Garmin GPS 10x, Mobile XT and Que Reviewed.

Newer is Better? The Garmin GPS 10x is Garmin's upgrade for the GPS 10. Now with Sirf Star III technology. It has a Single Multifunction button, and an unconventional 2 LED configuration.The LED near the power sign (which is also the power on button) is green, indicating charging, and the blue LED which you see lit in the picture on the left indicates that the unit is powered on, satellite lock and also if its connected to your bluetooth device or not. I've had this unit for 3 months now, and although its written in the manual what the rhythm the blue flashes mean, its been to difficult for me to decipher them as of yet.. Maybe with time.... There's also no external antenna capability. Charging is by Mini USB. There is no provision for an external antenna as there is no mmcx plug. Maybe a reradiating antenna would work. My Asian Package came with the GPS receiver, a belt clip and the car charger. There was no CD bundled together. But not to worry, Garmin Mobile XT and Garmin Que are available from Garmin's website for use with your Pocket PC or Palm OS PDA and Mobile XT even works on Symbian 60 phones. I will be reviewing the Pocket PC versions.

On the left is the Holux GPSlim236 bluetooth GPS receiver coupled with the iPAQ hx2750 running Garmin Que. Its using GPS proxy as a 3rd party mediator to enable non Garmin GPS to use Que. On the Right is the Garmin GPS 10x bluetooth GPS receiver coupled with the iPAQ rx3715 running Garmin Mobile XT directly. There is no 3rd party software available at this time to enable non Garmin GPSr to use Mobile XT.

Garmin Que Startup screen

The Garmin Mobile XT startup screen.

Garmin Que showing basemap

Garmin Mobile XT showing basemap

After i installed Garmin Mobile XT, I realized it came with a Basemap of the world. It was quite cool as you could zoom out anywhere in the world and there would be Map! Previously I never had it on Que. Well anyway, the basemap should be available here for those of you who don't have it.

The Malaysian Map Gmasupp.img downloaded from Malsingmap is integrated into the basemap so as you zoom into Malaysia, the detailed map takes over.

This is really a nice plus point as you feel nice having the whole world in your hand.
GPS software screenshots at work

As you can see, Garmin Que has a utilitarian display. No fancy graphics or 3D display. I feel that using 3 day display is very difficult as 2D displays are more objective. This is the fancy 3d display with Garmin Mobile XT. Really looks pretty nice but however i don't think altitude has been actually incorparated in our maps, hence ramps will not bee seen as any elevation at all. Its still rendered 3D, not actual 3D maps. so the information is actually 2D information. The 3D mode can be switched back to 2D mode.. (Thankfully for me)

As you can also see, on XT there is no option to display various information at the top bars. Thats not good! Que gives you the option to display a variety of information simultaneously on the screen.

The Detail on the XT is also lacking. For some reason even with XT on full detail map, some street names just won't be displayed.! Similarly look at the world map.

More About the acutal usage of Garmin que compared with Mobile XT later.. subscribe to the blog for early notification. Subscribe to this blog from the right sidebar.

Garmin Mobile XT and Garmin Que. The differences...

There are a lot of differences between Moblie XT and Que. For starters, Many would applaud the revamped Grahical User Interface on MXT. It really is beautiful, with even 3D road maps, more refined graphics and a seemingly a more user friendly GUI. But all this comes at the expense of loss of tweakability. Thats one quality i really hate to lose. Over the next post, I'm gonna squirm about what i lost from Garmin Que and What I gained from Mobile XT.

Garmin Que GPS 10 Properties Page. When Que is connected to a Garmin GPS, the battery level and power settings as well as WAAS are displayed. As you see in Que, the exact percentage is displayed while on Mobile XT just has a Power Bar.

Garmin Que GPS 10 Properties Page. When Que is connected to a Garmin GPS, the battery level and power settings as well as WAAS are displayed. As you see in Que, the exact percentage is displayed while on Mobile XT just has a Power Bar.

