Talking GPS Speedometer

Using your GPS device and Text-to-Speech engine, "Talking GPS Speedometer" dynamically announces the current "speed", "direction" and/or "bearing" of any sustained motion event including walking, running, biking, skiing, boating, motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile, automobile, airplane, and more. "Talking GPS Speedometer" includes setup options for enabling and disabling the speed, direction and bearing announcements; selecting the speed, direction & bearing announcement frequency, setting the speed and bearing announcement digital precision; selecting the speed conversion units, and a TTS Test Mode for evaluation/testing.

**Please read “TTS Test Mode” info below regarding random number versus GPS device generated data before Rating app**

"Talking GPS Speedometer" is an example of a multi-threaded Android application demonstrating simultaneous processing of GPS data and Text-to-Speech announcements implemented as a remote service with a user interface activity for setup, monitoring operation and service start/stop control. Speed, Direction and Bearing are exclusively derived from the GPS device. The application is specifically designed to run on all GPS-enabled Android phone and tablet devices beginning with Android 1.6 (API Level 4).

Before starting "Talking GPS Speedometer" your GPS device must be enabled and a Text-to-speech (TTS) engine installed. The main activity allows the user to "start" and "stop" the Talking GPS Speedometer service directly via Start and Stop buttons. This screen includes a large text view for displaying the current speed and another for displaying the current direction and bearing. The screen also includes details relating to Provider, Last Satellite Fix, Has Accuracy, Satellite Accuracy, Has Altitude, Altitude, Has Bearing, Bearing, Direction, Has Speed, Speed, Latitude and Longitude.

Starting the Service: To start the "Talking GPS Speedometer" service click on the Start button. A gear box icon appears in the status bar indicating the service is running. The default settings are now applied and any significant motion events will trigger the announcements. Last Satellite Fix, Satellite Accuracy, Altitude, Latitude and Longitude fields show active data even though you are not in motion. When in motion the Bearing, Direction & Speed fields will show active data. Announcements don't occur when the user disables them in the Settings menu, or when the user is not in significant motion, or when the GPS device is not enabled.

Stopping the Service: To stop the "Talking GPS Speedometer" service click on the Stop button. The gear box icon is removed from the status bar indicating the service is no longer running. You can restart the service by clicking the Start button. Press the Home or Back button on your device to exit the Talking GPS Speedometer Activity.

Shutting Down: To shutdown the Talking GPS Speedometer application and service click on the Shutdown button. Select Yes to shutdown or No to skip shutting down the application and service. Selecting Yes removes the gear box icon from the status bar indicating the service is no longer running. Selecting Yes will also exit the Talking GPS Speedometer application.

Settings Menu: On the Settings page you can dynamically change text-to-speech and unit conversion options that affect the announcement characteristics for Speed, Direction and Bearing. This includes if the feature is enabled, announcement frequency, announcement decimal precision and speed conversion unit selection.

Note: Since the Direction is derived directly from the Bearing, the Direction and Bearing announcement frequency are both set using the Bearing announce frequency.

TTS Test Mode: From the Settings menu this option when enabled enters TTS Test Mode and announces random number generated variations of Speed, Direction and Bearing based upon your announce frequency and announce precision settings. Disabling test mode will enable run mode and take data directly from the GPS device.

Recent changes:
- No longer can auto-enable GPS device.
- Added ability to send GPS location information to friends via an intent driven email option located on the applications menu, and configure their default “send-to-email-address” in the Settings menu.
- Automatic Announcement Silence: When the Talking GPS Speedometer service is running and actively announcing your selected GPS Speed, Direction and Bearing information, certain AudioManager events will force the TTS announcements into temporary suspension.