[vicsireland] Re: Fw: [gps-talkusers] my comparison of Mobile Geo and Way finder Access
- From: "janeobrien" <jeobrien5@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:37:32 -0000
hi flor,
thank you for this very detailed article, it was certainly worth reading and
very interesting, he certainly did his work for us.
thanks once again.
jenny
----- Original Message -----
From: "Flor Lynch" <florlync@xxxxxx>
To: <vicsireland@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 10:49 PM
Subject: [vicsireland] Fw: [gps-talkusers] my comparison of Mobile Geo and
Way finder Access
> This is long. But it's a good article, and was sent by its author, Mike
> Arrigo, to quite a few lists. It isn't often we get a review with
> worked-out comparisons between two different GPS products.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Arrigo" <n0oxy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <gps-talkusers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 8:29 AM
> Subject: [gps-talkusers] my comparison of Mobile Geo and Way finder Access
>
>
> Hello everyone. Since I do have phones that use windows mobile and the
> symbian platforms, I did purchase way finder access
>
> and Mobile Geo, which allows me to have GPS features on both operating
> systems. Since I have both, I thought I would post my
>
> thoughts on both of them. Both are good products, but there are some
> differences which I will mention. First though, in
>
> fairness, way finder access has been out for around a year, where as
mobile
> geo was just released recently, and I'm sure both
>
> will improve over time. Also, remember that these are only my views on
each
> product. A feature that is important to one
>
> person may not be to another. Fortunately, you can try each product before
> purchasing it. Also, currently Way Finder Access
>
> only works on the Symbian operating system, where as Mobile Geo only works
> on Windows Mobile. So, the type of phone you have
>
> will determine which product you will need to purchase, unless you choose
to
> switch phones.
> Before I get in to the details and comparing of each product, let me say
> that I think both products provide the functionality
>
> a blind person needs to explore their environment and navigate to a
> destination. There are advantages and disadvantages to
>
> each which I will talk about, but when it's all said and done, I think
both
> products are fairly even. Now let's compare some
>
> aspects of each in more detail.
> First, the method of storing the maps is different for the two products.
For
> Mobile Geo, you download the maps, and store
>
> them on a memory card in your phone. This has advantages and
disadvantages.
> You don't have to be in a coverage area for the
>
> product to work. However, if you travel to another state for example, you
> must remember to load the maps for that state, or
>
> hope that you will be able to access a computer once you arrive in order
to
> do this. Way Finder Access on the other hand,
>
> gets its map information from the internet as it needs it. The advantage
> here is that you don't have to worry about loading
>
> new maps in to your phone when traveling since they will be downloaded
when
> needed. Of course, if you should happen to be in
>
> an area with no cell coverage, this won't work. For this reason, way
finder
> access does allow you to load the maps in to your
>
> phone the same way Mobile Geo does. That said, cell carriers have quite
good
> coverage now a days, so while it's possible this
>
> could be a problem, I would say it's highly unlikely. Also, since Access
> only works with Symbian phones, and Symbian phones
>
> only work with GSM, in the United States you are limited to using either
> AT&T or T-Mobile. On the other hand, there are
>
> Windows Mobile phones for GSM and CDMA carriers, so Mobile Geo supports
more
> devices. Personally, I think GSM is a better way
>
> to go for a few reasons. First, it's considered the global standard for
cell
> phones, and is used throughout the world.
>
> Second, your phone number is stored on a card, not in the phone itself.
This
> allows you to switch phones by simply moving the
>
> card to a different phone, and you are not limited to the phones that the
> carrier provides. In order to use Way Finder
>
> Access, you do need a data plan, and I will talk more about that in the
> section on pricing for each product.
> One reason many blind people purchase a GPS product is to know more about
> their surroundings, such as intersections, and
>
> businesses that are close by. I'm going to talk about intersections and
> points of interest separately because the comparisons
>
> for both GPS products are different.
> Both products provide features to automatically announce what you are
close
> to. Mobile geo provides the look around
>
> announcements, and you can set what information you want to know about,
such
> as street crossings and points of interest.
