New smartphone musings

General talk
1

Well, my HTC TyTN II is starting to feel it’s age, both in terms of hardware wear and in terms of software issues that really need another hard reset (but the last one was only a couple of months ago grrr).

So, what shall I get?

I have a few bits of windows mobile software that I would quite like to keep, such as Memory Map and Copilot Live 7. However, I want to get away from WM as it is rubbish. The main reason i got a WM phone last time was to use WM software, and I can’t stick with it forever.

So, perhaps Android? I hear the HTC Hero is good, but slow, but then after the TyTN II I doubt I’ll notice it!

What about the iphone 3G(s)?

The Palm Pre looks nice but I don’t think there’s OSM software and I expect Palm to go under in a year or two due to stupid decisions on policies leading to an empty app store.

What are the best phones for OSM mapping, usage, and other GPS related software?

If OSM was anywhere near complete I’d consider using something based on it instead of Copilot, but I’ll probably get version 8 of that anyway, as it’s cheap (£25) and does lane guidance, and I need to be able to rely on my sat nav sometimes. I am using Memory Map less and less though, as OSM is getting better, but footpaths are still very lacking in some areas.

So, I’d like to hear people’s opinions on what is the best phone for a map junky and OSM contributor? I’m currently on Orange and may stick with them due to good data network.

2

Oh, I use OSM Tracker at the mo, so will need a replacement for that with whatever platform I end up on.

3

I’m in a similar situation with WM, except I have Tomtom, which I would prefer over the “cloud navigation” ie I don’t really have access to internet via my plan. ie would be cool to have a good navigation s/w which runs off OSM data.

4

While I recently upgraded my WinMob phone to an HTC Touch Pro 2, an Android or Linux-based OS for the next phone in a couple of years time is looking evermore increasingly likely. Why? I’ve well and truly had enough of Microsoft’s Money Machine (sarcastic TM). My next desktop machine, for example, will get rid of the MS OS, and replace it with an OS OS (that’s Open Source Operating System, not a hiccup ;)) such as (again) Linux… Should be… interesting… to find out what the culture shock’s all about when the time comes :wink:

5

There is some OSM software for the Pre. I use MapTool. I could have sworn I recently saw another app that could record GPS traces–it also had a choice of OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, and a third source for map tiles–but I can’t find it in the app catalog now.