Lake Contour Maps for Smartphones

[DTro]

Yeah, I think the H20 with Lakemaster “feels” a little more accurate and updates faster …..BUT, most of the time when I use it, especially for ice fishing. I hold it in my hand and move to where I drill a hole, then shut it off. We all know how long it takes to power on the H20 and wait for it to lock on and then you try scrolling around with the directional pad and you hit the edge of the map and you have to wait for it to refresh. So a lot of times you leave it on, and it literally eats the AA’s. Now I can just whip my phone out of my pocket, and it is there darn near instantly. I’m not too concerned about being even 20ft off a spot, the fish will tell me where they are from day to day.

Plus when you factor in the ability to overlay Google maps and satellite images, not to mention I can hit another button and get turn by turn directions to the nearest gas station or restaurant, I couldn’t sell my GPS fast enough. IMO, these phones are a GPS (handheld) killer.

Now if I could just get a flasher app and a transducer that plugs in the HDMI port I’d be set.

[hydro]

Hey dtro, what about looking at the phone/flasher combo from the other direction? Wire up a Radio Shack lighter jack to the flasher battery and plug the phone in on a car charger cable. It's all 12 VDC operation and you can set the phone to keep the screen lit up "while charging" under Applications/Development/Stay awake when charging. On my Galaxy S (2.1 OS) this appears to work well and would solve both the power consumption and screen sleep issues when plugged in.

[DTro]

Good point. I actually used that feature in the boat this summer. My DroidX surpirsingly fits quite nicely (not perfect) into the H20 Ram mount. I ran my charger to the 12v outlet, set the screen to on when charging and was good to go.

When I got to my spot, I could then switch apps and listen to music or heck even watch a movie. Then catch a fish, and hit "Fish On" in the Fishnotes app and everything is logged.

Can you tell I'm a phone junky?

[hcmpls1]

I sent a note to Navionics the other day as well. Just got this response:

Quote:

Thank you for your patience. We have developed an update for the Navionics Mobile apps for Android that will resolve this issue. We are currently testing this update, and it should become available for download in the near future. We do not have a definite release date at this time, but it should become available shortly.

Please update to the new app version (5.0) when it becomes available. This update will fix the issues with the last version release, as well as add new features.

They didn't give an exact release time/date for v5.0 but I'd guess pretty quick.

[CAMAN]

Good point. I actually used that feature in the boat this summer. My DroidX surpirsingly fits quite nicely (not perfect) into the H20 Ram mount. I ran my charger to the 12v outlet, set the screen to on when charging and was good to go.

When I got to my spot, I could then switch apps and listen to music or heck even watch a movie. Then catch a fish, and hit "Fish On" in the Fishnotes app and everything is logged.

Can you tell I'm a phone junky?

OR, pick up a motorola vehicle mount, it keeps the screen lit while cradled, charges and securely holds the phone.

BTW... their on sale right now at BB for 29.99 normally 49.99 FYI

[DTro]

Yeah that's a good option too.

Here's a little trick. Take a magnet and put it on the back of the phone. It will automatically put it into Vehicle or Home Cradle Mode depending on the magnet polarity.

So with magnet you can turn most any vehicle mount into an OEM cradle.

[tsande00]

It is definitely $9.99 US dollars in iTunes. I wasn't trying to be a jerk, just giving you Droid guys a hard time, hence my smiley face. Sorry if some took that as a serious jab against your precious cellular telephone brand of choice, lol.

I just don't understand the 30% increase in cost from one phone to another for the same flipping app. Doesn't make sense.

The GPS absolutely murders the battery life on my phone. I couldn't last 2 full hours running the GPS non stop, but then again my phone isn't exactly new anymore.

I plan to use this app primarily for ice fishing so will have the vehicle charger in the truck to use and the 12v outlet in my flip over to use to charge when sitting in there. Hopefully the battery life will be a non issue for this fantastic app.

Regarding phone service: Verizon beats AT&T (I have both) Verizon not only has better coverage but the sound quality is better as well. Too bad my smart phone is on AT&T network.

[CAMAN]

Yeah I know the magnet trick, I Just prefer to use equipment that's made specifically for what I'm using. That way I know I'll be satisfied with it. I never would pay full price for it though and you can't find very many decent phone cradles for under $30. So why not buy OEM at that price?

[CAMAN]

And why are people arguing over the $3 difference in price from iTunes and Android Market? I'm not going to cry myself to sleep tonight knowing the Apple nerds payed less than me.

For all we know it costs less to have an app in iTunes. Maybe Google charges the devolopers more?

[tsande00]

And why are people arguing over the $3 difference in price from iTunes and Android Market? I'm not going to cry myself to sleep tonight knowing the Apple nerds payed less than me.

For all we know it costs less to have an app in iTunes. Maybe Google charges the developers more?

I missed the argument. Didn't realize the sensitivity of some folks, you sound like one of the few that got offended at the $3 price difference.

