+sandaals Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 I'm not trying to sell anything here; just want an opinion. I'm working on a Geocaching software package for Palm. I'm hoping to fill the needs of those (like me) who like to cache with their Palm unit. All of the functions are contained in one file, saving space that would otherwise be wasted by using multiple programs. Features include: Support for virtually any GPS module (NMEA-compliant) Moving-map capability "unlimited" waypoint storage divided by cache types or user-defined categories On-the-fly "nearest caches" search Ability to view cache pages and logs Keeps track of what you take and leave, as well as any other notes PC-side utility which allows the user to create custom cache search criteria, then automatically harvests cache pages and coordinates and loads them to the Palm device PC-side program also automatically downloads USGS topo maps or aerial photos, calibrate them, and load them to the device. User can select maps they want to download by dragging a box over certain areas. The program can also automatically download maps covering a user-specified distance around selected caches. Total program size (on Palm device) under 400k! Full personal support by both phone and e-mail What I want to know from the community is: Whether cachers would be willing to pay for such a program If so, how much would you be willing to pay? (consider that GPSpilot.com's "Tracker" program costs $40 and doesn't even work very well) How many people do you think are there out there who could use something like this? This project is taking a considerable amount of my time and effort, and I just want to figure out if it's worth it and how much more effort I want to put into it. Thanks! -Greg Courville Gee Enginuity Greg@Gee-Enginuity.com (408) 323-9761 Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 [This message was edited by sandaals on July 09, 2003 at 08:20 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 9, 2003 Author Share Posted July 9, 2003 Also, what features would you like to see in a program like this? My goal is to make the ultimate "dream app" that satisfies every geocacher's needs, so if you give me your suggestions, I can work them in! Another idea I had is to sell a starter kit that comes with a GPS (depending on what Palm model the user has)... Any ideas are welcome! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sfsdfd Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 My - this sounds familiar. If you do a search in this forum for CacheDragon, you'll find two main threads: 1) A thread from mid- to late April, where I asked about software for the PocketPC that combined a geocache information database with a nicely-featured GPS app. I got no decent suggestions, and everyone seemed generally unhappy with the available options. When I offered to write one and asked about interest, I got some encouraging responses. 2) A thread from three weeks ago where I announced the completion and posting on Handango of version 1.0 of the application. I've gotten some very nice feedback, about 100 downloads, and seven registrations to date (selling at the price of $20.) A few words of advice: First - don't worry about competition from CacheDragon. It's been a huge amount of work (200+ hours, I'd estimate) to develop v1.0 for PocketPC and implement some features for v1.1. I don't own a Palm or a Palm-based GPS device, and despite requests, I've got no plans to port it. Second - I've had moderate success pricing CacheDragon at $20, but that's because it does a *lot* with more on the way. And it does a lot because I spent a lot of time on it. So far, my profit has been about $0.50 per hour. Fortunately, money was not a motivating factor - more like a happy side-product - so this doesn't bother me. But be aware of that going into the project. Third - I, too, strongly considered "data scraping" (i.e., having a PC-side app that downloaded HTML and images from Geocaching.com as a data source.) I posted here asking about it, and sent a detailed email to geocaching.com's business side. In response, I got nothing back from geocaching.com, and warnings from the other users that the admins here are aggressively opposed to data scraping, as it ruins their bandwidth. The preferred method is to parse GPX files that geocaching.com sends in digest form to premium members. Fourth - if you're still reading, then I think you probably have the right motivation for doing it. It's richly rewarding to write a product and see it on Handango. Even if *no one* registers it, you'll still have written exactly the product that *you* find most useful! Good luck! I'll be watching your progress eagerly. Maybe we can share ideas, and it would be exceedingly cool to get our programs to interoperate via infrared... David Stein, Esq. Quote Link to comment
