technology

Sat Nav App for my iPhone

/ Outdoor Gear, Technology / , , , , ,

Darren from Absolute Electrical Group (http://www.absoluteelectricalgroup.co.uk) recommended to me a free satnav app for the iPhone. Free – it cannot be very good – can it?

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/navfree-uk-roi/id391334793?mt=8

Navfree for UK and ROI takes a while to download and install as it includes the maps so you can use it when offline. When you first run the program you need to go to the Navmii Store, (the shop icon is built into the app), to download the free postcode database. Also available is a safety camera database – this you have to purchase, but it is a bargain,

I tried the software out this morning on the drive from Aviemore to Carnforth and it did as good a job as my Toyota built in satnav – with some additions.

It’s portable so I can also use it in my wife’s car.
One of the navigation options is UK postcodes (something that the Toyota satnav lacks).
Another navigation option is that you can use Google to search for your destination – this needs a data connection.

Using the software is very intuitive and it only took moments to load my destination and set it to navigate. The verbal instructions were very accurate and there are a choice of voices. The map display was clear and easy to understand with only a glance. There is a choice of 2d or 3G and day or night illumination.

The tracking to roads of the car icon seemed accurate as far as I could tell, not being able to stare at screen whilst driving. The vehicle speed is displayed and this too was reasonably accurate – as was the ETA displayed on the navigation screen.

It was also very easy to add destinations to the Favourites list.

Even after such a short test of the software I would recommend anyone with an iPhone to give Navfree a try. It got mebto Carnforth!

Sat Nav App for my iPhone Read More »

BBC Click – and Mobile Friendly Web Pages

/ Technology / ,

I have just watched the BBC News programme, Click (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/default.stm) and they have reviewed a web site www.ubik.net. This site enables you to create web site suitable for display on a phone or PDA. So I have just been over there and got an account and here is the link http://octech.ubik.net. Light on content at the moment, but what an excellent idea for putting more content onto your PDA or phone.

There was also a service shown that helped find PDA friendly pages online – I have not looked at that yet, although it seemed to be for phones and will require call charges to work. The service is zabidoo.com/push.

BBC Click – and Mobile Friendly Web Pages Read More »

Flat Battery in Your Phone

/ Technology / ,

Everyone has had the experience when you have forgotten to charge your phone and you realise it part way through the working day.

I have.

 

AA Cell Emergency Charger

So I bought one of these from Maplin – a Battery Powered Emergency Mobile Phone Charger. It uses a single AA cell battery to put a useable charge back in your device. I experimented with it this weekend and it put a charge back into my Blackberry when it was completely discharged.

I then got my soldering iron out and made a cable up so I can charge my Dell PDA as well. This gadget will also charge my GPS receiver when I am walking – a good safety device.

Flat Battery in Your Phone Read More »

Posting from my PDA

/ General, Technology / , , , , ,

On looking on the forums, I was disapponted to find that I cannot post by email to a blog on WordPress.com – this is something RKW Internet has added to our company, WordPress, website using Postie (if you need to do this for a custom install of WordPress go to the WordCampUK 2008 Wiki where you will find his instructions).

Further investigation led me to the url http://m.wordpress.com. Try the link it is a very thin client for WordPress.com bloging,suitable for small devices or even quick blogs from a computer.

My PDA has wifi so this post is being made from it. It is enough to get words out here quickly but I cannot include an image.

I have a Flickr account and have found some other information about post to your blog via that using email – I hope to get to grips with that before I go to Scotland, so I can photo blog from my Blackberry.

A short post tonight – but I am inspired by my experience at WordCampUK to publish a worthwhile blog over the coming months. I have a holiday coming up soon expect blogs then. I have also been writing about my Wainwright Coast to Coast experince and expect those to be posted in the coming weeks. I also want to share some of mobile tech experience.

So the first moblog experience I will share is this from my PDA – I’ll review it when I see the post on my laptop.

Posting from my PDA Read More »

MoBlog – WordCampUK

/ General / ,

I work in technology and system support and run Octagon Technology a company based in Lincoln. Our website www.octagontech.com is based on WordPress and was developed by Richard at R K W Internet.

I went to WordCampUK2008 in Birmingham to support Richard who presented two sessions to the conference – and this has inspired me to start a personal blog. I have used the blog on the company website to document walking the Coast to Coast footpath with friends – and want to carry on but the company blog is not the place to continue. WordCampUK2008 has inspired me to start my own.

I am interested in mobile computing and have had a wide range of PDAs over the years and it was whilst walking with Richard, practising for the Coast to Coast walk that we decided to moblog the walk with photos from our mobile phones. I am pleased to say that Richard sorted the technology and the results are here.

This blog is going to be about using mobile technology, walking, photography and other stuff. For it to be mobile technology it should be able to be carried in a pocket – it could be a large pocket!

Another thing that has motivated me to start this blog was whilst at WordCampUK2008, I was browsing on my PDA I found this link and I am going to use that page to update my blog on road.

MoBlog – WordCampUK Read More »