iPhone Sat Nav for just £5

Yes, you read that right! You can now get a fully featured Sat Nav application for your iPhone for just £5. NDrive have just dropped the price of their iPhone App to £4.99, and despite the budget price tag, it’s actually pretty good and is good alternative to TomTom, CoPilot and Navigon.

In terms of features it has pretty much everything that you’d expect to find in the premium apps from TomTom and CoPilot. According to its iTunes listing, the app includes:

NDrive UK & Ireland Sat Nav for iPhone is available in the App store now for £4.99, but given the large file size, you’re better off downloading this through iTunes on your PC and syncing it over.

I’ll be putting this app through it’s paces over the next couple of weeks and hope to have a full hands on review available soon. In the mean time let me know how you get on with it using the comments form below.

TomTom for iPhone – pricing revealed?

It was announced back in March at the Apple Developers Conference, but until now further details have been very few and far between.. Until now.

We already know that the software and the car cradle will be available separately, and we’re now hearing that the car cradle will retail for around 115, but there is no news yet as to whether this includes the software or not.

UPDATE: TomTom for UK is available now in the iTunes App store for 59.99. No confirmed pricing yet on the car kit. iTunes Link.

Another image has surfaced of the iPhone TomTom Car Cradle, this time showing off a few more of it’s features:

1. EasyPort Mount from the TomTom ONE and TomTomXL
2. Built In Speaker
3. Volume Control
4. Microphone for handsfree calling
5. Mini USB Charging Connector
6. Audio Line out (for connecting to Car Stereo)

Sources are also confirming that it will work with the iPod touch too.

We’ve not yet been able to confirm any of this yet with our suppliers, and we’ll post again as soon as we know more.

On a similar note, the rumour mill is also suggesting that CoPilot Live 8 is on its way to the App Store and will be available some time next week for around 26. UPDATE: CoPilot Live 8 is available now from the AppStore – iTunes Link

Decisions decisions…60+the cost of the car kit for TomTom, 26 for CoPilot…

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The Ultimate Guide to GPS and Mobile Phones

GPS has been around in mobile phones for a few years now, but for a lot of people it’s purpose isn’t all that clear. As well as being a basic requirement for Satellite Navigation, GPS has a number of other really useful applications that you may not be aware of. This guide explains the basics of GPS and runs through the different types of GPS receiver and software available.

So What Is GPS?

GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers use a network of satellites in orbit around the earth to pinpoint your location (longtitude and latitude) to within a few metres. GPS receivers don’t require a signal from a mobile phone company to work, they just need to be able to see the sky. Locking on to GPS Satellites normally takes a couple of minutes, sometimes longer if you’re already on the move.

Over the last couple of years GPS receivers have found their way in to a number of mobile phones. Mobile Phones work slightly differently to stand alone GPS receivers as they can triangulate their location using nearby transmitters. Mobile phones combine the information from nearby transmitters with the information received from the GPS receiver to give them an exact location. A brief internet connection is normally required to find your location.This type of receiver is called A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System).

Both GPS and A-GPS have their strengths and weaknesses. External GPS Receivers tend to lock on to more satellites for more stable tracking. They also have better battery life than A-GPS as they don’t need an internet connection and have no screen to run the battery down. Phones with A-GPS tend to lock on to your location a little bit faster and may still be able to track you if you are indoors or under cover.

GPS Receivers

Generally speaking most GPS receivers are designed to communicate over a Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth is a way that 2 devices can talk to each other wirelessly and is found in most mobile phones and computers. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth built in, you can add this function easily by purchasing a USB Bluetooth Adapter.

If you want to use a GPS receiver with your phone, you just need to make sure that your phone has Bluetooth and you’ll need to pair the GPS receiver with your phone. When you launch an application on your phone that requires GPS data, your phone will automatically make the connection to the GPS receiver as long as your receiver is turned on.

GPS Software

If someone were to say to you “GPS” the first thing that comes to your mind will probably be Satellite Navigation, mainly because of the phenomenal success of TomTom’s Sat Nav products, but GPS is not all about Navigation.

There are 5 main categories of GPS software available and chances are that you’ll be able to find a use for at least one of these in your day to day life. There are applications to help you find the nearest petrol station, can track your route while you’re out walking, jogging or cycling or maybe you want to be able to add your location to photographs that you will be uploading to Flickr.

