We've posted a couple of sample videos of the upcoming release of version 3 of Magellan Compass. Both these take place in Canada, so the turns are in metric. The user can set it to Imperial units for miles. The update rate of the tracks are about 5 second intervals. On the actual device, the updates are 10x more frequent so the jumps do not occur. We have a bunch of little things to do, but we are getting a lot closer to the release from a lot of effort this past week. We hope you will enjoy the videos. We hope to post others to give a few more details of the new features.
Very happy and proud to say that the first vid is me driving to work from a point near my home! I submitted the gpx file about a week ago, these guys work fast! I swear I wasn't speeding...
I can hardly wait for this cool upgrade! Awesome
The turn by turn does not require the Internet access. Getting the route does require the Internet, but it can be saved on the device. Map data initially does require the Internet, but map tiles can be cached on the device as well. Not 100% non-Internet, but pretty close.
All I can say is WOW!!, excellent work. You taken one of the PB's best apps and taken it to a whole new level. I am so looking forward to this upgrade, it will even make it much more usable on my bike for a few long distance rides. I purchased the current version for all 3 Playbooks that we have. The ability to map out the route beforehand instead of just entering a destination address will really be the cat's meow. I'm I will get a lot more question about from other cyclists. A couple of quick questions related to this feature, would be able to say plan my route and send it to another Magellan user? Is the route created as a GPX file?
@canuckvoip GPS doesn't work on the simulator as far as I know. It may be dependant on the dev environment but I'm not sure. I just remember reading something about it when I down loaded the NDK the other day.
Last edited by rjedge54; 02-19-12 at 06:01 PM.
Reason: added info
Which language do you have in mind? For the textural information, I am nearly certain that all the languages supported by the PlayBook are supported. If you let me know which one you need, I can verify it. In terms of the voice turn-by-turn, the application will come with a default voice (one you hear in the video samples). Additional voices will be downloadable. At first, this will be other English, British, Spanish and French. This covers the largest number of downloads. Other voices can be added if there is demand.
Routes that are saved are not GPX track files. GPX track files can be created from Magellan Compass, from the GPS information. Currently, reading these back in is not fully functional and would only be good to define a start and end point. Start and end points can be dragged as well as intermediate (need to go to points) can be inserted (and move around). The route is obtained from a web service. Getting to this point has take many months to achieve and there are dozens of features we want to add to this. The first focus has been on automobile travel. The application will be expanded to better support pedestrian, bike, and mass transit guidance.
Additional voices will be downloadable. At first, this will be other English, British, Spanish and French. This covers the largest number of downloads. Other voices can be added if there is demand.
LMAO I love how they have English & British!
I'm waiting to DL Texan
btw this App has the potential to be one of the best, most usefull apps on the PB!
@canuckvoip GPS doesn't work on the simulator as far as I know. It may be dependant on the dev environment but I'm not sure. I just remember reading something about it when I down loaded the NDK the other day.
Is the GPS needed for the demo on the PC though?
The vid (first one) was made with a GPX file sent by me to the dev.
Is the GPS needed for the demo on the PC though?
The vid (first one) was made with a GPX file sent by me to the dev.
You're correct, if it was created from a gpx file then gps would not be required in the creation of the demo as long as the gpx was created on a device with gps initially. While it is possible to create a gpx file even using a web mapping tool, it would not contain speed and time data which the video did.
@pb199: Version 3 (from demo video) will allow for offline map data. The data is automatically stored (cached) while panning and zooming to a user specified limit. But no map data comes with the application initially. It has to beloaded while connected to the Internet.
Yes, the demo used GPX files provided by the current version of Magellan Compass on the PlayBook. The use of the application on an actual device, while driving, works better than what the video shows due to update rates.
Future versions will allow map rotation in the same direction of the device. If you are talking about 3D view, probably not. On device TTS, not possible at this time, nor would most users want to pay for that license. Many self contained, good nav devices are $150+. So you have to weigh the cost of the product vs. the features being offered. We hope to have TTS for signs (eg "Turn right onto US 295" or "Take exit 29A" ), but there is current a bug in the sevice provider.