yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
Automatic re-rerouting is certainly possible technically. Unfortunately, legally I can't do it. AFAIK I'm using the only decent routing service that even allows using it for turn-by-turn applications (Bing and Google and most others doesn't!). However the service still prohibits me from doing automatic re-calculation, so therefore the easy access "recalculate" button. If the terms of use changes, I'll certainly include this feature.

I've been thinking about doing a night mode as well. I'm still trying to come up with a good solution. I could do a simple tone down of brightness. Is that enough? Or would you rather have a different colorscheme on the map? (that is currently more or less impossible without seriously hurting performance)

What do you mean regarding lag?
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
ycavan: Thanks for the link. Unfortunately this is a native C++ engine, so yes it would be pretty hard (requires a complete re-write to C#).

"Optimize for shortest route" is certainly an option. I'll put that on the roadmap.
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
v1.1 early preview:

[YOUTUBE]uBML2JgcsOw[/YOUTUBE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBML2JgcsOw
[Windows Phone 7 General] f1restarter:
by lag I mean when I was at the stop light, it was still showing I was going 40mph for about 10 secs. Then while making turns it kept showing me at stand still for a while before showing the correct location.
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
Thanks for the follow-up. Do you see this behavior in any of the other GPS apps? It's not really anything I do. the app solely relies on the location and speed that the phone provides it with. If it's giving the app incorrect information, that could be the reason. Unfortunately some hardware manufacturers doesn't properly know how to set the kalman filter settings or properly process the raw GPS data stream.
[Windows Phone 7 General] jimecm:
nice work! love the app, cant wait for next update
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
I was just about to post that youtube link when I came on here to see you were posting yourself!!!

Thanks for all the great work so far... V1.1 looks awesome... I can see a vast improvement with some sort of POI integration into this first and foremost. Although once copy and past is released next month it probably wont be such a big issue.

I personally think the "ding" notifications are fine... draws my attention back to the screen temporarily to look and see something is coming up which is really what the whole point is.

the ariel view in 2d... please please PLEASE make that available in 3D mode :P I used to have the tilt 2 and loaded on android on that phone just so I could use google navigator with that option. I know its just eye candy but man would that make the navigation experience that much better looking (keep in mind I'm the one thats having the no map data available issues too so :P)

I would say as far as night time driving goes you might want to go with something like Navigon and tomtom use which is a different colour scheme. Would it really hurt performance that much? especially if it was actually just an option to choose... in tomtom we have to manually switch over to night time mode. Brightness control would be a plus as well thats for sure.

As far as route calculation... I would say the most commonly used would be quickest route and most direct route. I know for myself it actually makes a big difference. The way the road systems are laid out in Florida are crazy to say the least.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
Actually, Sharp... I linked that package because it was purely C, no C++ w/ source already for winCE. I thought it'd be easier to move from C->C#

Edit: Found something about MS's Speech SDK

http://blogs.claritycon.com/kevinma...ne-7-prototype-001-speech-recognition-on-wp7/

He has a sample that does speech to text & text to speech, so I bet you could figure it out from that code..
[Windows Phone 7 General] 937dytboi:
nice find, just downloaded
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
My bad.. it looks like the Speech API is still undefined for Silverlight... but I was able to find out that Bing Translate can do TTS... you would send Bing Translate the text and ask to translate it into English. Bing will send back an audio file that can be saved to IsolatedStorage and then played back using the media player.

This guy's blog details it... Look for the section called Loud Tweets

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...d=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com
[Windows Phone 7 General] N8ter:
Would not use a GPS app that uses so much data. Speech APIs take the text and translate it to speech on the phone. Constantly downloading audio files (even if a bit small) can add up to a ton of data over the course of a month.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Casey_boy:
It's us who should be saying THANK YOU for developing this. I can't believe it's been left to 3rd party developers, such as yourself, to bring such a feature to us.

