Thread: Loadstone GPS v0.71 S60v3 - Free Navigational Application <updated>

Loadstone GPS v0.71 S60v3 - Free Navigational Application <updated>

What is Loadstone GPS

Loadstone GPS is a free navigational application designed to be used with a Bluetooth GPS receiver and a mobile phone using the Series60 platform on the Symbian operating system.

Loadstone GPS was developed to be a low-cost feature-rich navigational assistant for the blind. At this point in time, it may be not as powerful as other GPS-Navigation solutions such as those offered by:

Freedom Scientific
Destinator
Humanware
Trekker and Braillenote GPS
Sendero Group
Keysoft GPS software for the Braillenote GPS
Wayfinder Systems AB
Wayfinder

but we think you will be pleasantly surprised as to how well it works! In fact the core development team and thousands of users around the world rely exclusively on Loadstone GPS as a navigation assistant.

In order to use Loadstone you need the following:

• Mobile (cellular) phone running Symbian (Series60)
• Bluetooth GPS receiver supporting the NMEA protocol
• Optional Access software - Screen reader / Magnifier (if you are blind/visually impaired)

Loadstone GPS allows a user to save points of interest and affectively create a map of the environment. Using this map a user is informed about his or her relative position to these points and knows the heading and distance to these points. This way Loadstone GPS omits the use of (expensive) professionally designed maps while providing all of the orientational information that is needed to move around in the environment. The program is therefore able to help the user to learn and memorise a route; enabling the user to locate points such as: a supermarket, a friends' house, a train station/bus stop and even their home's front entrence!

Release Notes:

The following changes took place in Loadstone GPS version 0.71:

-Menu lay-outs have been altered to comply with Symbian user interface
standards. As a result, many menu/submenu items and features have been
relocated.

-Improved accuracy of calculations relating to point angles.

-Internal GPS receivers within Symbian Series60 3rd edition handsets (such as
the N82 and N95) are now supported via a setting in the
Options/Settings/GPS-tab called GPS-Source. Other location-based technology
supported by handsets may work as well.

-czech and finish language translations have been contributed.

-A status message is now displayed when Settings Menu settings are saved or
canceled.

-A progress indicator is now displayed during a database export.

-a bug where the no signal/signal acquired messages would be announced in
rapid succession has been fixed.

-The trip metre now saves the distance correctly.

-Settings in the Options/Settings/GPS-Tab that alter functionality will now
take affect upon saving the settings rather than after programme restart as in
earlier versions.

-it's now possible to disable point approach and point arrival announcements
by setting the respective radius to 0.

-There's a new screen keep awake feature. If enabled this will prevent the
phone from activating the screen saver. This may be especially useful on
phones such as the n82 that have a very short screen saver timeout. This
setting may reduce the phone's battery life since the screen's light is turned
on when the inactivity time is reset.

-It's now possible to set a mappable key as undefined.

-In training mode pressing a key that hasn't been assigned will now say
undefined.

-The append checkpoints function is now mappable to a key.

-There's now an export option in the checkpoints menu. This will export the
currently loaded points to a file sutable for importing into loadstone or
uploading to the PointShare Exchange.

-In exploration mode pressing long 5 will show the closest point. The
direction reported by this will be more accurate than pressing select on the

joystick while in Exploration mode.