It's been a long time since the last post, so it's time for an update.
I have mainly been busy handling orders and shipping packages out as well as answering customer's emails. As mentioned before, in Holland we say "De klant is koning" or "The customer is king" :-)
I am happy to announce that today we shipped the 500th module!
Of course I hope that word about the module will keep on spreading now that there are 500 of them floating around all over the world.
It seems Italy and Israel are very popular countries for the module and I even shipped one to Lithuania and Luxembourg. Also, I had one customer from mainland China, despite the fact this blog is blocked in China because of the human rights content in the right column.
Also, with the upcoming Holiday Season, I will be taking a break from shipping orders. All orders placed on or before December 22nd will still be shipped out before Christmas. The online store will stay open during the Christmas break but I won't be shipping till the first week of the New Year. I will still be checking my email but my response might not be as fast as usual. If you really need an immediate response, you can put "EXTREMELY URGENT" in the subject line :-)
So if you are still thinking about what to buy that friend for Christmas, if he has an iPhone or an iPod Touch, the iGPS360 module would make a great gift!
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has sent me their positive feedback regarding the module, customer service or who just dropped me an encouragement. Thanks. If you have the time, consider writing a few lines in the review section of the online store (submitted reviews can be read here). I am sure it will be useful for new customers.
Happy Holidays!
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The 500th module shipped today!
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13 comments:
I am searching for a program like yours for my iPhone 3G for a while. Are you planning in making this app available in the near future? Or do you have a suggestion where to find a simular app?
Regards,
Carel Veldhuis
Netherlands
The app G-map is officially out and working for the US.Is there an actual report if it works with iGPS360 or not?
@anonymous: the software that works with the iGPS360 module is xGPS from Xwaves. It also works on the 3G iPhone, but requires that your phone is jailbroken and has Cydia on it so you can install third party apps.
@Plak: It looks like G-map is an AppStore app and as such Apple does not allow it to access the dock connector. I will be contacting XRoad to see if they will make a version available for Cydia. It would probably be a good idea if more people send them emails requesting the same thing as then there is more chance that they might actually do it.
Hi, I have you module now for a couple of weeks, and it works great! Reception under bad conditions (inside a building, in a forest) is on par with my best ourdoor GPS.
If only we could use the applications written for the internal GPS of the 3G. Maybe someone could post a request to the Hackint0sh or similar forums. With all the talents out there, surely someone can come up with a clever hack or middleware.
@GPS
Since the recent revision of xGPS, the combination of software and hardware has been brilliant! As has so obtain been stated, the iGPS360 out-performs the GPS in a 3G however I do have one little problem - battery life.
On a recent road trip where mapping and direction was being downloaded (3G) and the iGPS360 was plugged in to provide location, I reached the battery warning status after about 1.5 hours of use despite being on charge via a Griffin Cigarette lighter adapter.
Are you able to tell me if it is the electrics within the car that are the problem or that due to the inerrant drain vs charge difference, the low battery warning status is inevitable with time? If it is the latter, is it possible to construct a 'hub' which can simultaneously provide current to both iGPS and iPhone independently whilst routing the positional information from the iGPS to the iPhone?
Extending this logic - be able to provide two I/O sockets for the iPhone say where 1st for iGPS360 and the 2nd being used by audio device such as BT Transmitter?
Keep up the Great Work!
Regards
hdd123
@hdd123
Sounds like you have the same charging problem that I have. I have this problem no matter how Im charging it when the module is plugged in.
Ive tried via USB from several different computers (and multiple USB sockets on each PC), and from a wall-charger, and all of them run flat fairly quick when the module is left on (same as if it isnt plugged into a charger at all).
I had been discussing with @GPS via email regarding this however we had never resolved it
@hdd: do you have an iPod? What firmware are you on? If you can only get 1.5hrs out of it (with the USB plugged in) it means iPod is not charging properly (make sure you are using an iPod/iPhone compatible charger and that the charging icon is displayed). With the USB plugged in and charging, there is no time limit on how long you can use the module, unless you would drain more power than the USB car charger would be able to provide. Typical charging USB current is probably around 500mA (most car chargers are rated up to 1A) while the module only consumes about 35mA (GPS locked). Not sure how much Edge download and the display would take, but if that would push it over the edge, it's poor design on Apple's side as the dock connector is supposed to be able to supply up to 100mA.
@hdd and @skye: when you have the module plugged into the Apple car/wall charger, the battery of your iPod/iPhone should be charging as long as it is an iPhone/iPod compatible charger; the charging icon should be displayed. One thing you can try is to re-calibrate your battery. The way to do this is purposefully drain the battery till it goes completely empty and then recharge it with the Apple wall charger (make sure you device stays off and just let it charge 8hrs or so). Then turn your device on and make sure the green battery logo displays 100% (not 90 or 95%). You can also try the same process with the module and USB plugged in: running the battery empty and then recharging it (make sure the iPod stays off). In this case the blue LED on the iGPS360 module won't be on, but your iPod should still be charging as the USB cable is a direct connection to the dock connector. Let me know if you can recharge your iPod with the iGPS360 module plugged in (but iPod turned off and thus blue LED off). Just let it sit overnight like that and turn the iPod on the next morning to check if the battery is full.
As a last option, you can also try updating to firmware 2.2 in case you haven't yet. Maybe firmware 2.1 has some issues. The iGPS360 module will work with 2.2; I have confirmed this as my iPod is now on 2.2 and I haven't seen any of the charging issues on my devices, except the battery calibration going off over time (this is btw not related to the iGPS360 module as it happens with my Apple USB cable). I have also noticed on 2.2 that if I reboot the iPod I sometimes get more power on the green battery logo after the reboot than there was before the reboot...
On the topic of charging. I recently just bought an off the shelf USB-MicroUSB cable to charge my iphone+iGPS360. The funny thing is when using that cable it causes my iPhone touch screen sensitivity to go bonkers. I have even tried using a Motorola Q9H wallcharger (MicroUSB), same thing happens. Only the cable that came with the i360GPS didn't have such issues. Why is that so? The cable from OrangeGadget is too long for my liking, I really wanted a retractable option.
@GPS
My iPod has been on 2.2 since the jailbreak was released for it. Ive also tried running it flat (happened the day I bought the module, along with several times since then).
I'll try running it flat and recharging it fully while its powered off tonight
@GPS
Thanks for the quick response to the charging issue.
As for my set up, I'm running a 3G iPhone on firmware 2.2 that's charged through a dedicated (Apple approved) iPhone/iPod car charging kit.
I will try re-calibration of both phone and unit batteries to see if this improves things.
From what you said regarding dock currents I can only conclude that my issue has two sources:-
a) the approved charger kicks out less than 500mA - I will look into this issue and report back, or
b)the additional drain on battery caused by downloading maps within xGPS over 3G pushes total current required by both phone and unit over nominal 1A charging current (although no fuses have blown!).
This said, I know I'm not using the
unit/xGPS combination to it's maximum potential as I'm downloading as I travel. Inevitably this will increase power requirements!
Thanks again
hdd123
@GPS
Looks like the re-calibrate of the battery has worked.. my iPod is now holding full battery power for some time with both the screen turned on (and no auto-lock) and the module plugged in.. module looks to be charging :)
Hi GPS, just a quick question... is the xGPS the only soft available for firm 2.x on iPhone that supports the iGPS360 Module?
Thanks for any info! :D
Looks like I spoke too soon, the charging worked once but now its back to the same problems Ive been having since the module arrived, with relation to charging
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