In Garmin Que's Map setup, there's a lot to setup on one page. Tabs at the lower screen enable you to have a good general overview of available options. You can also toggle individual segments of the Maps which you want to include during POI search. This will make searching quicker in Que. As you can see, a few of my maps are not ticked as i don't want to search for POIs in thoses areas. This feature is not available on Garmin Mobile XT.

Where as in Garmin MXT, they have made the GUI much larger, it seems as to accomodate for finger use rather than stylus use. Sometimes, because of the lack of the general overview as in Que, it tends to get kinda difficult to actually see the property you want to tweak. Thus all the areas which need to be touched are magnified about 5 times! LOL.. A great thing on the MXT is the Location Format though. U can get to choose location format and this will come in handy.

Actually Using Gamin Que and Garmin MXT

The Old and Proven Versus new Young Blood.

I've been using Garmin Que for the past 2 years. Its been extremely useful for me. I've got this terrible sense of direction which GPS has now become a major treatment. Garmin Que is just utilitarian, sufficently user friendly, and plain simple to use. It has excellent integration to the Pocket PC, and it tends to potray that it is a software that was built for the Pocket PC, utilizing the Pocket PC's interface and character input very well. Garmin Mobile XT on the other hand for designed for the fingers. (Pun intended! LOL) Mobile XT was probably designed for Garmin new range of Hip Looking GPS road navigator systems, to compete with the the likes of tom tom, iGO and others. SO, it doesn't actually utilize Pocket PCs accurate touchscreen. Everything looks really big on Mobile XT.

With Garmin Que, you tap the "find" button at the bottom of your page and the find "whatever" screen pops up with thumbnails as a GUI showing upto 15 thumbnails i a page. When you spell out what you're looking for by name, it takes only a short while to conjure up for example "1 utama" then you click on details and you see the place you're looking for.

With Garmin Mobile XT. As I previously wrote.. Things get magnified to be finger friendly. So you get less interactibility per page and more scrolling is needed. Finding Addresses with Mobile XT is still a pain because due to a Garmin software incompatibility with our Malsingmaps, you will have to use "spell name". Untill Malsingmaps is able to fix that, with malsingmaps, you will have to use a workaround to find addressess on mobile XT> (But thats an entirely different story.) Mobile XT takes almost forever to find "1 utama" And notice that there is no option for stylus input. And again, its taking forever about at least 60 seconds more to search around the "Kilometres" radius. TERRIBLE!! Whats the point of having a letter recognition we don't have the option of using it? and why so slow?

If you want to read in a 1024 x 768 view, click here Hardware Incorporation. Shortcut Buttons.

Garmin Que incorporates the use of Shortcut buttons of your Pocket PC to Speak the current status, to centre your vehicle on the Map, as well as many other programable functions. This is especially handy as just with the press of a button, your Pocket PC will speak the next turn information. Tapping the box at the lower left hand corner will also bring up the scale at which to zoom your map to. Which is quick and accurate.

Garmin Mobile XT does not incorporate your hardware buttons as well. You can use the directional keypads to swtich the zoom level and switch among onscreen choices, but pressing other harware buttons will not work for the program.It will follow the Pocket PC's preprogrammed shorcuts. This isn't good. There is also no scale at which you can zoom to instantly. You will either have to tap the "+" and "-" virtual onscreen buttons or use the direction pad to change zoom levels.Drawing rate is either a little faster than Que or about the same..

A Summary of Garmin Que and Garmin Mobile XT in terms of my usage.

Although this is not an in depth trial, I still think that the Garmin Que is excellent for use in the Pocket PC as it was designed much more for the Pocket PC. Garmin Mobile XT seems to have inherited much from its current breed of popular mobile raod navigators, where finger tapping has become a more important part of the GUI. I don't think Mobile XT has evolved to be more versatile, just more "idiot proof". I suppose for the new line of Portable GPS, Finger tapping is the way to go.. like the new HTC touch, less stress on stylus, more stress on your finger. I've been driving and navigating with GPS for the past 2 years.No doubt, it may seem to be a short time for many.During the span of 2 years, I've tested many different GPS navigating softwares for the Pocket PC OS. I've even had GPS Java Software for my Sony W810i mobile phone. Even Cnet Asia has linked to my Pocket PC GPS Software. Its at the bottom of the Cnet page."