+Mopar Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 Just echoing what David wrote. look here for a recent post from Groundspeak about the effects data scaping/harvesting has on bandwidth and server load. GPX pocket queries are the way to go. Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon. Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 9, 2003 Author Share Posted July 9, 2003 I think maybe what I'll do is make it so that rather than "harvesting" cache pages and waypoints, it will simply provide an easy interface to manually select them... I.E. the user puts a search query into the program and sees a list, then clicks the ones he/she wants to download. That will slow it down to the speed of a person manually browsing the site, and prevent the runaway-download syndrome that was mentioned in the post referred to by Mopar. However, it will still be much more convenient than using the site directly, as it will automatically download, convert, and store the data in the program's database with a single mouse click. I will also add a GPX import feature so that people who have the subscription can import their pocket queries. I continue to welcome all suggestions! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 9, 2003 Author Share Posted July 9, 2003 In addition, I can add an automatic bandwidth limit just in case! I wonder if we could get Jeremy in here... I'd like to have his opinion on this issue. Still welcoming ideas! -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+Kealia Posted July 9, 2003 Share Posted July 9, 2003 sandaals, I figured it would be someobdy from Silicon Valley doing something like this I'd love to see a program like this so I'll be keeping my eyes on this thread! Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 9, 2003 Author Share Posted July 9, 2003 Thanks for your support! I hope to post a few conceptual "screen-shots" to give you an idea of what it's gonna look like. Keep the comments coming, everyone! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+gt40 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sandaals:Thanks for your support! I hope to post a few conceptual "screen-shots" to give you an idea of what it's gonna look like. Keep the comments coming, everyone! Sounds like a good project. Some questions/comments... What version of PalmOS will be required? What map data will you be using? I GREATLY prefer importing GPX files. Supporting this would likely be easier to code than accessing the web site. Being able to do both would be fine, but I'd MUCH rather use the GPX functionality. I'd like to manage my cache list on the PC and selectivly move those caches to the PDA. For instance, download all caches in the state to my PC, then select a filtered list of caches for moving into the PDA. (Pocket Querys already handles the moving all the caches in the state to the PC part.) I'd DEFINATELY like to see support for high resolution color screens (al-la Clie'). IF the app does everything well, and is intuitive, I'd gladly pay for it. -- RK "I drank WHAT?!?" -- Socrates Quote Link to comment
+DyverDown Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I'm with gt40 ... what ver of the OS ? AND I'd also like to have a PC side where you can do all the editing etc, then dump in into the palm.... Although, the hi res colour screens, hmm, that would require an upgrade for me... Quote Link to comment
+sfsdfd Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 I predict that the "I'd rather import GPX" comments are going to be much more common than the opposite. Look at it this way. On the one hand, the user can browse through a list of files and click on each one to download (or update) the records. On the other hand, the user can direct the PDA to one file that contains information on the closest 500 caches. The latter appears vastly more convenient. In general, people would only prefer the individual page-harvest route if they didn't have access to the GPX Pocket Queries... most likely because they don't want to register. And if they don't want to pay $3.00 for a month of premium access to geocaching.com, how likely are they to pay $20+ for your application? David Stein, Esq. Quote Link to comment
+gt40 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by DyverDown:Although, the hi res colour screens, hmm, that would require an upgrade for me... Done right, the application could support both high resolution and low resolution screens. -- RK "I drank WHAT?!?" -- Socrates Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 Answers, in order: I will make sure it works on OS versions 3.5 and above. The program will download USGS topo maps and aerial photos from Terraserver or a similar system. The program will definitely support GPX imports, and will be able to use both waypoint data and cache page data from them. However, it will also be able to download individual caches directly from the Geocaching site for those who just want to pick up a few cache pages and don't have time to wait for a PQ to come in. I like the idea of selectively moving caches to the Palm. I'll have two databases, a master file that holds all of the downloaded caches and a second that holds specific caches to be copied to the Palm device. That way, you can select specific caches to be on the Palm depending on where you're going, but still have the other caches available for quick access on the PC. As for the PC-side program, it will allow you to preview the map data that will be loaded to the Palm, as well as select specific areas (with a "click-n-drag") to download map tiles for. The first release will not support color, as I am developing for grayscale devices, there are significant programming differences between the grayscale and color modes, and I have no way of testing except on an emulator. However, I will do my best to support the high-resolution screens in the first release. Version 2 will most likely support at least 256 colors. Here's another question for the community... What are some problems in typical GPS apps that you'd like to see solved by this program? What features are missing from many programs that would be good for Geocaching? Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+gt40 Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sandaals:The first release will not support color, as I am developing for grayscale devices, there are significant programming differences between the grayscale and color modes, and I have no way of testing except on an emulator. However, I will do my best to support the high-resolution screens in the first release. Version 2 will most likely support at least 256 colors. If you're interested, I can alpha/beta test for you on a Handspring Visor Platinum, a Handspring Visor Deluxe, and a Sony Clie' T665C. -- RK "I drank WHAT?!?" -- Socrates Quote Link to comment
+parkrrrr Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by sandaals:+ I will make sure it works on OS versions 3.5 and above. That excludes most of the Palm III line, the Palm V, and most especially older Visors. All of those platforms are pretty popular in the caching community. quote:Here's another question for the community...What are some problems in typical GPS apps that you'd like to see solved by this program? What features are missing from many programs that would be good for Geocaching? Waypoint projection support for multiple datums support for multiple waypoint databases. Well-documented database format, to ease development of desktop support for other operating systems such as MacOS and Linux ability to import and export waypoints from other Palm GPS programs (I can help with the database formats here.) Support for graphical and textual annotations with waypoints (Tracker tries on this one, but falls short IMHO.) Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by gt40:If you're interested, I can alpha/beta test for you on a Handspring Visor Platinum, a Handspring Visor Deluxe, and a Sony Clie' T665C. -- RK Thanks for the offer. I will definitely implement some kind of a beta testers program when I have a working version to release! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 10, 2003 Author Share Posted July 10, 2003 quote:Originally posted by Warm Fuzzies - Fuzzy:That excludes most of the Palm III line, the Palm V, and most especially older Visors. All of those platforms are pretty popular in the caching community. Whoops! That's gonna be a real problem here. I guess I'll have to do a seperate release for prior versions of the OS, because versions before 3.5 do not support grayscale! It's still possible to display in grayscale without the built-in support... it just means I'll have to write my own grayscale code and things will be a lot slower (not to mention that it would increase the file size) The first (alpha) release will definitely only support OS 3.5 and above, but when i have a stable 3.5 version ready for distribution, I'll port it to 3.0. By the way, the Palm V and III both have flash memory, so users that are brave enough can flash their devices to 3.5 if they're desperate to use my program [] Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+oneeyesquare Posted July 10, 2003 Share Posted July 10, 2003 Well, it sounds like you have all the bases covered esp. with a PC side app to tie everything together. I would need Sony hires+(320x480) support before I'd buy though.... Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 11, 2003 Author Share Posted July 11, 2003 I've been doing some more planning-type work and thinking about how to write some of the functions I was thinking about... The first release will support screens of any resolution, but at this point I think it will not support color, although since I have not begun to write the graphics engine at this point, that could still change. As for color support for the high-end Clie users, would you need the whole UI to be in color, or just have the map window support color? I may be able to put color in the map window in the first release if that will work for you guys. Of course, when the second release comes out, everybody who bought the first one gets a free upgrade! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 11, 2003 Author Share Posted July 11, 2003 Oh, and please ignore my signature. I plan to finish this one! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+gt40 Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 Originally posted by sandaals:Thanks for the offer. I will definitely implement some kind of a beta testers program when I have a working version to release[!QUOTE] OK, just let me know... "I drank WHAT?!?" -- Socrates Quote Link to comment
+TeamThompson Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 Hi, The Palm III, Palm IIIxe, Palm IIIc and every Palm branded device from the Palm V on does have flash ROM and can be upgraded to Palm OS 3.5 and up to Palm OS 4.1. Myself, I've got a Palm Vx that I use with a clip on GPS. Currently I use QuoVadis for mapping and getting near the cache, Cetus for zeroing in on the location. I'd really like to be able to use one app that can do a good job with both the mapping (especially street mapping to navigate near the cache), topo/aerial for trail-finding and bearing/distance to get right in on the cache. On another note, I'd be very interested in helping out if I can. Full disclosure: I work for PalmSource in the licensee support group and worked in DevSupport for three years. If there's anything I can do unofficially to help out please let me know! Cheers, Bruce. Quote Link to comment
+Brainerd Posted July 11, 2003 Share Posted July 11, 2003 It sounds very interesting. I would give it a look, but at $40 it would probably price itself out of the market. $20 might be a better price point. I would imagine that you would sell at least twice as many copies at $20. Mind you, some would say that even $20 is steep for a single use palm app. It's a tough call, but a lower price point can be made up with higher volume. Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves. Henry David Thoreau Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 11, 2003 Author Share Posted July 11, 2003 Don't worry, I wasn't planning to try to charge $40. I was thinking $20 or up to $25 maximum. I may make another version without the geocaching features and market it to the general public. I will also release a demo version (once v.1 is released) that will just support like 10 waypoints, 10 cache pages, and 50KB of maps. But for now... I just want to get the first version working. To tell you the truth, I'm barely past the UI stuff. I'd better get back to work... Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+infosponge Posted July 12, 2003 Share Posted July 12, 2003 I've often though of what it would be like to use a Palm as a navigational instrument instead of just holding the database of cache pages like I do now, but I just don't see it being rugged enough to take the (ab)use that my Meridian does. If there was reasonably-priced rugged handheld that could run QNX or Linux...I'd have that sucker running some customized geocaching software faster than you could say "TNLN"...but...I haven't seen one yet. http://www.tampabaygeocaching.com Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 12, 2003 Author Share Posted July 12, 2003 infosponge: I know what you're talking about! I'm using a Palm Vx now and every time I have it out I'm scared I'll drop it. The Palm V's only take one good drop on their sides or corners to crack the glasstop. I know somebody who went through three o' them! However, I've found that my clip-on GPS covers all of the critical points on the V and protects it better than any of the cases I've tried. Also, most of the newer devices are made with a plastic screen that makes them nearly indestructable. I've dropped my cheap little Zire tons of times, and even threw it several feet onto a concrete surface when I was startled by a bee stinging my toe. It still works great, with only a few marks on the case. Plus, you could get 3 Palm V's off of eBay for the price of a good mapping GPS, so they're more-or-less expendable. I got my first Palm V for $30! BTW, I have part of the UI working and I'll get a screenshot up later today! Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 12, 2003 Author Share Posted July 12, 2003 DUN DUN DUHHHH!!!! SCREENSHOT!!! Actually, this really doesn't accurately represent the program. It's just the welcome screen, and two buttons are missing from the window ("Navigate" and "Setup"). However, I promised a screenshot, and this is the only thing I can take a screen shot of because I have not done the rest of the UI. The "statusbar" (which, as you may have realized already, is "not yet implemented") will display satellite signal strengths, gps status, and positioning mode (live, averaging, auto-averaging, paused, manual entry) and will appear on all screens. I wish I had something else to show you guys but oh well... By the way, another idea I had is that you could do a log entry on the "Log" screen and when you hotsynced you could have the program submit it to the cache page for you. Whatd'ya guys think? -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+smithdw Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 The software sounds like it will be something that I would actually pay $$ for. I hope that you will do a downloadable demo so we can see what it is like before we buy it. I have a Palm m515 that I take geocaching mostly for the cache pages using Spinner and Plucker, but I also have a Magellan GPS companion and Cetus. If you are worried about damage to the Palm, go out and buy a RhinoSkin hard aluminum or Titanium case for the Palm. I have the aluminum one that has saved the Palm several times. It has a few dents and scratches, but no damage at all to the Palm. "The best way to accelerate a Macintosh is at 9.8m/sec/sec." -Marcus Dolengo Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 13, 2003 Author Share Posted July 13, 2003 Thanks for your support. I hope to get another screenshot out soon, although it may be the same screen (but the buttons will be fixed and the statusbar will be present). Important notes: To keep the program small, it will be released "made-to-order", meaning I when somebody purchases the software, I will compile it specifically for their unit, to make best use of display capabilities. This will also help discourage "sharing" of the program, as I will lock the program to the hotsync name of the device. The