Hey folks. I read over at Palm InfoCenter that RNS:: is now offering Speedometer GPS, which is an auxiliary speedometer and odometer for your car - with GPS satellite precision.

From the RNS:: (Ranosoft) Website:

RNS:: Speedometer GPS is the first GPS speedometer for Palm OS. It provides fairly accurate readings based on the GPS data received from the satellite system. It can measure the instantaneous speed of any moving vehicle.

The ordinary speedometer in your car is normally not that precise - tolerance of a 10% error is allowed! Further inaccuracies might occur due to wear on tires, or their actual size if replaced. Conditions such as temperature, pressure, and vehicle load might add to that. Finally, car speedometers are intentionally set to show a little bit higher speed than the actual speed of your vehicle - this is supposed to help you obey speed limits.

After reading that, I was kind of surprised to learn about the inprecision of the ordinary speedometer. I really thought that everybody else's speedometer must be different than my own (it seems like everybody else goes faster than I do, so I figured perhaps my speedometer was registering too fast lol), but never stopped to ponder the possiblity that ALL ordinary speedometers may be inaccurate.

Seriously, though, check out a few of the visual, general and technical specifications of Speedometer GPS:

Visual:

• Shows current speed on a big analog display and on a digital LCD screen
• Calculates traveled distance using two independent odometers (resetable)
• Calculates average and maximum speed (resetable) and marks them on the scale
• Shows current altitude (height above sea level)
• Shows current heading in two modes: graphic (like a compass) or numeric
• Several LCD displays (the number of which depends on the selected skin) can be adjusted to show any of the calculated characteristics, as well as current time
• Adjustable range of the speedometer's scale

Check out some of the skins you have to choose from below:

General:

• Adjustable speed and distance unit (MPH or km/h, feet or meters)
• Visual and audible alerts on exceeding the selected minimum or maximum speed
• Can automatically stop working when speed falls down to zero
• Calculated statistics can be copied to system clipboard
• Device does not turn off while GPS is connected
• Can automatically connect with the GPS device on startup
• Calculates statistics even if the screen is off (Treo and Centro phones only)
• Displays comprehensive GPS status (coordinates, satellites, GPS date and time, etc.)

Technical:

• Supports all Palm OS devices with system version 4 or newer
• Skins support all display modes (standard, high resolution, hires , etc.)
• Supports any popular GPS receiver (the NMEA standard)
• Can work from RAM or a memory card (also the additional skins)

I recently purchased a Garmin GPS for our vehicles and was pleased to learn that the posted speed generally showed up on my display as well as the actual rate of speed we were traveling. It would be cool to have Speedometer GPS display the current speed on a big analog display and on a digital LCD screen! Add to that the fact it can display the average and maximum speeds and current altitude and you have a pretty complete picture of the world around you! Being able to calculate the statistics even when the screen is off is also pretty neat and the date and time are available at any given time.

Being compatible with all Palm OS devices version 4 or higher and working with any NMEA standard GPS unit, the Speedometer GPS has all the makings of a highly compatible, extremely useful app! Check it out here!! You can download the trial version or buy the app for $9.95, the reduced price at the moment, down from $11.95.

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