[GIS] Microsoft Surface vs. iPad for mapping

avenzageospatial-pdfgpssoftware-recommendationstablet

I was recently introduced to the Avenza PDF app for iPad and I've been using it in the company I work for to help our field crews find their way around, and record waypoints and tracks. The app takes georeferenced PDF's and uses the iPad GPS to show a field person exactly where they are. It works very well and the field guys love it. The only problem is the iPad isn't synchronised with our Office media, which is all PC and Microsoft products, plus our field crews are now carrying an iPad plus a laptop which they need for reporting duties. If we were able to purchase the Surface then we could do away with the iPad and the laptop and keep the Surface.

So I've been asked to research the MS Surface. Does anyone out there know if the Surface has decent (if any) GPS capabilities? Or whether there is an app that would enable me to download custom made maps into the tablet? I've found Microsoft MapPoint 2013, but I have no experience with this program.

Basically I'm looking for an Avenza app equivalent for the Surface.

Best Answer

I came across this update from Avenza on their website

The have made available (beta version) for Windows phones to be supported with their PDF maps.

In regards to MS Surface, it appears to now have GPS capabilities as outlined by ZDNET here also, the Microsoft web store, provides an app now Maps Pro which provides the capabilities you are interested in.

Related Solutions

GPS Accuracy – Tablet or Smartphone GPS vs Real GPS

There are a huge number of devices to choose from, and it is difficult to broadly say that one family of device are more precise than others. It is better to compare accuracy based on real life tests. However, there are a few things to consider:

Chipsets. Dedicated GPS, and Smart Phones use a chipset to actually perform the GPS calculation. The accuracy and capabilities vary. Some chipset's are optimized for urban canyons and are particularly suitable for smart phones (SIRFstar III). Others can track a greater number of satellites concurrently and feature SBAS augmentation. Some cell phone chipsets may outperform those used in dedicated devices. Even some professional grade GPS (Nomad 900G) units ship with less accurate consumer grade chipsets.
Antenna. The placement and quality of the antenna effects GPS accuracy. Some dedicated GPS units have external antenna's instead of the internal antenna typical in smartphones. They may also feature an antenna socket to allow an aftermarket antenna to be added.
Assisted GPS. It is possible to improve accuracy using data from non-satellite sources. GPS almanac and ephemeris information can be downloaded using a smartphone radio, or uploaded using dedicated GPS software. Smartphone's can also use cellphone towers to aid in positioning. This can improve accuracy and reduce time until first fix.

In summary, it is worth looking at the chipset, antenna specification, and Assisted GPS capabilities to determine the likely performance of the device.

[GIS] Mobile, Offline viewer for geographic data

OsmAnd

" is a fully open OpenStreetMap-based navigation app for Android. " [This don't require that you use navigation]

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Hints for using offline map data:

offline map data files that can be used with OsmAnd have *.obf as file extension.
in latest versions of these map files all vector map data, POIs and address indexes for offline search are included.
you can generate your own *.obf files by getting fresh raw OSM data for example via geofabrik.de or cloudmade.com, then process these osm files with OsmAndMapCreator (Java program for desktop PC) that is offered at Osmand's Google-website (try to get latest nightly build).
when you have several *.obf files for single regions of a certain country, you can combine them with inspector.bat or inspector.sh that is delivered with OsmAndMapCreator. Start this script on a command line without any parameters to see all options and proceed.
Maybe there is a named street in the OSM data, but OsmAnd cannot find it via its offline address search? Run the above mentioned inspector with parameter -v and [nameofyourmapfile].obf >list.txt ... this will give you a text file with all places that are within that obf file and all streets that are associated to that place. Thus you can find out whether OsmAnd's street list is incomplete (this can have several reasons like missing administrative borders etc.)

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Osmand

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