Posts Tagged ‘applications’

Garmap delivers enhanced mobile online navigation

// November 22nd, 2009 // 1 Comment » // News, Tech

I’ve been a big fan of Garmin ever since I got my Nuvi back in 2006. That being said, I’d always hoped that Garmin would bring out a software suite that could run on mobile phones, without the need for any GPS attachments. Last week, I was notified that Garmap has done just that.

The official word:

Garmap, the official map data provider for Garmin navigation products in Africa, announced at the AfricaCom event in Cape Town recently that Garmap for Mobile Online, Garmap’s newest navigation software suite for mobile devices, will be available to purchase in retail blister packs at outlets and mobile phone stores around South Africa from mid-November.

Powered by Appello’s award-winning navigation platform, Garmap for Mobile Online delivers full-feature navigation throughout South Africa on nearly any GPS-enabled mobile phone, while only utilising a minimal amount of the phone memory.

“With this software, GPS-enabled mobile phones can be equipped with the same navigation capability utilising the latest mapping data that is available on bigger and more expensive GPS devices,” says Andrew McHenry, head of mobile for Garmap.

“When people purchase the new retail blister pack, they can enjoy the full version of Garmap for Mobile, which gives them access to voice turn-by-turn navigation, a full list of points of interest (POIs), weather updates and – for a small monthly fee – real time traffic, just to name a few of the features,” he adds.

Garmap for Mobile is designed to keep as small a presence as possible on a mobile phone and, as such, relies on a data connection (either GPRS, Edge or 3G/HSDPA) to download maps, POIs and other data that gives users the full GPS experience.

Because maps and POIs are downloaded in real-time via the phone’s data connection, users can be assured that they are always accessing the most up-to-date maps of Southern Africa that Garmap has to offer.

Garmap for Mobile is available for Symbian-based phones as well as BlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile phones.

Garmap for Mobile Online retails for a recommended R990.00, which includes a 24-month usage license and a live traffic subscription.

Screenshots

garmap_mobile2 garmap_mobile1

Comments
I’m delighted that this is out, but I have a few reservations. It’s still only available for Symbian, CrackBlackBerry, Android and Windows Mobile, which unfortunately doesn’t help me with my iPhone. Secondly, the pricing model seems a bit steep, considering that Google Maps is free (and it works on practically any mobile device).

I’d like to think that Garmin offers a completely different experience with its extensive POI (Points of interest) database and Southern African coverage – the area that the Google maps lags behind in many ways. We’ll wait and see.

What’s that song again?

// August 29th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // iPhone, Music, Tech, Video

Ever had a song stuck in your head and you don’t know the name? It happens to me all the time. Either I know a line from the song, or have some idea of the tune, but no idea who the artist or the song is.

To make matters worse, I always seem to miss the song intro on the radio and the DJ never seems to repeat the song title.

Midomi Song Identification and searchImagine my delight when I stumbled upon the iPhone song identification application Midomi. Let me briefly interject.
A good friend, Leon Jacobs once said, “The greatest things about iPhone is the potential that every new app has to completely transform the device into a totally new experience.” I have to agree with Leon. Midomi has transformed the way I interact with music.

The premise is simple – open Midomi, press the big orange button, hold your iPhone up to a source of music and voila, it identifies the artist and song title. It even allows you to play back a short clip (from its own database) so that you can confirm if it’s the same song. Just watch out for loud ambient noise though – it makes song recognition a bit tricky.

Surprisingly enough it even recognised my tone-deaf humming of certain songs. Of course, if you don’t want to feel like a dork singing to your phone, you can also search for a song or band just by saying or typing the name.

The features don’t stop there though. You can bookmark and share your song results via Twitter and Facebook. Check out the lyrics, videos via YouTube and obtain detailed artist info. You can buy the song, but I haven’t been able to do so since the iTunes music store is still not available in South Africa.

All in all, this is a great application and at $4.99 (around R38) it’s worth every cent.

Download the Midomi application for your iPhone here.

Midomi screenshot Midomi screenshot Midomi screenshot
Midomi screenshot Midomi screenshot Midomi screenshot

iPhone applications

// April 13th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // iPhone

My iPhone recently had to go back to Vodacom for an issue with the vibrate button. The thing broke off after only 2 months out the box. Something that’s completely unacceptable. Unfortunately the only thing to do was to book it in at Vodaworld, figuring it will be resolved fairly quickly.

In the initial three days I received a few messages informing me of the progress of the job, until it had to be sent back to the supplier. Around two-and-a-half weeks of silence ensued before I was finally notified that it was ready for collection. As expected (and welcomed), they exchanged the phone with a new unit.

One thing I must commend Apple on is how well the restore function works. Surprisingly enough it restored every setting, archived sms and application back to the last known state. Pretty amazing, considering I’ve never been able to do so with my Windows Mobile phones.

Funny thing about restoring your phone is that you notice how much nonsense you had on there in the first place. I took the opportunity to do some housekeeping and removed some unwanted / unused applications.

Below is a list of some of the more oft used (and mostly free) applications still on my phone.

    Photography

  • Flickit – Flickr uploader
  • PanoLab – Capture panoramic images
    Productivity

  • Discover – Mobile file manager
  • Road Trip – Best travel logbook application by far
    Social Networking

  • Brightkite – Location based networking
  • Facebook – What? Never heard of Facebook? Welcome to earth.
  • Fring – Instant messaging across multiple services
  • LinkedIn – Professional networking
  • Skype – Free calls and instant messages
  • Twitterfon – Twitter client
  • Twitterrific – Twitter client

Unfortunately some of the better apps in the iTunes App Store are still not available to South Africans, so we’ll have to make do for now. But here’s the question, are there other apps out there that I should have on my phone? What do you have on yours?

Afrigator