ShavenYak Software

For ages I have been looking for a good, cheap(or free) way of getting some mapping software running on my Pocket PC. Finally, a few days ago I discovered gpsVP which you can donwload from http://gpsvp.com/

It is pretty basic looking but it does the main things that I want it to be able to do. It allows me to load maps from Google Maps and turn off internet connectivity when I don't want to use GPRS. Most GPS programs fail miserably at this but gpsVP allows me to quickly turn this feature on or off without having to navigate a myriad of menus. It also works with Live maps and OpenStreetMaps. You can import waypoints in .wpt format and also import tracks into it using .plt format.

Here's a few things you might want to do to get going. First you will want to change the RasterCache to the Storage card. Fire up your registry editor and change the Registry key \HCU\Software\Vsevolod Shorin\RasterMapFolder to '\Storage Card\gpsVP\RasterCache'. Don't be tempted to change it because you won't be able to get it back unless you change the Registry key again !

You might want to change the track directory too.

Secondly if you want directions from Google maps then you can do that with the help of gpsbabel which you can get from http://www.gpsbabel.org/ and wget as well.

Here's the commands you run to get it to download you directions on Windows XP. Notice these commands are executed in the command shell with the windows version of wget on the path


set MAP_FROM=Casebrook, 8051, New Zealand
set MAP_TO=Hanmer Springs, Canterbury, New Zealand
wget -O - "http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%MAP_FROM% to %MAP_TO%&output=kml" > c:\temp\map.kml
gpsbabel -r -i kml -f c:\temp\map.kml -x transform,rte=wpt -o ozi -F c:\Temp\map


You'll end up with two files, map.plt which you will put in you tracks folder and this will overlay on your map showing you the path to take. The second file map.wpt will show you the marked parts of the directions and say things like 'go straight for 20 km'.

There's a lot of cool features of this program and a windows version too that makes it easier to generate your raster cache.

Tags: gpsgpsvp gpsbabel pocket pc windows mobile navigation maps waypoint opensource free