Mobile gadgets running Blackberry & Android OS'
Posts tagged tech-head
[en] Yet another InstaMapper GPS tracker upload [tech/GPS/GSM/BlackBerry]
01001 days
Just a quick upload with yet another InstaMapper track; this one‘s more detailed. This time I’ve used a 142 seconds pause between location updates for battery’ sake. The device goes to “sleep” between transmissions, which is a good thing (15%-20% of battery life in 3 hours is a good score for a GPS enabled device) but the result is quite inaccurate, and I’m pretty sure the calculations are done based on pinpoints. This means there is a half an hour period which wasn’t recorded (I stopped by for a visit but I was outside all the time) and the road isn’t followed exactly due to long pauses between pin-pointing.
But, hey, it’s nice for general purposes and if you get a car charger, then you can set it to transmit every 5 seconds or so; then, the result is bulls-eye!
[en] In search for the perfect GPS Tracker for BlackBerry [tech/GSM/BlackBerry]
11018 days
Recently I switched sides;I didn’t go to the Dark Side, to the Jesus phone, the Iphone because I needed a smartphone, not a toy (OK, I’m a bit harsh here, the Iphone is almost a smartphone and will be if they make it a multi-tasking device). So I got a BlackBerry Bold instead. It has a real keyboard, a nice and wide screen and a fast processor.
Now I’m using it and needing a free GPS tracker.So I started testing.
For 2 months I’ve used GPSed. Nice program, lots of options and features, great possibilities on usability.
You can:
- record GPS track from your mobile and trace them on a map
- pin your pictures on a map based on GPS co-ordinates by geotagging
- attach photos to tracks from web-albums like Flickr, Picasa, etc
- share your tracks and photos with friends
- show your geographic position instantly
- the program is available to most of the phones equipped with a GPS module, on various OS platforms like Symbian, Windows Mobile,Iphone and BlackBerry. Additionally, you can get a Java version for other smartphones. All these are based on Google Maps. That’s both a plus and a minus. A plus is because it’s easier to build an app on top on a map already very exact. A minus for the same reason: an very exact map but especially focused on Western&North Europe and United States.I live in Romania. If I need a close POI Google Maps is not helpful. A map focused on my region and the locations I visit frequently is for example, Mio.
How it works? Pretty good. All you have to do is to start up the program and it will quietly run in the background all the time while you do other things on your smartphone. You can also run at the same time a GPS program (like AmAze you can run on various OS’-here are a bunch of demos) and even another GPS tracker if you like. The only toll taken is battery life. But I’ll comeback to that later, at the end.
How it works? Pretty good. All you have to do is to start up the program and it will quietly run in the background all the time while you do other things on your smartphone. You can also run at the same time a GPS program (like AmAze you can run on various OS’-here are a bunch of demos) and even another GPS tracker if you like. The only toll taken is battery life. But I’ll comeback to that later, at the end.
You can be tracked in two ways: the phone updates your position in real time on GPSed.com, so people can track your progress (but this means you have to have a data plan which can be expensive AND GSM signal to constantly uplod data) or you can save your track at the end of the journey on the phone, data that can be uploaded onto GPSed.com by smartphone or PC. The 2nd variant is cheaper and safer. Why safer? Because I noticed that my real-time tracks were uploaded incomplete onto the site. This one was 2x longer than shown here. Why? I don’t know-I traveled on important roads with 3G GSM coverage on more than 60% of the time. An e-mail to the support team at GPSed didn’t change the outcome. They’ve replied a week later telling me they’ve submitted my inquiry to the developer;so far,so good. It’ll probably take them another month to check it.
And this is my main issue: this is a GPS tracker and can’t track my journeys properly. User support is virtually inexistent.It’s nice, it has tons of features I don’t use. I just wanna use the one important to me and I can’t as I should.
I have to say all these are not new. Several other programs offer the same functionality. The next try-out is happening right now.
Instamapper is a simple GPS tracker based on Google Maps (also). A simpler approach was taken probably in order to keep the layout simple and to have optimum results.
