Update your Blackberry Bold 9700 Vodafone Sat Nav GPS Navigator

I have been looking for a way to get better turn-by-turn GPS software on my Blackberry since I got it.  The Vodafone Sat Nav GPS Navigator software just doesn’t work as well as my old Nokia 6110 Navigator phone.  The main problem that I experienced was that when it’s in navigation mode, (in other words, when it is giving you directions) the voice prompts come slightly too late and I miss the turn… the screen does not allow a slightly more zoomed out view to see if this is the time to turn.

I even tried the Garmin product for 30 days, as well as their onboard version of their product: Garmap that’s offering a R200 discount (so you pay R399) but the discount voucher didn’t work – I even emailed them 7 (yes, seven) times – still not sorted out :(
 

My BB Bold 9700’s version was running Vodafone Sat Nav version 4.65.87 and I needed an upgrade.

 
I then came across Telmap site - Telmap is the Israeli company that produces Sat Nav software - Telmap 4.5 world edition is available on Blackberry AppWorld for $79.99

I found this great way for you to receive the Telmap5 navigation system for your mobile phone for free.
All you have to do is register for free at http://global.telmap.com/tugpcbeta to join the Telmap User Group.

Notes:
a) this will UNinstall the existing Vodafone Sat Nav software, and you DO need to reboot your phone after the installation.
b) Traffic info does not work in South Africa.
c) It is a 6.1MB download (I hope you are on BIS)
d) It is beta software – so make a backup of your entire phone using the Blackberry desktop software

TelMap info:
”
The Telmap User Group is a group of beta testers for Telmap5.  As a member of the User Group you will receive Telmap5 software for free and will be able to navigate everywhere we have geographic coverage including Europe, North America and more.  Feedback can be returned at any time using our feedback form, and every so often we will conduct an online or phone survey asking you to answer some specific questions about the product.
You should know that you must maintain your own data package, and that we may keep GPS logs of your navigations.

We are currently accepting new users with the following devices:
- Android devices (English, French and Hebrew)
- BlackBerry 9800 Torch (English, French and Hebrew)
- BlackBerry 9780, 9700, 9300 (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew)
”

Here are the installation instructions:
1) Click on the “Register” button (at the bottom of the page) to join the Telmap User Group: http://global.telmap.com/tugpcbeta
(a download link and registration code will be emailed to you)
2) Open the email on your phone and click on the download link – a 6.1MB file will then start downloading and be installed on your phone.  My version is version 5.12.32.01 build 02.  Release notes are here: http://downloads.telmap.com/tug/doc/TUGReleaseNotes.htm
3) It will replace the old Vodafone Sat Nav version and will ask for phone permissions
4) Reboot your phone after the install is complete.


Feedback can be given using this form: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/193403/feedbacks-on-telmap-navigator-v5-0
(not for installation problems… rather use: tugadmin@telmap.com)
Telmap User Group Forum is here: http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=137


Telmap5 offers:
- Full-featured in-car navigation with moving maps and sound instructions with street names
- Turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation with moving maps that follow your location and bread-crumbs for orientation
- Simple and easy one-line search for anything you need
- Widgets that let you personalize your experience for in-car navigation, pedestrian navigation and mapping
- Rich UI with animations, shadowing and graphic effects – all based on a map
- Weather information for any location
- Cell-ID positioning technology lets you use mapping and local search even when you are indoors with no GPS fix
- Tiled maps for quicker map download and smooth panning
- And much more…

Where to download VoipBusterMate and SkypeMate for USB phones

Following from my previous postings on cheap (and sometimes free) international calling using VOIP (Voice over Internet) and USB phone handsets, I was distressed to find that the http://yealink.net/skypemate/download  and www.skypemate.net download sites are getting fewer and fewer.  (The original location that my posts referred to are now no longer available to download the software)
So, I decided to make the downloads that I have on my local computers available here:
SkypeMate_4.0.2.2.zip
VoipBusterMate3.0.2.48.zip

I also see that some are available here too: http://www.usbphoneworld.com/fido.html

Previous posts that explain how to connect your DECT cordless telephone to make VOIP calls:
* My DECT cordless phone is now actually working with Skype and SkypeOut and VoipBuster and VOIP calls – cool, and so convenient!
* Hooray, I’ve found a way to use my cordless DECT phone to make Skype and SIP VoipBuster calls – Solved :)
* 120 free days of calls to major cities, then rates at cheaper than SkypeOut