Hi Mark, That is an interesting post and an entertaining read. Thanks for posting it. Personally I only consider the announcing of cross streats to be a nice to have and it would be a really nice to have, but it does not fit in the deal breaker catagory for me and I have been pretty happy with the IOS GPS offerings. Although my only blindness specialty GPS solution that I used at times in 2008 after receiving it was the Sendero ported to the VoiceSense. I kind of lost interest in it as it took so long to process anything and lost signal often with the receiver I had with it and fell behind quickly and never caught up on the Sendero upgrade path. I had always heard that the Breeze didn't really have the feature set for anyone so much of a power user as to have much interest in technology and was very simplified for those that did not want to have to be bothered with the technology. There is a place for that of course. Maybe it has evolved since then and has a nice feature set. All of this is very much up to someone's personal preferences what they want and like and works for them.
On 5/7/12, M. Taylor <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Everyone, > > In 2005 I purchased my first GPS solution; it was the Trekker/Maestro Del 51 > PDA from HumanWare. If memory serves, among other difficulties, the PDA did > not have an Off button. When not in use, it had to be plugged into a > charger to prevent power loss. Be that as it may, it was the most amazing > piece of technology I had experienced. > > Back in those days, I was using a Motorola TimePort which was an upgrade to > the Star Trek Motorola phone. Of course, these phones had virtually no > accessibility but, still they were usable. > > Sometime in 2007/2008 I switched to my first Windows Mobile phone. That was > to be the beginning of a lot of changes in my life not the least of which > was my subsequent association with Code Factory. > > Enter Mobile Geo; this onboard GPS software solution put the power of true > independent GPS navigation for the blind and low vision on a cell phone. > So, I put away my then outdated Trekker/Maestro PDA. > > Then, of course, came yet another game changer; the iPhone. > > For whatever reason I thought that either Code Factory's Mobile Geo or > Humanware's Trekker would find its way to iOS. This, obviously, did not > happen. > > As a result, since iPhone 3GS, I have purchased virtually every iOS GPS > navigation software app in hopes of bringing the power of Geo or Trekker to > a single mobile device. I shutter to think of all the money I have spent on > this endeavor (smile). > > As far as off-the-shelf iOS GPS navigation solutions are concerned, I hold > that A T & T Wireless Navigator is the most accurate and easy-to-use app on > the market. Recently, they added the ability to download the maps to your > phone so you can now travel without benefit of a active satellite > connection. I believe that the monthly cost for Navigator is $9.95. > > As wonderful as Navigator is, it falls short of meeting the one criteria I > demand in order to recommend it, or any GPS app for that matter, as a > solution for true independent navigation by the blind and low vision; said > criteria being the ability to have streets, cross-streets, etc automatically > announced without engaging any kind of route function or without having to > touch, shake, or otherwise interact with the hardware device, itself. > > Until this past Thursday, my solution, when traveling independently, was to > fire up my old beloved Samsung Epix, running Windows 6.1, and launching Geo. > I could go on and on about how much of a pain this was given that I can > hardly remember any of the Mobile Speak commands as I just don't use my > beloved Samsung Epix anymore but I will spare you the gory details. Add to > this the fact that I also had to fire up my GPS receiver and connect a > special headset adaptor as the Epix does not have a standard headset jack, > as many of the models in that era did not. > > ON Friday, I received my new Trekker Breeze from Humanware; thus, I have > come full-circle, as the saying goes. > > Suffice me to say that the Breeze is every bit as marvelous as the original > Trekker and Geo were with the advantage that one does not have to become a > software geek in order to be up and running in a matter of minute. It works > right out of the box. > > The Breeze is roughly the same size as the iPhone 4 S but just a little > thicker. > > What an iOS world we live in; even before I powered on my Breeze for the > first time, I turned the audio CD files that are included in the package > into an audio book complete with cover art and placed it on both my 4 S and > Nanno. Then, I converted the user guide and quick start guide into iBooks > and placed them on my 4 S. This took only a few minutes. Only after > performing these iOS-centric tasks did I power on the Breeze and begin yet > another chapter in my GPS navigation life. > > Mark > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > To search the VIPhone public archive, visit > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. To search the VIPhone public archive, visit http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en.