GPS receivers can be used with a range of tracking, location aware, geo-tagging mapping and directional applications and I’ve spent the last few days looking around at all the different GPS software that’s available and here are a few of the best free applications that I’ve found for each type of application. I’m only going to list a few examples here, but I’ve compiled a list of GPS applications for each of the main mobile phone platforms on a separate post.

Tracking
Whether you’re off trekking in the Lake District, going for a run and want to track your training progress, or maybe you want to track your employees where abouts while they’re out working there are a range of free applications that will let you do all of these things.

Location Aware
Location Awareness is the ‘big thing’ in mobile phone applications at the moment. The way that these work is by looking up your GPS location against a database of shops, bars, banks, cashpoints hotels… the list is almost endless. Once you know where you want to go, some location aware applications will then provide directions on how to get there.

Geo-Tagging
Geo-tagging is a fairly new feature that is making it’s way in to digital cameras. The idea behind it is simple, when you take a photograph the longitude and latitude of where the photograph was taken is added to the meta data of the image. (Meta Data is information about the photo such as time and date it was taken,the camera used and the exposure/aperture settings). As not all camera’s have the ability to connect to GPS receivers, you may not be able to tag your photo’s as they are taken – in which case you would need a GPS receiver that supports GPS logging.

GPS Logging
Some devices will support GPS logging. This is where the GPS receiver records your position at set time intervals. When you get home and transfer this data to your PC, you can then add the location (of where the photo was taken) to the image, by matching the time and date your photos were taken with the coordinates recorded at the same time and date on the GPS Receiver. It might sound complicated but it is an extremely simple process!

Mapping
Mapping applications are different to Sat Nav applications as these will just let you plan routes and work out where to go. They can show you where you are in relation to your planned route, but won’t provide turn by turn instructions. This can be extremely useful if you are out and about on foot, or are looking to find out how far away places are before you set off or plan your journey.

Sat Nav & Turn by Turn
Without doubt this is the main reason that most people will look to get a GPS receiver for their phone. With Sat Nav software on your phone you won’t need to use a separate Navigation device as the phone will be able to guide you from door to door. There are a number of different options available for most phones, some software is free, others you have to pay for, the main difference between them being the additional features they offer and how they look on your phone.

So now you’ve got a better understanding of GPS on mobiles, you’re probably wondering what applications are available for your phone and where can you download them from – take a look at our Ultimate Guide to GPS Applications and I’ll show you what’s available and where you can get it from.

Using Sat Nav on the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS

Since the iPhone 3G launched last year with built in GPS and the new iPhone 3GS launch this year, people have been calling out for a proper Satellite Navigation Application for it. Well, after a long wait, iPhone OS 3.0 finally provides support for turn-by-turn navigation.

TomTom were the first company to announce a ‘proper’ Sat Nav solution for the iPhone at last months Apple Developers Conference. TomTom demonstrated the software and introduced the TomTom Cradle – an optional extra to help you get the most out of their mapping software, but they didn’t announce any pricing or release dates. This week though saw the release of the first two Sat Nav apps, and surprisingly TomTom weren’t one of them!

First to launch were Navigon -MobileNavigator: Europe came first, withMobileNavigator: British Isles appearing in the App Store this morning. (Both are available now from iTunes and clicking the links will launch iTunes and take you directly to the App Store).

Second to release a full turn by turn App is Mobile Maps 2009 by Sygic. From the reviews it’s getting, it’s a better option than Navigon as it has a few more features such as full postcode search.

Navigon posted this video demoing the software.

If you do invest in a Sat Nav App for your phone, it’s not just the App that you’re going to need. You’ll need something to hold your iPhone and a way of keeping your iPhone charged, as battery life will be dramatically affected by using Sat Nav, especially on long journeys.

Depending on your budget and what you want to achieve in your car, there are a number of options available:

Something Simple

If you don’t want to break the bank and just want a simple, no fuss solution, then you’ll need to get yourself an iPhone 3G Car Holder and iPhone Car Charger. The holder simply fixes to your windscreen using a suction cup and can be used in either landscape or portrait mode.