I can see how some would find it useful, though most would probably not. I guess there's no harm in adding these options to a config menu. If you were worried about people getting themselves in a mess, you could always make these options only last for the route being calculated (i.e. they're not saved for next time).

Great!

That's a shame, but if this is your only option then may I suggest you choose the appropriate Marketplaces to show your app. It's pointless to let users from other countries download it if it won't work for them.

1. I fear I know the answer already, but is it possible to cache the map tiles? I admit I've not yet been able to use the app properly (I don't live in N.A.) but what would happen if I lost coverage? I'm guessing the tiles wouldn't load, so would it be possible when the route is calculated that all of the map tiles are downloaded and stored for the journey?

You could always clear the cache after the journey is complete to help with legal issues/memory management.

2. Can the speed be displayed in kph (km/h)? That'll be important in Europe! I guess tapping the speed box would be a great way to swap between metric & imperial.

3. If there is a way, you might want to warn the user if they have location services turned off. I'm guessing the app isn't going to work well with this setting turned off!

Cheers,

Casey
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
I understand what you're saying, but that's what Bing on wm 6.5 does right now. I'm not too concerned about data usage, since I have "unlimited" data on my AT&T plan and have only been using about 600megs - 1gig of data per month.

Another option would be to record some generic phrases in a "voice pack".. Based on what's coming up. What do you think about that, Sharp?

ie..

beep - beep.wav ( your current beep tone )

turn - turn.wav

left - left.wav

right - right.wav

around - around.wav

in - in.wav

1 - 1.wav

2 - 2.wav

3 - 3.wav

...

9 - 9.wav

10 - 10.wav

11 - 11.wav

12 - 12.wav

13 - 13.wav

14 - 14.wav

15 - 15.wav

16 - 16.wav

17 - 17.wav

18 - 18.wav

19 - 19.wav

20 - 20.wav

30 - 30.wav

40 - 40.wav

50 - 50.wav

60 - 60.wav

70 - 70.wav

80 - 80.wav

90 - 90.wav

hundred - hundred.wav

destination - destination.wav "You have reached your destination"

prepare - prepare.wav "prepare to"

yards - yards.wav

so when the a right turn is coming up around the 800 yard mark, you could play:

beep->prepare->turn->right->in->8->hundred->yards

then when the turn goes past the 400 yard mark, you could play:

beep->prepare->turn->right->in->4->hundred->yards

and under the 100 yard mark, you could play:

beep->turn->right

you could totally have different ppl record these sounds, zip them up and mail 'em to you to include as "voice packs" :)

Of course, there would have to be some internal conversion of miles->yards
[Windows Phone 7 General] Strutten:
I would LOVE the ability to do this yourself inside the app. That way, I could translate the text myself, and then read it in my native language. That way you wouldn't have to download any audio at all.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
Small Bug Report

Noticed a little big today when driving... if you have the light theme background on (turning the background white) in the app the bottom tiles turn white too... which makes sense. The tiles are flipped in reverse in colouring, where the tile was black and the words/numbers were white... with the light theme the far left tile that shows the next turn arrow has a problem; While the tile colour is changed to white the arrow itself in the tile stays white so you cant see it as it blends into the white colour of the tile.
[Windows Phone 7 General] BikerCVG:
I love this app..... 2 Thumbs UP...

There is one thing that would would be nice. Could you be able to select a contact for a destination so you would not have to retype the address??? That was something Google maps on my old WM phone did...

Can't wait for what you do next...
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
I wish! Unfortunately the Phone API (currently) doesn't allow me to do this (yet). All I can do is select a phone number or an email address - none of which is very useful for routing.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
I too for the first time had this issue today... I think what happened was when the directions at the top of the screen telling you what ramp to take or next turn end up using 4 lines it pushes the map photo down, thus pushing the arrow where you are located partially behind the bottom info bar. Once I got off at the exit and it went back down to 1 line (turn at bla bla bla) then the arrow marker was back in the center of the screen. Even with 3 lines of direction at the top saying where to turn the arrow is still visible.

