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iOS 4 first impressions part 6: MotionX GPS Drive 5.0 not quite a Garmin killer, but...

By James Lockman on June 25, 2010 9:16 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
I took a trip to Boston yesterday, and decided to let the Garmin StreetPilot C340 and my iPhone 3GS with iOS4 and MotionX GPS Drive 5.0 go head to head.

MotionX GPS Drive features spoken turn by turn directions, but you must pay a fee to access them. The $3 per month or $25 per year access charge from FullPower is quite reasonable, considering the $10 per month from AT&T (discounted to $6.99 recently). The cost of the app is also quite reasonable, at $2.99 for iPad and $.99 for iPhone.

My Garmin requires periodic map updates, and I had purchased the NüMaps Lifetime Maps package over a year ago. I strongly recommend that to anyone who has a Garmin device. I had updated my device a few weeks ago, so I am confident that its maps are as current as they can be.

MotionX GPS Drive pulls its maps from the air via 3G or WiFi (if it has a connection), so if you have a 2GB data plan, you might want to watch your data usage come the end of the month if you rely on MotionX GPS Drive. Relying on cloud-based maps, though, make its maps theoretically more accurate than the Garmin's, especially as you near the end of the quarterly update cycle for the Garmin.

Operationally, Drive's interface is reasonable if a bit crowded. It has more options than the Garmin, and it features walking as well as driving directions. Other Garmin devices feature walking directions, but the C340 is intended as a driving only device. Drive can operate in Portrait or Landscape mode, and I recommend a window mount for anyone who will use Drive as a daily GPS device. I propped the iPhone on the dashboard near the Garmin, which has a dedicated charging stand.
MotionX GPS Drive 1MotionX GPS Drive 2MotionX GPS Drive 3

The two systems began chatting at me almost simultaneously once I got moving, and provided similar instructions. While Drive gave me "get ready to turn" followed by "Turn now" instructions, the Garmin lets me know long in advance what's coming up, and then reminds me to "Turn right onto xxx Street" when it's time to turn. Since I was doing some in-town driving first, the "prepare to turn" messages from Drive got to be a little annoying, but they would be welcome in unfamiliar surroundings.

I intentionally left the programmed route to see how the devices would respond, and they both gave the same instructions to return to the desired route.

On the highway, I noticed that my iPhone battery was getting low. I had the iPhone plugged into my charger, and when I turned off Drive, the iPhone charged as expected. Hmm. This morning, I fired up Drive, set a route, and plugged the iPhone into my computer. Although I wasn't going anywhere, Drive gave me periodic reminders to get moving. While attached to the computer, however, the battery charged as expected. I will need to investigate this further, or get another charger. It could also be that the car 12V port can't push as much current as the computer can while charging, resulting in a net loss of charge in the battery in the car.

The position of the iPhone matters when driving. I put it in different positions on the dashboard and on the passenger's seat, and found that not all locations were favorable to GPS reception. While pulled over to take a call, for instance, the iPhone lost signal, but the Garmin kept right on tracking.

Background operation in iOS 4 is also nice. Rather than using the built-in iPod interface, you can use iPod to control your music. I am an audiobook listener, so I like having access to the chapter list in the built-in interface. Also, since Mail runs in the background, I was able to know when emails arrived that were pertinent to my trip.

Assuming that I can resolve the charging issue with the car, I believe that I could use Drive while traveling. The Garmin is certainly more battery-efficient, but toting two devices while traveling is a drag. I can't forget that I got the iPhone so I could combine my Palm T5 and my Motorola flip phone into one unit. I don't believe, however, that I'll toss the Garmin just yet. 

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iOS 4 first impressions part 3: MotionX GPS

By James Lockman on June 22, 2010 8:40 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Took a hike with the boys this afternoon and tried out MotionX GPS on the iPhone 3GS and its new background Track Recording capability. In previous versions, one needed to turn on the GPS and leave the app running in order to track. If you hit the power button or opened another app, it would stop background tracking. In order to use it, therefore, you would turn down the screen brightness when it was tracking. Regardless, the iPhone would warm up considerably when tracking. This led to some pretty poor battery performance when using the app.

Today, we went out for a 40 minute hike with about 42% of battery life remaining.

