Reviews: Sony PSP Go!Explore in for review

As Sony UK seem unable/unwilling to discuss their Satnav package GO!Explore for the PSP we've taken the rare step of actually buying one for review. Normally if a companies PR team can't be bothered then we would adopt the same attitude but this is a novel solution that may actually do quite well assuming Sony don't abandon it as they have their PND products!

Available from Argos and Amazon at £99.99 the package contains the GPS receiver, a 12v power adapter, Arkon car mount and a UMD disc containing maps of UK & Ireland. The software itself is iGO with their latest mapping that has 3d topography and some 3d buildings.

I'll be reviewing this in detail in a few weeks but in the meantime I'll be adding some pictures to wet your appetite and answer any questions you may have in this forum thread...

Posted by Darren Griffin on Tuesday, July 01 @ 09:23:41 GMT

News: Google sign five year map agreement with TeleAtlas

TeleAtlas have announced that Google have signed a five year license agreement that gives Google continued access to TeleAtlas map data and content.

The agreement covers all Google's current and future map-based service offerings which includes Google Maps and Google Earth and Google's mobile offering, Google Maps for Mobile.

The agreement also gives TeleAtlas access to corrections and edits from Google community users which will be used to further enhance the data currency of TeleAtlas maps.

Click here to read more and discuss...

Posted by Darren Griffin on Tuesday, July 01 @ 08:23:12 GMT

News: GPS enabled congestion charge assistant - the KenBuster

KenBuster is a gadget designed to alleviate a little bit of the pain felt by motorists in London by automatically paying the Congestion Charge every time the zone is entered within controlled hours.

KenBuster uses GPS to detect when a vehicle enters the congestion charging zone during controlled hours. The device then sends a message back to KenBuster HQ where a payment is made automatically to Transport for London (TfL).

Approximately 5,000 people are fined per day, equating to roughly six percent of those driving in the congestion zone, yet TfL generate over 31% percent of revenue from fines. Worse still, vehicles with three or more outstanding penalty charges may be immobilised or removed anywhere within Greater London. The immobilisation fee is £70 and the removal fee is £200 while storage of the vehicle costs £40 a day. A scary thought for absent-minded drivers, of which there are many!

The KenBuster is priced at £200 without subscription charges and the most cost-effective method of removing the pain of Congestion Charge payment. The KenBuster is available online at www.kenbuster.com.

Click here to discuss...

Posted by Darren Griffin on Tuesday, July 01 @ 07:56:09 GMT

Subscribers: The winner of our Subaru WRT competition has been selected

A big thank you to Subaru World Rally Team for donating the prize for our competition.

Question:In 2008 the Subaru World Rally Team pairing of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills will reach their 125th World Rally together, making theirs one of the longest-standing partnerships in the WRC. But in which year did Phil first navigate alongside the Norwegian on a WRC event?

Answer:1 1999. Are you the lucky winner? Click here to find out...

This time our competition sponsor is Nav N Go.
Nav N Go develops innovative software for connected devices offering the latest solutions for GPS navigation, location-based services and content provided for a variety of platforms. Nav N Go have donated 5 copies of Nav N Go iGO 8 (Europe) for the competition.

Click here to enter the competition and try your luck.

Would Your Company Like to Sponsor a Competition? If so, please email marketing@PocketGPSWorld.com with your prize offer and for more information.

Posted by Mike Barrett on Monday, June 30 @ 14:53:17 GMT

Reviews: Qstarz BT-Q1000 Platinum Travel Recorder review

The Qstarz BT-Q1000 Platinum is a GPS datalogger that records your travel as a series of datapoints. This datalog can then be loaded onto a computer and used to match positions to digital pictures to provide location information on your images, a process known as geotagging. These pictures can then be uploaded to an online photo album such as Flickr which is able to show the location the picture was taken on a digital map.

Last year I reviewed the Qstarz GPS Travel Recorder BT-Q1000 (click here for the article). Since then the company has released an updated version of the GPS Datalogger: the BT-Q1000 Platinum.

Click here to read the review.

