[tinker2000]

Glad you said that - it made my day. It means that I am going in the right direction; being much more complex than it was a year ago, but easier to use. The next release is slated for Monday: some interesting improvements to P&V and some other stuff that I hope you will enjoy.

I just hope I can get the update.. Got 1.5.4 now, but only after downgrading to 2.0.. Updating now back to 2.1, its better (IMO)
Thanks

[BuzzStarField]

I just hope I can get the update.. Got 1.5.4 now, but only after downgrading to 2.0.. Updating now back to 2.1, its better (IMO)
Thanks

I've just submitted a new version which was approved within minutes because I asked nicely. When it becomes available, you should get a notification for OS 2.0 or above. If you do not get it for 2.1, it should be reported as a bug, so please let me know if you have problems.

Here are the release notes in case you are interested:

Added additional diagnostic information and troubleshooting tips for the magnetometer. Scroll down below the reset button on the Magnetometer page to view this information

Access to P&V functions is now via the button bar at the top of the main screen.

A new P&V mode has been added. You can now select an object, either manually or via the "Show in chart" button on the Search Dialog, and the app will place a pointer on the screen to guide you to the destination.

Several ease-of-use features have been introduced:
1. Touching the screen no longer stops P&V panning. Instead, you tap the button that initiated the panning action. Alternatively, tapping another P&V mode button will seamlessly stop the old operation and start the new one.
2. While in P&V mode, you can now use the "pinch-to-zoom" gesture to change the field of view. You can also select a new object while in normal auto-pan mode (but not while in P&V search mode.)
3. A help icon has been added to the button bar because some new users were having difficulty finding the help system via the top-bezel swipe gesture. (Really, not everyone knows about this.)

[Sarcasm Detector]

cool. will check it out when i get home and onto the wireless.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9860

[joshua_sx1]

I have a notification that 1.5.5 update is available... but everytime I click the link, it goes to App World with 1.5.4 version... what's up?

[BuzzStarField]

I have a notification that 1.5.5 update is available... but everytime I click the link, it goes to App World with 1.5.4 version... what's up?

It's too early to say. I have two reports so far - one success and your "what's up?" I have not received my notification yet. So I suggest waiting a spell and see what happens.

[GordonTGopher]

I'm running 2.1.0.560, just got the notification and successfully upgraded to 1.5.5.

Gordon

[Dr.Deebs]

I just got the update. The new features are awesome, and work really well. I love the compass that points to the searched object. My only suggestion would be to move the buttons to the bottom right corner, so a person can easily hold the PB and navigate using their thumb. This way they won't have to obstruct the view by constantly reaching across the screen to use the buttons.

[BuzzStarField]

I just got the update. The new features are awesome, and work really well. I love the compass that points to the searched object. My only suggestion would be to move the buttons to the bottom right corner, so a person can easily hold the PB and navigate using their thumb. This way they won't have to obstruct the view by constantly reaching across the screen to use the buttons.

I agree with you! I was testing last night and I found the same problem with reaching across the screen. It was too late to put in an enhancement in for 1.5.5 but it will definitely in 5.6. Rather than having a static placement though, I am going to let you park the button bar anywhere you like (and move it around like you can the info panel). It will be stacked either vertically or horizontally as you like.

In addition I'm going to make it so you can hide the info areas that are on the top and bottom of the screen. It will take about a week to get these UI changes done so 1.5.6 will be out next Wednesday or Thursday.

PS: for now you might try using the P&V features in the "media-buttons-pointed-at-object" mode. It's a much more comfortable and natural pose than raising the device above your head for long periods. And when you have located the thing that you are looking for, you can raise it overhead to the correct altitude and point with the back of the device. Less neck strain this way!

[Sarcasm Detector]

got it.


Sent from my BlackBerry 9860

[FF22]

Remains a ridiculous bargain for NINTY NINE CENTS.

[BuzzStarField]

Remains a ridiculous bargain for NINTY NINE CENTS.

F2, when you're right, you're right. But I feel obliged to add that although the cost is only NINETY NINE CENTS, the value of this app is truly astronomical.

[Barljo]

Just to update from a UK point-of-view - the 1.5.4 update came through on Monday evening (UK time!) as you anticipated Buzz, and also the 1.5.5 last night (Tuesday evening UK).

All I can say to sum up the new functionality is "hubba-hubba".

Message ends

Barljo

[FF22]

F2, when you're right, you're right. But I feel obliged to add that although the cost is only NINETY NINE CENTS, the value of this app is truly astronomical.

Well done word play.

[solsticegt1]

Great new features. Any chance that the camera app could be incorporated . So you could select a object and then have the camera viewer active and see the real sky overlayed with your object supper imposed on the screen.

