A NASA Satellite
Summer, spring or winter – South Africa has something delicious to offer, and it’s not food. Being in South Africa and living in a place that has become the destination of the 21st century, a GPS system is your lifeline to support and assistance.
People are tired of the same old tourist attractions – even South Africans are enjoying their very own country because it’s different, has a plethora of outdoor sports, and because it’s often about community and being able to get along with anyone.
If it is your intention to buy a GPS and enter into the world of always knowing where on the globe you are, you might also want to consider the following: aside from Garmin and Tom Tom, who are seen as the industry leaders in GPS systems in South Africa, the following international smartphone brands have come into the market…
The Nokia GPS
South Africa now has access to FreeTrack, which is a GPL application for Nokia. GPL stands for Glider Pilot License, and one has to be a member of a flying group in South Africa and pass the license test to glide through the amazing sights of South Africa. FreeTrack is a GPS system you can use on your Nokia to help you keep records of your activities while gliding. FreeTrack also works with biking, hiking, trekking. You can calibrate it, upload maps, and download your GPS activities whenever you want.
Think of your Nokia as your new digital compass and experience the beautiful outdoors of your very own country.
The Blackberry GPS
Blackberry has joined with TeleNav to provide a GPS service to its customers through the TeleNavTrack. If you are a business owner, you can use this to track down your staff, fleet of delivery vans, or both. There is a monthly fee you have to pay to have access to the service, but it’s reasonable at R80 to R100 ($9.99) a month. It’s the activation fee where you may want to think twice. Although as a business expense, you get your money back in lowered logistics costs, and less headaches with employees who like to slack off during working hours.
The iPhone GPS
The iPhone has a great system where you can even get Tom Tom GPS maps although it has its own GPS system, the A-GPS. Apple does promise to provide traffic information in real time, along with traffic speed and navigational directions – all from your iPhone. Of course, Apple has a reputation for promising everything – sun, moon and sky and being Apple – it gets away with it.
Although they claim to have the best GPS technology, it’s arguable and many South Africans will balk at agreeing. However if it means not having to buy a GPS device, and using an all-purpose mobile phone, then it becomes a practical decision.
The Traffic Message Channel (TMC)
In 2008, South Africa had nothing like a TMC to help South Africans to navigate through traffic. Fortunately, with the influx of GPS devices, there is a working TMC in place. It works with mobile phones like Android phones and helps South Africans avoid the usual daily traffic congestion.
Unlike two years ago, traffic in major cities has gotten increasingly complicated and tiresome. What could take 20 to 30 minutes now takes over 2 hours because of traffic. This has made the GPS linked with TMC very appealing to many even if they don’t travel outside the city.