>
> Access provides different views you can switch to, such as cross roads
near
> by, places near by, and all near by which
>
> combines both of these.
> In the case of Mobile Geo, if you have the look around announcements
> enabled, the software will announce the street you are
>
> on when it starts, and will tell you what street you are approaching by
> telling you what street is ahead of you, or it may
>
> indicate the approaching street is slightly to the left or slightly to the
> right. It also provides commands for obtaining
>
> more details about intersections you are close to.
> Rather than indicating streets are on your left or right, way finder
access
> tells you the direction of the closest
>
> intersection. For example, it may indicate that an intersection is 200
feet
> north. Access also announces this as degrees, and
>
> I do hope they add a feature to disable this, as not everyone is
interested
> in the distance in degrees, feet and miles are
>
> much more meaningful. While Access does not indicate if the crossing is
> ahead or behind you, it is still obvious for a couple
>
> of reasons. First, if you use the "where am I" feature, access will tell
you
> the city you are in, the street you are on, and
>
> the direction you are traveling in. So, for example, if the software
> indicates you are walking north, and indicates an
>
> intersection is north, north east, or north west, it's obvious you are
> approaching it. Also, Access has the ability to
>
> automatically update the list of intersections based on a time interval
that
> you set, and if the number of feet to an
>
> intersection is decreasing, you are obviously approaching it. As far as I
> know, Mobile Geo does not provide a way to adjust
>
> the time between updates for the look around announcements, it's hard
coded
> at 30 seconds. Way finder access also provides a
>
> command to obtain more information about the intersection. So again, for
> automatically announcing street crossings near by, I
>
> believe both products are equal.
> Now let's look at how both products provide information about places that
> are close to you, also known as points of interest.
>
> The type of information provided is similar to what is provided for
> intersections. That is, mobile geo will announce for
>
> example that McDonalds is 200 feet ahead and slightly to the right, where
as
> way finder access would say something like 200
>
> feet north east, 38 degrees, Mcdonalds. So, if you used the where am I
> feature in access and it said you were heading north,
>
> you would know that McDonalds was slightly on your right, since East is a
> quarter turn to the right, and north east is less
>
> than a quarter turn. Both products provide a method for obtaining more
> information about a point of interest, such
>
> as address, phone number etc. You can even automatically call the place if
> you wish.
> Way Finder Access does currently have an issue where it does not
> automatically announce every point of interest in it's
>
> database. So, at this time, Mobile Geo will automatically announce more
> places as you pass them then Way Finder Access does.
>
> Hopefully this is something that will be fixed soon. A good example of
this
> is an ice cream place near where I live in Saint
>
> Louis. In the places near by or all near by views, it is never announced
> even when passing it. However, if I do a search for
>
> it by name, it is found and I can create a root to it. Both products allow
> you to set the categories of places you are
>
> interested in hearing about. For now, when it comes to automatically
> announcing places close to you, I would give mobile geo
>
> the advantage because it announces more places. If the issue I mentioned
can
> be corrected, so all points of interest are
>
> shown in the places and all near by views, I think they both would be
about
> equal.
> Besides obtaining information about what is in your environment, the other
> main purpose for having a GPS system is to receive
>
> directions for getting from one place to another. Both products provide
this
> feature, and I will do some comparisons of these
>
> features for you.
> First let's look at creating a root to a place that you are close to,
which
> may have been announced by the look around
>
> feature of Mobile Geo or in the places near by or all near by views of Way
> Finder Access. It is quite easy to create a root
>
> here, on the Mobile Geo main screen, press enter on the point of interest
> which will give you more information about it such
>
> as address and phone number. If you press enter again, you can choose to
set
> it as your destination and whether to create a
>
> vehicle or padestrian root. In way finder access, in the places near by or
> all near by views, move to the business you want
>
> to create the root for, and press the left soft key to open the options
> menu. From here, you can choose to get more
>
> information such as the address and phone number, or to navigate to the
> place, which creates the root. The type of root that
>
> is created, vehicle or padestrian is determined by changing an option in
the
> settings screen of the program. One thing I
>
> would suggest for way finder access is that it would allow you to select
> vehicle or padestrian when creating the root rather
>
> than having to go to the settings screen to do this. In Way Finder Access,
> there is also a setting to determine how a root is created, either for the
> least distance, or the fastest way. Usually, for a vehicle root, you want
to
> choose the fastest way, and for a padestrian root, you will want to choose
> the least distance, but it's up to you in either case. Both products allow
> you to access other points of interest besides the
>
> one that is closest to you. For mobile geo, doing a long press of the
number
> 8 on the keypad will open a list of places that
>
> are close to you along with their location from where you are. In Way
Finder
> Access, there is no need to access a different
>
> screen. If you are in the places near by view, the closest place is shown
> first, if you want to see others that are close by,
>
> just arrow down. Both products will allow you to create a root to a point
of
> interest using the methods described above.