The Demo shows how the system works: it links the signals sent by the GPS module to put together the journey. The signals can be sent from the device from 1 to 999 seconds but ideally every 10-15 seconds while in town and over 121 seconds while out-of-town.The reason? As seen, the link doesn’t necessary follow the road and that’s my main gripe. When you travel outside the city, it’s really OK: you don’t change directions so often, so for sure you’ll be following the road even when sending signals every 2 minutes. But when in town, you can’t track the journey very accurate unless you modify the settings so the transmission to the site will be done every 10 to 15 seconds. Otherwise you have erroneous data. Data looks something like this:
2008-04-27 02:24:27
N 47.51167°
W 122.19801°
Altitude: 197 ft
Speed: 41 mph
Heading: 356 °
N 47.51167°
W 122.19801°
Altitude: 197 ft
Speed: 41 mph
Heading: 356 °
All data will be converted to metric if you live in a “metric” zone. You can save the track and share it with others thru a link you can provide; there is even a Facebook integration.There is some data usage (sending the data from the phone to the site) but Instamapper figures it won’t be more than 1 MB/month with fair usage. The supported OS’ are Iphone,Android and BlackBerry. Curiously, Nokia (Symbian) isn’t listed although there’s a line about some successful usage with some Nokia. But anybody can try,right?
I more important thing: battery life. Any of the GPS trackers or even regular maping systems will eat the battery in a few hours. A GPS tracker will use around 60% of the battery energy if used non-stop for around 3 hours with a 30 seconds updating schedule. This is a known issue but there is no cure for the moment except restricted usage for long periods of time and/or a car charger. On my way back from Galati I’ve changed the updating period from 30 seconds to 2 minutes thus putting the program at sleep in between communications. This allowed me to use only 25% of the battery life to track the same distance. A big difference indeed.
I am stopping here for the moment but other GPS trackers follow. I am sticking to Instamapper for the moment. It’s free, accurate, simple and efficient.
[ro] Noutati la MWC 2009 [tech-head/GSM]
01085 days
by Bograma
in Everything Else Tech
- Colectie de fotografii de la MWC 09
- Ziua 1 la MWC 09 prin All About Symbian
- Fostul smartphone G2 cu sistem de operare Android este de fapt HTC Magic, terminal exclusiv Vodafone
- Adobe expune un demo Flash Player 10 Beta pentru mobile la MWC 09 Barcelona
- NVIDIA aduce Tegra pentru mobilele Android La MWC 09 Barcelona
- HTC anunta lansarea in viitorul apropiat al modelelor HTC Diamond 2 si HTC Touch Pro 2
- Conferinta de presa Nokia de MWC 09 Barcelona
- Sony Ericsson anunta Idou – un prototip avansat (camera 12 MP,touch-screen de 3,5 inch si noul sistem de operare Symbian editia 5, un produs al noii Fundatii Symbian)
- Sony-Ericsson Idou – fotografii si video
- Alte informatii despre Sony Idou
- Samsung Omnia HD trece de pe Windows Mobile pe Symbian S60
- Palm Pre la MWC 09 – video
- Palm lanseaza un nou demo cu Palm Pre la WMC 09
Surse: boygeniusreport.com, engadget.com, allaboutsymbian.com, precommunity.com, slashgear.com, eweek.com, techdigest.tv
[ro] Prima zi a MWC, Barcelona 2008-Mobile World Congress [tech-head/GSM/Stiri]
01085 days
by Bograma
in Everything Else Tech
Astazi a inceput la Barcelona Congresul Mondial al Telefoniei Mobile, editia 2009. Dupa cum o spune si numele, in perioada 16-19 Februarie 2009 la standuri se vor regasi cele mai importante nume din lumea “mobila”, incepand cu producatorii de componente si terminale, gigantii Internetului (Google,Yahoo si Microsoft), pana la operatorii de telefonie mobila ca Orange, Vodafone sau T-Mobile. Scopul este prezentarea celor mai noi tehnologii si produse, de a discuta oportunitati de afaceri si starea actuala a industriei de telecomunicatii.
