Pocket PC + GPS = MyGuide!

Sometimes, getting there is more than half the battle, especially if you're visiting a client for the first time or traveling someplace you seldom visit. You need to be on time to make a good impression and getting lost can cost you more than the price of a couple of gallons of gas.

You don't have to worry about this if you have a car with built-in GPS. However, that can be an expensive option. If you're in the market for a Pocket PC anyway, you might want to consider one with built-in GPS capability.

Functional Pocket PC designed with GPS navigation in mind

MyGuide is a complete GPS package that includes everything you need to get you on the road. Included are: the MyGuide Pocket PC, USB sync and charge cable, AC power travel charger, car charger, carrying case, earphones, mobile mounting kit w/cradle, SD card, and the OnCourse Navigator 5 GPS software on DVD (accessories shown in Fig. 1).

MyGuide is a fully-functional Pocket PC based on the Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition software. It has the full suite of built-in software, including Pocket Outlook (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Inbox), Pictures (digital photo viewer), and more. And since it comes with the latest Windows Media Player 10 Mobile built-in, it's also a "Plays For Sure" device enabling playing music and video from subscription services like Cinema Now and Napster.

Fig. 1: MyGuide ships with a sync cable, power adapter, and the accessories you'll need to use it in your car.

The device has a 3.5-inch diagonal QVGA (240x320 pixel) touch screen capable of displaying 65,000 different colors. The transflective screen technology makes it good for indoor or outdoor use. MyGuide is powered by a 416 MHz Intel PXA270 processor, which is a good trade-off between speed and power consumption.

The GPS antenna is completely hidden within the device, so there is no need to fold out a receiver from the body to use it as with other GPS-equipped Pocket PCs. MyGuide has a sensitive WAAS-capable SiRF star III chipset that utilizes a 20-channel receiver to locate satellites. It also has a single SDIO-compatible card slot, but lacks built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth capability.

The MyGuide Pocket PC is designed to support its use as a GPS system: the layout of the controls favors its use in landscape display mode. (Because of this, I'll describe the location of controls and features from the landscape viewing perspective, as shown in Fig. 2.) The 4-way navigation button is located to the right of the display and the four application launch buttons are located below it. By default, these buttons are programmed to launch Contacts, Calendar, Home, and the GPS navigation program. A dedicated volume up/down button is located to the left of the display, between the microphone and status LED. The location of the infrared port on the left edge of the device next to the stylus slot makes it convenient to beam information to another Pocket PC. Along the top edge of the MyGuide is a 3.5mm headphone jack, the screen rotate button, a hold (button lock) switch, an SDIO memory card slot, and the power on/off button. The speaker is located on the right edge of the device close to the 4-way navigation button. The reset switch is located on the back panel, along with the cover to the replaceable battery and an external GPS antenna connector.

Fig. 2: MyGuide's controls are designed to be used in landscape viewing mode.

Setting up MyGuide

After unpacking you'll need to install the battery and charge it until the green indicator on the front panel lets you know the battery is fully charged. Then you have to go through the standard Pocket PC setup procedure, which includes screen alignment and setting your time zone.