Topic: The Future !?

[Rüdiger]

Is this the future ?

http://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-GB/Products/GoFree-Wireless-Technology/
An interesting development.

mvh
Rüdiger

[Drifter]

Rüdiger,

It would be nice if it could be used to get a towfish down deeper.

Back in the good (or bad) old days keyboard wedges were the cutting (or bleeding) edge technology ...
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/K/keyboard_wedge.html

One might wonder what the long range effects will be of all these

man-made electromagnetic radiations that we bombard ourselves with. ;-)

Darrell

[Boriskamp1991]

Is this the future ?

http://www.simrad-yachting.com/en-GB/Products/GoFree-Wireless-Technology/
An interesting development.

mvh
Rüdiger

looks very cool, anyone know if anything like that is possible on Humminbird models with ethernet connection?
would be very handy for the second person in the boat!

[Bob B]

I have been thinking for a while the wireless solution would be a natural evolution.....Just have to get these tablets to have better sunlight visibility.

[Humminbird_Greg]

“One might wonder what the long range effects will be of all these”
I tell you what they are Darrell: I heard the other day that the birth rate in most technologically advanced countries was done from past years… so I would move that aluminum foil shielding a bit lower to cover something else! 
 


Boris,
No, I don’t think that Humminbird would develop our units to work with another depth sounder companies accessory, but I could be wrong.


Bob B,
My problem with this is why would you be carrying around a tablet while on a boat?  A larger boat maybe but certainly nothing that most would be freshwater fishing on.  Besides; I have dropped to many things while on a boat over the years to risk a tablet or smartphone for this!

[Ddorriety]

Blue tooth interface on the Humminbird makes a lot of sense. Greg you have to admit the user interface is weak.
Just to name a few.
1) Can not select files on the SD card.
2) Sorts numbers as text.
3) Can not search for way-points.
4) Can not save configurations.

A Blue Tooth interface would allow the development of third party software to fill the gaps.
I am  never without my smart phone. This is not only true for me but it is also true for my fishing buddies.
This is not a slam just stating facts. I like my humminbird. I would just like to see a better user interface as well as more flexibility.

Recently one of my fishing buddies wanted to purchase a down imaging sonar. I demoed my 997 for him and gave him the sale pitch.
The following weekend he went to Bass Pro to purchase a 998. He came by the house afterwards to show me his new Lowrance. I ask him why he bought the Lowrance he stated he tried both in the store a the Lowrance was much easier to use.

Thanks Greg for you wonderful service to all of us Humminbird users!

-Dennis

 

[Bob B]

Bob B,
My problem with this is why would you be carrying around a tablet while on a boat?  A larger boat maybe but certainly nothing that most would be freshwater fishing on.  Besides; I have dropped to many things while on a boat over the years to risk a tablet or smartphone for this!

Greg....you are definitely right about the risk of dropping a tablet overboard......I think you would have to have a tether and a permanent mount.....maybe something like one of the anti=slip dash mounts for a GPS in the car. 
I fish a lot of different positions in the boat depending on what I am fishing for an how I am fishing. 
Sure would be handy to have the interface anywhere you wanted to put it....cable free.

[ITGEEK]

What would be the point of having a 10.4" diagonal screen
on your main sonar unit, then viewing it on a 2" phone screen, or
on a tablet with a smaller screen.
Not to mention a waterproof tablet is going to be extremely
expensive.
It doesn't sound like an improvement to me.

Not to mention what kind of wireless interference you'd likely run into on
a boat with other boats out there.

It sounds like fluff.

[Jim Jack]

Keep up with the times, a plethora of 4+" screen smart phones are available. What about a 5" unit viewed on a 9-10" tablet? With decent enough tablets available for 2-400 bucks and generally 200.00 with upgrade to smartphones seems like a good idea to me.

Lets see I spent 2K on my boat, Motor, and trailer. I spent 2K on my HB unit, 1.2K on my trolling motor and will drop another 800 on it when I pilot link comes out, generally rod/reel is 450.00,  so yes I'd risk a tablet/smartphone for this feature, hell that would be the cheapest thing on the boat.

As for the rfi, you'd get more rfi in a mall than out on a boat and never had a problem with wifi or bluetooth on my smartphone at the mall.

HB/JO ought naught dismiss some of the things the competition is doing as fluff. While I do not care for the touch part of the new lowrance and a lot of what they introduced was just catch up to HB. They did come out with some real nice features, insight genesis, their waypoint management, and large screen format all in one sonar/gps/chartplotter/SI. If they introduce a transducer without DI crystal/software update to utilize and match HB shallow water coverage HB/JO will have some problems getting my money next time I upgrade. 

[sonar2000]

Add to this are the boats with cabins. Here the installed devices (like sonar/gps can be mounted temporarily or permanant with out fear of dropping overboard. In addition the much larger screen can be connected. And the newer computers with daylight displays.
I think and agree we should have the capability to keep external display connection.

Chuck

[Bob B]

After thinking about it overnight, I have modified this post to be of a less personal nature.

There are already very good wireless sunlight visible notebook computers.  Tablet companies are soon going to realize the importance of this....Actually, I think there are already tablets in the Toughbook line.....Soon if not already your friendly police who stop you for speeding, and will be using a tablet instead of a paper ticket.....Maybe they already are....I haven't gotten a speeding ticket for a while.
Law enforcement in general is a big user of the rugged sunlight viewable devices.  As they retire them, there are some good deals out there on used units.
I doubt that there will be much interference caused by the wireless technology.  it seems that most of the interference is induced directly into the electrical power.  If radiated signals were going to be a problem, cell phones would probably already be an issue.....especially some of those old Nextel phones that interfered with everything.  That will have to be dealt with if it happens.
It's only a matter of time before HB competition develops "an APP for that."  Might as well get ahead of the curve.

[ITGEEK]

It all sounds intriguing and technology is always going to move forward
with more options.  That's a fact.

But, I still would not want to view anything on a 4" pocket screen
if I have a 10.4" screen available.

I guess it all depends on how young your eyes are.

I think for most users, it would be better if Humminbird built
their sonars so that they are upgradeable (speed, memory,
screen composition).  That would benefit more users, than
some fancy phone app.

Another thing, it's just a matter of time before these new fancy
phones get viruses.  It's coming.

[Ddorriety]

The exciting thing about a blue tooth or WiFi connection in conjunction an open architecture are the endless possibilities. For example saving different configurations on your smart phone with the ability to send a selected configuration to the HB from your smart phone based on your location. Heck with the GPS on the phone the app could automatically x-fer a configuration based on your location. We could even share configurations on this site that could be downloaded . The things I mention concerning configurations is not even the tip of the iceberg.

Think of the possibilities!
Maybe some of you guys have a few ideas what a good app for the HB would incorporate.

-Dennis

[sonar2000]

Really good ideas.  The only concern I have is the cost to do this. Wwith the 360 addition the HB cost is now $5000.  Add WiFi ability and watch it go to $7000. 
Chuck