demo version will not support color or high-res screens. Well, maybe color. We'll see. I will include lifetime tech support and upgrades (as well as a 1-month money-back satisfaction guarantee dealio) for anyone who purchases the software. But that's in the future... I gotta finish writing it first! One more note: The beta test versions will most likely be hampered in some way, but not as much as the demo version. My goal is to finish this software in 3 weeks or less... I'm trying my best, and I'll keep you all updated. I think I'd better get to bed now, seeing as it's almost 2:00AM and tomorrow's a busy day... -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+RobAGD Posted July 13, 2003 Share Posted July 13, 2003 Well a few things I would like to see. 1) Waypoint Projections ( The Power of Projection (GC9458) by Gaiter Man (4/3.5) ) 2) Circum Center calcs ( Les Anges Volantes (GC9574) by DisQuoi (4/3) ) 3) Trianglation ( You Are The GPS! (GC4178) by DisQuoi (4/3) ) 4) Equa Distances between WP's ( Cannon Fire (GCEBD8) by DisQuoi (4/3) ) A program like this I would pay for. There are serveral little palm apps that do parts of this but none do them all. Hell I would pay $15 if I had a program that could do all the nasty math I run into I wouldnt hook my V to my Palm but it would be nice when I need to do that math to be able to Copy and paste or just select teh way points I want to work with and then choose what I needed to do with them. Just some thoughts -Robert Quote Link to comment
+hutchca Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 Just to add to the list of hardware that may be using this software. I have a Palm M515 + Magellan GPS Companion for M500 + 128MB SD card. This is the low(standard) rez color screen with 16MB and Palm OS Version 4.1 F.Y.I. All other third party "NMEA-compliant" software I've seen so far does not utilize (or at least doesn't show) the WAAS capability for my GPS companion. If your software could utilize WAAS when applicable that would be a plus. Quote Link to comment
+benjamin921 Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 I have a very small program for logging my finds here. It is only for logging my finds, so if there is anything there you want to use or get ideas from by all means go ahead. It's not quite perfect but it works so far for me. Quote Link to comment
TNRonin Posted July 14, 2003 Share Posted July 14, 2003 I have a 105 that I would like to use it for cache and waypoint management. I don't have a companion and would not need the topo features since the gps has them. Maybe you could make it so the setup would allow you to determine what you wanted to be installed. And yes I would pay $20 for this. Keep going man! Quote Link to comment
ny74 Posted July 15, 2003 Share Posted July 15, 2003 I'd pay $20 for an app that does it all like you're working on. I got a Visor Edge with a Magellan Companion. Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 15, 2003 Author Share Posted July 15, 2003 I just got back from a trip; sorry for the delays... In response to RobAGD's post: I will definitely implement waypoint projections, and will try to get at least a few of the other items in. In response to TNRonin's post: Anyone who ordered the software could request certain portions to be removed to conserve space, and, of course, they would receive a copy of the entire software as well. Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+baloo&bd Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I'm just gonna jump in here on one point, OS 3.5 and higher. I own a Palm III, III+, IIIxe and IIIc. I currently use a Sony Clie NX70VU. Developing a program to work on 3.0 or older would not allow you to utilize the extra memory and storage devices on newer units, in my opinion, severly limiting it's capabilities. Here comes the line that will make this thread very lively. Someone with an older PDA is not as likely to shell out ANY dollars for a program. There are exceptions but the reasons are: 1. Have learned that they will probably be abandoned with new realeases of a program. 2. Have them fille dto the max memory-wise already. 3. (This is the minority) Have the oolder unit because they don't spend dollars freely for whatever reason. An excellent feature would be one that is duplicated from most GPS's is your on-the-fly nearest waypoint. This would not only allow for battery conservation in the field, but the search capabilities on most PDA's is faster then a lot of the GPS's out there. Also, it could allow you to click on the nearest cache to bring up the description. Data scraping - I have tried to use this in some applications at work and have found it not only to have the drawbacks already mentioned her, but a very unstable means of collecting data. Simple changes to the source become a nightmare. One final point, make sure you work closely with geocaching.com so your not competeing or working at cross purposes. There are a lot of loyal users who could become your worst nightmare if they felt you were thretening the continuation of site by making Premium Membership less attractive to those who sign up because of the features rather then to support. Just some thought. All my PDA's are available for beta testing. Guess that was more then one point. Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 As I'm continuing to develop the application, I've been thinking about the PC-side program, and how much more work it would be for me to try to have the program access the website for data, and I've decided that it's really not worth it. Instead, I will allow users to import multiple GPX files into the database and run searches on their offline database, similar or identical to the GC.com search functions. Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 19, 2003 Author Share Posted July 19, 2003 Well, here's another screenshot. I've been working on the logs page and have also made a few changes to the overall UI. You'll notice the status bar is still blank... Also, another idea I had is to be able to search the logs, waypoints, and cache pages by keyword. When I have the log page locked down, I will design the "new log" dialog which will allow the user to make quick notes and even write up a log entry to be posted to the website (although I've decided this will have to be copy-n-pasted to the site by the user, since trying to interface to the website would be to complicated and unstable). It will have "took" and "left" fields, as well as an open field to write any other comments. Users don't have to use the took and left blanks, they are only for convenience. They could just write that info into their log entry in the open field. When the logging functionality is finished, I will do the cache page screen, the waypoints screen, then the database functionality that will tie them all together. Then will come GPS ability, then the navigation page, then mapping. Finally, I will write the PC-side app. I'll keep you updated. Keep posting comments and suggestions, and I'll try to implement any feature requests I get. Thanks! -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 [This message was edited by sandaals on July 19, 2003 at 11:03 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 UPDATE: I've taken a break from the palm-side app to work on the PC-side. That way, as I'm developing the Palm app, I'll be able to test it with actual data. Keep posting suggestions, everyone. Especially comments about the UI (see second screenshot). I want to make this as intuitive and user-friendly as possible. -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+Maeglin Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 If that's POSE in those screenshots, you can use ctrl-M (I think) to get a screenshot of just the display. A little easier and more compact than taking a shot of the whole screen and cropping it :-) Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 Maeglin: I'm aware that POSE can take screenshots. I just thought it looked neat to have the unit in there too. However, I agree that those images are a little bulky, so in the future I'll either scale them down (the screen pixels are doubled anyway) or just use POSE's built-in capture function. Thanks. -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+Sherricandace Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I have just started looking into whether I want to buy a new GPS unit (currently have a Lowrance NAV212) or a GPS for my Palm Tungsten. I have read all about the software for the Palm, but what kind of GPS unit do you recommend for the Palm Tungsten? I have looked into the bluetooth GPS, but it would be rather awkward to try to carry both the PDA and GPS units and keep them facing each other.... Quote Link to comment
+Maeglin Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Haven't looked into Palm-connected GPS units myself yet, but if it's Bluetooth then you don't need to have them facing each other... that's the way it is with IR, when you need line of sight between things. With Bluetooth, it's radio waves, so it'll work as long as everything's in range of each other. Quote Link to comment
+Wander Lost Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I'm checking in on this thread a bit late but I'll throw in my two cents worth. I use a Handspring Visor Neo with the Magellan GPS Companion. Low res screen, but I'm looking to upgrade to the Prism. (yes I know they are discontinued) The programs I have/use are: Currently using-- Cetus for the actual gps interface Plucker for cache pages Have tried-- NavCompanion (sucks) GeoNiche (not bad but the version I tried didn't support pq importing) I also use GPXspinner to convert my pq files for plucker, and GPSbabel to convert the spun gpx file to a cetus wpt file. What I'd like in a software package: To be able to transfer the pq to my pda in one simple step.To quickly switch between the nav screen & the cache info screenTo find closest caches quickly and set a goto with one or two clicks/tapsMapping, doesn't have to be detailed but something is better than nothing.Easy waypoint accessing. A find function so I don't have to scroll through hundreds of waypoints looking for the one I want. That's all I can think of right now. And yes if your program does what you plan on it doing, I'd pay $20 for it. I'll also offer to beta test it for you. We're all here, because we're not 'all there'. [This message was edited by Wander Lost on July 21, 2003 at 03:02 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 21, 2003 Author Share Posted July 21, 2003 Wander Lost, you're in luck. I've just begun work on the PC-side application, and here's how it's going to go: The