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| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Marvin Hlavac |
Posted - 01 oct. 2006 : 03:45:48
What's new in
MS Streets & Trips 2007 / MS AutoRoute 2007
 
Is automatic recalculation finally in? I suspect this question is on the top of the list of many people who use Streets & Trips in conjunction with GPS. I don’t recall hearing this question in earlier years, but since the release of the last years’ very successful S&T 2006 people started to ask. After Microsoft added many GPS related features in versions 2005 and 2006, the lack of automatic route recalculation function started to be the topic of many on-line and off-line discussions. The various reviews of S&T 06 I recall reading all did mention S&T should incorporate this feature. Seeing so much demand for it I was quite confident the new S&T 07 would be able to plot a new route without users having to reach for the keyboard to press F3-key if a driver detours accidentally or on purpose. But for some reason the new 2007 version still doesn’t re-route automatically. As disappointing as this may for some of us be, let’s look at other aspects of the new version.
New! Full-screen navigation mode. This new feature brings Streets & Trips a step closer to the products that have been built from the ground up for the sole purpose of providing in-car GPS navigation. Streets & Trips started years ago as a trip planning software and it does an amazingly good job at that, but its GPS functions have always seemed more awkward to use in comparison to the $2,000 units built into luxury cars, or the many $500 self contained navigation units on the market today. Even other laptop software programs in the $100 to $200 price range are simpler to use while driving. Yet, none of the above products offer such wide range of functionality found in the $35 Microsoft Streets & Trips.
At the first sight the new S&T 2007 looks almost identical to the previous version. But when GPS tracking is turned on, a route is plotted, and Driving Guidance is enabled, we may switch to the new full-screen mode which is more suitable for navigation. In full-screen mode laptop users may access some features via keyboard shortcuts, TabletPC and UMPC (ultra-mobile PC) users can take advantage of their touch-screen by tapping on the large buttons of the new autohiding toolbar. The buttons and/or keyboard hotkeys can turn voice on/off (F7), repeat spoken instruction (spacebar), re-route (F3), day/night mode (F9), and exit full-screen navigation mode (F11/Esc). The (+) and (-) keys zoom in and out. The autohiding toolbar can be made visible at all times. It can also be moved from its top default position to either the left or right of the map.
New! Estimated Drive Time feature. Notice on the above screenshots that the Driving Guidance Pane now shows remaining time to destination (in addition to distance to turn).
New! Integration with Windows Live Search. Microsoft Streets & Trips has always been my preferred application for searching for POI’s (point’s of interest), but this new integration with Windows Live Search brings POI searches to a completely new level. Move the map to where you wish the search be performed. Type in a name of business, for example Joe’s Pizza, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Home Depot, Shell, Sunoco, etc, or search by category for example vegetarian restaurant, pet store, vet, pharmacy, etc. You may even try to search a business by a phone number. If it’s in the database, the search will return the address and location will be shown on the map.
When I first heard that this feature would make it into S&T 07 I personally didn’t really care much for it. But now after trying it I know I will be opening Streets & Trips from now on more often just to use this one new feature.
The entire Windows Live Search database is available to you in real time while connected to the Internet. After you have completed Windows Live Search, you can save your Windows Live Search results with your map. I tested the feature while connected to the Internet via GPRS modem (mobile phone). The feature is surprisingly fast even with such slow Internet connection.
More info will be shared over the next few days on this and the following pages.
Questions? Comments? |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Marvin Hlavac |
Posted - 30 mars 2007 : 22:15:54
quote:
Originally posted by arian
The full screen mode is nice but all navigation functions are disabled while you are in it. So that, you have to be changing between windowed and full screen modes to change the destination or search for a restaurant nearby.
Arian, yes, that's still very true of Streets & Trips 2007. But not when you use Streets & Trips 2007 with the free add-on S&T Keys.
