A couple of fairly major changes have recently happened with Nokia’s Sports Tracker application, which might actually benefit those who like and use the application in the long term.  A while ago, Nokia sold the application off to a new company (which does appear to be staffed by some ex-Nokia people) and they have established a new website and a new application.  Right now, you can’t use the full service in the way you could with the old Nokia based solution, but it’s coming.

As of 30 June 2010, Nokia will shut down the old Sports Tracker website.  However, you can pre-register at the new website, and there’s an option to import your journeys and records from Nokia.  Right now, you can’t view them, or do anything else with the website, but it will come.

The new team have released new versions of Sports Tracker for both S60 3rd and 5th Edition, and although these will in time have the capability to upload your details to allowed them to be viewed and shared on the website, again, this needs the website to be fully functional.

However, good news; at one point, Nokia offered one phone with a bundle of a Heart Rate Monitor (via Bluetooth).  At the time, everybody pointed out that it would be good if the heart rate monitor was also available to those who already had that phone (or any other supported phone); well, although Nokia never managed it, Sports Tracking Technologies have done so, and have this week created an online store where you can buy a heart rate monitor for €69.90 + delivery (they accept PayPal as well as credit cards), although shipments won’t start until 1st July, so even if you order today, you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive.

From a personal viewpoint, I note this version uses OpenStreetMap for the maps, and I think that’s a wise (if only short term) approach. The Nokia solution used maps which had to be downloaded (even though many devices had local Ovi Maps installations); although towards the end, it did at least share this download map cache with Nokia FriendView.  I think moving to OpenStreetMap is a good idea, as it reduces any costs of providing commercial mapping, although I do hope that in time Sports Tracking Technologies are able to link into the Ovi Maps SDK and use the maps where present on the device.

It’s nice to see this application being developed further and the support of a heart rate monitor will make the whole solution more attractive to many sports enthusiasts; however, if you have ever used the old Sports Tracker website don’t forget you need to register and import your old information within the next week.

ViewRanger have updated their Symbian mapping client to now support OpenStreetMap and OpenCycleMap (which includes topographic data).  Historically, ViewRanger has been the software to allow access to a range of different OS maps (and OS-equivalent maps across selected European countries), but now it has support for these two free sources of data.

Also, due to now not being tied to the purchase of OS maps, the software is available in the Ovi Store (priced at £4.50), which allows you access to these two free data sources, and still allows the user to purchase and download the OS style maps in a variety of ways (direct on the handset, via the ViewRanger website, and via your PC).

For Samsung Symbian users, the app should also be available in the Samsung App Store too, and for existing customers, there is a free upgrade available allowing access to these new maps without charge, and for those who feel they are missing out, ViewRanger plan to launch Android and iPhone versions during 2010.

For more information, see the ViewRanger website.

Here at UK Gadgeteer we’re a big fan of OpenStreetMap, and we recently came across a new iPhone / iPod Touch application which allows you the ability to not just access the OSM, but to have access to the maps when offline, eg when roaming, and trying to avoid large data bills.

In a short time, a number of new features have been added, such as landscape map support, bookmark management, wikipedia search, distance ticker, and a full screen mode.  There is a small charge associated with the application, but then the maps themselves are free, and should remain free.

For those who want to have a backup map option for those times when you are in a strange town / city, this may well be that app…

More information available from their website here.

Mapomatic, who produce free Garmin maps from the OpenStreetMap data, have published their review of the Garmin Oregon, and considered whether it, or the Garmin Colorado is a better device for going geocaching.

Head over to read their review, and if you own a Garmin device which can have additional maps loaded onto it, then you might want to try out their Garmin UK OSM Map, or their specialised Garmin UK OSM Cycle Map (which puts greater emphasise on cycle routes) or even their Garmin UK OSM Canal Map (which adds lots of additional canals and rivers, and even shows lockgates; useful for those planning a summer trip on the water).

If you would like to view OSM (OpenStreetMap) maps on your iPhone, then this application may be for you.  Called route-me, it allows you to view OpenStreetMap, Microsoft Virtual Earth and CloudMade maps.  It’s still early days, but it looks promising.

Head over to their website for a little more information.

If you are looking for a new GPS unit, or just want to keep up with a detailed review of a recent model, Mapomatic has just published it’s review of the Garmin Colorado, including a comparison with the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx.  Head over to here to read the review.

We understand Mapomatic are going to start producing many more articles in the next few months, and in case you missed it, they recently updated their free UK OSM Garmin maps.

Although we’ve seen OS maps on other devices, such as the SatMap Active 10 before, and in software, such as the ViewRanger software for Symbian phones, Garmin are shortly to release UK OS Maps for their Garmin Colorado and Garmin Oregon GPS devices.

The OS Maps will come on a microSD card that you can slot straight into the units (although knowing Garmin you will not be able to transfer the maps to another memory card, as they use the “Secure” bit of the SD card standard to store the license to use the maps).  This should not be a major problem for these devices, as they have some internal memory for storing additional POIs, and they support multiple map files on the internal memory too.

What’s different about these Garmin maps though is that as well as featuring the full visual OS maps, all the data has been included to allow you to navigate via the maps too, and POI information is included as well.

At some point, Garmin will also sell the units and maps together, but in the meantime the OS Maps will be available from November priced at £129.99.

For those who want better mapping on their GPS units, but don’t want to pay at all, then Mapomatic offer the Garmin UK OSM maps (using the OpenStreetMap maps) free of charge!  OpenStreetMap is still a “Work in Progress”, so not every road or footpath is covered, but the data will still enhance your GPS if you only have a very rough basemap (or no map at all), and best of all, you can help improve the map by uploading your GPS traces, and adding the missing roads and footpaths yourself.

Story and picture courtesy of OUTDOORSmagic.com.

For those involved in OpenStreetMap, or for those thinking about getting involved, the NaviGPS is a common unit to use. As well as being able to log large amounts of data to an SD card, the unit functions as a working GPS, which is rare for DataLoggers. Historically, the manufacturer, Locosys, has produced 2 models, the second including Bluetooth to allow the unit to provide the GPS data to a PDA, or other device.

Locosys has announced, at CES, an updated NaviGPS, the GT-31 and BGT-31 (with Bluetooth). This has a SirfIII chipset, is waterproof (and floats), and has battery life of up to 24 hours.

Here at UK Gadget Blog, we all support the OpenStreetMap foundation, including being contributors to the project. OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you and us. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth.

The interesting news from OSM is that a team of Brighton mappers have completed mapping Brighton and are holding a party to mark the occasion on November 29. Head over to the Brighton OSM webpage for more information.

Hopefully we’ll see many more parties like this as more towns and cities are completed. Here’s part of the map showing the coverage of central Brighton…

OpenStreetMap images (and underlying map data) are freely available under the OpenStreetMap License