Hi Peter,
Like Damian and Russell I also use an iPhone and love it.
1. Coverage - I recently switched to Telstra 'Next-G' for my trip out
to Round Hill so that my wife could contact me if needed. Even
compared to Telstras normal GSM coverage the difference in alot of
areas is amazing. Check their website for coverage details.
You do pay for it though.
2. No idea about International sorry
3. I must admit that I would love to know for sure about the gps etc
too. I use an app called Motion X GPS which is fantastic. It plots
your course on a map creating a track file that you can then email to
others/yourself which has a link showing it on Google Maps. Great to
send my wife while i was away letting her know where i was. Biggest
downsides are that you have to have the application running in the
foreground for it to work and it chews the battery ALOT faster. One
clever thing they did though was create an iPod interface within the
application so you can access music/bird calls from within the app so
that the gps tracking keeps going.
It has a number of maps that it can source (including google) and you
can cache a certain amount but this is where I'm not sure about how
much you are needing to download etc.
4. I would think Tom Tom for iPhone as Damian suggested would be good
although it costs $100. You can also get an cradle with an external
gps which offers superior performance. i have a mate who has it
(without the external gps) and he is constantly frustrated with it
telling him to turn after he has passed the street!
5. Perfect for this - i have masses of cds plus all the BOCA cds. You
can also use an external speaker although i have been impressed with
the quality of the built in speaker and it's ability to call in small
birds.
6. No idea
7. Bird recording software - i also use Birdsight and whilst its a bit
slower than a notepad it does save another thing to carry.
Hope that helps :)
Cheers
Dave
On 26/12/2009, at 6:45 PM, Peter Marsh wrote:
Dear Birders,
Knowing that you will all be at a loose end too full of Christmas pud
to be able to go out birding let me test your tech savvy by asking
what is the perfect phone for a birder?
I appreciate that the question goes a bit further than the phone.
There is also the carrier and software to consider. Therefor the
answer that I am looking at will necessarily cover these issues.
What I know I want in a phone are the following features :-
1.. As great a coverage within Australia as is possible
2.. As much international coverage as is possible
3.. GPS coverage whether within coverage are or not
4.. Access to detailed maps of Australian rural areas when out of
coverage
5.. MP3 player to hold 500+ bird calls
6.. Sound recording capability ideally with the capacity to use an
external mike
Possible other wants are :-
1.. ability to load bird recording software
What else should I want in a phone?
So, what handset do I need, Who should my carrier be, what maps do I
want, what other software etc, etc.
Hope responding to this RFI will fill in your post Christmas birding
lull!
Oh, and may the new year bring many birds into your life.
regards
Peter
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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