I was able to switch to email (which pinged every 15 minutes with new emails on the hike) and other apps while hiking, and the Track Recorder never missed a beat. I was able to hit the power button with no loss of tracking as well. We took some photos and uploaded to Facebook, surfed the web, and sent some email as well. When we returned to the house, I had about 22% of battery life left. Looking in the app tray, I discovered that I had 16(!) apps in there, which could be a contributing factor to the giant power suck. Based on this rate of consumption, though, we should be able to go gout for several hours and get decent tracking data before having to recharge the phone.

Well done, MotionX. I finally feel like I can use the GPS the way it was intended.


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Legislation in Chicago hopes to keep McCormick Place relevant

By James Lockman on June 7, 2010 10:40 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
The Illinois General Assembly broke the union death grip on McCormick Place, making the venue more competitive for conventions and trade shows #AdobeCP


One of the long standing complaints from vendors in venues like McCormick is the requirement that they use union staff to move booths in to and out of the arena, plug in electrical connections, move carpeting, supply food, and more. According to the press release,

The new law calls for:
  • New labor work rules that reduce crew sizes, require less overtime pay and eliminate hassles for customers.
  • Expanding exhibitor rights, allowing customers to do their own work, regardless of booth size.
  • The appointment of a Trustee, former MPEA CEO Jim Reilly, to oversee operations during an 18 month transition period and select a private manager for McCormick Place.
  • Restructuring capital debt to allow the MPEA to further lower costs to customers and put the MPEA on sound financial footing.  
  • Allowing shows to select outside electrical and food service contractors.
  • Auditing contracts to ensure savings are passed on to customers.
  • Make recommendations to whether Navy Pier should remain in control by the Authority or become an independent entity. 
No mention is made of how the unions feel about this, but I imagine they aren't happy. Under the law, though, the unions do continue to operate in McCormick Center, and to provide the default set of services for vendors. Vendors will be able to choose their own contractors, however, which is what makes this law so bold.

The law is aimed at retaining a specific longtime customer of McCormick Place, the Graphic Arts Show Company. It produces shows such as the venerable Graph Expo and Print. I have worked as a presenter at these shows for Adobe and others over the years, and have been shocked at the amounts of money vendors must spend to exhibit. Not to mention how expensive it is for staffers to feed themselves and travel to and from the hotels to the venue. I have watched the number of exhibitors dwindle in recent years (including Adobe, who hasn't exhibited at a major Print Industry show in the US for a couple of years now), and it comes as no surprise that GASC would lobby for concessions to make its show more affordable for vendors.

The value of trade shows and conventions is severely diluted when big name attendees don't show, citing booth costs. These booth costs are driven not so much by the convention organizers but rather by the venue. It was not uncommon for a large booth's costs to exceed $1 million for an extended show, and that amount doesn't include the cost of staffing the booth. Having worked at many of these events and watched as the vendor's teams sit idle while waiting for an electrical worker to show up and connect a twist-lock plug that's sitting right out on the open, I appreciate the bold steps that the Illinois legislature have taken.

Let's hope this precedent extends to other trade show cities like Las Vegas, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and others. Let's also hope that companies like Adobe will return to these events and boost the relevance of the convention overall.
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My opinion of Delta just went up one notch

By James Lockman on May 12, 2010 10:03 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
In checking in for my flight home tonight, I went online to delta.com to print my boarding pass. Not having a printer handy, I was going to at least get a seat chosen and then reprint when I got to LGA. Surprise, after checkin, I saw the check box to send the pass to my mobile device. Nice! Within seconds, a QR code had arrived on my iPhone, and I'm ready to fly. I have no doubt that it will get me on the plane; let's hope it gets me past TSA...
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Microsoft Sync less than impressive

By James Lockman on November 27, 2009 11:47 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
I had the opportunity to rent a car recently that had Microsoft's Sync technology. Always curious, I plugged in my iPhone, and gave it a whirl.

At first, I was confused because the system was active but confused while Sync cataloged the content on the iPod. After it finished cataloging, though, the system became properly responsive.

I did not try to bluetooth connect the phone part of the iPhone, though, so I have no experience with that.

Pushing the button on the steering wheel woke Sync and it asked me what I wanted to do. I had to tell it to use USB (where the iPhone was tethered), and then ask it to play a specific audiobook. I gave up after two minutes of getting the wrong audiobooks or the wrong part of the book I wanted.

