[gps-talkusers] GPS Version 3 changes

Well, BrailleNote GPS version 3 is almost here, close enough to being out 
that we can tell you everything that is in this version versus version 2. 
We will be taking orders at the Summer shows and shipping right afterwards 
and possibly at the shows  for those we see in person.

Thanks to this list for lots of great suggestions and to an incredible 
testing team. The list of changes here represents a huge incremental 
advance over version 2 and yet there are still things we have reserved for 
a version 4. And, of course, I am sure you will tell us what else we can 
improve upon.
Mike

Version 3 Changes, June 26, 2004

BrailleNote GPS Version 3 improves upon Address Matching, Automatic Route 
Calculation, Look-Around mode, Points of Interest functionality as well as 
incorporating newer POI and map data. A brand new Virtual Explore mode has 
been added. A host of smaller feature and quality improvements have also 
been implemented.

The following is a cryptic list of these changes in Version 3 versus 
Version 2. A better understanding of these items can be found by reading 
them in context within the user manual. Remember that we use the word 
"chord" to refer to a Space plus a letter or dots on the Braille keyboard 
and to the Control key plus a key on the QT keyboard.

Advanced POI Search: Chord F
The software now remembers the distance interval and expands by that 
interval. For example, if you search from 0 to 25 miles, subsequent 
expansions on that search will be in 25-mile increments.

When doing a POI Advanced Search you are presented with a list of 
categories. The Default category is "All." You can scroll through the 
category list or use the first letter of a category to hop directly to a 
specific item. It remembers the last category used, but defaults to the ALL 
category every time you enter the GPS program.

Some POIs also have sub category names. If you enter the word "Wreck" in 
the POI search string, you will find the sub category "Wrecks" within the 
Marine category. Not all categories have data yet.

New Look Around Features: Chord M
When you turn on the Look-Around mode, you are presented with the POI 
categories as well as the option for intersections to trigger automatically 
or not. The default is "All POIS including intersections." If you select a 
category, it will be remembered for Look-Around mode until you exit the GPS 
program.  The POI Categories include the User POI category.

At the same time Look-Around mode looks for nearby POIs, it now searches 
for intersections within 200 feet when you are traveling under 15 miles per 
hour. You can choose to look around for POIs only, Intersections only, or 
both.

New prompt:
When you start the GPS program, with the receiver turned off or 
disconnected, you now hear, "Turn on your GPS receiver or press V for 
Virtual Mode."

The GPS Menu has a new item to take you directly to the GPS User's manual.

If you select a route calculation that has a destination over 100 miles 
away from the starting position, you receive a warning that the route will 
take a long time to calculate so you have the option to cancel.

Sendero will now provide a monthly compilation of all User POI files sent 
to the company. A utility has been created to compress the User.POI files 
into a merged User.BPI file. This User POI file will be made available by 
email and/or on the Sendero web site for version 3 users. The first of 
these files is included with the new POIs. Users are encouraged to submit 
their POIs to Sendero to be added to the collective user database at the 
beginning of each month.

  Command Changes:

B and Chord B for Pedometer now impact GPS and Explore modes independently.

C now announces other map features in addition to City/State/Zip. If you 
are in a bay for example, it will announce the name of that body of water 
if it is in the map database. You will hear it after the city name and 
before the state and zip. You may also hear a county name, college campus 
or park announced.

Chord C is a new command that announces a complete list of available map 
features for a location. These include the road classification, speed 
limit, number of lanes, address range on each side of the road, city, 
surrounding borough or other similar classification if there is one, 
county, country and zip.

Record POI on the QT is now Control R. It used to be Control P.

Record POI on the BT is SPACE with Dot 3.

Chord P now announces POI details like phone number and address on both the 
BT and QT.

The letter P announces the POI name, just as it did before.

Chord X announces intersection details like which street you are on and the 
compass orientation of the cross streets.

Chord D now sets an Explore position as a destination in addition to its 
previous function of setting a waypoint or Point of Interest as a 
Destination. Simply press Chord D after exploring the map in virtual mode 
and the name of the intersection will be set as your destination. Be aware 
that if a Point of Interest should trigger from the Look Around mode, it 
could be tagged as your destination unless you press the X key or Explore 
Left, Right or Forward first.

