Dave's Appraisals - The Bad Elf and City Maps 2Go

Hello.  Dave here.  Being a famous internet superstar and international jet-setter isn't all fun and games.  Sometimes even yours truly loses his way in a foreign land and doesn't know which way to go.  Luckily I have a cool new gadget to help out.  A good friend of mine works for a company that makes accessories for Apple products (iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad) that adds GPS support to devices that don't have it by default, and that can improve the accuracy of GPS data for those that do.  I've been testing out the device over here in Europe, and will occasionally be writing some reviews of some GPS-enabled Apps (get it, Appraisals???) I use on my travels that take advantage of my new-found GPS capabilites.

Bad Elf GPS

First, a bit more about the device.  It is called the Bad Elf GPS, and you can visit the official website by clicking on the image right here:

 
As you can see, it is a little widget that plugs directly into the standard dock connector on Apple products, and there is even a micro USB port on it so you can connect to your PC without removing it.

From my testing, you can typically get a GPS lock within around 30 seconds, of say, exiting a metro stop, and then you are good to go with whatever GPS-enabled App you are using.  I have been testing it on the iPod touch, a wireless-only device, and the really nice thing is that I don't need to have wireless access for the GPS device to function. I have found this very useful when traveling around different cities.

Of course, this means that GPS-enabled Apps that don't require a wireless connection are a must.  There are a number of such Apps listed on the Bad Elf website.  Below, and in some future blogs, I'll be reviewing some that I have found useful.

CityMaps2Go

One of the leading offline map Apps is City Maps 2Go.  It has high-quality vector maps, the ability to search for specific addresses, and to find places of interest near your current location.  Once the App is purchased, you can download maps directly to your mobile device.  After the maps are downloaded, they can be used without any WiFi connection, which is nice for roaming around the city.

The Bad Elf GPS device integrates seamlessly with the App.  Just click on a little arrow button to update your location as you would with any GPS-enabled device.

One trick I've found useful is to use City Maps 2Go along with the built-in Maps App from Google.  The problem with Maps is that it requires an internet connection to function.  However, it has nice features such as giving directions from one location to another, and from my experience has a larger database of restaurants, businesses, and other places of interest than City Maps 2Go (mostly tested in Barcelona--other maps may vary).  I therefore usually search for the area I plan on being in with Maps, and zoom in to an appropriate level of detail for whatever my activity is going to be.  Then when out and about, my current location can be updated via the Bad Elf in both Maps and City Maps 2Go, and I can use the static map information currently loaded on Maps along with dynamically zooming in and out with City Maps 2Go.

I recently used this trick to get around in London while I was there on business, and I found it extremely helpful when stepping out of the London Metro for directing me to my meeting place with no problem.

So, to break it down,

Pros:

• Nice vector maps
• Lots of downloadable maps
• Find places of interest near current location
• Maps are fully navigable without a WiFi connection

Cons:

• No direction-finding capability
• Not as many restaurants and businesses as with the built-in Maps App

So while it doesn't have all of the features of the built-in Maps App, I find it quite useful, and would recommend it for your GPS-enabled mapping needs.