Street Finder

By D Dunbar in Software. October 13, 2006

Memory-Map offers awarding winning software, aparently accredited by none other than the Duke of Edinburgh, for both PC and Windows Mobile / Pocket PC and offers full coverage of Great Britain down to the incredibly detailed OS Explorer™ 1:25,000 scale. It's ideal for walkers, mountain bikers or just about anyone that loves to read maps.

Maps are sold seperately and the price ranges from £25 up to £100 depending on region and scale. Aerial maps are also included in some of their map packs. The interface is very easy to pick up, having installed your maps into the system you can easily drag the map around the screen, zoom or display a 3D view of the selected area. There's even a 'fly by' mode that gives you a virtual tour of route.

Waypoints and routes are easily entered into the software either on the PDA or back at base on the PC. All data, including portions of maps can be easily transfered to the PDA, so you can plan ahead for those expeditions.

Memory-Map's 3D view

Taking Memory-Map outside on a GPS enabled PDA or Smartphone is when the fun really starts. Memory-Map will plot your position in realtime on a moving OS Map. You appear as a red cross-hair with a directional arrow, the length of which shows your speed. Hiking along far flung hilly footpaths really is good fun as it's almost impossible to get lost, even when there's no visable sign of a path ahead, a quick glance at Memory-Map will show you if you've veered off the dotted red line. Your track, as you wander around, is saved and can be imported into the software back on the PC at home for closer inspection.

Memory-Map does seem expensive, especially as the maps are split into costly seperate regions. Even so this is a valuable software tool for walking and outdoor pursuits. And well worth it if it means the difference between being lost on a moor or safely navigating back to the car.

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