Free flight computer software for iPad/iPhone

On Monday, December 9, 2013 2:39:33 PM UTC-8, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 08 Dec 2013 11:52:24 -0700, Dan Marotta wrote: Some day I may buy an Oudie, but for now, my $100 Streak and FREE software kinda beats the snot out of it. IIRC the Oudie runs under Windows Mobile 6: the Vertica V2 and GliderGuider certainly do, as does the Mio S3747, which uses a transreflective display. Since M$ has discontinued all support for WM 5 and 6, almost every PNA using it has vanished from the market as the last units in the last production batch been sold. AFAICT there are none available in the UK except on eBay and similar sites. They are still advertised in some places, but these ads are all marked 'out of stock' with no indication of when new stock might appear. Some sites let you ask to be notified if/ when it does. The Binatone series of satnavs are no longer even mentioned on the Binatone website. I suspect the same applies to other makes as well. IOW, any WM 5/6 device and the software that runs on it is now in the zombie zone. As nobody has announced ot released anything that uses the Win 7 or 8 equivalents of WM6, I guess that M$ either don't support satnavs or have priced their software too high for this market. I haven't so far heard of or seen any Android based replacements, so it could be that we've seen the end of commodity PNAs and will be expected to run our navigation systems on Android-based smartphones or tablets. Consequently, sooner or later XCSoar, LK8000, Oudie and equivalents will no longer be supported on devices running WM 6. XCSoar already runs under Android and I hear that an Android version of LK8000 will be out next year. SYM? I don't know what they're doing. Can anybody enlighten us? -- martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org |

Martin,

I may be wrong but I think the PNAs run windows CE 5, CE 6 or CE 7 not the mobile operating system.

My Ultimate Le uses CE 6.0 or CE 7.0. They are supported and run SeeYou PNA.

Richard
www.craggyaero.com

According to the LK8000 forum they are working on a Linux version, but not for the moment an Android version. Naviter have said that they are working on an Android version of SYM but without any indication of their timetable. I imagine that they have been concentrating instead on Oudie 3 and Oudie IGC and are more interested in selling hardware than software which has to compete with the free rivals. The various Oudie models are a superb solution at the moment - the bright 5 inch screen they share with the Avier/V2/GliderGuider family makes such a difference and I am not aware of any new Android device which has an equally good screen. IMO if you need to buy now these are the best devices. In another year who knows?

Butterfly and Winpilot are both opting for iOS. I think the iPhone is too small and the iPad mini too big for most glider cockpits - and I don't think they are as bright as the Oudie's et al.

The dedicated devices (LX9000 and Zeus) mostly seem to run on Linux. What about the Clearnav?

On Monday, December 9, 2013 10:39:33 PM UTC, Martin Gregorie wrote:

As nobody has announced ot released anything that uses the Win 7 or 8
equivalents of WM6, I guess that M$ either don't support satnavs or have
priced their software too high for this market. I haven't so far heard of
or seen any Android based replacements, so it could be that we've seen
the end of commodity PNAs and will be expected to run our navigation
systems on Android-based smartphones or tablets.


As Richard mentions, the low-end satnavs usually run 'Core' (bare-bones) Windows CE 6, which has been around since 2006. I think CE6 licenses are still available, and I suspect the diminishing number of standalone GPS navigators is due to the state of the market rather than software availability. I don't know how dependent soaring-specific Windows CE hardware is on the availability of new mainstream GPS devices.


Consequently, sooner or later XCSoar, LK8000, Oudie and equivalents will
no longer be supported on devices running WM 6.

As far as 'sooner' goes, it's relatively straightforward to maintain the version of XCSoar for Windows CE at the moment, so there should be no pressing need to discontinue support for existing Windows CE devices even if new hardware becomes unavailable.

(XCSoar uses the same codebase for all supported devices. This means the majority of changes don't have to be duplicated for each different type of hardware, eg. Android, various Linux devices, Windows CE.)

I don't think any of the active XCSoar developers use Windows CE devices other than for basic testing though, so it will remain important that people report bugs as soon as possible via http://bugs.xcsoar.org/newticket - it's likely that even apparently obvious bugs will be missed otherwise.

Long term, it's my understanding that the most recent version of CE (Windows Embedded Compact 2013) breaks binary compatibility with earlier versions, meaning existing compilers won't generate program files that will work on CE2013. If the take up of CE2013 is anything like as weak as CE7, it may be irrelevant.

