One of the funny things about the Sprint HTC Mogul is that it ships with a built in GPS device without any functioning software. While Sprint has mentioned they plan on turning this feature on with an update sometime in 2008 we no longer need to wait for this to happen.
Nav4all is a currently free GPS mapping software that supports many phone and I have just recently successfully installed in on my HTC mogul. To do so just navigate to www.nav4all.com on your mobile device and proceed to download and install the application. It will take about 5-10 minutes to go through all the menus and install features with the biggest issue being that you have to scroll through a lot of different language choices.
In the few minutes of having this installed I have tried unsuccessfully integrating this with Google Maps as the Google Maps program continues to search for GPS Satellites. This is no big deal but something I thought would be nice if it could somehow use the Nav4all GPS software to communicate to the satellites.
**Update**
It looks like there may be a few bugs with this still. After I initially setup the program and set my home address with working local maps I closed the application and tried to see if Google Maps would read it. When I went to reload the application it did not save any of the settings I had originally set. I then recieved a “No GPS Sensor has been coupled!” error. I was able to grab some pics tures of this working and will upload load those soon.
Looks like this one is not ready yet but is something to keep an eye on. There is also a long list of supported devices in the Nav4all site, the HTC Mogul is NOT on of them, yet.
**Update 2**
I un-installed and reinstalled hoping that would solve the problem but now the program will not load the GPS data and I continue to get the “No GPS sensor has been coupled” error. I have gone ahead and removed this program and will just have to wait for Sprint to get around to releasing the official GPS update.
If you need to have a conference call there are a few services out there that offer some great services for free. One such service that we use is freeconference.com. They will allow you to have a phone number and a numerical password to use anytime without limitations. This is great for those last minute calls you need to create.
They also offer a service that you can invite people directly through their system and they will get a nice invitation from them with the time and code to enter. If your callers need the ability to dial in for free they do have the ability to offer an 800 toll free number but this service does carry a small fee.
Overall if you are in need for a conference call system on the cheap freeconference.com is the way to go.
If you use Skype then this isnt news to you. To everyone else listen up: Skype is a phone service where you can call any skype member free worldwide, think of free mobile to mobile but on a much larger scale. You can also call anyone within the US for 36 bucks a year, thats unlimited calls folks. You can aslo get unlimited incoming minutes with a local phone number from almost any area code you like for another one time fee of about 40 bucks. You can purchase up to 10 phone numbers so you can have a Florida area code so when Granny calls she wont pay long distance, you can set up a New York area code so local business will think you have a local office and so on.
The only catch is you need a wireless network for this to work. Luckily you most likely already have one, if not they are easy to setup. Then you need a phone like this one that Amazon has on sale for 89.99 with free shipping and no tax.
So this is what you need:
- Wireless Home or Office Network
- Skype Wireless phone
- Skype account in good standing with SkypeIn and SkypeOut
With the exception of the one time fee for the phone you can have unlimited nationwide long distance for less than 100 bucks a year.
Lets see any VOIP provider top that, what a minute I think I know of a way to get all of this for free….. A detailed post will follow that will show how to get unlimited long distance, a new local number and a completely free phone service.
Our new site will be a work in progress until we hammer some things out. We will be focusing on the ever growing tech world and how all these new products and ideas are integrated with people at home. One of our first posts will be about setting up a free VOIP system where all your incoming and out going calls will be free!
We will also feature guides and ‘how-to’ instruction on setting up all the gadgets we can get our hands on.