Turning to music, I asked it to "Play artist Blue Oyster Cult," expecting it to play a selection of songs. After three minutes of frustration, repeating myself or rephrasing or speaking louder or softer, I caved to Bill Gates' wishes and settled on the Steely Dan that it eventually selected.

After a while, though, I asked it to "Play Artist Yes," and it had no problem with that request. Encouraged, I tried BOC again, and was stymied.

Of course, pressing and holding the iPhone button and using Voice Command hasn't failed me yet, for BOC or any other artist, audio book, or phone contact.

Score one for Apple.
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Maine License Plate causes confusion for Woodbridge, CT Police

By James Lockman on October 10, 2009 8:48 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
While visiting family in Woodbridge, CT this weekend, I had to go to the Walgreen's to get some rash cream for Zeke, and on the way back, I must have caught the local constable's attention. A few minutes from having pulled into the driveway, the constable knocks on the door and tells me that my car's registration is expired, and that I had better step outside to explain the situation to him and to the other officer. Of course, I was able to produce proper paperwork and the officers politely apologized for the confusion and left.

The reason for their confusion is that in Maine, each type of license plate can have its own custom plate. In our case, we have a Combination Plate and a regular Passenger Car plate, each with the tag "YPMB." The car with the expired plate is the one about which I called Car Talk and was on the air last year, and it is a passenger car. The Connecticut license plate rules apparently don't allow this, and so both officers were, safe to say, thrown for a loop with this one.
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Good service often goes unnoticed

By James Lockman on May 20, 2009 8:18 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
I am sitting in BWI waiting for the last plane to Portland, and I am watching a man clean the terminal area. He may not be an Einstein, but he clearly cares about the appearance of this terminal and literally gets down on hands and knees to pick up scraps left by careless travelers. I have not seen this attention to detail outside of Disney World. I had to personally thank him for the good job he is doing, and I believe from his reaction that he doesn't hear that very often. If you read this and encounter a person doing a thankless job, thank them.

Brr!

By James Lockman on January 3, 2009 9:34 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
We arrived home from our annual trip to Long Island, New York, to find that the furnace had run out of water earlier in the day. 41° F in the house at 8:00PM. Right now, it's 49 and rising.

Did I say Brrr?

What a week at Graph Expo 2008

By James Lockman on October 29, 2008 8:08 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Man, what a week. It started off with my wife and kids getting t-boned in an intersection at home. View some photos of the carnage. I was in Baltimore, speaking at the PSDA Print Conference, the day before Graph.

Day one of Graph, I spoke on Illustrator CS4, 3D Design and Visualization with Illustrator and Esko Studio, and Variable Data Solutions. That night, I went to the Xerox PIXI awards to accept an honorable mention for our communiPix product, which beat out tons of much larger companies with much more expensive equipment. Score one for the little guys!

Day Two was pretty uneventful, with me picking up the PDF Print Engine talk in the afternoon.

Day three, I was sick as a dog, but did the talks anyway.

Day 4, I got a chance to take a brief tour of the show. Man, there are a lot of nifty new things out there, from bindery to finishing to printing. It makes me wish I had a ton of money so I could finance a whole new shop, but with credit and business capital the way it is, that's not likely to happen. We'll just have to make ComuniPix a hot item in 2009!
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Travel stinks, especially when you're away

By James Lockman on October 25, 2008 5:54 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
I am in Baltimore to present a the PSDA Print Solutions conference today, and fly to Chicago tonight to speak at Graph Expo. I got to Baltimore yesterday, and was horrified to learn at the end of the day that My wife, Rori, and three sons were involved in a car accident. They were T-boned by a driver who failed to stop at a stop sign. The impact was Rori's door, and airbags were deployed. Thankfully, everyone was properly buckled, and despite the bruises from the straps, no major injury is apparent yet.

Everyone is (so far) OK, but trauma can take some time to reveal itself. Rori and Teddy are no strangers to this; they were T-boned several years ago by a driver who stepped on the gas instead of the brake while exiting a driveway. It took a year for Rori to recover from that one.

Why do these things always happen when we are powerless to help? That is the stinky part. Here I am, stuck far afield, when my family needs me most.
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