I purchased a breeze second hand. I really like it, except for the fact
that it seems to take forever to obtain satellite service.
Steve
Original message:
Thank you for the very kind and gracious reply, James.
I can only speak for the Breeze as it functions today but I can tell you
that, as a beta tester for both Geo and the original Trekker, the feature
set is virtually identical to Geo and is definitely blind-friendly
travel-centric.
Having both the user guide and audio tutorial on my iPhone has made learning
the Breeze convenient, fast, and fun.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of James Mannion
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 4:58 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Mark On iPhone On Trekker Breeze
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
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