Trafficmaster on PocketPC

[Ian-Lewis]

I have had a confirmation from www.traffic-i.com that the Trafficmaster database will be available on the PocketPC from mid November. I know it is not directly TomTom related, but it will make life a lot easier having everything on one device

[Privateer]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the information. Do you have any details on how the Pocket PC will be able to receive the live data?

Will there be a receivers that are either cable or Bluetooth that can pickup both Trafficmaster and GPS signals?

Any idea of the initial cost of the software/hardware and the annual subscription fee for the Trafficmaster service?

Once we have this technology then hopefully TomTom will integrate it into the next version of Navigator.

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

[Lost Cause]

Hi Gents,

I had a very worthwhile and informative conversation with Traffic-i about a month ago. Given my poor memory, then could everyone concerned please accept my apologies for any inaccuracies in the below - which is intended as a rough summary of what I was told about the forth-coming Traffic-i system.

Traffic-i works over the GPRS telephone system.

As a start-up package, you buy a disc off them. This costs £39.95 and includes a year's free subscription. Once you have the disc then subsequent yearly subscriptions will be £35 (I think). You pay Traffic-i, not TrafficMaster.

You load the software onto your PDA. This software includes maps of the UK.

You then connect via GPRS to the Traffic-i system. At which point the 'speed' icons will be dowloaded onto your PDA, via your mobile phone, and overlayed onto the UK maps provided by Traffic-i. Then, you'll see something similar in principle to the TrafficMaster website. Although I was told that Traffic-i are a completely independant company to TrafficMaster themselves. They buy the info from TrafficMaster to independently offer this PDA/mobile phone solution.

The beauty of the system is that, as the maps are already loaded via the CD software, then the network is only transfering the 'speed' icons via GPRS. This keeps downloads small. The gentleman I spoke to estimated that a complete UK download would take approx 30 seconds. Anyone familiar with TrafficMaster will know that information is only displayed for a road if there is a hold-up e.g. if the road has average speeds of 30mph or less. So, actually, the number of icons needed for download tends to be quite small - hopefully ! No icons are displayed if the road is clear.

You will be able to define how often your PDA/mobile will go back on-line for updates - via GPRS. For instance, you can have continous updates i.e. 'Always on', or set it to 30mins, 1 hour updates, no updates, etc, etc. To save on your mobile phone bill.

Our conversation didn't cover if the software knows where you are - either via GPS or otherwise. My hunch is that it can't do this.

You'll be able to zoom and pan around the maps, but to the best of my knowledge, you will not be able to overlay the speed icons onto the TomTom maps, or any other maps for that matter. Just the Traffic-i ones.

In terms of hardware, all you need is a GPRS mobile phone and your PDA - and a means for those two to talk to each other e.g. bluetooth.

Alternatively, Traffic-i can be run entirely on a mobile phone, but ONLY those with the Symbian (or whatever it is called) operating system. There's I think two or three of these - such as the expensive Nokia/Eriksons P800 etc. It won't work on a 'normal' mobile such as my Sony t610 for instance. At time of purchase, you must specify whether you are going to run on a PDA or a mobile phone, and a CD will be sent accordingly. The price is the same regardless.

So, as I see this working, by mid-November I'll be running TomTom/Emtac as per normal, but for an additional £40 I'll have the Traffic-i program running in the background on my PDA (2210). My mobile phone (T610) will be on, running in GPRS, and connected via bluetooth to the PDA. Occasionally, I'll switch between the two applications to see what the traffic is like. Having previously decided how often I want the traffic information to be updated. The two applications won't be that integrated as such, but the info will be there to view nonetheless.

Again, profound apologies if any of this overview is inaccurate, ambiguous or mis-leading. I just want to spread the word on what I've found out so far.

Personally, I can't wait - as I've yet to find any way of accessing the TrafficMaster websites on my PDA. So big up to Traffic-i, and congratulations to them for having someone who understands all this on their customer helpline ! Quite remarkable.

[MrT]

Why has no company made a simple package to integrate the existing TrafficMaster service with a PDA. The existing Traffic Master service transmits the traffic information using the Vodaphone pager network. All someone would have to do is build a modified pager that would recieve and un-encode the data and input this to the PDA. This would negate the use of the relatively expensive GPRS service in the solution above.

[mark_p]

I had confirmation today from Traffic-i that the Microsoft Pocket PC version will be released during the first quarter of 2004.

[MrT]

I see trafficmaster have a palm pilot version available:

http://www.trafficmaster.co.uk/page.cfm?key=palm-prod

[st1967]

Don't you think this could all be a little "cluttered" on the Pocket PC. I have the old fashioned Traffic Master stuck on my dash beeping as I go under bridges, then as soon as it tells me there is a hold up of longer than 15mins I reroute manually with my Tom Tom if I can. No flicking between applications on the Pocket PC. However, All the information is good but I must admit that the delays on the traffic master are quite accurate and most re-routes take a lot longer than the initial delay.

[woody67]

I was wondering if anyone is using Traffic-i or Trafficmaster freeway?

I agree that Freeway would be a better option for while you are on the move but you can't plan a route with it as you can't check any other roads.

Traffic-i will let you see congested roads on a map, and so you may be able to plan routes around congestion - but it is difficult to use whilst driving as there is still no updating device location facility.

I am thinking of getting traffic-i for the Ericsson P900, but perhaps Freeway may be more practical - if less glamorous!

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