There's a lot you can do even while in the full screen navigation mode. For example, without leaving the full-screen mode press the End-key on your keyboard to cancel the existing route and enter a new destination. Press one of the following four hotkeys: N, R, D, or Y, to select one of the four possible map orientations/settings Streets & Trips allows. You may on-the-fly change routing just by press of Q (Quickest), S (Shortest), T (avoid Toll roads), or H (avoid Highways). There's more. And S&T Keys is still under development, so more is coming. And if you've had enough for today, just look-up the Home-key on your keyboard, press it, and S&T Keys will instruct Streets & Trips to quit what ever it is doing at the moment and plot the quickest route to your home :-)
Here's the link to free download and more info about S&T Keys: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24519 |
| admin_0 |
Posted - 30 mars 2007 : 20:53:52
Microsoft Streets and Trips 2007 is an affordable GPS solution. The hardware is very small and accurate. But the software is not well designed for use while driving. It has too many options, buttons and stuff. The font size is too small. If you put the laptop in the passenger seat you can barely read. The full screen mode is nice but all navigation functions are disabled while you are in it. So that, you have to be changing between windowed and full screen modes to change the destination or search for a restaurant nearby.
In general, S&T 2007 is good. I recommend you to setup all your destination before starting your trip, not while driving, it is dangerous.
Enjoy the trips!
Arian Acosta
http://acosta.5active.com |
| donmeltz |
Posted - 08 févr. 2007 : 16:42:05
The latest version of POIConverter reads *.est files directly. It can output data in a variety of formats. I've used it turn S&T files into Excel files, and then import the excel files into my GIS software (ArcView)
http://rjdavies.users.btopenworld.com/html/poiconverter.html
-Don
quote:
Originally posted by cal0613
Does S&T have the ability to export tracks or routes waypoints, pushpins ? Can I the convert the data to a format that I can use in other PPC nav software using GPS babel for instance?
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| Marvin Hlavac |
Posted - 05 févr. 2007 : 11:52:43
quote:
Originally posted by SHO NUT
My favorite combination is the 360 cable and the 500 antenna. This has the smallest form factor for mounting/sitting on the dash.
I'm actually going to order a spare 360 cable P/N to use with the new 500 antenna. It's called NoteBook USB cable Part Number - PXT10
That's an excellent idea.
|
| SHO NUT |
Posted - 01 févr. 2007 : 20:19:45
quote:
Originally posted by Marvin Hlavac
quote:
Originally posted by SLSettles
I was really praying MS would implement user-drawn routes in this version since my town is booming with new roads cropping up all over the place, many dramatically changing traffic flows.
I feel your pain. Friends of ours have been living on a new street (in the middle of Toronto) for close to four years(!) but I have never seen their neighborhood in any mapping software. A couple of weeks ago it finally appeared in Google maps. My guess would be that within a year most products will include their neighborhood.
Microsoft doesn't use its own maps. It licenses map data by Navteq and others. I suspect the reason MS cannot introduce the feature you've mentioned is because MS would have to pay much higher licensing fees (to Navteq) to implement such feature. On the other hand DeLorme uses its own map data, and such licensing restriction doesn't apply to them. However, some people feel Navteq map data may be superior...
What's hilarious is when the satellite pic you can see from linking to Windows Live Local (or better yet, Google Maps, they are even more up to date in some cases) is more up to date than the S&T road data. I've had to use the satellite photos to find the locations of new roads that don't yet show up in S&T 2007.
BTW, am I the only one that finds it creepy that you can just type in someone's name in the S&T Live Search, find them (with their phone number & address) and then zoom in on their house with Windows Live Local? |
| SHO NUT |
Posted - 01 févr. 2007 : 20:11:36
quote:
Originally posted by Birdbraine
Hi -
I have one of the older MS/Pharos GPS-360 units (deceased) as well as the newer MS/Pharos GPS-500 & USB Adapter. The adapter has the same # of contacts(12) as the older GPS-360 & it fits into the unit just the same way as the GPS-500.
I have a bunch of the 360's (from 2005 and 2006), as well as the 500 that came with 2007. I asked Pharos' tech support guys about compatibility, and they said that the 500 and 360 USB cables/dongles are all forward and backwards compatible. I've verified the same with my units.
My favorite combination is the 360 cable and the 500 antenna. This has the smallest form factor for mounting/sitting on the dash. The 500 + 500 dongle + female USB cable end is actually longer than the 360 cable end + 360 antenna, never mind the 500 + 360 cable end.
I'm actually going to order a spare 360 cable P/N to use with the new 500 antenna. It's called NoteBook USB cable Part Number - PXT10
- Bit of Trivia - the old 360 cable is actually a USB-to-serial adaptor cable, i.e. the NoteBook USB cable Part Number - PXT10 noted above - it's not just a plain USB cable. I had one of the 360's go down due to a bad USB port, and further testing showed that it was just the cable that got fried. Thus your supposedly deceased 360 may just need a new PXT10 cable, just like mine. |
| SHO NUT |
Posted - 01 févr. 2007 : 20:00:49
quote:
Originally posted by pring49009
quote:
Originally posted by SHO NUT
What did you (or your IT department) do to resolve this? I am having the same issue of a crash on opening a v2006 file that contains pushpins.
