E LECTRONICS IR, USB, Wi-Fi, and Blue- tooth. Price: $600-$800. • Palm PDA Palm TX OS: This touchscreen almP device was tested with Palm OS 5.4. Its 16-bit TFT dis- HTC Touch HD Palm Treo 680 Palm TX Garmin play measures 3.9 inches HP iPAQ hx4705 Oregon 400C and has a 320x420-pixel resolution. Interface op- tions include IR, USB, Wi- Navigate by Phone? Fi, and Bluetooth. Price: $100-$200. Navigation software is a big part of Yes, it is possible, with some important caveats. any digital charting system. To examine the functionality of Pocket Navigation ith the hopes of answering viable marine navigation software for charting software, we tested: Wreaders’ questions about the Blackberry and Symbian OS phones. • Active Captain MobileSource: viability of using a “smart phone” or Mac lovers, be patient. The iPhone, Compatible with Windows Mobile and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and and all its many sailing applications (in- Palm software, this free software uses the requisite charts and software for cluding navigation) will be the subject modified NOAA raster charts at a cost marine navigation, Practical Sailor of a future article. of $20 per region or $50 for full U.S. recently test-drove a sampling of soft- This technology moves fast, with new coverage. The Active Captain website ware and mobile devices. phones, like Motorola’s Droid, and new features a series of in-depth articles on Pocket devices can be used for on- software appearing on an almost daily the art of phone navigation. board navigation in two different ways. basis. Although some of the equipment • Memory Map Navigator & Profes- One method is to use Virtual Network and software reviewed here already has sional with Pocket Navigator: The $100 Computing (VNC) to link the display been superseded, our experience can Navigator and the $220 Professional of the handheld to a personal computer generally be applied to the latest gen- versions are compatible with Windows (PC) that is running navigation software, eration of equipment and software from Mobile and Memory Map’s proprietary connected to a GPS, and functioning as the same makers. Quickcharts ($40 for regional kits), the primary navigation computer. An- • HTC Touch HDOS: This device NOAA charts, and other BSB format other method is to install charts and uses Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional charts. software on a handheld device that has software, and features a 16-bit color • OziExplorer CE: PS reviewed the a built-in GPS or is capable of establish- thin film transistor (TFT),3.8 -inch di- PC version of this software in the Octo- ing a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth-link to a re- agonal display. Its 480x800-pixel reso- ber 2007 issue and rated it Good to Ex- mote GPS. This eliminates the need for lution puts it in the high range. It has cellent in every category except support, a PC belowdecks but adds the expense an internal GPS and has USB, Wi-Fi, in which it rated Poor. OziExplorer CE of purchasing separate software, charts, and Bluetooth interface options. Price: works with Windows Mobile. It sells for and possibly another GPS. $600-$800. $40, but you must input your own maps • Palm Phone’s Palm Treo 680 OS: or download free charts from NOAA. WHAT WE TESTED This older Palm device was tested with For this comparison, we selected a Palm 5.4 software. Its 2.5-inch diagonal, HOW WE TESTED cross-section of PDAs, pocket PCs and 16-bit color TFT screen has a 320x320 On the water, each phone was used for smart phones between $100 and $800- resolution. Interface options include in- navigation in a variety of conditions in- plus. These devices include Palm OS frared (IR), USB, and Bluetooth. Price: cluding bright sunlight and near dark- and Windows Mobile $100-$200. ness. Routes were constructed and fol- software, although • Hewlett Packard iPAQ hx4705: lowed. Readability, functionality, and a PC is often One of the earliest PDAs to crossover practical application were foremost needed for into marine navigation, this familiar considerations, but reliability, weather software in- pocket PC operates on Windows Mobile resistance, and battery life and charging stallation. We 5. Its 4-inch, 16-bit color TFT display requirements were also considered. could find no has 480x640 pixels. It can interface via To see how these PDAs and smart phones would stack up against a hand- held GPS/chartplotter specifically de- Memory Map Navigator running on a top-of-the-line HTC signed for navigation, we compared them Touch HD offers an example of good performing software to the Garmin Oregon 400C, which we and a high-tech smart phone. reviewed in the December 2008 issue. 