gps for smartphone needed..... true gps

[viarailcanada]

Bonjour tous, hello all

I work for VIA Rail Canada away from home on the road and travel across Canada between Toronto, Vancouver, and north to Churchill for a living. I'm very new to both GPS and smartphones.

Less than a month ago, I acquired an 8100 through Rogers after explaining my need to the rep for GPS in remote areas, and was told not a problem... this device will suit you fine instead of other offerings from Palm, HTC, and HP.

BB maps, Google maps, Wayfinder will all work but my best bet will be TeleNav...

So I purchased an external receiver (Qstarz 32-32) and hit the road on my next assignment...

Interesting.... the first 2 recommended programs "died" as we left the suburbs and lost reception, only to pick up again 24 hours later when reception kicked in again approaching Toronto....

I contacted Wayfinder and was told the same will happen if I purchase their product.

So I called TeleNav customer service with fingers crossed, only to be told the same....

WOW! Talk about feeling screwed without even being kissed from Rogers....

I then contacted www.canadagps.com and "Tony" told me about "SPOT" with it's pre-load map capabilities...

Sounded too good to be true!

I tried the demo version which is very limited due to the time limit, so I pulled out the credit card and bought the full version with high hopes....

Only to find out that most maps that are sold (ie GEOTIFF.... etc) are only supported on the Windows Mobile platform and Palm OS.... the Java platform is not available....

The "SPOT" rep I then contacted proceeded to tell me that maps in the "worldfile" format are the only ones that can be pre-loaded.... otherwise I have to use WMS...

Which takes me full circle....

Twice you-know-what and still no kisses....

Not wanting to part from my crack-berry, I contacted Rogers for help only to be given an apology and a $100 dollar rebate towards a HTC TyTn....

I then called RIM and the csx rep I spoke with said he only knows of TeleNav and it's triangular formation that offers GPS... he was unaware of any other programs for Blackberry that provide this service...

Unreal....

Grrrr.... I've grown to love my 8100 and don't want to part from it but my work requires GPS outside of reception areas.... and I'm not a big fan of Microsoft.

Is my only option changing phones?

Or does anyone have any recommendations on how to purchase and pre-load "worldfile" maps onto my 8100....

Or even prehaps I've missed something here and you can fill me in...

Thanks for your help in advance.

C

[robertn]

It's OK that you don't like Microsoft, I understand that, but don't cut you nose off despite your face. The reality is that unless you want to keep on being a beta tester for various startups, you will probably need to go Microsoft. I felt the same way until I got older and wiser, and realised getting the job done was more important ....

There are Palm options (I am not all that familiar with), but Java based phones have :
1) Only been around a short time
2) An incredible array of OS options that no two phones run the same complex application
3) Are just phones with enough added for the marketing departments to add a tick on the gift box feature list
4) Did you not know that the entire world is nw covered by Cellular, why would you do it locally when the telecos can do it remotely for you (And click the ticket on every data packet)

My experiance dates back 12 months when I abandoned the idea of java/phone for GPS apps and went PPC. I do not believe the technolgy is capable of delivering the hype, but I would be estatic to be proved entirely wrong, maybe 12 months has been enough time... Untill then, dump the all-in-one unless you are prepared to go Microsoft.

[viarailcanada]

I hear you and understand....

The main reason why I decided to go the all-in-one route is because I wanted to simplify and reduce what I carry while working.

I already need to wear a flashlight, id-acess card, multi-tool, keys, and a Motorola radio on my belt.... plus my BB.

Thank god when I wear my suit jacket, it covers most of these items up...

Adding a small handheld/pocket size GPS on top of this would just be too much... I already dis-like wearing my BB in it's holster and would rather carry it in my pocket, however, I have found with past phones they do tend to get banged up a little (from helping in the baggage car or leaning on them while performing certain duties) or even slightly damp (from helping in the dining car).

Why would I need to carry it on me at all times and couldn't just place somewhere and get it when needed?

Our trains are between 18-32 cars long... 1/3rd to half a mile long and carry a few hundred passengers. I"m always on my feet walking between these cars, performing my job duties and each trip is 4-5 days on the road.

The main reason why I took up this project is because we are constantly looking at improving safety upon our trains as well as improving our passengers experience.

Lets say we are in an unfortunate accident and are unable to communicate with the engineers due to them being injured. I need to know exactly where we are located so first response teams know where to find us and don"t loose precious minutes "trying" to locate our position (as mentioned earlier, we travel through various remote areas). Specialized topographic maps with the railway and mile markers would be key for this.

Or we are travelling around some body of water, point of interest, etc. and passengers would like to know what said feature is, where we are, you name it.... I'd be better positioned to provide an accurate answer.

Having a single, handheld device with topographic maps, GPS capabilities, voice, web-acess, e-mail (plus some MP3's/a movie to enjoy during my rest period included to boot ) would be just perfect, instead of having to carry 3-5 separate devices in my grip.

See what I mean?

[alix776]

if you want reduce what you carry then I look at something like and htc artimis ppc\phone no 3g but built in gps

or the htc p4300 I think it is this is similar to the tytyn but alsohas gps intrgrated to the phone but be warned having 3g does dramaticly reduce battery life

my personal recommendation would be the artimis and use an onboard mapping application
_________________
currently using aponia truck navigation on windows phone. Good bye IOS don't let the door hit you on the way out .

Oh the joys of being a courier.
device Lumia 950 xl

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