK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks but not working in Romania
so Sygic - crashes due incompatibility with Adreno220
Maps with Global navigation I can't install because root is missing
Igo no qhd support.
Remains Copilot and Navigon
Copilot. Blah blah blah 10 chars
Co-pilot works flawless in mine.
Sent from my Htc Sensation using Xda Premium App
nccu_eagles said:
I'm in the USA and the T-Mobile version comes with "TeleNav GPS" I don't know if it's available where you are but here is the LINK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
correct me if im wrong but dont you have to pay for the telenav service?
Google navigation doesn't work internationally?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
google navigation works great for me.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Scoop24 said:
google navigation works great for me.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, i use google navigation on mine and it works pretty good
+1 Google.
baadnewz said:
thanks but not working in Romania
so Sygic - crashes due incompatibility with Adreno220
Maps with Global navigation I can't install because root is missing
Igo no qhd support.
Remains Copilot and Navigon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In state, Google Navigation e mai bun ca TeleNav
nevermind
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
piimp said:
correct me if im wrong but dont you have to pay for the telenav service?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some premium features such as traffic camera alerts, real time traffic incidents and re-routing, speed limits with optional alerts, and lane assistance for $3 a month, but you can still get turn by turn voice navigation and local search stuff for free. I use it because sometimes Google Navigation won't lock onto my gps, even though I'm locked onto 8 satellites.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
Will HTC Locations be a possibility after the unlock?
Now I use google maps and nav because I am in the US. I have navigon installed as well and that is my backup. The backup to that would be the telenav of course. In the past I have used mapquest which is free in the market but I am unsure if you can use it across the pond.
TJBunch1228 said:
Google navigation doesn't work internationally?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google maps/nav works great wherever you are, however if you are roaming, you are looking at some serious data charges.
Thats why people look for nav apps with maps already saved to SD card, no need to download anything....
Also if you have ever been stuck somewhere with no reception or just GPRS, and waiting for it to connect, download etc you sure appreciate a standalone solution!
Also with standalone apps, you can add a lot of usefull stuff like speedcamera POIs etc, which I havent seen for Gmaps yet.
k.aalai said:
Google maps/nav works great wherever you are, however if you are roaming, you are looking at some serious data charges.
Thats why people look for nav apps with maps already saved to SD card, no need to download anything....
Also if you have ever been stuck somewhere with no reception or just GPRS, and waiting for it to connect, download etc you sure appreciate a standalone solution!
Also with standalone apps, you can add a lot of usefull stuff like speedcamera POIs etc, which I havent seen for Gmaps yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Maps has POI. Just search for whatever you want. There's also Places, which is part of Google. But I haven't seen speed cams in Google. Someone else may correct me on that.
So far I haven't found one perfect solution for offline walking and driving nav. Gaia is online, and also allows downloading user definable map segments for offline. However, it doesn't seem to do any sort of intelligent routing.
I've also used CoPilot, but it's very mixed. It is offline, but US maps are not so great. Don't know about international maps. The UI to me is a bit cartoonish.
If Google would add the ability to download user definable map sections it would be a major advantage.
I'd really like to try Locations, but at this point that seems unlikely for US phones.
Regarding roaming when traveling abroad I buy a local SIM whenever possible. Can be a major saving, and works well. Can take some effort to find a good deal, and get everything set up, but if you are in a country long enough it can be very worthwhile. I got a 3G data SIM in Paris last year that was unlimited for under 20 Euros for a month. Used 3G all over the city and it worked great.
BEST GPS in the world!
I only use WAZE (http://waze.com ) it works great on the Sensation, full screen no issues and it has live traffic updates, multiple routes and its free
a4ol said:
BEST GPS in the world!
I only use WAZE (http://waze.com ) it works great on the Sensation, full screen no issues and it has live traffic updates, multiple routes and its free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting concept, but a few weaknesses pop up right off.
Doesn't look like it's got hardly any maps outside US and Canada. Just checked a couple of spots in my neighborhood and there are map errors that are years old. Also, appears to require data access. Does it do walking routes with compass?
samnada said:
Google Maps has POI. Just search for whatever you want. There's also Places, which is part of Google. But I haven't seen speed cams in Google.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my original post "speedcamera POIs" was meant as one thing. ie a POI for speed cameras, not speedcameras AND POIs.
Although agree with you that the Places, and other POIs in GMaps is great, and I do miss it while traveling and not using a data connection.

[Q] Gas price app for Android tablet

Hi all. I have a cross-country drive planned for August and I'm looking for an app to help me find the best gas prices. I've looked far and wide and have only found apps that work on phones. For example, GasBuddy, Gas Guru, and MapQuest Gas Prices are not compatible with tablets. Is there anything similar that will work on a tablet?
As a sub-question, since I won't have WiFi on the road, would this kind of app be useless? It doesn't really need to be real-time, If I could just load up gas prices for a given city and then just reference it when I get there, that would work just fine.
Thanks in advance.
Waze? Navigation but had had prices. Don't know if it'll work without a connection unless you can download data while on a wifi Network
Sent from my M8 only on the XDA & MikForums
stovo06 said:
Waze? Navigation but had had prices. Don't know if it'll work without a connection unless you can download data while on a wifi Network
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you download maps with Waze to use them offline?

Categories

Resources