Garmin Mobile XT and Garmin Que Comparison

A Summary of Garmin Que and Garmin Mobile XT in terms of my usage.

Although this is not an in depth trial, I still think that the Garmin Que is excellent for use in the Pocket PC as it was designed much more for the Pocket PC. Garmin Mobile XT seems to have inherited much from its current breed of popular mobile raod navigators, where finger tapping has become a more important part of the GUI. I don't think Mobile XT has evolved to be more versatile, just more "idiot proof". I suppose for the new line of Portable GPS, Finger tapping is the way to go.. like the new HTC touch, less stress on stylus, more stress on your finger.

Please click here to read the whole Garmin Mobile XT and Garmin Que Comparison in entirety.

Or just scroll down to read the comparison in the blog. It actually starts a few posts down and comes up in chronological order.

"I've been driving and navigating with GPS for the past 2 years. No doubt, it may seem to be a short time for many. During the span of 2 years, I've tested many different GPS navigating softwares for the Pocket PC OS. I've even had GPS Java Software for my Sony W810i mobile phone. Even Cnet Asia has linked to my Pocket PC GPS Software. Its at the bottom of the Cnet page."

My Picture Featured in THE STAR Thumbnails!

My picture is here: http://thumbnails.thestar.com.my/view.asp?id=1586 Its the picture titled "service on the go" depicting a van with "mobile downloads" RM 50 winner on 12/8/07 Please click on the link above and vote for me 5 stars!! Support please!! This is what internet piracy has become.. Last time it was 2 ringgit for an audio cassete and then it was cds for 3 ringgit.. now straight to your handphone via wireless bluetooth in Pasar malam!! Thanks!! so happy picture got featured in Star..

GPS for w810i via Bluetooth Holux GPSlim 236 Java application

GPS on Sony Ericsson w810i using a Bluetooth GPS receiver Holux GPSlim 236! I'm so glad to have found this program. Its available for FREE!! Its available at http://www.trekbuddy.net/ or the trekbuddy0.9.55 version is available at the further part of this article . This GPS software also works on most of the newer SE phones. like the k610, k618 and probably all the 176x220 resolution sony ericssons. Don't know if it works on the k800 series or not. As you can see from the picture, (click it and the picture enlarges) I just got it working, Its using the default world map now and lock is at KL.. No stupid GPRS fees like in the nokias.. It uses the BT gps receiver. It is going to be a sort of hassle to get the maps in, so i'm gonna look for some ready made maps. It seem the forum said it uses the oziexplorer type maps, prbbly a PNG or BMP or Jpeg. Have to check it out later.. But as for now, it displays basic location thru GPS coordinates, and travelling speed.. I've gotta find out later how to use this Java application for camping and stuff... try to find my way home in a new place or city,, something like that.. Possibilities are endless.. Now we've got BT GPS on mobiles. Java mobiles.. virtually every modern mobile can now utilize a BT GPS receiver. Functions i found out so far.. can speed, location, sms location, keep the backlight on, and still looking at how to load maps in.. I found out something new.. One of the most important things for me was to be able to use the phone as a backup GPS display for my holux GPSr. Because I'm the idiot who didn't read the manual, i just found out about this capability of the program by pressing the # key. Basically this feature works just like the Beeline GPS thingy.. No maps, just a plain screen where you can store a waypoint and the arrow points towards the waypoint. sorry for poor image.. i don't know how to get a screenshot from my phone. So even without maps, this program would be great for a walk in the jungle, sport fisherman looking for a fishing spot etc.. (never lose your way home) and a mobile is always hardier than a PDA. Maps would be a added cool factor but lack of routing makes it rather lacking.Anybody got the maps, please post a link at comments

subang jaya map made by mmmx from http://www.malsingmaps.com/ available for download at http://www.nationalsportssymposium2007.com/misc/images/usjmap.zip

