Garmin is one of the biggest players in the marine industry when it comes to GPS, radar and charting hardware and software. They have released GPS apps for their street mapping programs but are taking their sweet time on releasing an app for their marine charts. They teased us with a press release back in February, which I wrote about. It gave us a taste of what is to come with their BlueChart Mobile app. They promised at that time that it would be released this summer.
I know these things are complicated and I am sure they have to update their chart plotters software to talk to nicely with iPads and Android devices.
I know their is a BlueChart Mobile app in Beta. Traces of it have shown up on various sites while people have been testing it.
I also ran across a recently released YouTube video that show some of the features of the app in action. It look promising. Check it out and hopefully Garmin will release it soon if they get a bazillion hits on the video.
Really, now all I want for Christmas is my Garmin BlueChart Mobile app. What is on your Christmas list?
~~~~Sail On~~~ /)
Mark
I'm one of the testers. I've had it since February and have put a good thousand nautical miles on BCM alongside every other major iOS boating navigation app. I've been comparing them all to see how they all really perform while underway.
ReplyDeleteThere is no question about it. Garmin's BlueChart Mobile is the one you want. The charts are the best, the best looking, and the capabilities are fantastic. And this is just version 1.0.
The great thing about all of these apps is that they are very low cost. There's good reasons to have a few of them. It's just that BCM will be one you really need to have. You'll see.
The Garmin developers know what they're doing. They want it out ASAP too. Given them a break and let them release a complete product that works to their specification. Their v1.0 will be better than most other v3.0's. It's the way they do things.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that it will be worth the wait. I have owned many Garmin products over the years and I have never been disappointed. I had to give Garmin a little static about taking their own sweet time in getting this app out. It sounds like you have had a chance to give it a good beta test and approve of what they have done.
I am excited to see and use the app myself. I know that Active Captain is going to be integrated into the app also. I am a Active Captain user and will appreciate the extensive POI database within the app.
Thanks for the feedback! I will try to be patient.
Mark
I remember my first GPS unit was by Garmin, it was a brilliant device.
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