Perhaps this can be changed so that the entire map doesn't get pushed down by the written directions for your next turn but instead the instructions just overlap the top part of the map (which really is mostly sky anyway right?)
[Windows Phone 7 General] irdawood:
Hey Sharp, any idea when this is coming to the UK, I know your working on Europe but is that work included in the 1.1 build? Thanks for the app and keep up the great work!
[Windows Phone 7 General] wheresmybeaver:
Great looking app, amazing that it's free. Looking forward to the release with EU support so I can try it out. From our perspective, distances and speeds in metric are important! Does the app cache map a few km in advance in case the mobile signal is temporarily lost? Does the app save a history of previous destinations (or allow the saving of Favourites)? Thanks for all the hard work
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
Thanks! I'll put that on my to list!

Yes v1.1 will support most of Europe, including the UK.

I'll make sure metric is there (although I'm in the US, I'm actually Danish, and do prefer the metric system as well :))

Previous destinations are in the "Recent" list, right next to the favourites list.

Map is not cached ahead of time (although the last 10mb of tiles is actually stored, but you have to "browse there" first to get it.

The app continues to work when offline, as long as your route was calculated up front. You wont see any map, but the blue route line is still there, as well as it will tell you about upcoming turns.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ~~Tito~~:
I will be moving this thread back to general again. If the app developer wants to make a release thread he can, the original intent of this thread was a recommendation to users, NOT an app release. Therefor I must move it.

~~Tito~~
[Windows Phone 7 General] sure haven't:
Tested on a few 400-Series highways this weekend. It only loads the map visuals about half the time, but when it loaded up it worked awesomely. Made me excited to get a stable workable one on my phone! Great job dev.
[Windows Phone 7 General] N8ter:
I'll never understand these responses.

"Let's make it a data hog since I have an unlimited Data Plan (actually, it's 5GB with Overage Fees beyond 5GB, not unlimited) on AT&T and don't hardly use any data."

Also:

"Let's forget that Windows Mobile uses a quasi WAP browser and generally doesn't use as much data as an Android, iOS, or WP7 handset. What makes sense on WM may not make sense on WP7, but who gives a ****, right?!!?!!"
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
Yes, I have 5 gigs w/ overages as "unlimited", hence the quoting. I paid for it and I'm not afraid to use the data option(s) available. Why does that make me a bad person?

We were discussing TTS on WP7 and the current API does NOT have the required Method for accessing TTS, but Bing Translate has the ability to send an audio file back. I'm sure that Sharp would have a checkbox for "use Bing" for those that want TTS and aren't concerned about their data usage; but why bring up your objections like that?
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
I'm getting close to being able to finish up v1.1.

If there's anyone in Europe with a developer-unlocked device that wants to try this out, please sent me a direct message and tell me about yourself (ie country, device, developer experience, driving habits used for use in testing etc and of course email address where I can send the .xap). Note: If you want in on this, I also expect feedback - good and bad :rolleyes:

So far this is the v1.1 change list:

v1.1 completed features:

------------------------------------

Routing support for Europe - Automatically switches to using Europe router / address search when longitude > 30 degrees East (I know... a bit simple but still :)).

Centralized GeoCoordinateWatcher (this means notifications keeps running when viewing other pages in the app).

Search for single-line address / place name.

Short distances now show in yards or meters (instead of miles/kilometers).

Various performance improvements and UI tweaks.

Settings menu:

- Dim map display at night (kicks in at sunset).

- Disable Screen-lock.

- Allow setting units to metric.

- Optimize for shortest route.

- "Avoid Ferries" and "Avoid Toll-roads" option.

- 10 routing languages (App is not localized yet, so this is only applies to routing instructions).

v1.1 fixed bugs:

-------------------------------------

- When 3, 4 or more lines of routing text is supplied, the current location arrow is pushed outside the map screen.