[BuzzStarField]

Great new features. Any chance that the camera app could be incorporated . So you could select a object and then have the camera viewer active and see the real sky overlayed with your object supper imposed on the screen.

This is an interesting idea but it may prove to be impractical, especially if one expects an exact match between the screen and reality. The first reason is a matter of scale. Unless you are zoomed in so that scale of the sky is an exact 1:1 match with the screen, you will see a difference of scale. If you set the FOV (Field of View) to about 7 degrees, there is a pretty good match.

However it wouldn't be an inexact match for a second reason. This is because, the screen presents at best, an approximation of the real shape of things. It's a real challenge to portray 3 dimensional curved reality on a perfectly flat surface.

No matter which projection method is chosen something has to give. The sky map looks fairly close to reality in the middle of the screen but there is always some level of distortion as you near the edge of the screen.

The bottom line is that a great deal of programming effort would be expended on this idea but acceptable results would be elusive. Worse, trying to explain how to use the product and why it doesn't quite work would be a bit of a support challenge (something that we developers like to avoid, if we can).

[jafobabe]

Wow... What a nice suprise! I opened AppWorld and guess what is 3rd in the FEATURED???? Yep.... it's What's UP!!!
Yay!!!

[BuzzStarField]

Wow... What a nice suprise! I opened AppWorld and guess what is 3rd in the FEATURED???? Yep.... it's What's UP!!!
Yay!!!

Thanks jafobabe - I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts. I love it when RIM features What's up (because sales are not nearly so good when it's not on the front page). For the last three days, it's been sitting in second or third place in "Top Paid - Apps" for PB and in 20th place for all BB paid apps: Top 100 Paid and Free BlackBerry Applications

[dave1701]

I know I'm late to the party, but Point and View is awesome now! Cool beans.

[nigelr]

Greetings from a VERY happy NEW user of "What's Up" from sunny South Africa :-)
Version 1.5.5 installed on latest PB OS and WOW! This application has now made my investment in a PB worthwhile! Not to say that the PB has no value, just that I am still working on incorporating the PB into my business as a value add tool...
As I noted over in the Stellarium part of the forum, LOTS to learn but is going to be FUN <BIG smile>.
Clear skies and thanks again for a FANTASTIC astronomy application.
VBR

[glamrlama]

What's up just got better ... because I just bought it. Just took a quick tour. Very very nice. 99 cents. I have more than that in the console of my car. Also only 1 megabyte in size. Wow. You would never guess the functionality packed into 1 meg. Lots of nice little touches make finding stuff a breeze.

If you can't find the moon or mars or are trying to get back to Rigel this is the app for you. 99 cents. Great and impressive work Buzz.

Some quick ideas on what I would like to see added are positions for Jupiter and Saturn's major moons and maybe a large scrollable pic of the moon with geographic names of the major features. Just an idea as these are very common observation targets. Would also love to see a mechanism for adding orbital elements for comets. ISON is coming!

[BuzzStarField]

What's up just got better ... because I just bought it. Just took a quick tour. Very very nice. 99 cents. I have more than that in the console of my car. Also only 1 megabyte in size. Wow. You would never guess the functionality packed into 1 meg. Lots of nice little touches make finding stuff a breeze.

If you can't find the moon or mars or are trying to get back to Rigel this is the app for you. 99 cents. Great and impressive work Buzz.

Some quick ideas on what I would like to see added are positions for Jupiter and Saturn's major moons and maybe a large scrollable pic of the moon with geographic names of the major features. Just an idea as these are very common observation targets. Would also love to see a mechanism for adding orbital elements for comets. ISON is coming!

So your're the one who bought this app. Actually, the app is selling quite well considering the size of the PB user base and I thank you and all the other people who have found it useful. I have some basic things to take care of - the app loads much too slowly and the fix is not straight forward - so you may have to wait a bit for the moon map but including comets is quite feasible. I have been working on an update for PB but the BB10 version has to take precedence if I want to trade in my Dev Alpha for a production device. I wish I had more time to work on this project but things are slowly falling into place.

Just a word about why the app's footprint is so small. Basically, I have avoided reinventing the wheel by excluding vast libraries of images and descriptions for various astronomical objects. Instead, every object of any importance can be looked up in Wikipedia. Just tap on its link in the info box that appears on the left side of the screen when you select an object in the sky map. You need an active internet connection but the feature works great over the bridge making it very useful in the field.

I hope that you have taken full advantage of the search feature. You can search for thing phonetically and by any number of other criteria. For example, if you want to take a tour of galaxies, just search for the text "galaxy" and you will be presented with a list of matching objects. You can sort the list by name, brightness or altitude and also look each object up in Wikipedia just by tapping the button at the bottom of the dialog. If you want to view deep space objects on-screen be sure to turn on this feature in the settings dialog. Lots of help on using the app can be had by swiping down from the top bezel. Have fun!