There are some new developments we want to share with you, with several activities on multiple GPS Devices in the last months we want you to inform you all as good as possible. 

• ThingSee One - The shipment of the first beta's has been delayed for a few weeks, so we expected the first beta for our Tech Team next week. Our developers already started working on the coding of the software and we can't wait to test it in real live. We have a good and open communication line with the team behind ThingSee One and looking forward to work together. Based on the specifications our Tech Team has really high expectations about this device. With the open software stack we have all possibilties to adjust the software for our specific needs. 
• GW-52 - A few weeks ago a new GPS Tracker was introduced by Locosytech, the manufacturer of the GT-31. We have some mixed feelings about this device. Ofcourse it's really positive that a manufacturer brings a product on the market with dedicated software for speedsurfing. But on the other hand we are disapppointed by the current product. We have serious doubts about the build quality, memory & battery capabilities and the poor waterproof rating.  In the development stage the Tech Team has addressed a lot of those requirements already to Locosystech and untill now we still don't know why those requirements where not implemented in the GW-52. Both the GPS-Speedsurfing.com & GPS Teamchallenge Community have responded to Locosystech, so we have to wait in the next weeks what they will do with it. We haven't received the official GW-52 yet, so the official approval for GPS-Speedsurfing.com by Manfred Fuchs has not been done yet. 
• General GPS Devices - as mentioned earlier we have had some very constructive meetings with two major manufactures of GPS Devices. It's a bit early to give all the details in this stage, but one of this manufactures is really interested to work together with us. The hardware of their devices on the market are already "spot-on" , only on the software & logging part we will need some adjusments. In the next weeks we will continue to explore the opportunities together.

So a lot of work behind the scenes, we keep you posted by the forum & Facebook !

GP3S Crew

Any of you knows if the GT31 software has any problem to run in a Tablet operating Windows 8.1 OS (in the cas, the table is a Dell Venue 11 pro - version 5130).

Tank you.

Thingsee & GPS-SPeedsurfing sign partner agreement

Finnish company Thingsee & Dutch company GPS-SPeedsurfing.com have signed a partnership agreement. The Dutch company GPS-Speedsurfing.com, Founded back in 2004 GPS-speedsurfing.com has established itself as the leading GPS website in windsurfing. Thousands of active competitors have posted speeds and numbers are rapidly growing. GPS-speedsurfing.com has currently over 10.000 members who posted over 180.000 windsurf sessions. Thousands of windsurfers use a GPS and use the website as a benchmark to share surf-sessions and improve their skills.

GPS-Speedsurfing.com spotted Thingsee during the highly successful Kickstarter campaign for the Thingsee One. For some time GPS-Speedsurfing.com was looking for a high-end GPS Track & Trace device that could be used to record windsurf-sessions with a very high level of accuracy. The use of high-level devices will enable approval for several forms of competition, including official approved national, international & world-championships.  After a short research period GPS-Speedsurfing.com has tested the Thingsee One device and developed a custom build application, especially for serving the Windsurfing community.

Thingsee is very excited about GPS-Speedsurfing.com's application and their visionary approach to take Thingsee One into use as early adaptors. We are very pleased to work with such a professional group of people and we warmly welcome them as an official distributor of Thingsee One in Western-Europe.

Do you guys know when a pre-order will be available?

Cheers

Information about pricing, shipment, pre-ordering will be online asap. Based on the current developments we expect it to be available around june/july.

Important announcement regarding supported GPS Devices

The last weeks we are receiving a lot of questions about the expected release date for the Thingsee GP3S Edition. The development team is working overtime to get the job done, but we don’t expect the device on the market before June. Production & Software development is not ready yet, and we want it to be 100% before we deploy it. We expect to do the first “water” tests in the next few weeks and keep you posted about the latest developments.

Unfortunately we hear stories of GT-31’s breaking down and until now we didn’t have a decent alternative available. We are very pleased to announce the introduction of a new App, called “GPSLogit”, that will be able to log data in Doppler format with any recent Android Mobile Phone (preferably >= 4.2.2). The App is currently in beta and has been tested with good results. The developer of the App is Manfred Fuchs, who also has developed the well know application “GPSResults”.

The App records Dopplerspeeds from the GPS-chipsets that are implemented in all recent smartphones, so the accuracy is comparable to a GT11, the only missing item is the Dopplerspeed-error (SDOP) that only the GT31 or Thingsee (Ublox-based) units support. So for record purposes it is not suited, however, for fun rankings it is way better than e.g. positional data from Garmin etc. units.

The default saved file-format is SBP that can be processed by GPSResults and uploaded to GP3S, for other purposes GPX- and NMEA-format is possible as well.The SBP-file will be posted directly from the smartphone to GP3S.

For the last run categories (max, 2s, 10s, 250m, 500m) the speed has first to raise above the Min. speed (red line in the graphics, selected units apply) and then drop below that speed to produce a value. The settings are saved and read before the next start of the app. It also will calculate the 5x10s AVG, and display the actual average right on the display.

Distribution of the App will be by Google Play Appstore, and we expect it to be online in the next two weeks. We will continue the beta-testing in the next weeks and share the results online. 

