I want to see trails (real maps or sat imagery)

[Jay.gordon]

I am really tired of going out into the desert and having to use a secondary GPS in order to see trails. I understand that the sync doesn't have connection to virtual earth or google but how hard would it be to allow my phone/ GPS antenna to stream the feeds?
What I would really like to see is the imagery that is put on to the Microsoft virtual earth ported over to my SatNav that I paid all that money for.

If anyone can tell me if there is an SDK (software developer kit) for the sync or what the operating system that sync uses for its base that would help also.

If someone has a solution that uses the existing sync that would be best.

 

[BigJ]

Yup. This is one area that Ford missed. I opted to forego the nav system because it didn't have any way to support topo or sat image maps. And that's something I would have thought would be crazy obvious to Ford, to put in their off road specific truck. Maybe they did consider it but decided against it for whatever reason. Not sure.

I'm not aware of a public SDK. I'm fairly certain Microsoft has partnered with Ford and only they have the source and/or control of the hardware. You might be able to hack your way in, but again I'm not sure how far you'll get since there is no public SDK.

So, instead, I use my iPhone. I've been more than happy with it, to be honest. All the maps I could want, with full breadcrumb support depending on the app. Maybe consider an iOS device instead? I'm sure an Android device would get you the same level of functionality, but I have no direct experience with it so I can't comment. And obviously in either case, depending on your level of commitment, you could develop your own app to do exactly what you want...

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Sync nav does see trails but they're the well known ones. They may even be trails in national and/or state parks as that's where I've primarily seen them.

Should Sync do a better job offroad? Hell yes. Could it do a better job? Hell yes. Will Ford do something about it? Hell no. Not enough demand. Heck, most Raptor owners don't seem to take their trucks offroad.

We sorely need an aftermarket solution that feeds Sync nav offroad info.

 

[wbimota]

I saw those reviws of new Audis like A7 and A6, they use Google satlite map for Nav. and it looks great, so I imagined how awesome if Raptor has that Nav for offroading!
As you all know when we run on desert, theres nothing on the Nav. screen....

 

[NoCaDiver]

I don't recall if there is a video in port to the SYNC/NAV unit. If there is you could basically used an extremely small cpu (about half the size of an iPhone) with a memory card slot to load maps (if necessary) and mini-USB port to program it. Linux could be the OS running a very limited kernel version with Google Maps/Google Earth installed. There would be no interaction for the user while the device is inside the vehicle though, thus you program to your location before you ride.

This is off the top of my head.

 

[treypal]

Lowrance.

 

[MagicMtnDan]

Lowrance.

Where/how did you install it (your Lowrance)?