> Now let's talk about creating a root to an address or place of business
you
> may not be close to. Both products allow you to
>
> do this, however, this is where I believe more work needs to be done in
> Mobile Geo to make this more user friendly. In
>
> fairness, again, this is only the first release and I'm sure this will get
> better as the product evolves. The quickest way to
>
> create a root is to do a long press of the number 2 on the keypad, then
> choose set destination. You now need to select a city
>
> to use if a default city has not been set. You can choose a default city
> that will always be used which will allow you to
>
> avoid this step. You then press the left soft key to go to the next screen
> where you enter the house number, not the street
>
> yet. Press the left soft key again and type the street name. Press the
left
> soft key once again and the program will search
>
> for the street. If more than one is found, select the appropriate street
> from the list, and you can then choose what type of
>
> root to create. Assuming your GPS receiver is connected, the root will
then
> be created from your location to the destination.
> If you want to search for a place of business you must go to a different
> screen, the long press of number 2 only searches for
>
> addresses. For this, press the left soft key for the functions menu, and
> choose search, then choose advanced search. Now
>
> enter the minimum distance from your location and press the left soft key
to
> go to the next screen, then enter the maximum
>
> distance away from where you are that you want to search. Press the left
> soft key again, and choose the category of place you
>
> are searching for. Press the left soft key again, and choose the
subcategory
> if any, then press the left soft key once again.
>
> You can now enter the name of the place you are looking for, or just leave
> this blank if you want to see all places in the
>
> category you have chosen. Press the left soft key one more time and the
> program will now conduct the search. When the list
>
> appears, you can select the item you want, and create a root using the
> method I have already described.
> The way all of this is done in Way Finder Access, at least in my opinion
is
> far easier and less cluttered. In Way Finder
>
> Access, arrow to search and select it. You can now type either the name of
a
> business or a complete address, no need for two
>
> different screens. While Access does provide a place to enter a city or
zip
> code, and a state, if you leave these blank and
>
> your GPS is connected, it assumes that you want to search in the city
where
> you are based on the information from the GPS. I
>
> don't know how many miles it does for the search, at least 100 I think,
> which could produce quite a few results if you search
>
> for a common place such as McDonalds for instance. If you want to limit
your
> search to a category, press the left soft key to
>
> open the options menu, and choose select category. Also, if you just want
to
> search for a category around where you are such
>
> as a resturaunt, leave the field blank where you would enter the address
or
> business name, and choose select category from
>
> the options menu. Press the left soft key to open the options menu, and
> select search. Assuming a match is found, the search
>
> results list appears. Select the result that matches what you want, and
the
> root is created based again on how you have this
>
> set in the settings screen. At this point, I think it is much faster and
> easier to do a search for a point of interest or
>
> address in Way Finder Access. Both of these are done from one screen, an
> address can be entered all at once, and there is no
>
> need to set default cities or choose the city you want each time. If the
> city, zip code and
>
> state are not entered, Access assumes, rightly so, that you want the
search
> to take place in the area where you are. You only
>
> need to fill in these fields if perhaps you are going on a long vehicle
> trip. Hopefully, in Mobile Geo, this process will
>
> become less cluttered in the future. The one suggestion I would have for
Way
> Finder Access in this area is to allow you to
>
> limit the search to a certain number of miles or kilometers in case you
want
> to make your search in a certain distance range.