You even took it a step further to call iPhone owners "Apple nerds". Sounds like somebody is a bit envious eh? I wouldn't be if I were you. The Droid makes a really B.A. phone. Just as good as the iPhone in my opinion. No need to be jealous.

[DTro]

Yeah I know the magnet trick, I Just prefer to use equipment that's made specifically for what I'm using. That way I know I'll be satisfied with it. I never would pay full price for it though and you can't find very many decent phone cradles for under $30. So why not buy OEM at that price?

For me personally? One because I'm cheap, and two because I have a perfectly good H2O ram mount that will work for me. I was sharing the magnet trick for others as well. A lot of people don't know about it.

[servocam]

9hrs??

Impressive. I've heard others say more like 2-3hrs running constantly. Did you have your screen on the whole time too? I'm guessing not.

I did receive a reply back from Navionics about the freeze up on the new update. Here is what they said:

This is a known issue with the update to version 4.3 of the Navionics Mobile app for Android. We are currently working on a solution for this issue. Please provide some additional information to assist us in developing a solution to this issue. Please provide the following:

App title (ex. Marine: US East)

Android Operating System

Model of Android phone you are using

Please provide this information, and we will contact you back when we have a solution to this issue.

Best regards,

Navionics Mobile Team

I too received email from Navionics today, the one you sow and also this one:

Thank you for your patience. We have developed an update for the Navionics Mobile apps for Android that will resolve this issue. We are currently testing this update, and it should become available for download in the near future. We do not have a definite release date at this time, but it should become available shortly.

Please update to the new app version (5.0) when it becomes available. This update will fix the issues with the last version release, as well as add new features.

[CAMAN]

I missed the argument. Didn't realize the sensitivity of some folks, you sound like one of the few that got offended at the $3 price difference.

You even took it a step further to call iPhone owners "Apple nerds". Sounds like somebody is a bit envious eh? I wouldn't be if I were you. The Droid makes a really B.A. phone. Just as good as the iPhone in my opinion. No need to be jealous.

LOL!!

Far from envious, especially knowing I'm not tied down by Steve Jobs and his little p#%!$ syndrome.

Sorry if you were offended by the term Apple Nerd, but I've heard much worse from Apple fans describing themselves. Ones I can't post here without getting banned.

[servocam]

As far as the 70% over 9 hours, no, the display only ran for 30 seconds before turning off. WiFi was active, Blue Tooth was on, Navionics was running and GPS was tracking, weather was updating, news was updating, email was updating....

As I said, the Screen is what is going to eat the battery. When in the car, simply plug it in. When on the ice, once you find the spot, be sure the display is off. If going to be there a while, toggle the GPS off.

(Then turn off the cell to get rid of the nagging wife LOL)

[servocam]

I have both Apple, Droid, and Microsoft products in the house. Apples downfall is not being able to run Flash.

BTW, I was more than happy to pay the $13.

[Superhog]

I sent a note to Navionics the other day as well. Just got this They didn't give an exact release time/date for v5.0 but I'd guess pretty quick.

5.0 is out...

http://www.navionics.com/MobileMarineFeatures.asp?MobileType=iPhone

Adam

[hcmpls1]

It is for iphone... Not android.

[servocam]

It is for iphone... Not android.

Salt on the wound. Thanks, [jack-@$$]

[tsande00]

LOL!!

Far from envious, especially knowing I'm not tied down by Steve Jobs and his little p#%!$ syndrome.

Sorry if you were offended by the term Apple Nerd, but I've heard much worse from Apple fans describing themselves. Ones I can't post here without getting banned.

No offense taken. This is the only Apple product I've ever owned.

One advantage I can see to the Droid contour software is the larger screen would be nice. The biggest disadvantage is the Droid contour software seems buggy for some reason. The app on my iPhone has run flawlessly. I wonder if Mr. Jobs little p3n!$ is to thank for that.

I don't think anybody cares about paying $3 extra when you figure you're saving hundreds of dollars. Its a great product no matter what type of phone you have and I think all of us owners can agree with that.

[DTro]

I know the Apple version of the app has pinch zoom and I would really like to have that.

and I could care less if the Apple folks got it for free.

[Acemac]

yes after using your fingers to zoom you will not like using any other gps touch screen is awsome.

[Hardyboy]

i personally dont care about the 3 dollar price difference one bit!!! i like to give the apple boys a hard time but truth is i have an android phone and a mac computer at the house. So far the app has worked flawlessly on my Incredible. When you look at the price difference from an h2o with a chip and this its hands down a no brainer. And the pinch zoom is coming for the android boys in the next update. apple boys get first crack then they refine it and send it to android yes that was a shot and im not afraid lol !!

[knoppers]

when you'all talk about the price, is it a monthly charger, or a one time charge? I am new to the smart phone learning curve.

[DTro]

One time charge, plus free updates!

[knoppers]

thanks for the quick reply dtro, now I am mad on my decision to get the blackberry, should have gotten the droid. hopefully blackberry gets this app soon, but I still have the hand held to get me through the winter.