If you don’t like having things stuck to your window or the tell tale circle on the glass that says you have a Sat Nav system, then you should also consider a Brodit Active Holder for the iPhone 3GS. These are phone specific cradles that will hold your iPhone securely and have a car charger wired into them, so there is no need to fiddle with cables. They are made from a strong ABS plastic and have a soft touch coating to prevent your phone from getting scratched as you use the holder. You can use your iPhone in both landscape and portrait modes as these holders have a rotating bracket. Brodit Active holders are designed to be screwed onto your dashboard, although if you don’t fancy doing this you can use a Brodit Pro Clip. These are secure mounting pads that clip on to your dashboard and can be removed without causing any damage to your vehicle. ProClips provide an ideal base for fixing an active holder on to.

TomTom on iPhone 3G

If you plan on using the TomTom software when it is released later in the year, then this is probably your best option. The TomTom Car Kit does just about everything you need all in one small discrete holder. The suction mount can be fixed to either your windscreen or dashboard (using a fixing plate) and can be rotated for use in either landscape or portrait mode. As well as holding your iPhone, the TomTom Car Kit will boost your GPS signal for improved tracking; it has an FM Transmitter that allows you to play music from your phone through your stereo speakers, and a built in loudspeaker for the voice navigation while you’re driving. Pricing and availability are still to be confirmed.

Music Streaming, Hands-Free Calling and Navigation

If you really want to get the best from your iPhone and want an in car set up that can be used with your iPhone 3G / 3GS for handling calls, music and navigation there are a number of Plug & Play and professionally installed options available.

There are a few iPhone 3GS Plug & Play Car Kits that will work with the iPhone 3G, and the Jabra SP700 is one of the best. The Jabra SP700 is a self install Bluetooth Car Kit that simply clips to the sun visor of your car and pairs to your iPhone using Bluetooth. The SP700 supports the A2DP profile, which means that you can stream your music to it over Bluetooth and listen to it either using the speaker in the SP700 or you can stream the music from the SP700 to your car stereo speakers using its built in FM Transmitter, in a similar way to how the TomTom car kit works.When you use the Sat Nav app on your iPhone, any voice commands will also be played through your car stereo speakers so you shouldn’t ever miss any directions. The battery life of the SP700 is upto 14 hours talk time and 250 hours stand by.

Streaming using Bluetooth can be quite a drain on the battery, especially if you are using Sat Nav at the same time, you will almost certainly need a car charger and a way of mounting the phone in the car. Personally I’d recommend using aBrodit Active holder for iPhone 3G and a vehicle specific ProClip.

Fully Integrated to your Car

If you want a more permanent solution or one where you don’t need to recharge the handsfree unit, then theiPhone 3GS fully fitted Car Kit will be your best bet.

I’ve tried most of these kits out with the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, and by far the best option here is one of theParrot MKi Car Kits. Parrot only make Bluetooth accessories and because of that they make sure that every phone works brilliantly with their car kits. There are three kits in the MKi range, but the Parrot MKi9000 for iPhone 3GS is your best bet, mainly because you dont need an external screen. You can play music from your phone through the MKi9000 either by connecting the Dock Connector (which will also charge your phone) or you can stream it using Bluetooth.

The Mki9000 will synchronise with your phone book, and supports voice dialing even on the iPhone 3G. There is also a small remote that you can attach to your dash or steering wheel to control your music (Play/Pause and Volume only when streaming using Bluetooth).When you use Sat Nav on your phone, voice instructions come through your car stereo clearly, and if music is playing at the same time, it briefly mutes out the music so that you don’t miss any directions.

You won’t need to buy a car charger for your iPhone as this kit will charge your iPhone when you connect the dock cable, but you will still need a holder for your iPhone 3GS. Depending on how this kit is installed into your car, you may find that the charging cable may not be able to reach the windscreen, so a dashboard holder such as the Brodit Pass through Holder for iPhone 3G & 3GS will be a better option. It’s made from the same soft touch plastic as the Brodit Active Holder, but instead of having a car charger attached, it has a Dock Connector on the bottom so you can leave the charging cable connected permanently.

They’re easy enought to fit yourself, but to be on the safe side I’d recommend that you have your car kit professionally installed.

