Newsletter #6 - March 12, 2008
ActiveCaptain Mobile
ActiveCaptain Mobile Software Released!!!
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Visit ActiveCaptain (www.activecaptain.com)
and you will notice that
the Going Mobile tab is now live! We are pleased to announce the
release of ActiveCaptain Mobile for Palm OS. It has been our dream
for over three years to provide our fellow boaters with powerful
cruising tools that are as mobile as you are. The Palm version is
available now. Windows Mobile and Apple iPhone versions are in the
works.
Designed to work in conjunction with the ActiveCaptain website,
ActiveCaptain Mobile gives you the most comprehensive tools for your
cruising needs. On its own, ActiveCaptain Mobile is a chart archive
with free access to thousands of charts. Add an Internet connection
and it's a living electronic guidebook with access to over 30,000
marinas, boatyards, anchorages, and local knowledge markers. Add a
GPS and you have a powerful, portable chartplotter. All of these in
the palm of your hand!
Free Charts!! All NOAA charts for the US and its territories are
available with ActiveCaptain Mobile for no charge. Yes, no charge.
Download the charts for your area or for places you plan to visit for
no additional charge. These aren't low resolution planning charts.
They're real NOAA charts. And they're updated every 6 months so you
can always have the latest chart data.
So visit the Going Mobile tab today. Watch the online video tutorials.
Browse the reference manual and download a trial version of
ActiveCaptain Mobile for free. We trust you'll find ActiveCaptain
Mobile a useful tool for your boating needs and will purchase a full
license for only $49.95.
Thank You!
==========
We wish to thank our dedicated beta testers who found a few bugs, made
great suggestions, and pounded the software mercilessly. The software
couldn't have been released without you!
New Centro Mobile Phone
=======================
ActiveCaptain Mobile will work great on most any Palm OS mobile device
and is an inexpensive addition to the phone you already use. But what if
you don't have a Palm device? Is there a phone that will work well with
ActiveCaptain Mobile and is reasonably priced? Absolutely! Just last month
AT&T released the Palm Centro and we feel it is the perfect device for all
your needs while on the water. In fact, we bought one as soon as we could.
If you've never had a higher-end phone and would like one that is simple
and inexpensive, the Centro is excellent. Wait, did I say 'inexpensive'?
It's not inexpensive, it's free!! Amazon has a deal going right now with
AT&T that offers the Centro for free after a rebate (check out
http://tinyurl.com/37a9ce).
There are similar offers from Sprint and
rumors of a Verizon Centro coming soon.
The Centro will allow you to access email and light Internet web browsing
(things like NOAA weather, Google searching, etc). It accepts high capacity
memory cards to add gigabytes of memory if needed. Thousands of software
applications are available. The free Tide Tool is an example of an excellent
one that we often use to check tide and current predictions:
http://www.toolworks.com/bilofsky/tidetool/
Sure, there are other more expensive phones with faster processors, more
built-in memory, built-in WiFi...but adding features adds complexity.
If you're a power user, this might not be the phone for you. If you're a
normal boater who wants email and the ability to add medium-speed Internet
connectivity to your laptop while cruising, this is the phone that you
should seriously consider. The screen is bright and clear and it runs
ActiveCaptain Mobile beautifully!
The Website Is Still Free
=========================
The ActiveCaptain website will remain a free resource for all registered
Captains, continuing to provide you with valuable information from your
fellow cruisers. You can always access our extensive database from your
desktop system. That will not change. We hope many of you will also see
the value in a handheld companion and will try ActiveCaptain Mobile.
The proceeds will help to defray our website costs and allow us to expand
the website capabilities.
ActiveCaptain Account 'Pending'
===============================
While the Internet is surely a wonder and a boon for most aspects of our
lives, it has bred one annoyance -- SPAM. And while SPAM filters are
certainly helping us deal with this modern irritant, they sometimes
work too well...
Unfortunately, we are finding that some of your SPAM filters are blocking
the validation email that is sent from ActiveCaptain to verify your account
when you sign up. If you are trying to login to your ActiveCaptain account
and it indicates that your account is 'Pending', this may have happened to you.
Check your SPAM or Junk Email folder for the email. You must respond to this
email to complete your ActiveCaptain registration. If you are still having
problems, please email us at support@activecaptain.com.
Coming Soon
===========
We will be expanding our chart offerings for ActiveCaptain Mobile to
include international charts. We regret that we can't offer these for
free. International charts come with licensing fees that must be paid
to the respective governments. We're going to make them as inexpensive
as possible though. Right now we are working on charts for the UK ($19.95),
the Netherlands ($29.95), and the Bahamas ($9.95). Charts from more
countries will follow.
ActiveCaptain Mobile will be released on new platforms with Windows Mobile
going to beta soon and the Apple iPhone available later this year.
Thank you for continuing to support this project. And don't forget to add
your favorite anchorages and review your favorite marinas!
==================================
Karen and Jeffrey Siegel
aCappella
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
Content, Communications, Community
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