Earthcomber

Hey there folks. Over the past week or so I have had the opportunity to closely look at and dive into a type of software for your Palm device that will not only let you find important places on YOUR map, but enable you to also seek out places of interest such as entertainment, dining, lodging, shopping, etc. The software is called Earthcomber (great name, eh?) and is available at their website: www. earthcomber.com.

One of the best things, of course, is that much of the Earthcomber application is FREE! Yes, I said free! Very cool. I won't spoil your fun by explaining all that is free, just head over to their site and "comb" around and you will see what I mean. These do include, however, the free navigation software and free maps (of almost any city i must add) that you can personalize. With that said, I will go into some details about what the application is, what it can be used for, how to navigate, and all that other good stuff.

The part you can purchase are called Spot Guides. These are software add-ons to the navigator software that you can use to peruse different places of interest in your area. For example, I have begun to use the Moon-NY and Mobile NY guides (well, because I live in NYC). These are very simple to use. By downloading the NY map that I did onto the Eartcomber software, I am now able to check out certain areas of interest like the American Museum of Natural History. For many of the diferent search queries it adds a description and then, which I think is the most useful and helpful part, adds it to your map.

This is where marking your SPOTS comes in handy. With something looking like a pin on the top navigation bar of the software, you can simply add a spot marker to remember where you want to go on your map. I actually used this earlier this week for an Italian restaurant that my roomate and I checked out that I hadn't been to before. Pretty neat! You can display the location of spots or even delete them when you want to.

The software itself is easy to navigate. Using your stylus (and navigation button), it is with one step you can navigate your map and two steps to navigate through your guides. Also included on the top navigation bar is a button you can tap to revert back to your last screen! Pretty simple stuff. When I was using it over the weekend and this week it has seemed simple enough to understand once you read the website and give yourself a minute to explore and play around.

Some people, such as myself, have Vindigo installed on their device. I thought at first these 2 softwares would be closely the same. I found out I was wrong. Earthcomber varies because it is MUCH more personalizable. Don't get me wrong, both are great applications but Earthcomber makes it seem there are more options to customize for each individual. I am, however, looking forward to them adding more info to the spot guides and maps as all spots I was looking for were not there. But this is a new version of their software and, as recognized on their website, they are continuing to update and make it better.

So you may be wondering where the term "comb" came from? Well they have something that seems unique in what is called a Look List. For each favorite in a look list, you can ID the range in miles you want to comb. For example, on your map you can place your mark on your street and intersection and if you download your look lists from the website (free!) you can search where places to go are. Look lists are customizable and bring me to another cool function of the software: the Earthcomber Updater. This separate addition to your desktop allows you, with the configuration you have already done when you log into your account on the website, to update your Earthcomber Software. I must say it seems like an easy process the few times I have already updated my software. As I said before, this is where I hope they keep adding to their product.

Also there is a GPS option for all GPS freaks :) While I don't use it I can see how it could make for an interesting option on the go!

An important thing to remember is that with all these options it sounds like it can be a bit confusing. Honestly it did take me a few moments to read up on how to maximize the benefit of the software. But no fear as their tech support by email is fast and, most importantly, helpful.

My suggeston is that you have an expansion card for the application and different spot guides should you decide to purchase one (or more). It does take up some room (7398K) on my Lifedrive. Luckily that is what we have expansion for and most I know have plenty of room to spare, whether on internal or external. Check out their 65-page PDF format manual - I told you this was a ROBUST application! Another cool thing is that the company really wants to promote their product as community based (and we ARE a Palm community arent we!). There is a link on their website where you can chat with other users as well as pass along favorites,maps and useful helps and hints to make your navigating experience that much more exciting. While I haven't tried it yet, you can also add maps on the go from your mobile device as well. Check out their page of updates to version 2.0 as well.

Simply, they have layed out the idea behind their product on their website in steps:
1. Browse content from leading publishers
2. Explore highlights of a location
3. Personalize Earthcomber to look only for your favorite things
4. See results on a map – in this case, all your favorite types of restaurants, located nearby
5. See results in a list – sorted by proximity to you
6. Quickly drill into a location to find out more
7. Go there!

Go ahead over to Earthcomber.com and take a look. This really seems like an addition to my Lifedrive that isn't going to collect dust! It is both helpful AND very much fun (and that's more than I can say about my ex!). Spot guides range from FREE to 20 bux. I suggest giving it a try and THAT can't hurt!

Cheers and happy holidays from transit strike land!

-Jason Rak, Associate Writer (Manhattan, UES)