Over the next few months we will see even more Sat Nav applications make their way into the app store, with products from Telmap, Co-Pilot and Navicore still in the pipeline.

If you’ve used any of these Sat Nav applications or accessories, let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 Release Date

Sony Ericsson have today confirmed that their next flagship handset, the Xperia X1 will be released on the 30th September.

The Xperia X1 is the first Windows Mobile device from Sony Ericsson, and features a 3.2 MP Camera, GPS, HSDPA and WiFi for high speed internet. The X1 also has a full Qwerty keyboard and widescreen display.

Visit the Mobile Fun website for more information on the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.

BlackBerry Bold

Sounds Familiar!
The name maybe often confused for a BlueBerry, but BlackBerry is one of the most recognised names in the business world.

Why is it popular in the Business World then?
BlackBerry by converging technology now supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. This means its ideal for people who need all their office facilities on the move.

It does Email?
Arguably the push email system it provides is what makes BlackBerry famous! Push Email means instant email. As soon as an email is received by the server, the email is pushed to your BlackBerry device within seconds. Standard email servers usually work by connecting to the server every so often and downloading a batch of emails at a time, so its not instantaneous.

Just for Business users then?
Id honestly say no, with all the features packed into this device it is suitable for anyone looking for a good phone with top end features. It maybe seen as a business handset, but if you need HSDPA (fast internet access), GPS or even Wi-Fi, then this phone will do the job.

Any other ways to communicate?
Well, its not just a phone and email device but there is also there BlackBerry Messenger, its a free service similar to MSN that allows you to instantly chat with other BlackBerry users. Oh dont worry if you have MSN or Yahoo messenger – that will work too but you may have to pay extra for it to your network.

What is the latest BlackBerry out?
The BlackBerry Bold is coming out this month!

Whats so special about it?
Well it has the normal features of previous BlackBerry devices, but it will be the first BlackBerry with HSDPA which means fast internet connection. It also has all the features you would expect for a new top range phone including inbuilt GPS and Wi-Fi, a 2 Megapixel camera, expandable memory, Media Player and support for Word, Excel and PDF files.

Do I really need one?
If youre an email junky, a techie or just someone who likes to stay up to date – then yes. If youve never had email on your mobile before, I cant explain how useful it is, and its not just perfect for business users, I use it to keep up to date with my Facebook notifications.

Summary
Heres a quick list on why you should buy it:

• Push email.
• HSDPA for fast internet connection.
• In-built GPS so you never get lost again.
• Wi-Fi.
• QWERTY keyboard for easy emailing and messaging.
• Half-VGA (480×320 pixel resolution) and a 65,000-color display for nice clear viewing.

View more information on the BlackBerry Bold on the Mobile Fun Website

If you already have your BlackBerry Bold don’t miss our BlackBerry Bold Accessories range.

Are you waiting for the BlackBerry Bold? Do you think that it will be an "iPhone Killer"? Let us know your thoughts below.

 

How to set up Sat Nav on your Windows based Smartphone

To set up your Windows Mobile device to work with most Satellite Navigation applications you will first need to configure your Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

Windows Mobile 5.0

• To start the set up, launch the “Bluetooth Manager” on your device. To do this tap Settings > Connections > Bluetooth on the start menu
• On the Bluetooth options screen you need to turn on bluetooth and make sure that your device is discoverable.
• Click on the devices tab at the bottom of the screen and then select new partnership. Your device will now search for your GPS receiver.
• Once the search has completed, select the GPS device you wish to use, You will then be prompted to enter the passkey. This is usually 0000, but varies from device to device, so keep your instruction manual for your GPS receiver close to hand.
• The next screen will ask you to select the services you wish to use with this device.
• Tick the box next to serial port and then click on finish.
• Now click on the “com ports” tab at the bottom of the screen, you will have two options here, new incoming port and new outgoing port. You need to select new outgoing port.
• On the next screen you will need to select the GPS device that you have just added and press next.
• You now need to choose a com port from the drop down list and press finish. Make a note of the com port number that you have assigned to the GPS receiver as you may need this later on in the set up process.

Your GPS is now set up to talk to your handheld device. You may need to change a few more settings depending on the software you are using. If you are unsure consult your user guide.