We have also produced a short video review showing the Qstarz Travel Recorder Software in action:

Click here for a quicktime movie or here for a windows media version.

Subscribers: Speed Camera Database Error - Please Re-Download

As a result of an error on our part, yesterday's speed camera database update was not committed to the master public database. Consequently all downloads prior to 3:15pm today (28 Jun 08) would have contained the previous release data and not the latest release.

We have now corrected our mistake and the database now available for download is the correct and current data. Can all subscribers who downloaded the latest release prior to this announcement please re-download to ensure they have the latest current release data.

Please accept our apologies for this unfortunate oversight.

Posted by Darren Griffin on Saturday, June 28 @ 14:16:19 GMT

Subscribers: The PocketGPSWorld.com International Speed Camera Database Has Just Been Updated

Version 6.065 - 27 Jun 08

This release sees 311 static and mobile speed cameras added/modified across the various speed camera databases by 69 users. We have also banned 3 users for breach of copyright. Please click here for the full breakdown of country, speed camera type and number. All members submitting qualifying reports of static/mobile speed cameras will be credited with lifetime memberships by 17:00 30 Jun 08.

Please keep submitting all sightings of mobile speed cameras so we can keep our database up to date with active sites. Apparently-inactive sites will be removed from the database in the coming weeks and months.

The Garmin GPSR is now up to date (1st Jul 08, 10:47am)
The NavigationMaster database is currently 5.113 (13th Nov 07)
The MapFactor/Directions database is currently 6.054 (21st May 08)

Dont forget our RSS feed which is updated every time we release the speed camera database. Simply right click on the RSS image and select copy shortcut, then post the link into your favourite RSS reader.

The speed camera submission page and download page can be found by clicking here. You can submit new speed cameras in one of two ways - either an OV2 file or individual camera locations.

A beginner's guide to the speed camera database can be found here, and some installation instructions for most units can be found here.

Please watch for further announcements on the homepage or sign up to our occasional newsletter alerts which carry full details of future speed camera database releases. The newsletter signup box is located on the top left of all site pages. Your privacy is important to us, we do not sell on your email details.

Posted by maft on Friday, June 27 @ 12:04:04 GMT

News: 8th annual Best Software Awards - open for public nominations

For those who haven't heard of the project yet, it helps users select the best Windows Mobile applications, utilities, and games, while honoring companies that produce outstanding software.

We have been judges at the annual Software Awards for a few years now, making sure that the navigation programs are represented appropriately.

This year you can contribute to the nominations yourself. End-users and Windows Mobile developers are welcome to make nominations suggestions through July 16, 2008. The list will change daily (products may appear, disappear, and be re-categorized) until nominations are frozen on July 21.

Click here for the list of nominees

Click here for the Nominations form

Click here for the Best Software Awards site



Posted by Lutz Bendlin on Friday, June 27 @ 00:49:26 GMT

News: Speed Camera Database Now Available for Nokia N95 and others!

Since it's release, a lot of people have been asking for a Speed Camera database for use with Nokia Maps. Well, the next best thing has arrived thanks to some FREE software that can run either on it's own or in the background with Nokia Maps or navigation software.

We have, therefore, added a specific download for this software package under the name 'Nokia SpeedCam' - so all you need to do is download the free software (the author accepts donations for their work), get yourself a subscription and then grab the files from our download page!

Click here to discuss and get the software for your GPS-enabled Nokia phone...

Posted by maft on Wednesday, June 25 @ 21:54:34 GMT

News: FREE (or cheap) Upgrade Now Available to iGO MyWay 8

Some good news for those of you wanting to upgrade from iGO MyWay 2006 to iGO 8 Europe; Nav N GO have just announced their new online upgrade shop where anyone with a full european version of iGO MyWay 2006 can upgrade to version 8.

If you bought the old version during 2008 you will be able to upgrade to version 8 free of charge! Otherwise the cost is a not-unreasonable €89 (£70). Visit http://my.navngo.com for full details.

Click here to discuss and read the full press release...

Click here to read the recent in-depth review...

Posted by maft on Tuesday, June 24 @ 14:51:59 GMT