- In white theme, you can't see the maneuver arrows.

- App crashes if no address is entered.

- Fixed intermittent "null-reference exception" crash at startup.

- All bugs reported in received crash-dumps (ie if you enabled the "Send Feedback" button) have been resolved.

I believe this covers most of the requested features, apart from TTS and support outside Europe and North America (two features I doubt will happen in the near future). Pick-from-contactlist support is prevented by the phone API - So for now you don't get that either.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
Kinda figured TTS would be a no-go w/o the Speech APIs. :)

Have you thought about using voice packs like I described earlier? With documented filenames/scripts, people could upload their voice files somewhere and the app could select one, download it and unzip it to isolatedstorage where media player could play the prompts.
[Windows Phone 7 General] jaraya13:
No maps for Central America

Hi. I test it and it doesn't support maps for my country Costa Rica in Central America, so I can't use it here. Man... I will pay even 100 bucks for an app with my country maps and turn by turn navigation... :(
[Windows Phone 7 General] Jim Coleman:
What would be really cool would be if the app downloaded all the map data for the journey at the time the route is planned (which is usually while I'm at home on Wifi), pulling from cache where the data is present there, so for the return journey and subsequent repeats of the same journey, it wouldn't have to pull any data at all.

Make this "pre-pull" optional so that if, for instance, I'm just looking at a route to see what it's like, rather than to actually do the journey, I can say no to the pre-pull.

Also, storage of favourite journeys or destinations in the cloud would be useful as a backup.
[Windows Phone 7 General] ycavan:
THAT would be an awesome addition! can't really say more. :)
[Windows Phone 7 General] vangrieg:
What exactly does "Europe" mean?
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
Totally or partially, the following countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Vatican City
[Windows Phone 7 General] noodles222:
No CZech rep. or Slovakia pleeeeease??
[Windows Phone 7 General] SharpGIS:
What countries are supported is completely outside of what I can do. I do not control these services or have access to the data used, so there is no way I can support anymore than the list above, plus the already supported US and Canada.

Unfortunately data and routing services doesn't grow on trees.

If your country is not on the list, all I can say is tough luck :-) and tell you this app is not for you.
[Windows Phone 7 General] jaraya13:
Yes we're screwed...

But do you think that more countries will be added in the long term, at least a possibility? I mean in 5-6 months? Or this is definitely never going to happen? Thanks in advance.
[Windows Phone 7 General] allanz:
Do u need data cOnnection to use this app? Or can u download your route and navigate offline? Thanks.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Jim Coleman:
This question has already been answered, please read the thread before you ask.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
V. 1.1 Is a definite upgrade people. Your love for this app will only grow as stuff gets added and it becomes more polished... trust me!

For Samsung users, the screen lock disable is just AWESOME... no more having to set your phones to a 5 minute time out only to have to touch the screen at least every five minutes to keep it turned on. Brilliant feature and glad its able to be implemented in the update so well.
[Windows Phone 7 General] tchitchicruise:
@SharpGIS

I will like to try this version 1.1..

:rolleyes:

@allanz

yes, you need the 3G
[Windows Phone 7 General] JHoogstede:
Fantastic app with very great potential as mentioned by some other people before. Just downloaded it and I can't wait for Europe-map support (so I can fully test it).

Please keep up the good work, this could be a great one!

Should you need testers, count me in!
[Windows Phone 7 General] dazza9075:
oh come on, yes it may already be answered but in the time it took to write that you could have posted the answer and pointed out the error of there ways

the answer is no its not off line, which unfortunatly would make this utterly useless for myself as i usually travel through the backend of nowhere. who would have thought that it would take so long for some legal off line sat nav
[Windows Phone 7 General] Jim Coleman:
...and thereby perpetuating the problem by obviating that person's need to do some reading before posting, and ensuring they keep on doing it.

The correct response is to point out what they did wrong, then allow them to go through the process of correcting themselves, thus ensuring that next time they do indeed read the thread before asking the question.