24 DECEMBER 2009 WWW.PRACTICAL-SAILOR.COM E LECTRONICS VALUE GUIDE SMART PHONES AND NAVIGATION SOFTWARE PRODUCT TYPE SmART PHONE PALM PHONE POCKET PC PALM PDA HANDHELD GPS ** Hewlett Packard Garmin Oregon MODEL HTC Touch HD Palm Treo 680 $ iPaq hx 4705 Palm TX 400 C SOFTWARE Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro Palm Ver. 5.4 Windows Mobile 5 Palm Ver. 5.4 Ver. 2.20 PRICE $600-$800 $100-$200 $600-$800 $100-$200 $400-$500 DISPLAY SIZE (Diagonal) 3.8 inches 2.5 inches 4 inches 3.9 inches 3 inches BATTERY LIFE 8 hours * 6.5 hours 10 hours * 6 hours 12 hours RESOLUTION (Pixels) 480 x 800 320 x 320 480 x 640 320 x 420 240 x 400 IR, USB, Wi-Fi, IR, USB, Wi-Fi, INTERFACE USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi IR, USB, Bluetooth Bluetooth Bluetooth USB, GPS DISPLAY/PERFORMANCE Excellent Good Good Good Excellent SOFTWARE SNAPSHOTS ACTIVE CAPTAIN MOBILE ($20-$50) $ MEMORY MAP PC ($100-$200) OZI EXPLORER CE ($40) Pros: Palm and Windows capable, offers a wide Pros: Standalone version is easy to install Pros: Negates need for stylus; very range of information on marinas, harbors, etc. that using an SD card; display allows for versatile and customizable to suit can be downloaded via the informative Active multiple data layers (speed, course, etc.); preferences. Cheap way to log and Captain website. Professional version offers AIS capability. analyze performance. Cons: Limited to U.S. waters. Tiny databoxes on Con: Process of building routes is clunky Cons: Complicated to operate some high-definition Windows Mobile devices compared to others. compared to others, limited support. Best Choice Recommended $ Budget Buy * Estimated. ** For comparison only. POCKET NAVIGATOR SOFTWARE isn’t usually a problem, but storing knowledge can be downloaded di- All versions of the charting software charts for large areas may require the rectly to an Internet-ready device from used in this evaluation were compat- use of a removable memory card. A the Active Captain website’s Interactive ible with raster NOAA Recreational memory card can also streamline in- Cruising Guidebook. Nautical Charts (RNC), but several stallation. Installation of this Windows Mo- also could use raster charts from other bile- and Palm-compatible device was sources. NOAA RNC charts usually ACTIVE CAPTAIN MOBILE straightforward. Chart handling is very need adjustment to be viewed on small At this time, only Active Captain charts good with position-sensitive popup PDA displays. Some firms do this for for U.S. waters are available, but cov- chart lists and automatic next-chart you, which adds a fee to otherwise free erage for Canada and Europe is slated selection when tracking a route. Route charts, or you can use utility software for the near future. Information about entry and editing is first rate, and a way- that installs the downloaded NOAA marinas, anchorages, and even local point table with headings and distances charts. As with all raster charts, ease of is included. chart manipulation is a must. The soft- A steering arrow shown with cross- ware must let you easily change between track error data indicates the direction small and large scale charts and move to turn to regain the desired track. User- between adjacent charts. programmable data displays, easy-to- None of the software reviewed here see GPS warnings, and automatic con- included a steering screen with a “high- nection to a Bluetooth GPS are nice way” view, but it’s fairly easy to track features of this charting software. On a route by monitoring the amount of Windows Mobile devices with high- cross-track error. All versions tested did definition (HD) displays, some features include a steering arrow that further of Active Captain Mobile, including the simplified route tracking. data box information, were too small for Installing the software generally easy interpretation. involves synching between a PC with Windows XP/2000 (some won’t work with Vista) and the device. Memory Memory Map Pro Pocket Navigator was the required to store any of these programs only version we tested with AIS capability. PRACTICAL SAILOR DECEMBER 2009 25 ACCESSORIES Elemental Protection or this test we also compared two cases designed specifically Ffor these devices, the hard-case Otterbox 1900 Series PDA Case ($100) and the soft plastic Aquapac Mini Waterproof Phone Case ($30). The Otterbox’s thin membrane face provided good access to the keys and touchscreen, and protected against hard knocks and water intrusion. Access to the keys and touchscreen was equally good with the Aquapac, and it was still small enough to fit in an average pocket. Both did a good job of preventing water intrusion. The Otterbox affords better damage protection, but it requires a fairly large pocket to hold it. For regular onboard use of a smart phone or PDA, some form of protection is a must. Aquapac with Otterbox 1900 IPAQ HX4705 with HTC Touch HD MEMORY-MAP POCKET NAVIGATOR RNC charts—four regions cover all U.S.