Sunday, March 18, 2012

Garmin StreetPilot Onboard iPhone app gets traffic camera option

Garmin StreetPilot 2.0 PhotoLive Traffic 3Tired of inaccurate traffic data? How about live traffic camera images instead? Well that’s a new option as of today’s update to the Garmin StreetPilot Onboard app for the iPhone. The update will also add live weather info and the ability to share points of interest via Facebook and SMS. While the update is free, the photoLive Traffic Cameras feature will cost you $9.99 as an in-app purchase.

read more

Garmin Fit Apps and ANT+ adapter announced

Garmin Fit screens 1

UPDATE: Looks like the ANT+ adapter for iPhone will be available later this week.

Garmin has announced the Garmin Fit app for iPhone and Android this morning, and an ANT+ adapter for the iPhone (that link wasn’t live when I posted this, but it probably will be later this morning). This is Garmin’s first fitness app, allowing users to track speed, pace, distance, time and calories. And at $0.99, it’s likely to gain a lot of users pretty quickly.

read more

Garmin ANT+ adapter for iPhone clears FCC

Garmin ANT iPhone dongleIt looks like Garmin is about to announce an ANT+ adapter for the iPhone, if the latest FCC authorization is any indication. This should open the doors to pairing your Garmin heart rate monitor or fitness device to your iPhone, and we might even see Garmin chirp compatibility integrated into their OpenCaching iconapp.

read more

Bad Elf GPS for iPad, iPod and iPhone

badelf-gps-ipad-iphone-ipod-touchThe Bad Elf GPS Receiver plugs into your iPod touch, early generation iPhone, WiFi iPad or iPad2, allowing you to start using your beloved iOS device for navigation and all sorts of geo-goodness. I’m not yet an iOS user (though an iPad 2 is on my wish list), but the Bad Elf is so popular that I thought it deserved a post. As I compose this, it’s ranked number 23 on Amazon’s GPS bestseller list and has been in the top 100 for 147 days.

read more

Preserving cellphone battery life in the backcountry

Dazzle-Android-batteryI imagine that a lot of our readers are trying out their smartphones in the backcountry, using mapping applications for navigation. One of the problems with this (and there are several), is that few things will drain your battery faster than your phone searching for a signal where there is none, or where reception is marginal.

read more

Magellan ToughCase ruggedizes your iPhone

Magellan_ToughCase Looks like Magellan is going to roll out an uber-case for the iPhone. The ruggedized ToughCase adds an improved GPS receiver, battery pack, IPX7 water proofing and quite a bit of bulk. And it’ll set you back about $200!

read more

Two free apps help name that peak

Peak-AR Hey What’s That goes mobile

It’s been quite a while since I wrote about Hey What’s That?, a website that helps you identify mountains on the horizon. Well, today comes news that they have a mobile app for Android and iPhone (here is their mobile FAQ). So I tweeted about it and @CompeGPS turned me onto…

Peak.AR

Peak.AR icon(iTunes link) is a free augmented reality app that looks much better. There’s a screenshot at the top of this post (note that both English and German languages are supported). It’s limited to the iPhone now, but an Android app is expected by the end of February.

read more

Magellan iPhone car kit clears FCC

Magellan-car-kit That was fast. Just a few days after we learned of its existence, Magellan’s car kit has cleared the FCC. The boys at TomTom could sure learn something from them about hustle. But hey, on top of speed, the holder just looks pretty cool. I’m still trying to figure out what the LED lens and rear slide button are all about though. Check out the PDF, have a look yourself, and share your insights, guesses, etc. below.

Magellan rolls out iPhone app; Droid users left in dust

Magellan-iPhone-app The Magellan RoadMate iPhone appicon (iTunes link) was introduced this weekend. It includes text-to-speech, lane assist and in-app music controls, and runs $79.99. Magellan also says they have a car kit coming (pic below) that has an integrated GPS receiver and will accommodate the iPhone or iPod touch.

read more

TomTom iPhone car kit pricing

tomtom-iphone-car-kit After a day in which we saw the TomTom iPhone car kit go up for pre-sale on the iTunes app store in Europe, and then get pulled down, TomTom decided that the best way to fight the rumor mill on pricing was to put out a news release saying how much it would cost. Here is their rather terse announcement:

read more