Hello,

When I had Mobile Geo, I moved to New Zealand from the US. Each year (for two 
years), I had to pay the upgrade fee which covered the maps for one country. I 
believe that fee was around $99 per year. I also paid $75 for the updated maps 
for the other country each year. This was on top of the almost $900 for Mobile 
Geo.

I have paid $129 total for both TomTom and Navigon, and that price has included 
upgrades with upgraded maps between every quarter and every six months, for the 
past couple years. Additionally, I paid less than $5 for Ariadne GPS which 
gives me the closest address.

With TomTom, I can go to a help screen and whenever I touch the screen, it 
tells me which streets I am between, and which street I am closer to.

For me, $800+ spent for the greater verbosity is not worth the difference in 
price. Not to mention, the fact that I would continue being required to pay 
over $100 per year just to update the maps once per year.


David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +64 21 2288 288
Sent from my iPhone

On 09/05/2012, at 21:39, Krister Ekstrom <[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi,
> I stand corrected regarding the map updates, but i  heard that a while back 
> you actually had to pay  a huge amount for an update with new maps etc, can 
> be wrong though. I think though that the only solution available here in 
> Sweden is Trekker Breeze and how that is regarding updates, and if they occur 
> regularly and worldwide i don't know. However, i hold to the view that i much 
> rather prefer an off-the-shelf solution than having to fork out loads of 
> money on reinventing the wheel, but that's stupid me.
> /Krister
> 
> 9 maj 2012 kl. 01:37 skrev Raul A. Gallegos:
> 
>> Hi, Sendero GPS uses Tele Atlas maps which btw, are the same as what Google 
>> Maps use. So updates happen when they are available. Maybe you are thinking 
>> of program updates, which are slightly differently. FRom what I know, 
>> Sendero has come out with an update at least once per year, sometimes even 
>> more.
>> 
>> Thanks.
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Raul A. Gallegos
>> Never have more children than you have car windows. - Erma Bombeck
>> Home Page: http://raulgallegos.com
>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/rau47
>> Facebook: http://facebook.com/rgallegos74
>> 
>> On 5/8/2012 7:25 AM, Krister Ekstrom wrote:
>>> Hi Mark and others.
>>> I really don't understand one thing in this whole discussion of what gps 
>>> system to use. I don't like the blind specific solutions from Sendero and 
>>> others. From what i have heard, the maps very seldom if ever get updated, 
>>> which means that how ever good the gps is at various anouncements, the maps 
>>> we follow will be obsolete, so the pois wi want simply won't be there.
>>> Another thing is that a mainstream off-the-shelf gps app could easily be 
>>> modified so that it speaks whatever you desire it to speak. I say easily, 
>>> thereby taking a risk since i don't know anything about programming, but 
>>> remember that the blind specific gps-es sends their info to the speech 
>>> synth/screen reader rather than talks via a recorded voice, am i right? If 
>>> so there are means for an app such as Navigon to send the things we want it 
>>> to send, such as street names and such to the screen reader, in this case 
>>> VoiceOver. We have seen this done before, in games like Kings corner, chat 
>>> apps like IM plus and gps apps like Ariadne, so Navigon, Tomtom and others 
>>> should be able to do this, if someone with much, much better programming 
>>> knowledge than me could describe the solution to the developers of said 
>>> apps. If they then will listen, that's a totally different story but it 
>>> could be done. Am i totally wrong in this?
>>> /Krister
>>> 
>>> 8 maj 2012 kl. 12:40 skrev Les Kriegler:
>>> 
>>>> Hi Mark,
>>>> 
>>>> I really enjoyed reading your most informative post.  I also purchased the 
>>>> Trekker Breeze at the end of last year.  I did so because I wanted an more 
>>>> comprehensive way of accessing walking routes.  I do like street names 
>>>> announced, and I have not been able to get that reliably from the 
>>>> commercially
>>>> available apps.  If a company like Sendero comes out with an app 
>>>> comparable to Mobile Geo, I'll probably obtain it, but for now, the Breeze 
>>>> is a really good option and I've made good use of it.  Also, even though 
>>>> we have GPS in our vehicle, my wife actually prefers all of the 
>>>> information the Breeze provides when we are on route.
>>>> 
>>>> Les
>>>> On May 7, 2012, at 7:30 PM, M. Taylor 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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