REVIEW: Trimble’s AllSport GPS Platinum tracks your trip-but only so far

Editor’s Note: Welcome to the first edition of Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News’ new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we’ll review a new wireless application or service from the user’s point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and what doesn’t in the mobile content industry. If you wish to submit your application or service for review, please contact us at rcrwebhelp@crain.com.
Application: AllSport GPS Platinum from Trimble Navigation
Running on: Sprint Nextel’s CDMA network using Samsung’s a920 and m510 handsets.
Yay: Surprising accuracy of GPS apps, nice selection of reviewable data.
Nay: Reliance on data network coverage trims usefulness, lack of mapping detail, battery hog.
We Say: Nice app for tech-heads in need of data, though limitations hinder overall appeal.
In case you’re not aware, mobile GPS applications are proliferating across the wireless industry. Carriers are actively promoting such offerings in advertisements and even packaging them with data plans. While most of the hype so far has surrounded GPS apps for driving directions, a handful of GPS-enabled offerings are now targeting outdoor activities.
One such offering is Trimble Navigation’s AllSport GPS Platinum, which Sprint Nextel offers from its content deck for $7 per month (a data plan is also recommended). The app, which is a robust 375 kilobytes in size, was quick to download using Sprint Nextel’s CDMA2000 1x EV-DO network and, once installed, was within minutes searching for a GPS signal.
The app provides five options for activities: running, walking, road biking, mountain biking and boarding/skiing. However, the running and walking options use the same tracking template, as do the biking and skiing options, so there are really only two templates. The walking/running template offers distance, time, pace per mile, average mile time and calories burned, while the other template substitutes current and average speed for the pace per mile and average mile time.
Beyond the basic tracking options, the application also provides a map screen, a speed screen and an elevation screen. The map screen is nearly useless as it lacks any reference to streets or trails and is just a line on a blue screen. I was not expecting the sort of detail offered by more traditional GPS applications, but the complete lack of any mapping information was a bit disappointing. The speed screen and elevation screen are more useful, and entertaining to watch or review, and despite a few instances where a lack of GPS coverage inserts some false data, both work well.
On testing the application, it provides what appears to be very accurate speed and distance tracking, though for some reason the tracked time is always off by a few minutes, which also throws off the average speed. The calorie counter is just pie-in-the-sky as it does not ask for any personal information in calculating calories burned.
The main downside to the application is its need for data network coverage. This might not be an issue for urban warriors, but for those who like to venture off the beaten path and into areas where cell coverage is unavailable or spotty at best, this is a problem. The application tries to fill in such deficiencies by placing a straight line between where coverage faded and was regained, but this is not a true fix. I also noticed on several occasions that the application would close if I opened a flip phone while outside network coverage. However, the information is saved up to the point network coverage is lost, and is subsequently accessible once you regain network coverage.
Another drawback is that the app draws down the phone’s battery at a good clip. A fully charged battery was down to one bar of life after just over three hours of tracking. This could be a problem if one blew an ankle and needed to call for help.
Overall, Trimble’s AllSport offering works well for those who want more detail on their activities and don’t want to spring for a portable GPS unit, but users will need to remember to stay on beaten path and near a charging option.
Update: Following our Yay or Nay review of Trimble’s AllSport GPS Platinum application, the company was kind enough to pass along some battery-saving tips that were not used in the original reviews. The tips included turning off the application’s need to ping the network and upload information while using the service. In addition to preserving battery life, though, the GPS tracking still consumes precious energy, the tip also provided more thorough tracking as the service relied solely on the GPS signal to fill-in map information instead of requiring both a GPS signal and network coverage.
Update #2: Trimble recently launched a version of the AllSport GPS Platinum application for Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry devices. The application uses the autonomous GPS capabilities of the business-centric device providing a similar interface to its regular application. A quick use of the app showed similar performance to the original review with the added benefit of a bigger screen. Batter life also seemed to be less of an issue thanks to the substantial chunk of lithium ion living within the Blackberry device. Overall, a solid addition to an otherwise work-related device.