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GPS Update

By Michael Alan Hamlin

Earlier this year, I complained that GPS devices were few and far between in the Philippines in large part because reliable and extensive digital maps were unavailable. I was partly wrong and partly right. But more importantly, the availability of digital maps has improved dramatically since January when I wrote my original rant. Consumers and businesspeople who desire to use GPS devices in the Philippines now have a number of alternatives available to them.
Those alternatives include a variety of maps that are compatible with Garmin GPS devices. Garmin is one of the world’s top manufacturers of GPS equipment. AVT (www.avt.ph), a Philippine company that distributes a variety of display and DVD components for automobiles, introduced the AVT A800 GPS in March. This Taiwan-manufactured device uses maps supplied by Accu-map, a leading Philippine mapping services provider and publisher. Finally, Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) is available for any smart phone and integrates seamlessly with these phones’ onboard GPS function.

RoadGuide Philippines (http://roadguide.ph/) is a GPS Mapping Project that develops Garmin-compatible digital maps (Garmin itself does not provide maps for the Philippines.). Run by a social network of volunteers, it provides two types of maps. One is a basic map that “won’t let you get lost.” It is available to anyone who registers on the site. A “more developed version of the map” is available to volunteers that gather data with their GPS devices and send it back to the project for consolidation.

A number of other Garmin-compatible maps are also available, as it turns out. The free map available at the wiki http://esambale.wikispaces.com/osmphil_garmin is based on Open StreetMap (http://www.openstreetmap.org/) with edits made by another volunteer social network. Updates to the Garmin-compatible map are made regularly. At the time I was writing this column, the latest updated had been posted March 25. GPS trace updates to Open StreetMap take place daily.

Unfortunately, buying a Garmin GPS is nowhere near as easy as it should be. In Manila, there are dealers at the Domestic Airport and Araneta Center. The AVT A800 is much easier to obtain because it is sold through most automobile dealerships. Both devices would undoubtedly sell better if they were available at electronic appliance and computer retailers.

The AVT A800 is the only GPS device to my knowledge currently supported by a company rather than a volunteer network. Although no updates have been made available since its launch, following purchase updates are supposed to be made available every few months for free on the AVT website. In my experience using the AVT A800, I’ve mostly been impressed with the completeness of the map throughout Metro Manila, although the voice guidance is somewhat limited. Outside Metro Manila coverage is more extensive than I originally expected, but I’ve also been surprised how some obscure roads appear on the map and other reasonably major provincial roads do not.

In March, Google Maps suddenly became much more complete. This was the result of tens of thousands of moderated edits made by individual users on Google MapMaker (http://www.google.com/mapmaker) that were pushed out to Google Maps. Many individual users made thousands of edits. For example, Rally de Leon, a 38-year-old engineer and entrepreneur, told reporters recently that he uses Google MapMaker to map obscure roads in Rizal because he needs this information for his courier business. But his edits help everyone who uses Google Maps.

HTC (www.htc.com/sea) recently launched an enhanced version of its HTC Touch Cruise which integrates GPS with Google Maps much like other smart phones (Disclosure: Google and HTC are clients of my firm.). However, HTC has gone much further in providing real value by tightly integrating Google Maps with its GPS function and by providing its proprietary HTC Footprints application.

On the Touch Cruise, Google Maps functions just like a Garmin or AVT800 GPS. It provides directions from point-to-point, tracks progress towards a designated destination, and provides voice guidance on the way. This impressive phone also comes with a car cradle that attaches the phone to the windscreen. When placed in the cradle, the touch-screen phone automatically switches to GPS mode.

The Footprints application allows users to chronicle their travels by taking photos and taking notes and recording comments to associate with particular points of interest. Photographs are auto-named with the general location they were taken.

You may wonder about my enthusiasm for these GPS devices. My own experience in the space of about a month is that they have helped me identify shorter routes to points of interest I frequent, find obscure provincial barangays, and quickly locate buildings in Makati, Ortigas, and Cubao when I am called to meetings by clients. And of course, they can also help visitors to the Philippines get around more easily. If you haven’t given one a whirl, try it. You’ll like it.

(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing director of TeamAsia and a Manila-based author. His latest book is High Visibility: Transforming Your Personal and Professional Brand. Write him at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).

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