Symbian in Motion

MiniGPS by Psiloc

by Zach at 2:36 pm | July 27th, 2007 | Category: Application Reviews, Utilities

As Psiloc gets ready to celebrate their 10-year anniversary next week (happy anniversary Psiloc!) they have been quite busy lately updating some apps and have even managed to find the time to release some new ones. Anna at Psiloc is one of my favorite people to receive emails from because each time I see her name in my inbox I know that there is a great new app that I have to check out! Well earlier this week her name popped up and inside her email was the news that MiniGPS has been released for S60 3rd devices. Woo Hoo!

Many of you likely remember MiniGPS from earlier Symbian variants but if not it’s a very useful app that is definitely worth looking at. MiniGPS automatically performs one or several preset functions based on your location. Using MiniGPS, your arrival at or departure from a specific location will trigger certain events such as sending an SMS or changing your device’s profile or theme. The app uses cell tower data to identify your location and even logs your movement as your device communicates with different towers.

MiniGPS is set up very logically which makes using it a pleasure. It is always running in the background but occupies a very small amount of RAM and battery life so N95 users need not worry. The main screen (pictured above) displays the name of your current location provided it has been previously stored. It also shows the amount of teaching time remaining when MiniGPS is learning a new location, and we’ll cover that shortly.

The first of the two settings tabs is the Events tab. Here you will define the various events that MiniGPS will perform as you enter or exit your desired locations. Adding a new event is quite simple and takes only a few moments to do. Once on the Add event screen you can designate an Event type (Send SMS, Run alarm, Change profile, Change BT or Change theme), set the event to active when you enter or exit the configured destination, define the location and edit the details of the event type.

The next tab over is the Locations tab. Here, you can use the settings to define your current location and add it to the Locations list. First you enter a name for the location and then (with the new entry highlighted) choose Teach Location from the Options menu. This will be the amount of time that MiniGPS tracks cell changes and associates each tracked cell with your new location.

The last of four tabs is the Log. On this screen you’ll find a history of your movements from cell to cell that are stored (with a presumed entry limit) until you clear them.

There is an endless amount of possibilities with MiniGPS. So far I’ve used it for several alarms such as reminding myself to make a phone call as soon as I arrived at work. Tonight actually, MiniGPS will automatically send my buddy an SMS letting him know to join me as soon as I arrive at our favorite bar so I can get right to business and not worry about putting my glass down to call or text him. There are tons of possible applications for this great app and the functionality it enables.

Psiloc provides users with a lengthy 10-day trial so that so that you can do a fair amount of playing before you commit to a purchase. Three lucky readers won’t have to worry about this decision however, as Psiloc will generously provide a free license code to the first three readers to post a comment here! No need to to post your email address publicly, please just ensure that you enter a valid email address in the appropriate field above the comment box.

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