Garmin Bluechart Mobile App - Where are you?

Still no clue on release date, but here's a Garmin produced video pitching the product:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmtuk7Kyq4A[/youtube]

Cheers,

Bruce
 
Great video with enticing capabilities and easy to see how one could put the functionality to use. A classic example of poor communication for the release date from the Garmin Product organization. It hardly seems to fit the vision they strive for.
 
Jeff Siegel at Active Captain is developing a new app call The Companion. His demo video briefly shows the Garmin BlueChart Mobile app. He has more screens at his helm station than Mission Control! From his latest newsletter:

"The Companion is meant to be a set of products that work with GPS and use marker data and routes offline in a way that enhances the use of the ActiveCaptain information you've come to know and love.

It has been in development for 3 years now and is close to coming out. The software has taken a long time to develop and perform the way we wanted. It provides some new user-interface elements and ideas that we've never seen before in any product. We've been showing it at some rendezvous and especially to marina managers and owners because there are some very interesting capabilities for Sponsor marinas coming with it.

But enough writing about it. We shot a little video on Monday showing it live and working in a real situation. Instead of a video showing the functions of different buttons, we thought it would be more meaningful to show exactly what it does for you. Check this out:

http://youtu.be/zUZceLjMQmw

The Companion is real and works like that now. There is a Windows, Mac OSX, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, and Android tablet version. It's job is to sit in the background and watch over your boat's travel and alert and assist you with repetitive tasks or with functions that you shouldn't have to remember like where the hazards are located. It has optional sound capabilities and will speak to you to alert you about something you're interested in knowing about.

Also shown in that video was the upcoming BlueChart Mobile iPad/iPhone app that Garmin has been showing at trade shows."

Howard
 
Maybe as I get older I'm becoming a Luddite. But I'm beginning to wonder whether an infatuation with technology and access to cheap computing power is giving us more than we need in the way of information and "aids" and may in fact detract from the sheer enjoyment of for example, driving a car or skippering a boat.
Based on this first exposure it seems to me that "The Companion" is very much in the category of a solution looking for a problem that doesn't (or shouldn't) exist and a tool that makes boating less enjoyable. Moreover, if it encourages users, to depend on that horrid alarm to alert them to hazards it may even make boating more dangerous. I would humbly suggest that if you need this reminder of hazards in or close to your path you have no right to be handling a boat. And what constitutes a hazard? Here in Florida you have shallow water everywhere, buoys, pilings (frequently hit by boaters presumably doing something other than looking out the window), fishermen, kayakers, crab pots, the occasional wreck. Which of those will The Companion alert you to?
Pete
 
Pete:

Very astute and it does hit a nerve or two for me.

However, I've grown up to be consumed with technology advances and simply cannot ignore the amazing advances being made. I recall dreaming about radio controlled components for my model boats as a kid, but never could afford it/them. Today, this RC stuff is pennies, plentiful and operates much much better.

I do hear what you're saying and don't really disagree with you.

My main fascination with the navigation technology is one of accuracy and ease of use. I love the Garmin's auto pilot and the G2 vision card feature allowing a 'safe course' to be plotted... absolutely marvelous IMHO. 🙂

I like the idea of having redundancy for my Garmin 5212 chart plotter + auto pilot (yes, paper charts should be onboard as a last ditch), and to this end I see something like the soon to be released Garmin Bluechart Mobile App as a suitable backup.

Some technologies can be 'over the hill' in the amount of data displayed and if not designed carefully will overwhelm the user. Careful UX (User Experience) design is very important along with properly conducted testing which is essential for safety for nautical and aviation navigation.

I certainly will be giving the Garmin Bluechart Mobile App a spin when it finally comes to my shores (front door step). 😉
 
The Garmin app looks very interesting. I was really reacting to the "new" feature of The Companion - a loud, irritating klaxon alerting me to presumably some predetermined hazard. But at least it's optional. Not like some of the unnecessary complexity built into modern cars.
 
Pete:

Fair enough.... and I understand about the alert annoyances.

