Hello Esther,
Many thanks for a comprehensive reply. I've just purchased the Netatmo
Weather Station. Thank you so much.
Gena
On 30/03/2013 02:29, Esther wrote:
Hello Gena,
I'll interleave my replies after your questions:
I've been trying to get my head around what portable device to buy. To save
using battery power of my iPhone as an orientation tool. I thought I'd buy
myself a portable device. It appears that that the iPads with 3G also have a
GPS receiver. But can you pair a bluetooth GPS receiver to the other devices?
Could Navigon run on Nano's, iPod Touchs?
Esther: In general, you can only purchase specific Bluetooth GPS devices that
are compatible with being paired to Apple iOS devices such as the iPod Touch or
Wi-Fi only iPad, unless your are willing to jailbreak your device and then
research an app for jailbroken devices that allows you to pair other GPS
devices via Bluetooth. You cannot run an iOS app like Navigon or any other
complex GPS app being used for directions on a device like the iPod Nano. GPS
Bluetooth devices that have been successfully paired and used with an iPod
Touch with apps like Navigon include the Dual Electronics XGPS150A and the Bad
Elf GPS Receiver.
Your question is more complex than it might seem, because you also need to know
that the navigation software will work on a device that is not an iPhone. The
developer can detect the device architecture in the app. I recently read that
MotionX GPS Drive, a popular solution for users in the U.S. and Canada, blocks
the operation of the app on an iPod Touch. And I remember that initially for
quite some time, Sendero blocked the GPS functions of their LookAround app if
it was loaded onto an iPad -- even if the device had 3G and was able to run
Navigon and all sorts of other GPS apps. The only GPS device manufacturer I
know of, that posted lists of the GPS apps they had checked out to work with
their device on an iPod Touch, is Dual Electronics. Otherwise, you probably
have to find someone who has bought the device and the navigation apps and can
tell you the combination works. There have been a few reports on the viphone
list.
Remember, too, that some of the helper apps for locating POIs like AroundMe,
Where To?, and others, require an active network connection to pass on their
information, if you're not prepared to work solely within an app like Navigon
with downloaded maps.
You might be better off investing in an external battery pack for your existing
iPhone.
I see that Apple offer a personal Weather Station. Does VO read the outputs
from the station? Or is there other ways we can obtain barometric pressure?
Esther: I've read about the Netatmo Weather station on the viphone list. I
gather that at this time the initial setup of the weather station and its app
is not accessible, although two of the users who are enthusiastic about this
product managed to do the setup independently by running OCR programs to read
the instructions. So if you have sighted help to get this set up, both for
the physical connection of the device and the initial app installation, it
sounds as though you can read the outputs with VoiceOver, such as indoor and
outdoor temperature and humidity, along with carbon monoxide and noise levels.
The developers were working on installing wind speed sensors according to a
November report. The iPhone interface was reported as a bit cluttered for
VoiceOver, but usable. I don't remember whether you could get barometric
pressure reported.
Can't you get barometric pressure reported from the Weather Underground mobile
site? They even have one now that's specifically for the iPhone. Use the URL:
http://m.wund.com/
or on the iPhone use:
http://i.wund.com/
Type in your city or postal code and then double tap the "Go" button in the bottom right corner of
the virtual keyboard. Then, once you have the forecast page for your city, save it to your home screen by
double tapping the Safari "Utilities" button at the bottom of your screen, just above the home
button. Double tap the "Add to Home Screen" button, and you'll be able to access the weather
report for your city, both current and forecast, including barometric pressure.
Also I saw this: Withings Smart Kid Scale. Anyone attempted to use this product?
I look forward to any input on any of these accessories.
Esther: I don't know anything about this product. Gena, you can use the Mail
Archive page for the viphone list to search for more information about the
Netatmo weather station. They've now been archiving posts there for nearly a
year. Go to:
http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone%40googlegroups.com/
You can type in your search terms, like "Netamo" and "Sieghard" -- the person
who has posted most about this product -- into the text box and press return. You'll get a report
of the number of matches, and a set of links with the post subject followed by the date, a brief
excerpt of the content, and the name of the poster. Activate any links that look interesting to
read the posts.
I also wrote some more extensive posts about Bluetooth GPS receivers for the
iPod Touch on the Mac-Access list, which is a UK-based Mac list that also
archives its posts at the Mail Archive. Here's a link to one of the posts that
may be of interest:
• GPS on an iPod Touch {was Re: An Excellent GPS app for iPhone and visually
impaired people]
http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access%40mac-access.net/msg10357.html
If you want to read down the thread to the next post, press Control-n in Safari
on your mac. To navigate to the previous post in a thread, press Control-p in
Safari. The initial post gives links to some of the product web sites at the
end of the post.
Thanks.
Gena
You're welcome. HTH. Cheers,
Esther
--
"If you want someone who thinks outside the box, hire someone who lives
outside the box" Barbara Otto
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