We would like to emphasize that the development of the High-End Thingsee device is not influenced in any way with the introduction of this app. For record-hunters and ultimate Speedhunters there’s still the need for a fully supported Doppler Device with SDOP support, and we are convinced that the Thingsee will be this device!

GP3S Crew

There is a free test version available in the dowload section of my website www.gps-speed.com. It will expire on the first of May, until then you can test it on your Android smartphones and give feedback and suggestions on info at gps-speed dot com. I will prepare some more details and explanations etc. before releasing the app via Google Play, even though the UI should be more or less self explanatory. Thanks and have fun, Manfred

Check this out, Manfred Fuchs has a new test version of the GPSLogIt Android App  online with some cool features:

• Auto-upload to GPS-Speedsurfing.com after the session with just one button 
• mini-version of GPS Results to compute latest session (or any other earlier recorded)
• Adjustable Zoom-View, just select the info you want on your zoom view

The App records Dopplerspeeds from the GPS-chipsets that are implemented in all recent smartphones, so the accuracy is comparable to a GT11, the only missing item is the Dopplerspeed-error (SDOP) that only the GT31/GW52 or ublox-based units (Thingee) support. So for record purposes it is not suited, however, for fun rankings it is way better than e.g. positional data from standard units. The SBP-file could be posted directly from the smartphone to GP3S or processed by GPSResults.

Download Version 1.4 Trial Version here GPSLogItV1.4trial.apk

Additional information can be found at: http://www.gps-speed.com/download_e.html

Short update about the Thingsee One... Last week we received a new beta device, the hardware is almost 100% equal to the production build and we already see some improvements have been made on the design based on our feedback.

We have loaded the GP3S software that we have developed on the new device without any problems, so that's very good news. We are now in the final phase of software development for the first release, this will cover the core functionality of the GT-31 and high-frequency .UBX logging. We expect to do the first "wet" test in a few days now...

After that we will start the official procedure to approve the Thingsee for GPS-Speedsurfing.com, this will be done by an independent authority.

Depending on the final shipment from Thingsee we expect the first delivery at the end of June or probably the first weeks of July, we keep you posted !

And? Any news regarding the new GPS? Verry qurious here :)

Hi Hugo, we still need some more time.... production of the Thingsee has been delayed by a few weeks, we don't have a new dat yet. Software and tests are running fine, so no worries on that !

I see Thingsee One GP3S Edition V1 is now available in stock from GP3S webshop. Did anyone use this unit yet? Any feedback?

I have got a Thingsee, but unfortunately the original version from thingsee. This is not very well suited for our purpose withoute updating the firmware. I got it before I realized that GPSspeedsurfing is selling hardware them themselfs. 

Any chance to get the firmware written by GPSspeedsurfing? I can't afford to buy a second thingsee, but am willing to donate a bit as I understand that writing the firmware was a lot of work.

Hello Matthias,

Please contact us at jbr (a) gps-speedsurfing.com

Hello Matthias,

Please contact us at jbr (a) gps-speedsurfing.com

The development process wasn't as easy as we hoped for, so we have changed or strategy on the Thingsee. The current custom Beta firmware is able to log data in RAW Binary format at 10Hz is fully approved for posting at GP3S. Unfortunately this custom firmware limits the Thingsee for other functions, so we still need some time to finish it. Members who bought a Thingsee can receive the custom firmware and test it, but please be aware that we cannot guarantee that the Thingsee will be able to function on the specific features outsitde the firmware.  In the next months we will continue to work on a solid custom firmware for the Thingsee, and we will inform you when it will available for download.

We also noticed that the current quality of the display is just not good enough for our needs, and the pricing of the device is very high compared to the GT-31 and the GX-52. We still working with Thingsee on this to investigate alternative solutions for this.

Any customers who have pre-orderded the Thingsee will be contact directly by our sales-team to inform them about the procedure. If you have any additional questions please contact us at info (a) gps-speedsurfing.com

So two questions:

1. Is it a go or no go? I was just about to order

2. If it's a go, where to order? From Thingsee or from you? Is there a link?

Thanks

Philip,

The Thingsee is a device you can use, but it has several drawbacks...

In the sun the display is almost unreadable, you need to cover it with your hand to get some info.

The latest FW was not that good, but wasn't developed further due to the bad display.

At the moment the GW-52 is the "best" device you can buy :(

Watch style GPS in a big plastic box due to the antenna : http://forum.windsurfing.nl/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=13889958

Towards the future : http://forum.windsurfing.nl/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=13890429

Hello Philip, i think the answer of Raymond pretty much covers it all, at this moment the GW-52 is the "best" device on the market. Development of the custom firmware for the Thingsee has taken more time than expected. Besides that there are several down-sides, the display is unreadable in sun-light (the display in the production version is different than in the initial beta we received in march 2015). Also the IP rating (waterproof) wasn't good enough and was changed in production in relation to the initial beta. As mentioned before we have downsized our efforts regarding the Thingsee. It's not possible to order a Thingsee in our webshop, but it's possible to receive the custom beta-firmware as described above. 

GP3S Crew