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!
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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
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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
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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'
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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
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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
The Interactive Cruising Guidebook

2010-07-21	#35 - My Card, messaging, and more...
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2010-06-02	#33 - MaxSea Time Zero v1.9 Released
2010-05-18	#32 - ActiveCaptain loves the iPhone/iPad
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2010-03-16	#29 - ActiveCaptain Co-Ops - This is big...
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2010-02-15	#27 - ActiveCaptain Loves MaxSea/Furuno
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2009-12-10	#25 - ActiveCaptain X goes beta
2009-11-17	#24 - Quick Lists
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2009-09-22	#22 - Are we the wave of the future?
2009-08-19	#21 - ActiveCaptain Sets Sail
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2009-06-02	#17 - Another ActiveCaptain award!
2009-05-19	#16 - Hats off to you!
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2009-03-17	#14 - Using phones in the Bahamas
2009-03-03	#13 - The best fuel prices
2009-01-28	#12 - SAIL innovation award
2009-01-05	#11 - Power accessories article
2008-12-02	#10 - Bluetooth headsets article
2008-10-28	#9 - The next wave
2008-09-13	#8 - ActiveCaptain Mobile news
2008-06-15	#7 - Mad Mariner
2008-03-12	#6 - ActiveCaptain Mobile
2008-01-21	#5 - Inlets
2007-09-19	#4 - Boat ramps
2007-07-09	#3 - Local knowledge released
2007-04-14	#2 - Global support
2007-02-11	#1 - Anchorages released

Support the ActiveCaptain web site by supporting the ActiveCaptain store. Find great prices on navigation software like MaxSea Time Zero and Coastal Explorer.

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