Currently we have a 2012 Volvo XC70 T6 + Polestar performance ECU modification along with the "Technology" package and it has the capability to issue sound alerts if the car weaves across lane lines. If our car approaches another car or object too fast and the onboard computer deems it to be a collision event it sounds possible collision alerts and flashes red warning lights onto the windshield (it's actually a heads-up display) in front of the driver and will automatically start braking the car to slow it down. My wife has flown off the freeway onto an exit ramp very fast at times and as we approached cars in front that are paused waiting to turn right or left the windshield lights up with flashing red dots and the car starts to brake quite hard. It even keeps an eye open for pedestrians (a feature called 'City Safety' ) that the onboard computer/radar computes to be in harms way and breaks for them as well when car traveling at 11 mph or less.

All of these safety alert systems can be easily disabled with the touch of a button, but so far I've found no reason to do so. They have saved us several times (or I should say -- saved pedestrians).

The one feature I like very much is the adaptive cruise control. This is a control the keeps a constant watch on the car in front and if it slows down so will our Volvo even though it is programmed to be traveling faster. If the slowing car then subsequently speeds up so will our Volvo with it always keeping a safe braking distance behind. The 'safe braking' distance can be configured as being so many seconds of travel at the programmed speed. This feature is very nice to have enabled in stop and go traffic, with of course my foot close to the brake pedal as an additional safety factor. It really does work very well and after some 7 months of using it I'm becoming very comfortable in trusting it.

Some auto technologies are getting very good but they still need some refinements IMO. We like our Volvo safety technology package, and do believe it has made my wife and me safer drivers... and we all need this help as we age... :shock:

I'm a sucker for new technologies. :lol:
 
I hope Garmin does a better job than with their Garmin HomerPort App that not only has less than a handful of reviews on the Apple App web site store but also the reviews are not positive at all. :cry:
 
I saw the news this morning from Active Captain that the Garmin app has been released. Please see the attached:

!!! Late Breaking News !!!

Garmin's BlueChart Mobile for iPhone and iPad is being released today,
November 28 at 9 am EST in the Apple App Store. There have been hundreds
of you who have written to us asking about it over this last year and we
want to make sure everyone knows that it is now available.

We've been using and testing it heavily for 8 months. You do not need
Garmin chartplotters to use it - it's a stand-alone product all to itself.

It's our opinion that this is the most significant boating app that has
been released for iOS. If you have an iPhone or an iPad, this is the
product to buy (we make no fees on the product at all). If you don't have
an iPad, BlueChart Mobile is more than enough reason to buy one (get a
cellular, 32 GB, latest model).

There is so much we've been dying to write about this new software but
couldn't. We'll tell all next Wednesday.

It's hard to find the new app in iTunes - we're not sure why. But go to
this link:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garmin- ... 523635526#

and click on "View in iTunes". The app is free - charts are added for
very low prices. If these links don't work for you, please do not write
us - write to Garmin or wait until it's fully up in iTunes.

Jim F
 
Thanks... Yep -- saw this release notice today as well. The App is free but charts will cost some... and at this time are taking for ever to show up on my iPhone....

[Edit] Hmmm... chart purchases are now showing. 🙂

North America v2012.5 cost $44.99
US Coastal v2012.5 cost $29.99

Greenland & Iceland v2012.5 is the most expensive at $69.99

I think I'll start with the US Coastal v2012.5 as my first trial for this App. This covers my PNW coastal area.

I've installed the free App on both our iPhones and iPad. The iPad version is so much better with its larger screen real estate.

N.B. Chart data is tiled. That is when you buy a chart only tiled areas you tap on get downloaded. This is kind of cool as it reduces the memory resource consumption on the iPhone and iPad. Any map tile can be removed to save on memory consumption by tapping the tile twice. Very cool IMO. When downloading a map tile the graphics displayed in the tile are also cool looking.

If you login to Active Captain there's an initial 50 MB of data to be downloaded before Active Captain data gets displayed. It's a one-time download... and suspect updates as time goes by are much smaller. My initial 50 MB download completed in about 40 secs using Wi-Fi connection.
 
Downloaded App. Purchased Charts. Downloaded a few charts. Downloaded Active Captain data. Will be connecting router later today. May need software update for Garmin 5212 wifi??

Now to see how it works
 
Nice app, but the interface to our Garmin 5212 is not ready for primetime yet.
 
Herb: do you have a link to the wi-fi router device as I couldn't see any ref to it on Garmin site nor via the Application's User manual. When you say not ready for prime time what's the specific issue and how did you find out about the issue? Thanks
 
I'm happy to answer some questions about BlueChart Mobile. I was one of the testers and have been using it for quite a few months in a variety of testing and real underway uses.

