GPSSerial version 1.3.3 update

A new post today with an update on the new GPSSerial v1.3.3. The last beta version of GPSSerial v1.3.2 fixed a lot of problems but there were still a few things left to be debugged.

In particular, the following specific fixes were made:

• The TomTom application would show a grey screen once in a while when not moving. This bug is now fixed and TomTom should work flawlessly. Most major AppStore navigation applications now work with the iGPS360 module. Customers have confirmed operation with Navigon, TomTom, Sygic, Magellan, NDrive and iGo and many more.


• GPSSerial is now also compatible with the built-in Google Maps application, just start it up and wait until you have a satellite lock and the Google Maps application will point to your current position. This can be useful for people who are connected to the internet while on the road (assuming you have an iPhone) and who don't want to spend any money on a paid navigation application from the AppStore.

The new version can be found in the regular place right here and until it becomes available on Cydia (not sure when) it will need to be installed manually as explained in the link above.

Feel free to leave any feedback on the new version either in the comments for this post or visit the GPSSerial forum with feedback or if you require help.

Enjoy!

Limited number of iGPS360 modules left

With the upcoming Holiday Season, the year 2009 is coming to an end.

Orange Gadgets will be closed between Christmas and New Year's Day and the last day for shipping packages this year will be on Wednesday December 23, 2009.

I will be taking a break from December 24, 2009 through January 1, 2009. During that period, you will still be able to place an order online, but packages won't be shipped till the new year. Although I will be around, email will most likely not be answered during that period either, unless I have time to spare ;-)

If you are still looking for a present for friends or family, the iGPS360 makes a great gift. Of the second production run that is coming to an end now, there are less than 75 units left as of today. If you are planning on getting a unit before the end of the year, you will have to be quick...

I would like to thank the community and all Orange Gadgets customers for all their support during the past year+ since the establishment of Orange Gadgets. Thank you for all your business, support and feedback.

It has been a great and fulfilling experience for myself and I am looking forward to what the New Year will bring for all of us!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

PmgR

Navigon, TomTom, the iGPS360 and... debugging GPSSerial

Link for iPhone and iPod Touch users here

This is a post that describes how GPSSerial was debugged to fix the heading bug that appeared in Navigon and TomTom.

As you can imagine, it is very time-consuming to get on the road and do real-life GPS testing every time the code for GPSSerial is updated. As such I decided to record the output of the iGPS360 module to a file while driving my car on a route that was known to have heading problems in Navigon.

What you see in the above video is an in-door setup where the iPod Touch is connected through an interface board to my desktop computer. The desktop computer in turn plays back the on-the-road recorded GPS trace through the interface board. This setup is a huge time-saver when it comes to testing bug-fixes in the GPSSerial source code.

In the course of the debugging process, I also updated the iPhone Toolchain on the desktop PC (running cygwin) to firmware version 3.1.x as I first thought that the bug was related to the Toolchain version. This was quite an experience in itself: not without problem; although the instructions at Saurik's page are very good, they are not complete, and neither up-to-date (yet) for the 3.1.x firmware.

After having spent a lot of time on testing and debugging the code, all the work has finally paid off: the latest GPSSerial version is finally working correctly with Navigon. The incorrect-heading bug is now fixed and the red GPS bar does no longer appear when you are not moving.

You can download and install the latest GPSSerial version by following the instructions on the Orange Gadgets site here.

The new version should hopefully be available through Cydia soon as well.

Try it out and feel free to leave your feedback in the comments.

Enjoy! PmgR