Media Centre

ViewRanger Partners with Menasha Ridge and Wilderness Press

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 08:42:00 +0000

ViewRanger, the award-winning outdoor navigation app, is pleased to announce its partnership with Menasha Ridge/Wilderness Press, a leading publisher of comprehensive outdoor hiking books and maps.

ViewRanger, which is owned by software development company, Augmentra Ltd., is a mobile app that turns a smartphone into a powerful Outdoors GPS. It delivers high resolution mapping and trails, waypoint navigation, web-based route planning and location sharing.

“We are looking forward to working with an independent enterprise that offers the same benefits to readers as our company; memorable adventures in the great outdoors,” says Menasha Ridge/Wilderness Press president Richard Hunt. “ViewRanger has done a brilliant job of executing their business plan overseas and we look forward to teaming up with them as they make their debut in the US.”

Commenting on the partnership, ViewRanger CEO Craig Wareham states “we are excited to be working with such renowned publishing titles as Menasha Ridge and Wilderness Press and for the opportunity to deliver their high quality expert guidebook content through our location-aware smartphone publishing platform.”

ViewRanger will bring their guidebooks to life by accessing the expert outdoors content provided by Menasha Ridge/Wilderness Press. Popular trail routes will be available to browse and download onto smartphones and delivered like a guidebook with a map, trail descriptions and advice, and photos of things that users may see along the way. Once users are on a hike or walk, they can see their location over a map and navigate along the route. ViewRanger also gives navigation alerts if you veer too far off course.

About Menasha Ridge Press and Wilderness Press

With a combined publishing history of almost 75 years, Menasha Ridge Press and Wilderness Press are the leading publishers in the outdoor industry. Menasha Ridge Press, established in 1982 and Wilderness Press, established in 1967, focus on outdoor recreation, how-to, wildlife, cooking, travel, and comprehensive maps. With each new release, they continue to set the mark for quality outdoor guidebooks and maps. These award-winning, best-selling books and series are widely recognized for their innovation, authority, and scrupulous attention to detail. Popular series include: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles. Best Tent Camping, Top Trails, Afoot & Afield, Backpacking, and Canoeing & Kayaking. Find them on the web at www.menasharidge.com and www.wildernesspress.com.

My.ViewRanger.com now offers official cartographic agency maps for multiple countries

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:21:00 +0100

Outdoor Enthusiasts with ViewRanger can now create or find routes on premium topographic maps at no extra cost using their computer or laptop (windows or mac).

Cambridge 17^th October 2011: ViewRanger, the award winning outdoors GPS navigation app, today announces a major enhancement to their web-based community & route planning tool My.ViewRanger.com. By adding online access to premium topographic map layers within the My.ViewRanger website, the company has created the most comprehensive and integrated web and mobile outdoors route planning and navigation service.

Working with national mapping agencies, including Ordnance Survey in Great Britain, IGN in France, BKG in Germany, Ordnance Survey Ireland, and Land & Property Services (OSNI) in Northern Ireland, ViewRanger users can now view these maps on their smartphone, on their tablet, and online at no additional cost. Downloading a map tile or map region to their Apple, Android, or Symbian mobile device will automatically make this same map area available through the My.ViewRanger.com community and route planning website.

My.ViewRanger.com has proved a huge hit with ViewRanger mobile app customers as it provides a web based desktop route planning and search tool that can be used via any connected pc, mac or laptop. And as it works seamlessly with the mobile app, it’s then a one click upload to their Apple, Android or Symbian mobile device, so that routes are installed, and ready to “hit the trail”. It’s proved a real bonus to clubs and communities who are using the service to share routes & invites and has also been very well received by professional outdoor trail publishers because it enables ease of publishing, improved route discovery and free widgets to embed route maps in their own websites, blogs, and facebook sites

Up until today, the My.ViewRanger website has offered route planning and discovery using open source global web map layers such as Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Satellite imagery. From today, all customers can now additionally, use the website to view premium topographic mapping they already own from OS GB, OS NI (Northern Ireland), OSi (Rep of Ireland), BKG Germany and IGN France. Additionally, the whole of New Zealand LINZ 1:50K mapping is available to view and use free of charge online.

