Notices

gnuite, do you have an update on GPSdrive?

I have an update, but if you're a true GPSDrive fan, you may not like it.

Basically, I determined that GPSDrive was insufficient for my needs, or, more accurately, that it was over-sufficient for my needs (and ugly). It did too much and was too bloated and too difficult to enhance. Instead, I created my own Hildon-based GPS application called Maemo Mapper.

Maemo Mapper does most of the things that I wanted from GPSDrive, and it is much more memory and CPU efficient. Plus, it has several new features that I think really enhance the application.

It's almost ready for release - I'll post a topic about it when it's ready. If you want a sneak preview of it, there's a web page I'm about to publicize, but the DEB file is not yet available:

http://www.gnuite.com/nokia770/maemo-mapper/

Note: there are no screenshots available of the maps themselves, due to copyright concerns, but here's a hint about what it looks and feels like: think Hildonized 2D Google Earth (or Google Maps) plus GPS.

I am really excited about where this project is going. In fact, if it weren't for his vector-based requirement, I would soon be able to claim
thoughtfix's hypothetical bounty. thoughtfix, what if I told you that I could fit all of phoenix at multiple zoom levels in bitmap format in under 384 MB? I have the entire DC/Baltimore area in very high detail in 384 MB; add the rest of America at sub-highway-level detail, and it ways in at under 800 MB. And these maps look much better than anything the Nokia 770 (or TomTom, for that matter) could render in real time.

You can all see for yourself soon - I'm just finishing up my last round of testing. It has been hard to decide where to stop adding new features, but with a binary of size 40k, I think I've packed a very respectable number of features into a very low memory footprint. Of course, as the web page above indicates, I have plans for additional features, including the last two (other than vectorization) that would satisfy thoughtfix's bounty: on-the-fly route recalculation and audible warnings about upcoming turns, both features of which are implemented but not yet perfected and thus will not be available in the initial release (give me a couple more weeks).

you'll have $20 from me too when the application is ready to be downloaded, of course, if I can use it in Portland-OR area or if you tell us details on how to build (or download) the map for our city.

Is it possible to have it automatically draw the best route? The waypoints only draw lines as of now. It would be really nice if it could draw the line and find the closest route to your destination. It's hard trying to read the map when driving with just a straight line....

great...
Maemo Mapper sounds like a good solution...
I wasn't very happy with gpsdrive... and was thinking about doing the same thing myself...

just one more thing, which images are you using?
just the roadmap? or the hybrid mode (road+photos)?

How do you capture them? manually with a screenshot?

thanks!
keep up the good work.

Awesome! sounds like a killer app and one I might like to help out with.

Can't wait to get ahold of the binaries and give it a try.

I don't mean to discourage you at all, but "the binary is being released under the GPL" is a contradiction in terms. The GPL requires you to release source to be able to use the license. Maybe just make it copyrighted freeware and distribute the binaries until you are ready to release the source.

David