smart phone gps' avalible in oz and reliability

[spacekadet]

I did use a phone as a navigator while travelling in Indonesia. The maps were inadequate (non existent in places), but as far as I can see it's the same problem with Garmin.

What really annoyed me was having to physically touch the phone to interact with it. That's the one problem that any decent bike navigator will overcome by the use of (big) buttons. You'd be nuts not to have the phone in a protective case, which makes is really inconvenient to get to it.

Voice control would be the ultimate solution but I'm not aware of any navigators that have it.

FWIW, Nokia maps are available for nearly every country, are free, regularly updated and can be downloaded on a PC. Beautiful for travelleing when you don't really want to carry a GPS, but the interface it too screwed up for serious use. As far as I know the only track logger is a kiddie app "Sports Tracker" that can record lap times and heart rate, upload your workout music etc. Plus the maps are pretty much only "on road" (but not bad with some fairly remote dirt roads in Australia). But if you suddenly don't know where to go in a foreign city, it's nice to have it.

[Oz-Strom]

another option I found recently

not sure if this one has been discussed - from the UK

Is it rugged enough for offroad adv riding? Looks interesting

http://www.ultimate-mobiles.co.uk/de...case___823.htm



mount



utube vid here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pW_Zvd2ao0

Have hardwire kits too that seem to fit with the waterproof case

http://www.ultimate-mobiles.co.uk/ha...dock___818.htm

[viz]

Originally Posted by Oz-Strom

another option I found recently

not sure if this one has been discussed - from the UK

Is it rugged enough for offroad adv riding? Looks interesting

http://www.ultimate-mobiles.co.uk/de...case___823.htm



mount



utube vid here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pW_Zvd2ao0

Have hardwire kits too that seem to fit with the waterproof case

http://www.ultimate-mobiles.co.uk/ha...dock___818.htm

Mmmmm IPX4, not real waterproof...

Might be a goer though, for mounting purposes if nothing else. For general city driving the iPhone beats the Zumo, no question. Rough trails, dunno.

Anyone know how to turn the accelerometer off to stop the screen from flipping?

I use this USB charger for my iPhone 4 - no probs at all with charging. In fact it is quite quick - 20 minutes = approx. 40% charge. I connect it directly to the battery via a Fuzeblock, and is turned on and off by the key. Get the seal kit for it too - then you can charge in the rain...

viz

[outback jack]

Just reviving this one, any further good or bad regarding I Phone or smart phone for ADV work, i found this waterproof case that sounds alright. http://www.gadgetmac.com/gadgetmac/l...-4-review.html thinking about investing in a new phone.

[abhibeckert]

Originally Posted by outback jack

Just reviving this one, any further good or bad regarding I Phone or smart phone for ADV work, i found this waterproof case that sounds alright. http://www.gadgetmac.com/gadgetmac/l...-4-review.html thinking about investing in a new phone.

Still using mine and it's going strong. Worn out and beat up from being dropped and rained on (in the recent SEQ floods I rode through 700km of monsoon rain without any protection other than my windshield, cars were going 40km under the speed limit most of the time and my phone was soaked... but no problems. Since then I put a condom around it though), sat on, shoved in the pocket with my keys, covered in oil while working on the bike (it's got my KTM owner manual, workshop manual, and part schematics on it).

Only problem I've ever had is the rear camera lens is scratched to oblivion and can no-longer be used. There are replacement lenses on eBay for $3 but I haven't got off my butt and ordered one yet.

Anyone who says it can't handle vibration is talking out of their ass. My KTM 690 thumper vibrates plenty, my handlebar mount has worn grooves into the glass (not over the screen) and even the solid steel rim is marked where it contacts the soft plastic mount, but the electronics haven't failed. I wish I could say the same about my bike's electrics... failing all over the place due to vibration. Looks like I'll have to buy a new wiring harness soon. The phone has done pretty much as many km's on my handlebars as the bike has done.

I'm not entirely happy with the software, but most people aren't anywhere near as picky as me, and it seems like users of garmin's devices have many of the same complaints. I'm toying with launching my own Adv GPS app (I make iPhone apps at work), but not sure if it'll happen.

Looking forward to replacing it with the new model at the end of my two year contract, no plans to try anything else.

[abhibeckert]

Originally Posted by viz

Anyone know how to turn the accelerometer off to stop the screen from flipping?

Double tap the home button and swipe left to find the button that will lock it into portrait orientation.

Locking it into landscape is more complicated, but it can be done by enabling "Assistive Touch", which is intended for disabled users (it's in settings, you can set it to be enabled/disabled with a triple click of the home button).

All the apps I use work better in portrait anyway.

[hoadie72]

I use an iPhone 3GS inside a Magellan Toughcase, on a generic RAM mount. It has it's own built-in GSP receiver, which is far superior to the 3GS's. Software-wise, I run TomTom & MemoryMap. Quite an expensive setup but I bought it for bushwalking (the Toughcase also has a battery), and is 100% waterproof and accepts a mini-USB cable for charging while on the road.

[abhibeckert]

Originally Posted by hoadie72

Quite an expensive setup but I bought it for bushwalking (the Toughcase also has a battery)

I hope they release an updated model for the iPhone 4S (or perhaps wait for the iPhone 5?) and skip the built in GPS and battery.

I think the iPhone 4S GPS receiver is as good or better than the Magellan one, and the battery just adds weight and bulk and $$$ to a unit that is always powered by my bike anyway.

The magellan toughcase is the only IPX7 case I've seen so far, which is necessary if you don't have a windshield to protect it from highway speed rain.

[hoadie72]

It would've been nice if they'd designed the case a little more generically so it could fit an iPhone 4 / 4s.

If I ever go down the route of using a newer phone I'll look at one of the soft case offerings from Givi.

[TPER Chief]

hi there guys I am looking at running my iphone4 as my gps, looks like mudmaps is the best solution from this thread. Has anyone run the hema maps app on there phone ? As they tend to be the better maps and details for far outback travel with no phone reception. I know they make a GPS unit too. Any Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

[hoadie72]

Originally Posted by TPER Chief

hi there guys I am looking at running my iphone4 as my gps, looks like mudmaps is the best solution from this thread. Has anyone run the hema maps app on there phone ? As they tend to be the better maps and details for far outback travel with no phone reception. I know they make a GPS unit too. Any Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

It's the same as MemoryMap and works very well. Uses the topo maps I bought for my laptop. Pics in my previous post

[TPER Chief]

Originally Posted by hoadie72

It's the same as MemoryMap and works very well. Uses the topo maps I bought for my laptop. Pics in my previous post

It looks like the hema app uses the hema maps not just topos and if they are the same as there paper maps they have alot of info on them and I have found them to be very good in the outback places, was wondering if any used this application on their iphone / ipad for big adventure rides.