I always refuse to help people who refuse to help themselves. I find it makes those people improve over time.
[Windows Phone 7 General] dazza9075:
i agree but what you have to understand is that some folk on here may not be able to understand english that well, your telling tem to read through potentially 7 pages of this thread to find something that may be clear to us but not so to everyone. by all means point out the error of their ways and show them how to do it but by posting a reply to someones question its rude to assume that we should just ignore them and point them somewhere else.

tell me, if you go in to a shop and ask a member of staff where something is and they say, yeah its somewhere overthere, read the signs, you would think that is very poor customer service, now take that situation but apply it to a different country that has a language you may not fully understand and its just insulting.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
Okay bickering ended... keep the conversation on topic ladies.

Bugs are slowly being worked out for the next release. Shaping up to be one peice of art I can tell you that. Funny how 3rd party apps are filling in major gaps which microsoft has failed to impliment and probably doing a better job at it then microsoft will when they get around to it.
[Windows Phone 7 General] FearL0rd:
You are right... hopefully they will release a update with bing navigation with XNA doing 3D :)

Iphone still doesn't have a navigation tools and people still buying that crap
[Windows Phone 7 General] theo80:
Looks really good. If the developers could somehow find a way to make an offline mode, then you've got yourselves a winner here.

As a suggestion, maybe you could look at how MapDroyd downloads their map files and maybe duplicate the process with the ArcGIS data. I know that the TBT may suffer, but at least you could still navigate even without 3G coverage. Maybe make it like a toggle (online or offline mode) in the appsettings?
[Windows Phone 7 General] andrew-in-woking:
ETA on 1.1

Hi

The UK marketplace is still showing version 1.0. Do you know when version 1.1 will show up?

Cheers

andrew-in-woking
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
Testing is progressing along quite nicely to anyone who cares. Bugs are being worked out frighteningly quick and there's a few surprise goodies being added in for the next release. I'll leave Morton to announce the upcoming features though but again... I have to say even when Bing releases their navigation App I think A-to-B will be miles ahead.
[Windows Phone 7 General] tchitchicruise:
PM for you , THX for advance!
[Windows Phone 7 General] adamelphick:
This is great news - I am sure once global maps are available this will be a winner. However I agree with others in that offline maps are essential for a GPS system to be available even in non-3G/HSDPA areas when on the move.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Kropek3:
The Poles are asking

Users in my country, ask for what Polish map Thank you in advance
[Windows Phone 7 General] theo80:
Global maps are not a problem as ArcGIS can also retrieve from OSM.
[Windows Phone 7 General] nrfitchett4:
the difference being is that they are not paying for a service or goods on here, not to mention that not reading the thread and searching is actually against the terms of service.

just saying...

oh come on, bickering is fun!!! :D

I'm wondering if MS is holding back bing nav until they can combine with nokia and ovi maps...

To the app developer, I am going to try this out on the way home.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Marvin_S:
In holland it does show the maps but is not able to make a route. It seems like it only has thr visual maps But does not recognise it as being roads. Other than that the visual maps seems to be quite accurate. I hope the next update does bring this functionality, it seems like a great app, but a navigation app without being able to navigate in my area/country is useless atm.

Good job non the less, hope worldwide support commin soon
[Windows Phone 7 General] doministry:
Yes I add my vote here.
[Windows Phone 7 General] Aaron McCarthy:
As everyone should know... as any development goes getting rid of some bugs and polishing up an app are only a small step in getting an app in the market place. Once Morton has finished up the app (as far as I know he is developing this himself) it will have to go through the ringer at MS. In the current state it is in there isn't an official ETA on when the next version is going to be submitted and definitely no ETA on when it will be available in the market place.

Not to hinder anyones excitement for the upcoming release, just throwing out there the reality of the current update status.

Morton will announce when this is ready and when you can expect to see the upcoming version on the marketplace