I have a TON of v2006 map files with pushpins, and v2007 crashes most times when I open these files, after agreeing to update the map. I'd really like to get away from having to run both 2006 (for old files) and 2007 (for creating new files) on the same machine, since the increased street numbering information in 2007 is quite useful.
Thanks!
My issue was the S&T 2006 was not fully un-installed when I installed S&T 2007 (The auto-uninstall crashed due to company restrictions on my PC). My IT department had to fully un-install 2006 and then I re-installed 2007. This resolved the issue and it has worked ever since.
Thanks for the reply, I suspected as much.
I've since been able to determine that the problem only occurs on machines that have previously had S&T 2006, which matches what you noted. For my own computer, I ended up simply rebuilding it with a fresh install of W2K and S&T 2007, and that solved it for me.
If it's not a big deal, I'd like to find out what they had to manually uninstall. When I did the 2006 uninstalls, I had full privileges, but I guess that still wasn't enough.
Thanks! |
| pring49009 |
Posted - 01 févr. 2007 : 18:07:29
quote:
Originally posted by SHO NUT
What did you (or your IT department) do to resolve this? I am having the same issue of a crash on opening a v2006 file that contains pushpins.
I have a TON of v2006 map files with pushpins, and v2007 crashes most times when I open these files, after agreeing to update the map. I'd really like to get away from having to run both 2006 (for old files) and 2007 (for creating new files) on the same machine, since the increased street numbering information in 2007 is quite useful.
Thanks!
My issue was the S&T 2006 was not fully un-installed when I installed S&T 2007 (The auto-uninstall crashed due to company restrictions on my PC). My IT department had to fully un-install 2006 and then I re-installed 2007. This resolved the issue and it has worked ever since.
|
| Marvin Hlavac |
Posted - 30 janv. 2007 : 01:17:06
Check here: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=76739 |
| cal0613 |
Posted - 29 janv. 2007 : 15:50:05
Does S&T have the ability to export tracks or routes waypoints, pushpins ? Can I the convert the data to a format that I can use in other PPC nav software using GPS babel for instance? |
| SHO NUT |
Posted - 29 janv. 2007 : 03:04:30
quote:
Originally posted by pring49009
Marvin –
I am having an issue importing my old pushpins (from 2006) into 2007. I uninstalled 2006 when installing 2007. I get the following error:
This application is unable to continue running due to an internal error.(6-40028--1073741819)
AppName: streets.exe AppVer: 14.0.9.1100 ModName: streets.exe
ModVer: 14.0.9.1100 Offset: 00034890
Have you seen this?
and
quote:
Originally posted by pring49009
I wanted to give a quick update ...
After a quick talk with my IT deparment and a re-install S&T 2007 is running sweet.
What did you (or your IT department) do to resolve this? I am having the same issue of a crash on opening a v2006 file that contains pushpins.
I have a TON of v2006 map files with pushpins, and v2007 crashes most times when I open these files, after agreeing to update the map. I'd really like to get away from having to run both 2006 (for old files) and 2007 (for creating new files) on the same machine, since the increased street numbering information in 2007 is quite useful.
Thanks! |
| Birdbraine |
Posted - 24 janv. 2007 : 19:25:43
Hi -
I have one of the older MS/Pharos GPS-360 units (deceased) as well as the newer MS/Pharos GPS-500 & USB Adapter. The adapter has the same # of contacts(12) as the older GPS-360 & it fits into the unit just the same way as the GPS-500. |
| javaguy |
Posted - 28 déc. 2006 : 02:42:55
Marvin,
Do you or does anyone else know of a program that will show me the gps info such as strength of signal, etc..
Thanks,
Joe |
| Marvin Hlavac |
Posted - 27 déc. 2006 : 15:34:03
Hi Joe.
I think you are referring to one of the screenshots on page one of this thread. I used a feature in iGuidance (navigation software) to do that. |
| javaguy |
Posted - 27 déc. 2006 : 04:05:03
Hi Marvin,
I was interested in the screenshot which shows the gps strength and says GPS info. I was wondering where you got this program.
Thanks,
Joe |
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