KL map by sochun is available for download at http://www.nationalsportssymposium2007.com/misc/images/klmapmobile.rar

Malaysia Map at 1km resolution by sochun for download at http://www.nationalsportssymposium2007.com/misc/MySg1K0L.zip

trekbuddy0.9.55.rar download at http://www.nationalsportssymposium2007.com/misc/images/trekbuddy0.9.55.rar

goto trekbuddy website for most recent updates at http://www.linuxtechs.net/kruch/tb/forum/index.php

Follow the forum discussion at http://www.malsingmaps.com/oldforum/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=7610&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight==

BTW if you all need the Thawte Premium certificate its available here.(Thawte Premium certificate) Instructions for easy installation.. taken from the trekbuddy site from ranger SE phones Installation Guide (based on k750i) 1. Download TrekBuddy jar and jad files to PC (pls don't use other phones versions) 2. Connect phone to PC and copy two files to memory stick, ie E:\MSSEMC\Media files\other\tb folder. You can create it if not present. Create folder for logs on memory stick, ie e:\tracklogs 3. Disconnect phone from PC. 4. Open phone file manager and go to Other folder, you will see tb folder with app files. 5. Install using jad file. You can use Info option to be sure that file you install have jad extension. Choose Application folder as destination. 6. When manager ask to start app choose NO. 7 Go to Applications folder, select Trekbuddy and use More option. 9. In Permission menu choose Read User Data and set Never Ask. (If you don't have such option you not installed from jad or java root certificate is not present. No way to use signed TB without Thawte Premium certificate). The same permissions should be done for Write User Data and if you would Local Connections 10. Start TB, make settings as described in Users Manual and enjoy.

The step by step guide to use email services on you w810i with Gmail and Digi 016

The step by step guide to use Email services on your Sony EricssonW810i with Gmail for DiGi Mobile Phones Malaysia. You need a working GPRS or EDGE Internet connection on your Phone, a Gmail Account set up. goto www.gmail.com if you want one. The Settings DiGi provides, DiGi MMS, DiGi Wap and DiGi Streaming doesn't work well with checking email. You have to create a separate Digi Net account like below which is more reliable. You can also Surf the net with PDA or Notebook thru bluetooth more reliably with Digi Net. You can either use this as a method of emal on your mobile or use Gmail Java. The nice thing about using this method of accessing email is that you can actually get the email addresses from you phonebook. Its cool that you are actually utilizing your phone to its true potential. First, create a new Data account. Menu>Settings>Connectivity>Data Accounts>New Account Account type: GPRS data Name: Digi Net APN: diginet Username: (leave blank) Password: (leave blank) Login Request: Off Allow Calls: Automatic IP Address: ... DNS address: ... Authentication: mark> None, PAP, CHAP Data Compression: Off Header Compr.: Off Second Create new Internet Profile. Menu>Settings>Connectivity>Internet settings> New Profile Name: Digi Net Connect using: mark: Digi Net (which we created just now) Next> setting up Email on your phone using Gmail POP Credits to : http://diezilextra.wen.ru/Gmail/ Step by step (Phone) I've modified the step by step to suite DiGi Malaysia. Mine is working with my mods and not working without mods. On your phone, navigate to Messaging->Email->Settings->Account settings and select "New account" Enter a name for the account, such as "Gmail" Enter the following settings, Email address: your gmail address Connect using: Select Digi Net Connection Type: POP3 -------------------------------- Incoming server: pop.gmail.com Incoming username: your gmail address Incoming password: your gmail password Download: Headers only or Headers & Text (takes more downloading even when you limit it) Check Interval: off (you can switch it to however frequent you want) -------------------------------- Outgoing server: smtp.gmail.com Outgoing username: your gmail address Outgoing password: your gmail password -------------------------------- Allow connection: Any network Auto connect: grayed out, not supported Your name: your name Signature: leave blank it will be same as you google one. Encryption: Incoming: SSL, Outgoing: SSL Incoming port: 995 Outgoing port: 465 Download two server certificates:this and this and bluetooth, irda it to your W810i. If thats not available, download the zipped file here. Unzip and send to your phone. The 2 server certificates will identify the server to the phone so that the phone will not prompt you to proceed without identification. Facilitates finding the server. Also facilitates check interval. Step by step at www.gmail.com On your PC: Log in to gmail. Select "Settings" Select "Forwarding and POP" Change "POP Download" to "Enable POP only for mail that arrives from now on". If you enable POP for all mail, you're going to get everything on the Gmail account since you started.. You should now be able to both send and receive email from your phone. Try it!

