BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Satmap Systems is a British company with a GPS device – the Active 10 – which won ‘best product’ in 2007 from the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild. The product was launched in October last year.
Active 10 gives pin-point accurate location on digital Ordnance Survey Explorer and Landranger maps. Users can plot where they’ve been and where they’re going on the bright scrolling digital maps. The units – which are rugged and waterproof – log statistics such as route elevation, time, distance and speed. A cycle mount in SatMap’s best-selling accessory. The company is exhibiting at Cycle in London for the first time.
The availability of Euro mapping on SD cards is being rolled out country by country. SatMap uses high-quality topographical mapping. The company has licensed data from the Ordnance Survey equivalent in each country covered. For instance, in France, it’s IGN, which produces highly detailed topo maps suitable for outdoor activities.
SatMap is also to introduce online route planning for PC users. Trails will be transferable from PC to the Active 10 and riders can also upload tracks created on their unit and store them on the Satmap server. This new feature should be available from December. A demo is available to see on the SatMap stand at Cycle.
SatMap is also to produce an SD card featuring the London A-Z map which has been adapted for cyclists to incorporate Transport for London’s cycle route information.
The usual A-Z road colours have been removed from the base map and new colours applied to highlight cycle routes. For example, yellow denotes quieter routes recommended by cyclists and purple denotes pedestrian route only. Major buildings are colour-coded to indicate places of interest and buildings which are open to the public.
Richard Calthrop-Owen, MD of Satmap Systems, pictured above, said: “The London A-Z Cycle Routes map is the first of many specialised maps that we will be introducing. We have lots more in the pipeline, so customers can expect a huge variety of special edition maps for their Active 10s in the coming months.”
The London A-Z Cycle City map was created by CycleCity Guides and Transport for London. The RRP is expected to be £19.99.
Unlike GPS devices from other manufacturers, SatMap units are not available at cut-throat prices all over the web and the company wants bike shops to stock units and SD cards, said Calthrop-Owen.
