Mobile Technology on YOUR Boat...

Hi Donna,

Blackberry's are obviously excellent at email applications and very light web browsing.  Beyond that, the only software that can be added are "Java apps" or J2ME programs.  It isn't possible to add a "native app" to the device.  While almost anything could be written with J2ME, the reality is that not much has been written, especially for boating applications.  There are some technical reasons for this and some performance reasons.  Try to find a navigation application for Blackberry that has anything to do with marine navigation.  Try to even find a tide/current program.  There just isn't anything available.  For these reasons, I don't think they are the best choice for a platform if you are looking to get one.

The major rub comes when you already have a Blackberry device.  In that case, most people aren't going to throw out their device and get a new one.  For that reason, we've been providing web resources to many of the applications discussed in our articles.  In the article for the week of July 7th, we talk all about weather - and provide many web sites that are appropriate for most mobile browsers including Blackberry.

I honestly have nothing against Blackberry.  We're currently working on a way to support it with ActiveCaptain over street map data for our web site markers.  Although I don't see a way possible to display nautical charts on the device, I'd love to provide some type of support.  For all of these reasons, I believe that if you're getting a new device, Blackberry shouldn't be your first consideration if you plan on using it on a boat.

Thanks for 1-Calc.  And Excel is a really good idea too.  You're right, there's no reason to aviod it since it is available on so many phones today.  It makes it easy to have a good backup for entering data on a laptop too.

Thanks, Dean!

 

Hi Mike,

I've been experimenting with my location in Google maps too here on the coast of Maine.  It gets me 5-10 miles from where I actually am located.  I guess it's good enough for getting into a general area but certainly not good enough for much more.  I wonder how well it works for other coastal areas.  Still, you have a pretty good idea.  I'll look into the availability of some type of API that has been released for it.  I hadn't really thought about it.

Currently ActiveCaptain Mobile for Palm implements a lot of "Find" capabilities.  You can find by city/state (country), marina name or part of the name, or ICW mile marker.  Those capabilities could also be used to get "close enough" to a general area.  There is something nice about not having to do the "find" though.

On my boat, I have all of my Raymarine data going through a ShipModul 41BT.  This makes all of the GPS information available over Bluetooth without having to have anything to configure or any other device to turn on.  It's a really nice thing because it gives me full GPS on the mobile phones all over the boat.  There have been a couple of times when I took the dinghy and watched my GPS icon turn red (no signal) as soon as I pulled away because I forgot to bring the portable Bluetooth GPS!

 

I understand that it is done by tower triangulation.  Here in Maine, there are few towers - and on our dock, we only have view to one.  That's why we have such poor position reporting.

I think that 911 works similarly but it happens from the tower itself where they have more power and control.  They use multiple towers to triangulate the signal coming from the phone.

 

Hi Susan,

That's the toughest question of all.  No one can tell you which phone is right for you.  All we can do is arm you with the questions you should ask yourself.  The next 4 articles (starting Monday, August 4th) are about the major platforms that we think should be considered: Palm, Windows Mobile, Apple iPhone, and Blackberry/Symbian.  Along with the first article on Monday is a sidebar that lists some of the things we think you should think about when selecting a phone for boating.  You should start with that list and figure out what is important for you.

The most important thing to think about is, what types of things do you want to do with the phone?  That was why the previous 8 articles or so discussed the various things that can be done with it.  The applications you need over the next couple of years should be the thing driving the device decision.

All of this is very similar to the question of, "Which car should I buy?"  Well, like phones, the answer very much depends on what you want to do with the car.  For some, it just needs to get to the grocery store.  For others, it needs to haul major equipment or take the family across the country.

If you have questions to help you flush out what you would like to do, use this forum.  The questions you're asking yourself right now are the same ones being asked by many other people and the thought process you're going through would be of interest to many.

 

My girlfriend and I chartered a trawler in Anacortes,WA for a week this past Spring. We spent half the time in Canadian waters. She took along a Verizon high speed internet device, to which she had just subscribed, to use with her MacBook. It seemed to work fine in the San Juans and Channel Islands. But, when she returned home and received the Verizon bill, it was $1,000 for this one week of use, checking and writing e-mail and surfing the Web! Yikes! Verizon was nice enough to forgive the bill, when she explained that she was not told that the charges could possibly go this high. In fairness to Verizon, she left the computer running with the internet connected a lot of the time when she wasn't using it, like she does with her cable modem conection at home.

1) Is there some better (ie. cheeper) way to have high speed internet access on board (other than Wi-Fi), when cruising in U.S. and Canadian waters in the NorthWest?
2) Should we subscribe to both U.S. and Canadian services to avoid roming charges?
3) How can we track our usage and costs on a real time basis?
4) How does the way we use the internet effect the cost (ie. staying connected with no activity, viewing websites with pictures and graphics as compaired to straight text, etc.)?

Sincerely,
Stephen Boyer

Stephen,

Sorry, to delay your answer also..... There are generally better solutions than paying by the minute. Many carriers are offering unlimited data plans. They're usually pretty reasonable  -- about $50 to $80 dollars per month in the US (See our article on tethering your smartphone to your PC: http://www.madmariner.com/equipment/electronics/story/MOBILE_PHONE_INTERNET_CONNECTION_072808_EE)

I'm not as familar with the plans in Canada. But it would be best to have an unlimited plan there also if your carrier provides one. Our plan with AT&T allows us to turn the data plan on and off pretty much at will. Check out what your carrier allows. This would allow you to turn it on for Canada when you're there and off in the US, and visa versa when you cruise in the US. It can save alot of money.

As for checking your usage/minutes, this depends on your carrier. Some require you to dial a phone number to check your minutes, some provide the information on a website (yes, thereby using more minutes). The iPhone tracks this right on your phone. It would be great to see others do this. Check with your carrier for how they handle it.

If you do not have an unlimited plan then how you use the connection will have a huge impact on your bill -- as you found out. You will want to make good use of your minutes. For example, download your emails and then disconnect, answer them and reconnect to upload. In some cases, you can be incurring data charges even when you think you are not doing anything -- ever notice the videos, animations, etc. on the Yahoo home page, these are being downloaded as they appear. So yes, you would need to be thoughtful about connecting.

Karen Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
Castine, Maine

Karen & Jeffery,

First of all thanks for a very informative series of articles.  As I am sure others have found the purchase of a "smartphone" is not as simple a matter as I had hoped.

Your article "How to buy a Smartphone" comprises a list of your requirements one should consider in the purchase of a smartphone.  Unless I missed it, you may want to include "Ability to insert a memory card for storage expansion" as one of the requirements.  You had mentioned the need for additional memory in your article "Navigating on a Mobile Phone." 

 Again thanks much.  Currently am quite narrowed down to an HTC Pro.  That said, tomorrow is a new day and quite likely a new choice!!

Norsport

Wisconsin