> Ok, we have looked at searching for an address or business, now what about
> root creation, instructions to guide you, and
>
> handling a situation where you may go off track. When it comes to creating
> the root, by far, Way Finder Access is faster.
>
> There is really no comparison here. On any of my Symbian phones, after
> selecting the item from the results screen, the root
>
> is created in a very short time, at most 5 seconds. This is because the
root
> creation is not actually done by the phone
>
> itself. What happens is, a request is sent through the internet to the way
> finder server. The server actually creates the
>
> root, then sends it to your phone. Obviously this could be a problem if
you
> were trying to create a root in an area where
>
> cell coverage is not available, but again, with the coverage carriers have
> now, this is highly unlikely. Also, once your
>
> phone has the root, even if you were to lose the coverage for some reason,
> you would still continue to receive instructions
>
> for this root. The only time you may have a problem is if you were to go
off
> of your root, and that particular spot had no
>
> coverage. In that case, the program would not be able to create a new root
> from where you were, but again, the chance of
>
> having no coverage at that point is very slim.
> For Mobile Geo, at least on the phone I am using, it takes quite a bit
> longer to create a root, usually around 20 to 30
>
> seconds. I am using an HTC Mteor with 128 MB of memory, about 40 MB free,
> with the maps on a memory card. The processor is a
>
> 300 MHZ processor, which is fast for a Mobile Phone. It's running Windows
> Mobile 5, and there are no firmware updates for it,
>
> so I'm assuming the firmware is current. Also, when calculating a few
roots,
> the connection to the receiver was lost, so I
>
> needed to reconnect and then recreate the root. I'm not sure if this is
> actually a Mobile Geo problem, or a problem with
>
> Windows Mobile itself, but it is something to be aware of, and I don't
think
> it's the receiver, since it has happened with a
>
> few different ones that I have.
> Once the root has been created, you will begin to receive instructions as
> you travel. Mobile Geo provides two methods for
>
> following the root, you can have it only announce the points that require
> you to make a turn or do something else such as
>
> exit the highway, or it can announce every point in the root. My
suggestion
> is to only have it announce points where you must
>
> do something, having every way point announced, at least for me, is far
too
> much information run together, especially while
>
> on a highway. Granted, some of the highways we have around here have long
> names on the map, so I don't know if this would
>
> always be the case. Even when set to only mention the way points where you
> must do something, some times this still is too
>
> verbose and runs together. For one thing, a setting should be provided to
> not mention the way point number in the root, also,
>
> especially on a highway, the program repeats the instruction to continue
> ahead on the highway several times. In the roots I
>
> tested the program with, the person doing the driving already knew where
to
> go, but if this wasn't the case, it could be
>
> difficult for the user to sort out the information given in each
instruction
> and then relay it appropriately to the driver.
>
> This wasn't as much of a problem on streets, since the instruction would
> simply say something like, turn right and go south
>
> on first street. Also, while on a highway, I needed to turn off the look
> around announcements because between that and the
>
> instructions, it's way too much speech. Again, some of this could be the
way
> the highways are named here, but it's definitely
>
> something to be aware of. Also, while you can always check the distance to
> your next turn, this is not automatically
>
> announced until there is only 0.4 miles to that turn. That may not always
be
> enough time for the driver to prepare for the
>
> turn, this should probably either be a user setting or at least be
increased
> to one mile for the first automatic message.
> Way Finder Access takes a bit of a different approach for the
instructions.
> If you create a vehicle root, the guide view
>
> shows the distance to the next turn and what street to turn on or exit the
> highway to. This can be read with your screen
>
> reader. A female voice provides the actual instructions. However, when
> instructing you to turn, she does not say the street
>
> names, this may or may not be important, but you can always find out what
> the street is by using your screen reader to read
>
> the guide view. Typical things she will say include "In a quarter of a
mile,
> turn left," and "turn left here." She will also
>
> tell you when to exit a highway, and to keep left or keep right if getting
> in a certain lane is important. She will also tell
>
> you when you have reached the destination, or if you go off track. Though
> she doesn't say the street names, none of the
>
> drivers I have been with have problems following the instructions, and
> remember that you can always find out the name of the
>
> street to turn on by reading the guide tab. Way Finder Access also
provides
> a turn instruction much earlier so the driver can
>
> prepare for the turn. THe first prompt comes when the turn is in 2 miles.