application has two parts: Database, and Mapping. The Database program holds two databases: the master database and the handheld database. The master database holds every cache that has been imported from GPX or .loc files. Each database entry contains, at the least, a waypoint code and coordinates. Points imported from Pocket Query GPX files will also hold cache descriptions, hints, logs, etc. When data is imported, it gets put in the Master database. By checking a box, the user can select it to be copied to the Handheld Database, which contains the data that will actually be transferred to the handheld. Then, all you have to do is click "Send to handheld", then Hotsync your PDA. The Mapping program has not been throroughly planned at this point, but it will be very similar to the mapping in ExpertGPS; the user can drag a box over areas for which they want maps, and the program will load maps (either topo or aerial) off the Terraserver and store them on the hard drive. From there, they can be selectively transferred to the handheld. More details later. My current process: -Submit a PQ -Download the PQ -GPSbabel it into GPS-Pilot Tracker format (to be shown on the map) -Transfer that to the Palm -GPSbabel it into Cetus GPS format (to navigate by) -Transfer that to the Palm -Find the coordinates of the area I'll be in -Get a topo map at LostOutdoors.com -Import this into GPS Pilot Cartographer -Export this to a PDB -Transfer that to the Palm -Submit the GPX to GPX Spinner -Set-up a Plucker channel for the GPX spinner results -Wait while Plucker downloads the 900 pages off of GPX Spinner -Transfer that to the Palm It's that easy! ...and only takes 2 1/2 hours! That's what I'd like to change. Here's what the new process will hopefully be: -Submit a PQ -Download the PQ -Import it into VelociCache Database Companion -Hit "select all", then export to a PDB (automatically added to the install queue) -In VelociCache Mapping Companion, drag a box over the cluster of caches -Wait for the maps to download -Hotsync Hopefully it will cut the time-to-first-cache dramatically. Not having a working model to test with, it's hard to say, but I think the VelociCache package should have an experienced user ready-to-go in under 5 minutes! (not counting the hours waiting for the dang Pocket Query to arrive!) I hope this all turns out like I'm thinking; it's sure to make caching easier for not only me, but anyone else who either only needs 15 caches in their database or is willing to buy the full version Thanks for your support! -Greg Courville Gee-Enginuity Software Products Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+oneeyesquare Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Well, I keep checking back in and am excited to see your progress. Your description sounds incredible. Very streamlined. I hope Velocicache will support Bluetooth GPS as well. I'm glad you will offer a demo version. I hate buying a program w/o running it on my PDA first. BTW, Bluetooth GPS are def. not line of sight!!! I have a Socket paired with my Sony Clie. You can put the PDA in your pocket, if you want...I think the effective range of Bluetooth is around 30'. [This message was edited by oneeyesquare on July 21, 2003 at 07:08 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted July 21, 2003 Author Share Posted July 21, 2003 I'll have to look into the Bluetooth matter... It'll definitely be different than just interfacing to a hard serial port. However, my goal is to make (almost) everybody happy, so I'll try my best! -Greg Courville Gee-Enginuity Software Products Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+gtosvx Posted July 31, 2003 Share Posted July 31, 2003 Bluetooth should not be more difficult thatn other interface. This is one of my main interests, and am anxious for your beta release. Would even pay for the beta, to be replaced with final version. Quote Link to comment
+sandaals Posted August 2, 2003 Author Share Posted August 2, 2003 Regarding a preorder-kinda-deal (where you'd get the current beta to try out, then automatically get the full when it comes out) I think that's an interesting idea. I do have a Paypal "Premiere" account, so I can see this happening. Once I have a semi-functional version ready, I'll consider trying it. And of course, if the real version doesn't come out within a reasonable time, you can always get your money back! On a related note, I'm completely re-writing the Gee-Enginuity website from scratch, and the new site will have a page for VelociCache (and the non-geocaching edition, VelociNav, to be released shortly after VelociCache) where you can see the screenshots and view the development status, as well as, in the future, order the software. It also has a PayPal donation link... I'll post here when the new site is up, which may take up to a week, because I am on vacation with limited phone/internet access. Thanks for your interest! -Greg Gee Enginuity - Turning great ideas into abandoned projects since 1999 Quote Link to comment
+tjej Posted August 19, 2003 Share Posted August 19, 2003 WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS THREAD. TRIED TO FIND CURRENT INFO ON GEE ENGINUITY SITE WITH NO LUCK. GOOD PROJECTS..BUT CAN'T FIND ANYTHING CURRENT. WHAT DID I MISS? TJEJ Quote Link to comment
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