GPS reviews, news, tips, tricks and deals
TomTom for Android map screen
The long-awaited TomTom navigation app finally came to Android in October, only to disappoint those of us with larger screen phones like my Samsung Galaxy Nexus, which weren’t compatible. Fortunately an early December update brought compatibility to a larger range of phones and I’ve been testing it on and off ever since. How did it do? Read on to find out… read more
Sportablet running on an Android tablet
Sportablet is an Android app that allows you to connect many Garmin devices to Android tablets. Primarily intended for fitness buffs, it gives access to stats, allows you to post to Garmin Connect or Facebook and more. While it’s not designed for Garmin handhelds, it does appear to work with many of their more recent introductions. There is also a smartphone version – the Uploader for Garmin. read more
As a general rule I don’t like Multi-caches. These are the class of geocaches that have you visiting a number of locations, collecting clues along the way which you then pump into a final formula to give you the location of the actual cache. I must stress that my dislike is entirely personal. Why go for a three mile walk to find one geocache when that same walk could be made as a circular series of 5 – 10 caches? It always seems like a waste of space and time to me. read more
Ah, something nice to wake up to this morning. The TomTom Android app is now live in Google Play, with versions available for a wide range of countries and regions including the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa.
Telenav has announced Scout for Android this morning, a free navigation app that offers turn by turn routing, local search, traffic, voice recognition, and automatic rerouting for free. read more
Garmin has announced new pedestrian and public navigation features for their StreetPilot Onboard and Navigon apps, bringing CityXplorer-like features to your smartphone. With the new Urban Guidance (in-app purchase) feature, public transit options will be considered in pedestrian routing decisions, while the Last Mile Navigation feature (Navigon apps only) will automatically mark your location when you park your car.
EDIT: I’ve added a video after the break.
TomTom has announced that their long-awaited Android app will be released this October. While prices were not announced, we do know that lifetime map updates, text-to-speech, IQ Routes and advanced lane guidance will be included, while HD traffic and speed camera alerts will be available as in-app purchases. read more
It seems every time you look there’s a new geolocation game on the market. Some of these are little more than thinly veiled behaviour tracking vehicles fighting for a place in an already crowded segment of the app market, but some of them are genuinely fun games offering something a little different. Munzee is one of the fun ones, sitting somewhere between traditional geocaching and smartphone based location-based games such as Foursquare. read more
Update: Now available for iOS (compatible with 2013 Bluetooth nuvis).
I’ve been living with Garmin’s Smartphone Link Android app for a few months now, and there are a lot of things I like about it. I haven’t tested all the features, but I’ll walk you through the ones I have tried. read more
Garmin has just announced a new LiveTrack feature for their Fit smartphone app, that allows you to share your location by email, Facebook or Twitter. At an in-app purchase price of $19.99 a year or $1.99 per month, I think they are going to sell a lot of these. There are enough runners and road bikers with anxious spouses that I think it will be a big hit.