> The next is 1 mile, then a half a mile, a quarter
>
> of a mile, 500 feet, and finally the turn left or turn right here prompt.
If
> that is too many prompts, you can decrease this
>
> so only the last few are given.
> When you create a padestrian root in Access, by default, the female voice
is
> muted, and your screen reader, either talks or
>
> mobile speak provides the instructions. For these roots, the street names
> are spoken. For example, you might hear "Walk 500
>
> feet then turn right in to First Street. Of course, you are also told
> exactly when to turn at the appropriate times. While
>
> the direction of travel is not given in the instructions, you can always
use
> the where am I feature by pressing 8 on the
>
> keypad, which will tell you the street you are on and your direction of
> travel. In a padestrian root, the screen reader will
>
> also tell you when you reach your destination or if you go off track. I
> haven't tested Mobile Geo yet with a padestrian root,
>
> hoping to do that next week, however I have had no problems getting to
> places using the instructions in a Padestrian root in
>
> Way Finder Access. To summarize this section, I think both products
provide
> good instructions to get you where you need to
>
> go. I think Mobile Geo needs more options for eliminating some of the
speech
> in the instructions, particularly the way point
>
> number in the root. Perhaps Way Finder Access could include the direction
of
> travel in the instructions for Padestrian roots
>
> in a future release.
> What about the ability to know what you are close to while on a root? Both
> products allow you to monitor the streets and
>
> places you are passing while on a root. In the case of Mobile Geo, the
look
> around feature works while on a root, so streets
>
> and places will be announced along with the instructions. Depending on the
> root you are taking though, this may produce too much speech, especially
if
> you are dealing with long names, but the feature is available if you wish.
> In Way finder Access, you have a few options available. The program
provides
> a feature called "Around you. This view is most
>
> useful while on a padestrian root. It provides instructions for the root,
as
> well as announcing a point of interest or
>
> intersection as you pass it. By default, the female voice is muted for
> padestrian roots, but you can override this in
>
> settings and bring her back. If you do this, you can then switch to the
> other views such as places near by, or cross roads
>
> near by, and they will read and update as usual. In that case, your screen
> reader will read those views, telling you what you
>
> are passing, and the female voice will give you the turn instructions. The
> one thing you will lose though if you use this
>
> approach is having the name of the street you will be turning on
announced.
> Other than that, it works fine. If you need to
>
> know the streets you are turning on, and also want to know what you are
> passing, the "around you" view is a better choice. In
>
> short, I think both products are equal here. Both will allow you to
monitor
> your environment while still providing
>
> instructions for a root.
> Both products have a feature that will recalculate the root if you miss a
> turn or otherwise diviate from the root. However,
>
> though I had this enabled when testing it with Mobile Geo, for some
reason,
> it did not work at all. To explain what happened,
>
> I need to tell you a little about my street. There is an exit to my street
> from the highway, the only thing is, when getting
>
> off the highway on to my street, you will be on the wrong side. Both
Mobile
> Geo and Way Finder Access must realize this,
>
> because both products include a turn somewhere in the root to go around
the
> block, thus putting you on the correct side of
>
> the street. However, many times, those who are familiar with this area
will
> simply stay on the street all the way, then make
>
> a u turn at the destination. Neither product includes instructions for
> making a u turn like this, and that's probably a good
>
> thing since this can be unsafe. So, using Mobile Geo, we got off the
> highway, and it wanted us to turn on to another street
>
> in order to circle the block. The person I was with has driven this way
> countless times and always just continues to my
>
> place, then does the u turn to get on the correct side of the street. So,
> rather than following Geo's instruction, we
>
> remained straight. Though the option to automatically reroot was enabled,
> Mobile Geo never recalculated the root, or even
>
> indicated that we had reached the destination when we pulled in. When
> checking the next turn, it was still indicating the
>
> turn we passed and that it was a couple miles behind us. I'm not sure what
> happened here, I will test this again next week on
>
> the bus to work, since the root the bus takes is not the most direct way
to
> that destination. But, at least for the root I
>
> tested Mobile Geo with, it failed the reroot test completely.
