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If have already upgraded to 4.0 and are having problems with NavAtlas, we have an interim solution. Please call (866-382-5476) or email customer service for further assistance.
UPDATE: The problem that prevented NavAtlas from working has been resolved with the release of iOS 4.1. Please update to 4.1 to make NavAtlas work properly again.
Apple released an update to the iPhone OS on Monday (6/21), and that update is causing an issue with NavAtlas. If you upgrade your iPod touch to iPhone OS 4.0 (aka “iOS 4″), NavAtlas may stop recognizing that the GPS Cradle is attached.
Wired.com posted a review of the GPS Cradle this morning: the reviewer was in Spain and reviewed the Cradle using a bike!
Five more apps added to the list of compatible apps: 2 cycling apps (BikeMateGPS & CycleMeter), one for birdwatching (Birdseye), and 2 navigation apps (Destinator 9 and Magellan Roadmate NorthAmerica).
Interested in using the GPS Cradle on a bike? You’re in good company. “Is there a bicycle mount?” is one of the more popular questions we receive.
Imagine some really bad weather: temperatures well below zero, windy from an approaching snowstorm, and night is falling. Now imagine your phone rings. It’s a call asking for help to find a total stranger who’s lost. Where are they? Well, roughly somewhere in south-eastern Alberta…that’s the best estimate.
This is exactly the kind of call that the members (all volunteers) of the Cypress County 40-Mile Search and Rescue (CC40 SAR) Guild in Medicine Hat, Alberta, respond to 24/7/365.
The Directorate President of the Guild, Fred McFall, explained that one of their field training
scenarios is to put a pair of teams in different places, and have them converge on the same point from opposite directions. Their test would be to put the GPS Cradle in a head-to-head competition with their existing hand-held units to evaluate accuracy, speed of resolution and field performance.
So we decided that if anyone can put a GPS device through its paces, it’s probably this crew. We sent them two units, and crossed our fingers.
How did things turn out? According to Mr. McFall:
- In terms of accuracy: The reported position from the GPS Cradle was “extremely accurate.”
- In terms of speed: The response time of the GPS Cradle was “on par” with the handheld GPS units they currently use.
- In terms of field performance: “Dual Electronics and their XGPS300 have stepped up to the plate and made the iPod Touch an Incident Command Management System that fits in your palm.”
Mr. McFall added: “The XGPS300 supplies real time tracking data to many of the apps that were designed for the iPhone, so that they now work on the iPod Touch without any need to be in a cell phone area, or within a WiFi hot spot. With apps such as TopoMaps, Gaia GPS, GPS Kit, GeoQuick and Simple GPS it is now possible to not only have a proper mapping system in the field, but also a real tracking / logging system for the field teams.”
So we would like to extend our thanks to the CC40 SAR team for putting the GPS Cradle to the test, and I’m pleased to report that the Cradle made the grade.
My hat is off to the members of the CC40 SAR – and the thousands of others like them – that save people like me when we make a serious mistake or the unexpected happens. Thank you for doing what you do best.
For more information about the CC40 SAR Guild, please visit their website here.
3 more apps are on the compatibility list (MotionX GPS, Memory-map, Routebuddy Atlas) plus a note on the behavior of the TomTom US & Canada V1.3 app.
Ok. I have to break the silence.
It’s been insinuated that the reason the GPS Cradle is not available in Canada yet…is because we’re miffed about losing a big hockey game to you recently.
Not true.
I mean, why would anybody be upset? It was just a gold medal and four years of bragging rights…
Who cares if you played better.
C’mon. It’s just a GPS. Would we really be so cruel as to hope that you might get lost without our GPS?
Of course not.
But maybe you might just be a little late to hockey practice…
All kidding aside, the GPS Cradle is coming to Canada. Very soon. We’re establishing distribution now, but can’t promise a specific date. But please know that it is a priority for us, and we’re diligently working on it now.
Check out the comment Lee left on the 3/24 blog post: he used his GPS Cradle to return a lost dog destined for the pound.
Well done Lee – you took a couple of minutes out of your day and it made all the difference!
Now that the Cradle is out, I thought I’d do a quick post of the most popular questions that are coming in:
#1) Sometimes the Cradle locks on to the GPS signal quickly, and sometimes it seems to take forever. Why?
#2) I’ve hooked up the GPS Cradle to my car stereo (or my FM transmitter) and can listen to my music through my car stereo. But when I plug in the cigarette lighter power adapter, the audio suddenly stops playing. What’s going on? (Don’t worry – your Cradle isn’t broken.)
#3) When I’m running your NavAtlas app, or another GPS app, my iPod battery drains really quickly. Help!
Q) Sometimes the Cradle locks on to the GPS signal quickly, and sometimes it seems to take forever. Why?
A) Two tips here:
First, try temporarily turning off WiFi on the iPod. This makes the iPod pay attention to the signal from the GPS Cradle sooner than it normally would, and can make dramatic improvements in how long it takes to determine your position. Once the iPod is showing your location (in any app), you can turn WiFi back on.
Second, keep an eye on how you have the Cradle positioned. The GPS antenna is near the top of the Cradle, but it points out the back – not straight up. So if you put the Cradle down on the dashboard, or put it in your pocket, make sure you position the back of the Cradle facing up. Otherwise, you may lose the signal after a minute or two.
Q) I’ve hooked up the GPS Cradle to my car stereo (or my FM transmitter) and can listen to my music through my car stereo. But when I plug in the cigarette lighter power adapter, the audio suddenly stops. What’s going on?
A) First of all, your GPS Cradle isn’t broken. The issue is that some car stereos need a special type of cable to work with powered audio accessories like the GPS Cradle. Not all car stereos need this cable – in fact, most don’t – but if this problem is affecting you, let us know. We’ll send you the cable you need at no charge. Just call us at 866-382-5476 or email us at cs@dualavcom. If you email us, let us know you need a “ground-isolated audio cable for the XGPS300″, and give us your name/address/phone number so we know where to send the cable. Bottom line: your Cradle is fine, you haven’t hurt your car stereo or the Cradle, and you just need to get that cable from us to solve the problem.
Q) When I’m running your NavAtlas app, or another GPS app, my iPod battery drains really quickly. Help!
A) Navigation apps typically don’t let your iPod go to sleep. They may let the iPod screen go dark to save power, but they keep the iPod awake in the background so that it always has current information when you want to know your location. Even if you hit the top button to make the iPod go to sleep, it may not really go to sleep. The result is that your iPod battery drains much more quickly than you’re accustomed to.
You can combat this, and save some battery life, by exiting the navigation/GPS app if you won’t be referring to it for awhile. Without an app constantly requesting location updates, the iPod can sleep – and consequently save power.
The obvious tradeoff here is battery life vs. the inconvenience of having to open an app when you need to check your position.
(In the car, BTW, this isn’t a problem – if you put the Cradle in the car mount, and plug in the power adapter, both the Cradle and the iPod will be powered/recharged at the same time.)