Per their site (XCSoar.org), XCSoar also runs on MacOS. I use a Dell Streak
5 and am extremely pleased with it. They're available in quantity on eBay,
etc. New ones are very expensive, used ones are dirt cheap.


"Martin Gregorie" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 08 Dec 2013 11:52:24 -0700, Dan Marotta wrote:

Some day I may buy an Oudie, but for now, my $100 Streak and FREE
software kinda beats the snot out of it.

IIRC the Oudie runs under Windows Mobile 6: the Vertica V2 and
GliderGuider certainly do, as does the Mio S3747, which uses a
transreflective display.

Since M$ has discontinued all support for WM 5 and 6, almost every PNA
using it has vanished from the market as the last units in the last
production batch been sold. AFAICT there are none available in the UK
except on eBay and similar sites. They are still advertised in some
places, but these ads are all marked 'out of stock' with no indication of
when new stock might appear. Some sites let you ask to be notified if/
when it does.

The Binatone series of satnavs are no longer even mentioned on the
Binatone website. I suspect the same applies to other makes as well. IOW,
any WM 5/6 device and the software that runs on it is now in the zombie
zone.

As nobody has announced ot released anything that uses the Win 7 or 8
equivalents of WM6, I guess that M$ either don't support satnavs or have
priced their software too high for this market. I haven't so far heard of
or seen any Android based replacements, so it could be that we've seen
the end of commodity PNAs and will be expected to run our navigation
systems on Android-based smartphones or tablets.

Consequently, sooner or later XCSoar, LK8000, Oudie and equivalents will
no longer be supported on devices running WM 6. XCSoar already runs under
Android and I hear that an Android version of LK8000 will be out next
year. SYM? I don't know what they're doing. Can anybody enlighten us?


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Thanks to all who sent in their iPad's or iPhone's serial numbers in the past couple of days in response to the resurrection of this thread.
At this point the the WinPilot for iOS app is available in App Store for the whooping $49:
For Europe:
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...539701244&mt=8
For the USA:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/winpilo...540473050?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...643348142&mt=8

However, we might still be able to offer a couple (Apple limits the number of testing devices) of free versions to people who are in position to fly in the next couple of days/weeks, and are able to exercise some of the more recent WP features, like connecting to existing hardware using the connection module:
http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/bu...rface-for-apps
or to people flying with the Butterfly vario, to which WinPilot connects natively.

Thanks for reading,

Jerry

On Tuesday, December 10, 2013 2:10:49 PM UTC-5, WinPilot wrote:
Thanks to all who sent in their iPad's or iPhone's serial numbers in the past couple of days in response to the resurrection of this thread.

At this point the the WinPilot for iOS app is available in App Store for the whooping $49:

For Europe:

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...539701244&mt=8

For the USA:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/winpilo...540473050?mt=8

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/...643348142&mt=8



However, we might still be able to offer a couple (Apple limits the number of testing devices) of free versions to people who are in position to fly in the next couple of days/weeks, and are able to exercise some of the more recent WP features, like connecting to existing hardware using the connection module:

http://www.butterfly-avionics.com/bu...rface-for-apps

or to people flying with the Butterfly vario, to which WinPilot connects natively.



Thanks for reading,



Jerry



One point I totally dislike about the iPhone offering is that there is no ability to play with the solution for a few days before one needs to buy the software for good.

The other issue in particular about WinPilot is that you need to buy a different install for different region. I bought iGlide instead of WinPilot to play with for this exact reason.

One point I totally dislike about the iPhone offering is that there is no ability to play with the solution for a few days before one needs to buy the software for good.
The other issue in particular about WinPilot is that you need to buy a different install for different region. I bought iGlide instead of WinPilot to play with for this exact reason.



There is a limited mechanism that Apple offers for checking any software out in a form of an electronic coupon that expires 30 days after first use. It is not a very easy thing to use, but if you want, we can send one to you.

Regarding the regions, there are four builds of WP for iOS that come preloaded with vector maps and aviation databases for: Europe, Western USA, Eastern USA, and Other Countries (like Namibia, Australia, South Africa, etc). This has been done so that when you buy and download the app, there is no need to download anything else, it will just work right away, as all the vector maps and aviation databases are included in the app itself. This also keeps the size of the app relatively small, so it is possible to download it while at the airport getting ready for launch, even when only the cellular connection is available.
You have an option of downloading tile maps and your own turn point/airspace files, and then any of the builds will work in any place you want.

Jerry