A2DP for W810i and HX2750 solution with i.tech Blueband and Bluecon

GOING WIRELESS WITH MUSIC When i got my W810i, having a walkman again was quite a lot of fun. But it slowly wore out when i had to unravel the always tangled headsets. I really hated that! So the only way was to unwire. I recently purchased yet another Bluetooth device. The i-tech blueband Bluetooth Headset. These work with the new A2DP profile found on newer bluetooth v2 devices. Unfortunately, my W810i does not have A2DP so it can't directly stream music to my new headphones. I have to use their Bluecon dongle. The great thing about this pair of headsets is that it connect to (at least) 2 devices simultaneously. Which means, that as i am listening to music streaming from the dongle, i can also have it simultaneously paired to my w810i handsfree profile. It works perfectly. When calls come in, the walkman stops, and the call can be received on the Blueband headset. After the conversation ends, the music comes back on. Great foresight on the part of the iTech blueband design. This is the solution to the w810i problem of not having an A2DP profile. SE will probably not upgrade the bluetooth stack in the w810i to support A2dp so this setup seems to be the best choice. The only extra thing is having a dongle sticking out of the W810i while listening to music.

As you can see in the pictures, the first picture shows the back of my phone and the back of the A2Dp dongle stuck with velcro branded low profile pads. The low profile furry black velcro blends with the color of my phone and the low profile hooks are stuck to the back of the a2dp dongle. With the short headphone adapter for the Sony Ericsson Fastport, there's no mess of wires and it make a good stand at a 45 degree angle for viewing movies too.. When the Bluetooth dongle is not in use, the velcropad on my phone is unobtrusive. I have also been using the headset with my iPAQ HX2750 PDA. Originaly, my HX2750 also does not come with A2DP support. but I've found the patch which enables my HX2750 running WM2003se to utilize High quality audio setup. This is similar to A2DP support. That patch is available here: http://www.nationalsportssymposium2007.com/misc/a2dpUpdateBroadcom.cab The quality of music coming from the Blueband headset is really quite great. Large headphones are definately much better than the little puny headphones. Overall a satisfactory gadget.

The featured bluetooth headset can be purchased from my friend Jimmy, available at http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/170005 Please mention that you were recommended from the Prometheus blog.. he may lower the prices for u.

Newly made wire. I cut up a pair of fake sony headphones and shortened the wire.Resoldered to the fastport plug. It now has a mic, the button and the sony walkman logo. Usable as a handsfree with any stereo headphones. Showing you the original wire for comparison.

Clip Mod for Sony Ericsson IV-835 Bluetooth Headset

I finally modded my IV-835 bluetooth headset. Its better now that i don't have to stick it in my ear all the time. I can now clip it to my shirt like a pen. I don't know why sony doesn't make a similar clip. My design is not refined yet, so it has a rough finishing, but its functional. The clip need not be removed to stick the bluetooth into your ear. If sony made this, they could fabricate it to have a lower profile, which would make it fit better to the ear and look nicer too. I'm trying to find someone to fabricate the mould.. anyone knows who fabricates such moulds? Making it... I bought the cheapest charger i could find, which was a 10 ringgit car charger with the fastport plug. Cut the fastport plug into 2. After that, i cut off the stem off a pen, and drilled a whole into the pen cover. O then screwed the stem of the pen cover to the plug and superglued it for some sturdiness. Works well, now i can clip the bluetooth to my pocket when its not stuck to my ear. This clip works well with the iv-835 has the headset does not have a loop to get in the way when clipped to my pocket.