Road Angel on your phone?
Discussion
Just got mailed this link from a mate. Any ideas as there it nowt on their website and bugger all on the site itself.
Anybody know anymore?
www.roadangelmobile.com
Anybody know anymore?
www.roadangelmobile.com
Not sure there's much more to add till they release it. Pretty simple concept, really... Symbian phone (e.g. Nokia Series 60) plus bluetooth GPS = all you need as a platform for a GPS-based speed-camera warning doo-dah. RoadAngel obviously have all their camera locations in some database format - simply needs a little app to run on the phone, read the GPS coordinates (via NMEA or whatever) and alert at the appropriate places.
Imagine you could get something like this up and running under ideal circumstances in a matter of a few days. Tuning it to a production-quality shrink-wrapped application (with bundled GPS, no doubt) shouldn't take more than a few months. So I can't imagine it'll take them too long to release it. Far simpler than getting TomTom to work on it.
Bit miffed as I've just been out and bought a Snooper this week, though...
Imagine you could get something like this up and running under ideal circumstances in a matter of a few days. Tuning it to a production-quality shrink-wrapped application (with bundled GPS, no doubt) shouldn't take more than a few months. So I can't imagine it'll take them too long to release it. Far simpler than getting TomTom to work on it.
Bit miffed as I've just been out and bought a Snooper this week, though...
There is a company called "wayfinder" who have a phone based sat nav system where there is an additional subscription for Cyclops speed camera system.
The sat nav works by downloadindg the maps via grps. They have a 5 day trial available. They also have the traffic cam database for free when you upgrade to a full system. It is available through Orange shops or via the web. I tried it for 5 days, not to bad but if you go off route where there is no mobile signal for the grps then you are bo**oxed. otherwise not to bad. It only cost 99euros if you already have a gps receiver. Cyclops as an add on is about £40.00 iirc
The sat nav works by downloadindg the maps via grps. They have a 5 day trial available. They also have the traffic cam database for free when you upgrade to a full system. It is available through Orange shops or via the web. I tried it for 5 days, not to bad but if you go off route where there is no mobile signal for the grps then you are bo**oxed. otherwise not to bad. It only cost 99euros if you already have a gps receiver. Cyclops as an add on is about £40.00 iirc
I've just been to the website and it actually looks to be live now giving proper details instead of the register interest screen. Doesn't look too bad and will only cost £5 for the app and then £1.50 weekly for the updates. This isn't navigation though like wayfinder as has been mentioned above just a camera locator.
Not exactly a new idea, though : www.trafcam.com/symbian - been available for some years now.
(must register my interest, though, I work for TrafCam. Moderator feel free to remove this if you think it's inappropriate).
(must register my interest, though, I work for TrafCam. Moderator feel free to remove this if you think it's inappropriate).
Well I wouldn't say your post is inappropriate as long as you're not putting down competitors products to make your's look good then it's not seen as advertising. As far as comparing the two, RA Mobile has continuous updates via GPRS which is better as the database is updated daily and couldn't be easier, on the RA website the prices are currently free for the app then £1.50 every 2 weeks which works out at £39 a year rather than £49 and £60 for every year there after. With RA there is no subscription period so you can have it as little or as long as you like, better warnings of cameras as they only display the warning if you are driving towards the camera and if it's enforcing in your direction so less bogus warnings, clear continuous speed display with speed of camera aswell which is probably one of the most important factors as most people don't take notice of small signs. Anyway overall I think it's really good compared to what I've read on your website so would have RA mobile over trafcam.
Tech_Boy said:
Well I wouldn't say your post is inappropriate as long as you're not putting down competitors products to make your's look good then it's not seen as advertising.
I try very hard never to do that - I dislike anyone who promotes their product by doing down everyone else.
Tech_Boy said:
As far as comparing the two, RA Mobile has continuous updates via GPRS which is better as the database is updated daily and couldn't be easier, on the RA website the prices are currently free for the app then £1.50 every 2 weeks which works out at £39 a year rather than £49 and £60 for every year there after.
As I read it, it's £5 for the application (but free for an introductory period), and £1.50 per week, plus whatever it costs in GPRS costs to regularly download the database. That works out at £83 for the first year, or £78 during the offer period. With ours, you can download the file directly onto the file using a phone browser, or you can grab it onto your PC and transfer it to the phone. User has the choice.
Tech_Boy said:
better warnings of cameras as they only display the warning if you are driving towards the camera and if it's enforcing in your direction so less bogus warnings,
That's in test on ours - has been available for months on the Palm and Pocket PC versions. Plus in many cases we show the road name that the camera is on (A56, M6 etc.) for a further visual check that the camera is relevant.
Tech_Boy said:
clear continuous speed display
On ours from initial release.
Tech_Boy said:
with speed of camera aswell which is probably one of the most important factors as most people don't take notice of small signs.
Yes, that's something else we're testing. Our initial database didn't have any of this in place, so we've added it in later and it's taking a while to test it properly.
Tech_Boy said:
Anyway overall I think it's really good compared to what I've read on your website so would have RA mobile over trafcam.
Thanks for the feedback - gives us something to look at.
Sorry taken straight from the website and I've downloaded this on to my dads phone the billing is as follows:
"normally every week via a reversed billing service. As part of the September offer the reverse billing will be done every fortnight instead"
Just thought I'd clear that up so its half the price you've said.
"normally every week via a reversed billing service. As part of the September offer the reverse billing will be done every fortnight instead"
Just thought I'd clear that up so its half the price you've said.
Gassing Station | In-Car Electronics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff