[mac4theblind] IPod Touch GPS Success (Long)
- From: "John Heim" <john@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <mac4theblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:37:21 -0600
Last night I put my Ipod Touch GPS to the test for real for the first time.
I've been playing with it for a couple of months but hadn't used it to get
somewhere I'd never been before. Last night, I did more than that, I used it
when I was totally lost.
I was listening to the "60 Minutes" podcast on the bus (which I highly
recommend by the way) and I wasn't paying attention to where the bus was. I
was totally engrossed in this story about how the Chicago police coerced
confessions from all these innocent kids. Anyway, I just got off the bus
thinking I was at my stop. I have to walk quite a way from the stop to my
house and pretty soon it became obvious that I was not where I thought I
was. Furthermore, I hadn't really been paying close attention and was unsure
of how to get back to the stop where I'd just been.
So I got out my Ipod and powerd up my bluetooth GPS. I ran the GPS software,
Navigon, and clicked on "Take Me Home". It said I was 1.5 miles from home.
In spite of a few problems, I went from totally lost to home in a half an
hour. Total cost for Ipod Touch, bluetooth GPS, and Navigon was just under
$350. Now that the Kapten Plus is no longer being manufactured, I consider
this the best accessible GPS available for under $350.
My choice of an Ipod Touch limited my choices of GPS software. An Ipod Touch
is about $300 cheaper than an Ipad with a built in GPS. And if you include
the cost of the voice/data plan, it is about $500 cheaper than an Iphone.
But while the Ipod Touch has wifi, it does not have a 3G or 4G data
ability. That meant I was limited to GPS apps that included maps.
Navigon, which costs $40, has maps and is fairly accessible. But there are a
few problems. One is that when you are starting aroute, it doesn't tell you
which direction to start in, north, south, east, or west. So I went about a
block and it started giving me directions that made it clear I was going the
wrong way. Plus, I noticed that my total distance to travel had gone up. I
reversed my direction and Navigon began directing me to a street I
recognized.
Another problem with Navigon is that it doesn't give you your current
address. But you can double click on the directions and it will tell you
which street you are on. So I was able to assure myself that I was on the
right track by repeatedly stopping and clicking on the text area with the
directions. It would then switch to telling me which street I was on. I
would click again and it would go back to tshowing which street was my next
turn and how far away I was from home.
There also appears to be a bug in Navigon in that it keeps giving directions
you've already done. So it kept telling me to turn right onto the street I
was already on. That was annoying but I was pretty sure I knew where I was
because of the text information I was getting like the current street name,
the directions themselves, and the distance to my destination. In other
words, I'd click on the directions text field and it would say my next turn
was onto my own street. I'd click it again and it would say I was on the
right street that goes to my house. I clicked on the distance from home and
it kept going down. So I knew I was going the right way yet, the stupid
voice directions kept telling me to turn. In spite of these problems, I
consider Navigon an acceptable choice for GPS software for the Ipod Touch.
To use the Navigon software, you have to connect a GPS receiver to your
Ipod. There are two GPS receivers for an Ipod Touch. I wanted to try them
both so I could tell others which is best. I would say it is pretty much a
draw and they are both good.
The first is manufactured by Bad Elf. It sells for $99. This GPS receiver is
very tiny, about the size of a large postage stamp only thicker. It plugs
into the 32 pin edge connector on your Ipod where you'd normally plug in
your tether to charge your Ipod. This receiver draws power from the Ipod
itself so in long use, it will drain the tbattery on your Ipod. But it's
easy to carry and you can actually just leave it plugged in all the time if
yu charge your Ipod a lot. It also comes with a USB cable that plugs into
the receiver and charges your Ipod. Essentially, when the USB cable is
connected, it is a spare tether. The only drawback is that this cable is
not a standard mini-USB cable.
The other GPS receiver is by Dual and connects via bluetooth. It also sells
for $99. It's considerably bigger, about 2 inches on a side. But it has it's
own battery and won't drain the battery on your Ipod. This receiver is
charged via a standard mini-USB cable. It comes with a wrist band that
makes carrying it easy. The main drawback of the Dual bluetooth GPS is
that you can forget to charge it and then it won't work. In an emergency,
the last thing you want is to discover that you forgot to turn your GPS
receiver off last time and now it's out of power. Another problem is that
the on/off button is extremely well hidden. You'll never just find it. The
device has a round control panel on the top and you have to press a button
under the panel to turn it on. Note, it's not a touch screen. It is somewhat
like the control panel on a microwave oven only smoother. Yes, that's right,
even smoother than the control panel on devices like microwave ovens. The
switch is located on the circular control panel on the edge closest to the
USB port. To turn the device on, put your thumb on the panel about half a
centimeter from the edge and press. If you've hit the right spot, you will
hear and feel a click like a button on a microwave oven. Press and hold for
about one second.
Both the Bad Elf and Dual GPS receivers come with apps that are
automatically downloaded when you first connect them to your Ipod. The apps
are comperable with a slight edge going to the Dual app. The Dual app is
slightly more accessible and gives slightly more information. But really,
you will probably never use these apps. You might need them to make the
receiver work with your Ipod but other than that, they aren't much use.
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