Version 3 also has a slight difference in the W & Chord W commands in GPS 
mode. Each time you press W, the total distance to that waypoint is added 
to the previous waypoints in your route.

In virtual mode this behaves like it did before.  So this means if you want 
to virtually walk to route and find out how far each section of the route 
is enter virtual mode and use the W / CHORD W keys.  Since W really moves 
the current waypoint, it only makes sense in GPS mode that it gives you the 
distance and heading from your GPS position and not from the previous point 
in the route.

Z, Altitude, now says "near sea level" when you are within 100 feet of sea 
level.

Virtual Explore mode commands

Turn Left, BT dots 23, QT Control Left Arrow
Turn Right, Dots 56, QT Control Right Arrow
Forward one Intersection, BT Dots 2356, QT Control Up Arrow
Back up one intersection only, BT SPACE with Dots 2356, QT Control Down Arrow

Improvements in address searching

No Township:
Many of the Township city names have been merged into their respective city 
names.

Cross Streets:
If the address you enter is not found during an Address search, a list of 
cross streets will be presented. An alternate street number will be 
presented, which you can select by pressing Escape, SPACE with Z on the BT 
keyboard.  Note, if you do not enter a street address, the cross street 
list will also be presented.

The cross street list in the Address matching mode is not completely in
order. You will find that sections of streets are in order but not the
entire cross-street list. The purpose of this list is so that the user
has a choice of potential cross streets if an address number is not
available. If one needs to see the exact layout of cross streets, the 
Virtual Explore mode can provide this.

Address Matching Improved:
Successful City, street name and street number matching is now much better. 
When traveling on a train, cities can now be announced.

Automatic Route Calculation:
A number of programming changes have been made to improve automatic routes.

Accessing lists by letter:
When selecting a POI Category, City, Street or Cross Street from a list of 
choices you can either scroll through the list as before or use any letter 
A-Z to hop directly to items beginning with that letter.  By pressing the 
same letter repeatedly you will scroll through the list of items beginning 
with that letter.  Once you reach the end of the list with items beginning 
with that letter pressing the same letter again will repeat the process over.

Distance calculations are even more precise.

Two additional digits have been added to the latitude/longitude 
announcement. Press the letter, Y.

POI searches have been sped up. Selecting a POI category increases searches 
even more.

Version 3 announces "A Shoreline" or "A Railroad." These two classes of 
data have been added to the announcements but automatic routes will not 
route you on to a shoreline or a railroad. The name of the body of water 
associated with that shoreline will be announced if it is in the data.

Maps now have the complete state name and not its 2-letter abbreviation. 
Remember this when entering the state in the first field of an address 
search. Enter DC however for the District of Columbia.

Spell mode now slows down the speech so you can hear each letter more easily.

When you are within 12 feet or less of a point or destination, the 
announcement now simply says, "Near" instead of giving you the heading and 
distance.

Changes in GPS Receiver Types:
The Default GPS receiver type set under the GPS Options Menu is now "Serial 
GPS." This mode is recommended for the Earthmate receiver. It provides a 
slight improvement in processing time over the Magellan receiver type. An 
option for a Compact Flash GPS receiver type has also been added although 
the current models are not as good as the Earthmate.

Improved Map Data:
The street map data is now current through Q1 2004, well over a year newer 
than the Version 2 maps. The U.S. is now over 4.8 GB, 12% larger. New maps 
for Europe are being released. Canada is available for the first time.

Increased POI data and functionality:
Our POI database has increased from 750,000 points in the U.S. to over a 
million points of interest. Points are included for Guam, Puerto Rico and 
nearby islands as well as a smattering of points in countries around the 
world. Detailed information is available for many of these points such as 
address and phone number. New POI categories have been added like highway 
exits, large medium and small cities, hospitals and more. If you don't find 
a city easily during an address search, use the POI search to find it.

See the ReadMe, audio tutorial, User manual and receiver Getting Started 
documents for more details.

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