I love GPS Navigation. There, I have said it. Other than basic PIM functions, it is the greatest use for a PDA. There are many choices of hardware and software that will give you the basic GPS navigation functions. The limitation of any system is usually the software. The speed and performance of available software packages can vary greatly. So when I heard about a new navigation software package from Gate5, I was very interested in giving it a try.

GPS relies on a series of satellites that circle the earth and allow GPS devices to triangulate its location on the earth. The system, created by the U.S. Military and paid for by the U.S. taxpayers, can allow anyone with the appropriate hardware and software to plot their position on a map. With a set of maps and navigation software, the system will even give you directions to reach a location defined in the map database. Maps are available for most parts of the world. The first thing you need is the GPS hardware for your mobile device. Gate5 has partnered with Socket to bundle their smart2go software with Socket’s Bluetooth GPS Receiver.

The Socket GPS Receiver is a small, rechargeable, Bluetooth receiver. It uses a Li-Ion, rechargeable battery similar to the ones used by many Nokia phones. It also features four rubber strips that keep it from slipping on a table or car dashboard. Behind one of the rubber strips is the AC Adapter port. The only control is a power switch on the front. A full battery charge should give up to 9 hours of use. The front panel also features lights for recharging, GPS signal, and Bluetooth. The performance of this receiver is fast. It normally has a satellite lock in less than one minute and the Bluetooth sends a clear signal anywhere inside the length of the largest car. The smart2go package is expected to include a device cradle, a memory card reader to assist in transferring data to the PDA or Smartphone, and a CD containing maps for the US and Canada. Maps for Europe will be available as an option. While this system is sold as a package, I will mainly focus on the smart2go software.

While the smart2go software is expected to be available for PocketPC, Palm, S60 / S80 smartphones, and Windows Mobile smartphones, the only version that was available for testing was for the PocketPC. So that is the one I will focus on. Other versions of smart2go will have additional features such as the ability to receive up-to-date current events for the point-of-interest database of the city where you are located.

The test version I tried was still in Beta, so there may be changes in features and performance before the final version is released. smart2go will be provided on CD with a complete set of maps and the point-of-Interest (POI) databases for the U.S. and Canada. The basic application takes about 3MB of storage including the voice files. The maps are highly compressed. The map for the San Francisco Bay Area is around 16MB with an additional 9MB of POI data for all the cities in the same area.

Once the smart2go software is installed and the maps and POI data are transferred to the PocketPC, you only need to follow the basic “pairing” instructions to connect your Bluetooth mobile device to the Socket GPS Receiver. Then start the smart2go software to begin.

Be aware, like most navigation software, if you are planning a trip that starts and end on different maps, you must have every map between the two locations loaded on your PocketPC. Otherwise a complete route cannot be calculated. If you are using a small memory card or planning a really long trip, this can be a major problem. A great feature of smart2go is its desktop tool which runs on a Windows PC and allows the creation of a custom map set using the basic maps which are provided by Tele Atlas. The custom map builds a “corridor” around the route so that the required amount of storage will be greatly reduced. You will only need to load the city maps for the start and end of your trip plus the custom map rather than all the city and regional maps between the two points.



After the initial title screen, you can select to switch to a different map / POI database or begin navigation. If you select Navigation, smart2go will detect the GPS receiver and then wait for location data. Once this is accomplished, you will be at the main navigation screen where you can see your GPS status and select a destination by entering an address or choosing one from a list of recent destinations or bookmarked locations. Unfortunately, smart2go does not provide any display of GPS satellite tracking information or Bluetooth status. So when you are having trouble getting a solid GPS signal, you do not know what is wrong other than the fact that you have no signal.

All the features and functions of smart2go are available from either Navigation or Find See Do. The primary difference between the two is that Navigation is the GPS-enabled mode and Find See Do is the non-GPS enabled mode.

On the main navigation screen, you can instantly select to navigate to your preset home location by choosing MyHome or chose a destination based on address, saved bookmark, your preset work location, or a list of recent destinations. The last choice is to go to the Guide, POI mode, and choose from a list of destinations. You can also go immediately to the map to select a destination. The settings screen allows you to set the type of route and the travel mode. Travel mode is a really nice feature since it allows you to set a walking mode when you want to walk to your destination. Great when you want to make a walking tour of a city you are visiting.



When Find, See, Do is selected, you are taken to the City Selection screen where you can chose from the available POI cities installed in your mobile device. Select a city and then proceed to the search screen. You can enter a name, category, and/or location. One, two, or all three can be entered and a list of matches will be displayed. A number of categories can be selected such as Dining, Hotels, Attractions, and Nightlife. The icons on the bottom of the screen are used for selecting menus, displays, and functions.

The available icons are:

Road and Turn Arrow Navigation
North Sign Map Overview
Magnifying Glass Search for an Address
Direction Arrow Sign Route Planning
Page with Figure of Person MySpace (Bookmarks)
Lifesaver Help
Tools Configuration
Windows Flag Provides access to the Windows Start Menu
Landmarks with W Wcities (POI)

Two Points-of-Interest data sets are expected to be provided with smart2go. Wcities, the same company that supplies points-of-interest data to some of the most popular travel web sites, and InfoUSA are the two databases. Wcities covers the major US cities with location, address, and phone number data as well as reviews and details about the places in the database. While Wcities covers a variety of categories, the size of the database for each city is relatively small. It is useful when traveling since it will give you a nice set of choices, but if you are looking for a specific restaurant or nightclub in your home town, there is a good chance that you will not find it in the Wcities database. The InfoUSA database is a much more extensive set of POIs for the US and Canada. It does not contain reviews, but covers the basic information such as type, address, and phone number. The combination of both databases provides an excellent way to find almost any airport, attraction, restaurant, shopping center or major store, gas station, parking lot, etc. that you are looking for.