> Way Finder Access on the other hand handles this situation without
problems.
> It has never failed to reroot, at least for me.
>
> I took the exact same trip home the evening of Thanksgiving, and when
Access
> said to turn, we didn't. We continued straight,
>
> and as expected the Way Finder female voice gave us the friendly message
> that we were off track. It rerooted, and after the u
>
> turn, as we pulled up to my apartment, told us we had reached the
> destination. I have tested Way Finder Access in other
>
> situations like this as well, some times the person I am with will choose
to
> go a different way perhaps to avoid a long
>
> traffic light. Access has never failed to reroot at those times. I will do
> more testing with Mobile Geo next week with the
>
> reroot feature, I'm hoping that this was just an isolated case, otherwise
> this is a serious bug.
> Well, we have looked at creating and following roots in real time, what
> about exploring everything virtually? Is it possible
>
> to have a look at other places to find out what interesting businesses or
> streets are in those areas? The answer is yes for
>
> both products. It is also possible to create a root, then have a detailed
> look at the root without actually walking or
>
> driving around. In Mobile Geo, you can press 7 on the phone keypad, and
this
> will switch you to virtual mode. From here, you
>
> can move up down left and right to explore everything on the map. If you
> switched to virtual mode while connected to a GPS
>
> receiver, your virtual position will start where the GPS says you are,
> unless you have set a virtual position manually. In
>
> the case of Way Finder Access, you can go to the map view, and move
around,
> and your screen reader will announce the streets
>
> you land on. If you want to explore an area other than where you are, you
> can set a virtual position just as you can with
>
> Mobile Geo. To do this in Access, first select disconnect from GPS from
the
> options menu. Now go to the search screen, and
>
> enter an address or point of interest that you want to use as your virtual
> position. In this case, you will need to enter
>
> information such as city or zip code and state. Now press the left soft
key
> and choose search from the options menu. Select
>
> the result you want, then open the options menu again and choose use as
> position. Way Finder Access will now pretend you are
>
> at this location, you can explore the map, or use the different views to
> find out what is around this area. This also works
>
> in Mobile Geo. That is, you can enter an address or find a place on the
map,
> and tell Geo to treat this as your virtual
>
> position. From here, you can do a long press of 8, and the points of
> interest will be provided relative to this position.
>
> With both products, when you are done traveling in the virtual world, it's
> quite easy to warp yourself back to where you are
>
> in reality. In Mobile Geo, just press 7 on the keypad again, and at an
> amazing warp speed, your position is transported back
>
> to where you are, as indicated by the GPS. In Way Finder Access, from the
> main screen, press the left soft key for the
>
> options menu, and choose connect to GPS. Just like that, in the blink of
an
> eye, the virtual world will fade away, and the
>
> software will once again indicate where you are in the real world.
> Whether you create a root from a virtual starting position or from your
GPS
> position, it is possible with both products to
>
> have a good look at the root without actually driving or walking it. In
> Mobile Geo, pressing 6 on the phone keypad will tell
>
> you the next turn you will need to take. If you press 6 again within 6
> seconds, the next turn will be given. You can continue
>
> doing this to see all of the turning points in the root. If you would
rather
> see the root point by point, just do a long
>
> press of number 6. You can now cursor through each point and take as much
> time as you want in order to familiarize yourself
>
> with the root.
> Way Finder Access also provides two different ways to study a root. Once a
> root is created, you can go to the itinerary view,
>
> and arrow through each step of the root. This will indicate all turns, as
> well as entering and exiting highways. One item
>
> that can be a bit confusing here, for each step of the root, two distance
> numbers are given, and some times the speech runs
>
> these together. The first distance given is how far to travel before the
> next turn or exit, and the second number is the
>
> distance traveled for the entire root.
