I have owned a Nokia 5800 for some time now and decided to install the free sports traking application from Nokia. It works with a whole bunch of Nokia phones btw. You either need built in GPS or a Bluetooth GPS add on device.

What it does is track your course, speed, altitude etc as you progress through your ride. The onscreen console includes a lot of information and includes a map of where you are amongst other things. To get map detail you have to have data transfer over the mobile network. If you don’t have this enabled you just get a blue breadcrumb line on a white background.

Also with data transfer enabled, I can feedback realtime data to the Sportstracker server so another person who I have invited to share data with can see where I am at any given stage.

If you don’t want to incur data charges, you can specify this in the settings.

One nice feature with my handset is you can geotag any photos you take along the route. These can be uploaded to your account if you choose and will then appear on the map of your route.

You can select various parameters for each workout and tell it what type of activity you are performing. Saved workouts can be stored as routes for uploading at a later stage, share with friends, make public etc.

When you get back off your ride you can upload the saved route and pictures over your wifi conection. This data is stored on Nokia’s sports tracker server. You can then log in and view your route(s) on a map very similar to Google Earth, but it has a topographical viewing option in addition to map or satellite views. Your track is shown and will display the higest point of the session, the point where you were fastest and thumbnails of any photos taken with your phone’s camera. You can also see altitude, speed and heart rate histograms. You can specify any length period within the riding session for a clearer understanding by operating a simple marker below the histogram – neat! However, you need a bluetooth heart rate monitor belt if you want to collect heart rate data.

The only downside is that sometimes the GPS is slow to lock on and when it does, it consumes quite a bit more power thus knocking the battery life. In my experience, the aquisition time of satellite data varies greatly if the GPS has not been switched on in the same area since it was last used. Whilst battery life is good on my 5800, you have to make sure you have a good half a charge for 3-4 hours riding (not a big deal until you go away somewhere).

As this is a completely free service (bar cellular data downloads), i’m pretty gobsmacked. IT WORKS! 😆 😆 😆

Add Viewranger mapping and you have a gadget far cheaper than comparable standalone GPS units and with a good deal more functionality.

Bravo to Nokia!!

old news! 😛

Old news and it’s a bit hit and miss using my N95 8gb compared to a proper GPS – the Nokia sometimes works brilliantly but other times, doesn’t lock on at all and therefore doesn’t track the route. It is a great app though and I reckon that as the GPSs in mobiles get better, it’ll be great.

Anyone know if there’s an equivalent for the iPhone?

cynic-al – Member

old news! – very poorly described!

How should I describe it then? 😛

Map my tracks

May work with iPhone. I know it works with a Blackberry.

cynic-al – Member

How should I describe it then? in full and sumptious sexy detail! 😆 😆

FWIW it works wel on my N82 and even better on newer phones apparently. Still eats the battery.

if you turn off the assisted gps setting it uses much less battery as it doesnt keep trying to go online and just uses the built in gps. it takes longer for an initial location but lasts way longer

linky?

well it might be old news but i didn’t realise you could get altitude data makes it worthwhile setting it up as climbs can be directly converted to beer!

think mick’s tip might be handy as few times i’ve turned on the gps i’ve ended up with a flat battery pretty quick

if you turn off the assisted gps setting it uses much less battery as it doesnt keep trying to go online and just uses the built in gps. it takes longer for an initial location but lasts way longer

I don’t use assisted GPS on my Nokia 5800 either. Maybe that is why I can go out for several hours and not end up with a flat battery.

Useful these forums sometimes!

Battery life on my N79 seems to be just fine – even in “livetracking” mode. Certainly good enough for a whole days riding.

fwiw you can share routes too. the sillygrin group post some of their routes on it.

Perhaps old news, but frankly rather cool news too! And an interesting review, thanks! 🙂
There’s (at least) one Nokia handset that also has a music player on board, too, so it’s essentially everything you need in terms of music, web, GPS route planning and GPS route mapping.

The only concern I do have (apart from the fact that I probably don’t want the actual phone features of it…) is battery life. I would worry that I’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with the cloud closing in, and my phone dead because it’s drained itself using GPS (which is very battery-intensive).

I’ve just created a new Group on SportsTracker, called Singletrackworld. Feel free to join.

This is all well and good but how are you attaching the phones to the bikes – or are you just stuffing em in your camelbaks?

Very thorough review by the OP. I’ve been using it on my N95 8GB for about a year and log pretty much all my rides on it – very handy for checking back routes of old rides, comparing times etc.

geoffj, I just start it logging then stick it in the top of my rucksack/back pocket but there is a bar mount available I believe (may even come with a weatherproof case).

I’m just keeping mine in my pocket and using it as a logging device. Also handy in the “Live Tracking” mode so the Mrs knows when I’ll be home for tea / got lost and died in the mountains….

But how about a Boxit Case and bar mount?

Thanks folks will have a look at the boxit case.

I’m currently testing out one of these – should provide almost double the service time.

Also see ViewRanger, which uses OS mapping and is very good. Naturally it’s not free, though.

Yep, battery life is an issue with all mobile devices. The 5800 battery is impressive, but when it runs low, you can always switch in a backup battery. I know that Viewranger will pick up where it left off, but Sports Tracker would need to be restarted.

Viewranger can be bought with your own selection of mapping starting from a fairly insignificant £20. You download their map chooser app. onto your PC an highlight on the grid the sections of mapping you want. There is meter that tells you when you are getting close to a price threshold. You can select 1:25k or the cheaper lower res. 1:50k.

If I remember to switch it on tomorrow, you’ll be able to follow me on the Etape Caledonia. Username is ccadden

just got this now that they've released an updated version for the 5800, absolute quality. i've tracked a couple of rides so far, really interesting to go through and see the points on the graph where you were going particularly slow or fast and compare them to your route.

they're on here, if you're interested http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=1265952

the community bit's really cool as well, you can look at what rides people have logged all over the world and see that pictures they took or what music they were listening to at the time – very cool setup.

some good entries for "flying" 🙂

http://sportstracker.nokia.com/nts/workoutdetail/index.do?id=1263145

Might sound a daft question but which one can you download from the site for the 5800XM? I checked the Nokia site and they don't seem to have it listed.

yeah i found it the other day on another site – don't think the 5800 version's technically been released yet but it works perfectly with the touchscreen. let me find it for you… 2 secs.

here you go: http://symbianworld.org/1187-sports-tracker-finally-available-for-nokia-n97-and-5800/

the download link's in the text under the pictures.

I had this recommended to me the other day but I haven't tried it yet

http://www.sportypal.com/Home

Many thanks.