ColumbiaGpsPal
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IRL: HTC One S, Columbia GPS Pal and the Eton Rukus Solar
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. This week in IRL, Jon Fingas takes what could be an unpopular stance, making a case for the HTC One S over the bigger, more lavishly specced One X. Meanwhile, Darren and Dan test some summer-appropriate tech, including a GPS app for outdoor sports and a solar-powered speaker dock.
Columbia's GPS Pal app for Android and iOS logs your hikes, geotags memories (video)
Move over, My Tracks -- you've got serious company. Google's own adventure tracking app just got majorly one-upped by a company that also happens to make heated jackets. Columbia's just-launched GPS Pal app is not only available on both Android and iOS, but it's actually designed to be used with a user account so that activity logs are neatly housed in a searchable, organized portal. It's free to download, and aside from monitoring your hikes and treks via GPS, it also syncs photos, videos, and trail information to a web journal automatically, complete with pinpoint geotagging information on each piece of media. As for data points? It'll keep track of elevation changes, current speed and distance traveled, and it makes sharing said trips to social networks quite the lesson in simplicity. Naturally, you'll need a data connection in order to upload media while on the trail -- something that's often hard to find -- but at least the app tells you how poor (or great) your GPS signal is at all times, which is all that's required to keep track of your actual steps. Head on past the break for a promo video, or hit the links below to grab it for your platform of choice.
