Hcross Blog: TrackMe: A Quick Look

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TrackMe: A Quick Look

via Solo Technology by Chris on 8/10/08

I continue to be intrigued with the idea of tracking or mapping my bike rides. Back in June I found Gmaps Pedometer which I initially liked. However, tracking the longer rides via double-clicking waypoints for each and every turn got old. Fast!

My neighbor sent me over a link to TrackMe this week and I had a chance to give it a run this afternoon.

To use TrackMe, your Windows Mobile (5 or 6) device needs GPS — either built-in or external via something like Bluetooth. You also need to install a load of other "framework" stuff, so the footprint isn't all that light, but it definitely seems to work well.

I took a 16 mile ride this afternoon with it running. When I got home I exported my file (as a kml) and checked it out on Google Maps. Looks like a few waypoints were dropped but in general it's a very accurate representation of my ride. Here's a shot of the top part of the course:

Cool, huh? Click on any of those markers and there's more detail to be had. For instance:

I particularly enjoyed clicking around to see my speed fluctuations.

As you can see by the pictures above, I'm using TrackMe with Google Maps. You can also integrate it with Google Earth. However, I don't currently have that installed… in fact, until just now I hadn't realized that there was a Linux version of it. Guess I'll try it out soon.

There are a lot of features and options for TrackMe. Fortunately, it pretty much "just works" right after an install. But be sure to read the full TrackMe product page. For instance, I just noticed that there's a much easier way to show my data on maps by using Luis's site directly.

The only negative I noticed was related to battery usage. My ride was about 1 hour and it used up about 50% of my battery life — and that was with using the built-in screen blanker. I may have to look at the options a bit deeper before heading out on a long ride.

Have any other interesting or cool GPS / PDA tools that I might want to try with my bike rides? Drop a comment, I'm definitely interested.

Reference

Features

Ability to generate KML and GPX files that can be opened with any tool that supports that type of file.

Realtime tracking with Google Earth or Google Maps.

You can create and manage your own trips

No internet connection is needed when using TrackMe (Offline mode)

Ability to display your current position on your PDA

Geofence with SMS and email notifications

You can send your current position by email or sms to other person

Ability to upload pictures. TrackMe will extract the GPS information/Creation date (if any) from the pictures and it will match it with your existing GPS data

Search for closest user based on your last uploaded position

GPS powersave mode available

You can use your own server instead of my free server

Stealth mode

You can force updates with your own custom icon and comments.

Requirements

Devices running Windows Mobile 5 or 6 (no Windows Mobile for Smartphones)

Microsoft Compact Framework 3.5

SQL Server Mobile 3.5

Internal or bluetooth GPS.