[bable]

The gps has always worked decently for me and all my friends with PBs after I explained how satellites are in the sky+it's unassisted so they should use it outside. Does anyone know if there is a dev or company planning to release an offline map solution? Many friends/coworkers and I would gladly pay 50$ for an effective tomtom style app or even 5-10$ for an app that just accessed saved maps mined through jdownloader(what my touchpad uses) or something. This seems so easy and smart, is there a reason it hasn't happened yet?

I understand that not everyone has had great gps experiences but this thread is about app development, not hardware defects.

[pacoman03]

Offline maps with gps have been available for a while, if you are willing to sideload apps. MapDroid allows you to download state maps and has maps of many countries available. It also has gps. No navigation, though. Google Maps, version 5.9 and other version 5 releases, allows you to cache a limited number of maps for offline use, and also offers voice guided navigation, though it's glitchy. Version 6 of Google maps crashes when you try to enter settings, so it doesn't allow for offline caching.

[Chaddface]

It seems Magellan compass is still working on an update that will have the ability to save maps for offline use.

Sorry for the long span of time between posts. We are still trying to work out some issue regarding in-app purchases with RIM, licensing with the map provider and user documentation. It seems that the last 10% of the effort can take 90% of the time.

From the developers site:
o2 interactive

[FF22]

Magellan is apparently still working on offline maps.

Some folks have used Android apps. I am not fully up on those solutions and what kind of routing they do and whether there are vocal instructions.

[bable]

Offline maps with gps have been available for a while, if you are willing to sideload apps. MapDroid allows you to download state maps and has maps of many countries available. It also has gps. No navigation, though. Google Maps, version 5.9 and other version 5 releases, allows you to cache a limited number of maps for offline use, and also offers voice guided navigation, though it's glitchy. Version 6 of Google maps crashes when you try to enter settings, so it doesn't allow for offline caching.

With gmaps do you know if the voice prompts are glitchy or the actual routing too? Thanks for the info, I'll toy around with those tomorrow.

[pacoman03]

With gmaps do you know if the voice prompts are glitchy or the actual routing too? Thanks for the info, I'll toy around with those tomorrow.

The major glitch with google maps is its tendency to lose the gps signal. If it loses the signal, then it doesn't know where you are and thus you'll get no navigation unless and until you reacquire a signal.The voice prompts are actually pretty good so long as you maintain a gps signal, The other problem with google maps is that to get directions for navigation, you need to be online (though you don't need to be online when you're actually on the road).

[bable]

Hmmm, after a bit of playing Gmaps seems like the best option so far (if only mapdroid had routing) but you're right that it loses the signal much more easily. I'll write Magellan a kind letter expressing my admiration and faith in their hard work on the playbook and hope for the best. Thanks for the low down on the new developments, it's come pretty far in the last five months.