Tom Tom Navigator

To use TomTom Navigator you will need to tell the software which GPS receiver to use.

• Launch the application and then go to the preferences screen. Click on the Show GPS Status screen.
• Click on configure and scroll through to select “Other Bluetooth GPS”, this brings up a list of all the available connections on your device.
• You need to select the com port you assigned to the GPS receiver earlier on in the set up process. If you can’t see the full name of the port, tap and hold the name to reveal it.
• You will know that your GPS is correctly configured when you see the UTC time in the top right corner and you get a black and yellow spinning icon.

If for any reason the icon isn’t spinning and you can’t pick up a GPS signal, there is an alternative set up option you can try:

• Click again on the configure button, and this time scroll through and select “Other Cable NMEA GPS” (Don’t worry about the name, we’ll tell it to use Bluetooth later on)
• Select the baud rate, if you are unsure set the rate to 4800.
• You should now see the same list of available ports that we saw earlier on. Select the appropriate one for your GPS receiver, remember you can tap and hold the name of the port to see its name in full.
• You should now see the yellow and black icon spinning on the screen.

If this still hasn’t worked then you may need to contact TomTom technical support for more advanced help.

Nokia Maps 2.0

Along with the announcement of 4 new handsets at the Mobile World Congress, Nokia also announced the arrival of Nokia Maps 2.0 – an upgrade to the current version of their mapping software found in some of their N-Series and E-Series devices. Nokia Maps 2.0 promises to be more pedestrian friendly, and be clearer to see while driving. The full version is available to download now, so we thought we’d try it out and see what’s new.

2D Map View	3D Map View	3D Night View	Arrow View

Maps
When Nokia Maps 2.0 loads, the differences are noticeable almost immediately. The search bar is now a permanent feature in standby and a data counter has been introduced to help keep an eye on your data usage, especially handy if you aren’t on a fixed rate data plan. Two icons on screen tell you which keys to press to zoom in and out of the map. The signal strength indicator has been improved to show more than just 3 bars of signal reception. Locking on to signal is much faster too – I normally manage to achieve signal lock on my Nokia N82 in 5-10 seconds and often get a signal indoors.

The map views are pretty much the same as before, with the choice of alternating between 2D/3D and day/night view. On screen navigation display has been improved considerably too – you now have the choice of Manoeuvre view, Birds Eye view and Arrow view. Arrow view is a much simpler way to navigate; it shows an arrow facing in the direction you need to travel. Interesting additions are Satellite and Hybrid views, very much along the same line as Google Maps, although you can’t zoom in as far.

Satellite View
Non-Major Cities	Major Cities

Navigation
To set your destination is extremely simple. If you know the address or postcode of where you want to go you can simply enter this into Nokia Maps. Once it has confirmed the address and shown you on screen, simply select “Drive to” or Walk to”and away you go.

Navigate to Address or Postcode.

The built in search has also been improved in Maps 2.0, if you don’t know the full address or postcode, you can now enter part details in and the application will look it up and give you a list of possibilities. The search includes Transport, Restaurants, Cash Points, Post Offices and many more. You can also search by category, such as Eat & Drink, and you can set filters such as Fast Food, Restaurants, Italian etc, and it will just show the locations close to your current location.

“On Foot” directions	Local Search	Extra Services

Pedestrian Navigation
One of the biggest problems with previous versions of the pedestrian mode was that you never really knew if you were walking in the right direction until you’d walked far enough to notice the difference on the screen. Maps 2.0 has managed to fix this by using the inbuilt accelerometer to create a magnetic compass – This tells the phone which direction you have turned. Walk mode also has information built in on rail transport systems for some of the worlds largest cities to make commuting even easier.

Compatibility
Nokia Maps 2.0 is compatible with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, including N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95, N95 8GB, E51 & E90. If you are using a Nokia N95 you will need to using the latest firmware (Version 20.0.015 or newer). You will also need to have either an in-built GPS receiver (N82, N95, E90) or a separate Bluetooth GPS receiver. You will need to buy a license for the Voice Navigation, this can be done directly through your handset using premium rate SMS or by purchasing a Nokia Maps Drive & Walk Voice Navigation License.

Download
You can download the full version of this software from Nokia Maps website.