I believe that Garmin has had a tremendous run with the GPSMap 700 Series introduced in January, 2010, but consider all that's different in the new premier models announced this morning (along with new 500 Series models too). That 7-inch WVGA screen is multi-touch, that sleeker casing can be flat as well as flush mounted, and the processor inside is purportedly 60% faster. Yes, it includes WiFi for easy integration with BlueChart Mobile and apps to come. And there's more...
I didn't really need an app to know that Sandy was causing trouble on the opening day of the Lauderdale Show, but I was tickled that Garmin loaned me an iPad3 so I could try BlueChart Mobile (which apparently can't run on my iPad1). It's beta software -- as is the WiFi appliance that let's you share tracks, routes, waypoints, and GPS with Garmin networked MFDs -- and so they'd rather I didn't write much about it quite yet. But here's a recent and informative BlueChart Mobile YouTube video that goes with my first impression that it's a rich and well-crafted planning app that will be popular even with folks who don't own Garmin gear. Meanwhile, rumors that Garmin will have major product introductions at both METS and MIBS continue to gain steam...
It's telling of the Great Convergence when the biggest electronics news of a boat show is arguably a software upgrade. I don't mean that innovation in marine electronics has slowed down, not at all. But whereas the Big Four have now all rationalized and modernized their product lines -- though in some cases it took painful operating system rebuilds -- big features can often be realized just by unleashing capabilities already build into MFDs or available from sensors that may already be interfaced. We just saw two neat new Fusion 700 audio interface updates, but now consider all the features crammed into Raymarine's Lighthouse v5 update, which was just announced the first day of FLIBS and -- holy cow -- is already available for all a-, c-, and e-Series MFDs...
I first learned about Hurricane Sandy in an interesting way. While enjoying sunset in the Calabash River anchorage a week ago today, I was also fooling with various WiFi features built into a just-installed Furuno NavNet TZT14. Actually I was trouble shooting the seemingly flaky WiFi connection when I discovered that the TZT could connect to my Android phone's WiFi hotspot and even use that connection to quickly download a GRIB weather file. I've never seen an MFD do that before! Then I was admiring the TZT's neat controls for viewing the GRIB predictions -- like the intuitive way you can slide your finger along the forecast time bar seen at the screen's bottom -- when I noticed the tropical cyclone headed my way! But I lucked out; Sandy just slapped the Fort Lauderdale boat show around a bit, and now I'm aboard Gizmo is in a hurricane hole that's below the immense storm anyway. Today I'll be thinking particularly about other cruisers who didn't get this far south already, but I do have time to describe how Furuno is trying to do MFD WiFi different...
I now know a lot more about the Navico GoFree WiFi strategy that we first discussed last January, and it all sounds darn good, but most everyone interested will have to exercise a little more patience. While the iOS version of the GoFree Control and Viewer app is already available on iTunes (with an Android version scheduled for Q1 2013) and the WiFi1 marine wireless hardware is slated to go on sale for $199 in November, the Simrad NSS software that will make them work together smoothly won't be out until late November, followed by the just-announced Lowrance HDS Touch in Q2 2013. And yes the rumor is true that the GoFree Control app will not be supported for non-touch MFDs like the NSE or regular HDS. But there's so much else to GoFree that every Navico system owner will likely be pleased eventually...
Today Lowrance introduced the HDS Gen2 Touch series -- new Lowrance web pages here -- and I feel especially prepared to cover the news because I got to touch one myself a few weeks ago, and also because a friend of Panbo sent me a copy of the detailed PDF that went out to dealers. The page above, for instance, shows how the new 7-, 9-, and 12-inch Touches compare to the existing HDS Gen2 models they can happily co-exist with. Thus users who are shy about touch -- particularly understandable on bouncy boats -- can pair that interface with a full button/cursor control model, a good idea that up until now only Garmin offered...
Thanks to Dan Corcoran for submitting a valuable Panbo install entry while your regular editor slacks off ~ Ben:
While the ST70+ -- which I wrote about here -- continues as the largest and most readable of Raymarine's many instrument displays, the svelt i70 and its sibling p70 autopilot control heads may be the right size and price to be easy replacements for your existing displays, as they were on my sailboat Breeze Pleeze. As shown in the picture below, the new i70 can drop into the same hole as an ST60 or ST70 with re-positioned mounting screws ready to grab into fresh fiberglass. The display can also be installed in territory previously out of reach, such as shallow cavities that lack good rear access, with a new "front mounted design for simpler installation". The physical installation is done by securing the display from the front with self tapping screws in each corner that are hidden behind a slim silver snap-on bezel seen two pictures below.
On Tuesday Raymarine announced the e165 and while a replacement for the 14-inch E Widescreen was predictable, it's pretty neat that they managed to get a 15.4-inch screen plus large second-generation "hybridtouch" controls into a svelte casing that can swap right into the helm panel hole currently occupied by an E Wide 14 (or a C Wide 14). That's 20% more screen area, and the LED backlighting is said to be wicked bright though the e165's maximum reported power draw is only 36 watts. And of course the e165 has the triple processing, WiFi, apps, Bluetooth, and new "Lighthouse" interface that seem to be drawing customers to the littler little "e" Series (breakdown of all four "e" sizes and seven models here). But I'm going to guess that many owners of E Wides -- which was a brand-new ground-breaking Series only just announced three years ago! -- are not happy to see them superseded. There is a dark side to Raymarine's meteoric resurgence...
No knobs, no buttons, no "hybrid touch"? Is anyone else surprised by the pure touchscreen interface on the just announced Raymarine "a-Series" multifunction displays? We can discuss usability issues after the break, but one thing about pure touch is obvious: It let Ray design for maximum screen in minimum helm space. These new MFDs use an area only 6.5 x 5.7 inches to encase that "Super Bright LED" 5.7-inch (diagonal) 640 x 480 pixel screen, which is quite a contrast to the previous A-Series (at 8.9 x 6.3 inches and a lot thicker). But the little a-Series is not at all small in terms of horsepower or connectivity...
The cool thing about this picture is that the potent storm cell generating all that wind and rain was just about to pass to the east and I'd managed to avoid almost all of it thanks to radar. After taking this shot I just ran up into Camden's outer harbor and rigged fenders and docklines while Gizmo drifted sideways downwind; by the time I reached my float the evening sky had cleared and I tied up in calm conditions without foul weather gear...