> The other feature Access provides allows you to play the root. That is,
the
> program pretends you are actually
>
> driving or walking, and gives all of the prompts acordingly. To do this,
> press the left soft key for the options menu, choose
>
> root, and select play. There are also options to speed up or slow down how
> fast the root is traveled. If you have some
>
> useable vision, there is a setting you can enable to always show your
> position on the map. This could also be useful for your
>
> driver as it will allow them to actually view the entire root on the map
> beforehand. If a root is playing, and the option to
>
> show the position on the map is enabled, you can go to the map view, and
the
> map will actually move as if you are driving or walking the root. Though I
> do not have enough vision to see the map, I have been told that the
quality
> of the map that is displayed is quite good. So in summary, I think both
> products provide a good way to enter the virtual travel world, and study
> roots without actually driving or walking them.
> What about getting a GPS status? That is, finding out how good the signal
is
> from the satellites? Both products will do this,
>
> but I think Mobile Geo does this far better. By pressing 0 on the phone
> keypad, Geo will tell you how many satellites you are
>
> tracking, as well as the signal quality, such as fair, good, or WAZ which
is
> the best quality. It will also indicate how
>
> accurately your receiver is able to determine your position in feet. So,
if
> it indicates 10 or 12 feet, you are getting a
>
> much more accurate reading than something like 30 feet.
> In Way Finder Access, you can press 2 on the phone keypad, and this will
> take you to a screen with several items that you can
>
> arrow through such as your direction, speed, latitude, etc. One of the
items
> here is the GPS status, but it only tells you a
>
> percentage, such as 100 percent, 66 percent, etc. Obviously, 100 percent
is
> the best, but I really do think that Way Finder
>
> Access should provide the status information that Mobile Geo does, as it
is
> much more informative.
> The last area I want to cover is the price of each product. Since each
> product only works on one platform, you will need to
>
> purchase the appropriate product for that platform. Also, prices can
change,
> so the prices I'm mentioning here are not set in
>
> stone. I'm going to assume that you already have a phone and screen
reader,
> so these prices are just for the GPS
>
> functionality. At this time, Mobile Geo is $845 for the United States map
> coverage, and Way Finder Access is $280. Also, if your phone does not have
a
> built in GPS receiver, an external one is between $50 and $80. On the
>
> surface, it looks like Way Finder Access is quite a bit cheaper, but there
> is a bit more to it. Remember that with Way Finder
>
> Access, you need a data plan. You can choose to pay for data as you use
it,
> although depending on how much data you download,
>
> this can add up. The prices I'm going to give you here are for the
unlimited
> plans for the two GSM carriers in the United
>
> States. For AT&T, the media net plan is what you would need, and that is
$15
> a month. For t-mobile, it's $19.99 a month, So, if you are with AT&T, and
> purchase Way Finder Access and the data plan, after two years, you will
have
> spent $640. That's still less than the initial cost of Mobile Geo. For
> T-mobile, the
>
> price for Access and two years of the data plan would be $759.76, a bit
> closer to Geo's price, but still a bit less. The only
>
> way I could see the cost of Way Finder Access passing Mobile Geo's price
is
> if there is no charge to upgrade the software and
>
> the maps for a few years, and that may or may not happen. So, at this
point
> at least, Mobile Geo has a higher price.
> Well everyone, we have arrived at our destination, the end of this review.
> Thank you for taking the time to read this review
>
> and comparison, I do hope you have found it to be of value. I have tried
my
> best to compare the two GPS systems for mobile
>
> phones, and point out their advantages and disadvantages. I believe both
> products do a good job of making GPS accessible for
>
> blind people, and as time goes on, I hope both products will continue to
get
> better. I do think we should extend our thanks
>
> to all of these companies for working to make this technology accessible.
I
> was actually in an electronics store earlier
>
> today, and all of the mainstream GPS systems they had used touch screens.
> There is currently no way a blind person would be
>
> able to use one of these. Yet, thanks to the folks at Way Finder, Sendero
> and Code Factory, we are able to utilize this
>
> technology and get the same benefits from it that sighted people do. For
> that, I know myself and many other blind people say
>
> thank you!
> If you have any other questions or comments about this review, feel free
to
> email me, my address is n0oxy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Again, thanks for reading, and happy traveling!
>
>
>
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