Desi initial se credea ca actuala criza economica va goni principalii participanti la Expozitiei, in final singurul mare absent este Apple; compania a participat la Macworld 2009,insa chiar si acolo a fost prezenta pentru ultima oara, iar Steve Jobs a trimis un inlocuitor, alimentand astfel zvonurile conform carora este grav bolnav.Site-urile majore de tehnologie si telecomunicatii mobile sunt prezente deja acolo si transmit live informatii referitoare la produsele prezentate:
Update-uri pentru toate marcile/produsele.
[ro] Blackberry Bold testat [GSM/tech-head/mobil]
11109 days
Astazi am butonat un Blackberry Bold datorita unui tip care a fost dragut sa-si piarda o ora si ceva cu mine pentru asta. Am apasat pe toate butoanele, am incercat aproape toate functiile (GPS-ul nu merge inauntru,afara ploua asa ca l-am crezut pe cuvant ca merge bine), am dat si am primit e-mails, am facut cateva fotografii,cam tot ce se poate face intr-un timp atat de scurt cu un aparat care stie multe.
Prima mea impresie este foarte buna. Nu excelenta, ci buna. Are si cateva impedimente: bateria nu este atat de senzationala pe cat auzisem. Si asta este o problema. O incarcare rezista aproape 24 de ore daca vorbesti 2 ore pe zi la telefon si il folosesti pentru e-mails si ceva browsing. Bluetooth-ul este pornit in permanenta datorita castii conectate la telefon. Deci aici este mediu. Nu stiu multe smartphones care sa tina mai mult de atat, insa despre BB Bold toata lumea este incantata de baterie.
Apoi ar mai fi:browserul nu “stie” Flash iar altul nu exista pe piata;mai este unul in beta private dar nu se stie cand apare. Face multitasking dar nu are un task manager ca sa aleg ce aplicatii raman si ce aplicatii opresc. Nu exista decat cateva aplicatii pentru Blackberry iar asta este un dezavantaj pentru un smartphone. Calitatea video este mediocra, fotografiile ies foarte bine. Ce de mai jos este facuta cu Bold-ul, 2 MP cu flash.
Probabil ca o sa mai gasesc si alte neajunsuri insa am lasat calitatile la final:extrem de bine construit, cu materiale de calitate si un ecran excelent de 480×320 pixeli. Softul foarte stabil si extrem de rapid datorita celor 128 MB RAM si a procesorului de 624 Mhz. Tastatura functioneaza fara greseala ceea ce este extrem de important pentru unul care scrie emailuri mai lungi de 5 randuri de pe mobil. Track-ball:checked! Sa nu uit de e-mail securizat (9 Elunar cu 5 MB de trafic inclus la Vodafone); se pot seta pana la 10 conturi de e-mail de orice fel. Iar e-mailul este Exchange, nu simplu Push (pentru cine stie cu ce se mananca!).
In afara de HTC HD este singurul pentru care as lasa Sony Ericsson P1i.
Si pentru ca o simpla butonare nu se poate numi experienta, nu pot spune ca este un gadget excelent insa sunt sigur ca nu sunt departe de adevar cand spun ca este cel mai tare BB de pana acum (fara sa pun la socoteala duda de Storm).
[ro] Ni se pregateste Android G2? [GSM/tech-head/mobile]
01110 days
Se pare ca HTC lucreaza din greu la modelul cu nr.2 dedicat noii platforme Android. In urma succesului cumva nesperat, si alte retele au devenit brusc interesate de furnizarea lui G2 datorita platformei Google total deschise catre dezvoltatorii de software. Este clar ca acesta este viitorul.
Gizmodo a publicat inca de ieri doua fotografii cu un smartphone HTC aproape similar primului model, insa cu o camera de 3,2 MP si un finisaj glossy alb. Nu va avea tastatura fizica si se va lansa la jumatatea lunii Mai. Se prevede a fi un mare succes.
Mie mi se pare extrem de similar cu modelul anterior. Sper doar ca bateria sa tina mai mult.