I have a full suite of Garmin MFD, radar, AIS, etc devices and was a tester for the network connectivity piece too. There have been some odd postings on other forums guessing about how it all works. It's really quite simple.

I'm not totally sure what Garmin is doing with their "router" product showing on their BlueChart Mobile page. It's a Ubiquiti PicoStation-M2 with a bunch of settings to make it talk to the regular Garmin network. You basically plug the Ethernet port into an open Garmin network port on an MFD or GMS-10 and it puts the network data on WiFi. Part of the issue is filtering out radar and fishfinder data which swamps most normal routers without filtering. The -M2 has this filtering and enough CPU power to keep up with the high output of those radar/sonar devices. You can't just get your own router and connect it without a lot of documentation from Garmin - their hardware uses static IP addressing and the router needs to be setup perfectly. I believe this will all be worked out over time to make it much easier.

The thing that's really cool about this product is that it already is a huge advancement in chart quality, weather capabilities, and user-interface. Building a route on BCM is the most elegant interface I've ever used. The ability to pre-download charts or grab them as you want them is elegant. Everything about it was quite well designed.

...and it's only version 1.0.

(And I didn't even say anything about ActiveCaptain!)
 
ActiveCaptain: I'm assuming the Wi-Fi device (i.e., the "router") is shown here -- https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=129410. Is this correct ? If so, it has a 5 to 8 week 'order processing time', whatever that means!

This device (Marine Wi-Fi Adapter Kit) also contains a Software update SD card... what's this all about I wonder ?
 
baz":2fqxd4ba said:
ActiveCaptain: I'm assuming the Wi-Fi device (i.e., the "router") is shown here -- https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=129410. Is this correct ? If so, it has a 5 to 8 week 'order processing time', whatever that means!
Click to expand...
Yeah - that's it. I'm not sure why they're selling it that way. I think this will take a few days to settle out. I'd like to find out if the config things I have are confidential. If not, anyone can get the Ubiquiti and just make it work immediately.

I'm looking for a better solution too. From my understanding, all it needs is a static IP hardware block which a hardware firewall should be able to implement. I'm hoping to find a nice, cheap $30 gizmo that'll do it. If I turn off my radar and sonar, my normal Netgear router will put my Garmin network on WiFi and allow routes, etc to move back and forth to BCM. But turn on the radar and it literally crashes the Netgear router because there's so much data.
 
On my iPad 2 (latest model - 1) I have the App installed with PNW charts loaded and I'm logged into ActiveCaptain. I'm under the impression that if I tap any ActiveCaptain icon such as a diamond "i" icon I should get ActiveCaptain details. However, nothing happens... weird to say the least.

See below...

GBM.jpg
 
baz":1ltycp7v said:
On my iPad 2 (latest model - 1) I have the App installed with PNW carts loaded and logged into ActiveCaptain. I'm under the impression that if I tap an ActiveCaptain icon such as a diamond "i" icon I should get ActiveCaptain details. However, nothing happens... weird to say the least.
Click to expand...
ActiveCaptain markers aren't diamond i's. They're red, green, blue, and yellow/orange markers like like the website. You have to log into ActiveCaptain and download the bulk data once. All of ActiveCaptain is held offline on the iPad so no internet connection is needed to view any of it. It automatically synchronizes as data changes from users worldwide. The technology behind it is really nice.

Check out the video I shot a couple of weeks ago:
http://youtu.be/zUZceLjMQmw

That shows some live BCM in action and includes a display showing some ActiveCaptain markers in real use.
 
OK, ignore that! Although the video has some interesting things in it.

Just tap on one of those colored icons. It'll bring up a radial menu. Select the item you want info on and all the data will be displayed.


ALSO - looking closely at your updated screen shot - you're in Measure Mode! Get out of that. It's using the taps to set the ruler. It isn't seeing taps on the icons...
 
Tapping on any of the ActiveCaptain colored icons produces nothing... 🙁 ...and of course I've d/l all 50 MB of the ActiveCaptain data... 😉

[Edit]

OK... I rebooted the iPad and now it's working as you described... sometimes things just need a little coaxing along... 😀

...Oh, and yes I understand that I was in "Measure mode", and the reboot took me out of that mode so things worked as you described. Thanks... it's a learning curve for me...
 
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