Comments on: Mio MiBuddy To Run On Android

By: Mio Navman Spirit S500T

Mio Navman Spirit S500T — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:05:22 +0000

GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, scientific uses, tracking and surveillance, and hobbies such as geocaching and waymarking.We have no image of MiBuddy available at this time but it sounds like it will carry a 4.7″ touchscreen with the addition of a slide out keyboard, and a windshield mount for in vehicle use of course.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:02:33 +0000

I believe that google maps navigation is US-only

By: Talton "Phases" Pettigrew

Talton "Phases" Pettigrew — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:38:40 +0000

@Joseph: First – I’m not Rob. I’m Talton. Second – that comment had nothing to do with promoting Android. I don’t want to go on a 5 hour drive trying to use my Droid as a GPS while also trying to use my phone for calls/texts and whatever else (Yes, my wife drives too, no I’m not advocating texting and driving).

I’d rather have a stand alone. But the Droid will be nice also, it will keep me from having to drag my Garmin/TomTom around. They will complement each other.

That’s right. I have zero desire for this “MiBuddy”. I’ve never heard of it before today. I want a Garmin. Period.

How’s that for fake enthusiasm?

By: Joseph

Joseph — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:15:00 +0000

Comon Rob.. I know your trying to push android on your website here.. but don’t make up stuff like “I still personally would like a GPS device as well as my Droid.”

Why would you need a standalone GPS when you have the droid? Unless you really don’t and you’re just pushing fake enthusiasm on us to promote android at all costs.

By: curt

curt — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:06:10 +0000

Caching a few miles of frames along your route is a clever and great thing. Im glad they are doing that. But online maps still leave a lot to be desired if you are “off the beaten path”. Ive tried ATTs telenav which is very similar (except it costs money)and i put online nav in the fun category but not something you can depend on. My Tom Tom I can actually depend on. I cant say the same thing for nav through my phone.

By: Ironosity

Ironosity — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:26:45 +0000

Although I think I read (or watched) that the google nav will cache maps along your route… Can’t remember where I heard/saw this though.

By: curt

curt — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:13:28 +0000

The “excitement” of android 2.0 offering free nav will fade when people realize they need to be in constant cell tower range for it to work. The places I need gps most, typically have poor to no cell coverage, making google nav not very helpful.

Until Google nav offers maps stored locally, there will be a need for gps units like this that do.

By: Pieter

Pieter — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:39:24 +0000

this is the obvious next step for companies such as garmin and mio. google nav is gonna pick up a lot of steam in the next year. so instead of using their own software, just use google nav. then they can focus on making a larger screen, using the gps without a data connection, etc etc. there is still great use for garmin hardware, but not so much for their software.

By: David

David — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:54:50 +0000

@guillaume – That, and the fact that you’ll apparently need to keep a constant data connection for the app to work. With no maps resident on the device, you’ll get lost if you get out of the range of the cell towers.

By: Guillaume Theoret

Guillaume Theoret — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:23:17 +0000

Be careful using the Droid as a GPS if you leave the country. I imagine the roaming fees could add up pretty quickly.