Commenting on the changes Craig Wareham CEO at ViewRanger stated “This is the next logical step for ViewRanger as we continue to innovate in our market. For the first time this makes desktop route planning and mobile GPS navigation truly seamless for anyone into Outdoors activities, for any web connected pc, mac or laptop, for any Apple, Android, and Symbian smartphone or tablet and across the widest number of countries. Whether planning a trip, out exploring the outdoors, or reviewing their outdoor adventure, ViewRanger users have unmatched access to the best topographic map charts available.”

He went on to say that “I am especially pleased that we have been able to remain true to our commitment to customer focus and fairness. Our customers have been telling us that they want premium mapping (such as Ordnance Survey maps) to plan on and they don’t want to have to pay a second time to do this. The fact that we are able to allow customers to view and use maps on My.ViewRanger.com that they have already purchased via the ViewRanger app truly delivers on this.”

Augmentra expect to add further countries from their global mapping portfolio onto My.ViewRanger.com in the near future.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Premium mapping describes all official cartographic agency maps ie GB OS Landranger & Explorer maps.
The service allows customers to view and use all the premium maps that they own via the ViewRanger App. However, additionally there are web-view annual whole country subscription packages (online only) available for the GB, NI and Germany for customers to plan routes on, prior to purchasing areas for mobile off-line use. Pricing for a 12 month licence to view and use the whole country mapping at the stated scale via My.ViewRanger (online web view only) inc VAT

Ordnance Survey GB 1:50K £7.50
Ordnance Survey GB 1:25K & 1:50K £30.00
Bundesamtes für Kartographie und Geodäsie (DE) 1:50K €10.00
Bundesamtes für Kartographie und Geodäsie (DE) 1:25K & 1:50K €30.00

New Zealand LINZ maps now available for online route planning at My.ViewRanger.com

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 17:02:00 +0100

ViewRanger, the award winning outdoors GPS navigation app, today announces an enhancement to their web-based community & route planning tool My.ViewRanger.com, so that whole of NZ LINZ topographic mapping is now viewable and can be used to plan routes more accurately. By adding online access to LINZ topographic maps within the My.ViewRanger website, the company has created a fully integrated web and mobile outdoors route planning and navigation service. ViewRanger users can now view the maps for the whole of NZ online at no additional cost.

The ViewRanger app is designed to work without mobile coverage, this is done by downloading and storing the maps for the area or region required. For off-line, mobile usage, customers can purchase the LINZ mapping they need either in-app for Apple and Android devices or via the Viewranger web shop for Symbian smartphones. Ready for the start of this summer season ViewRanger have reduced the purchase price for all LINZ mapping and introduced easy to install low cost regional maps for Apple & Android devices.

ViewRanger are also launching access to premium mapping for GB, Ireland, France and Germany and plan to add further countries from their global mapping portfolio onto My.ViewRanger.com in the near future.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Premium mapping describes all official cartographic agency maps ie LINZ, GB Ordnance Survey, or US National Geographic Topo!.
It is free to create an account on My.Viewranger.com. The service allows users to view and plan routes on LINZ mapping for the whole of NZ online at no additional cost. However, for other countries there are web-view annual whole country subscription packages (online only) to plan routes on, prior to purchasing areas for mobile off-line use.
To use LINZ mapping on a mobile and off-line via the ViewRanger app it is necessary to install the app purchase and download the map area or region using in-app purchasing or via the ViewRanger webshop. Pricing (NZD’s) 1:50K maps as follows:

For Symbian & Android phones (via ViewRanger webshop)

Whole of NZ approx $40 (subject to currency exchange)
North Island approx $18 (subject to currency exchange)
South Island approx $27 (subject to currency exchange)

For Apple & Android devices

Map credits $26.99 buys 1000 credits (equivalent to 134,000 sqkm) or Regions of NZ (in-app purchase)

Northland $2.59
Auckland $2.59
Waikato $2.59
Bay of Plenty $2.59
Gisborne $2.59
Manawatu-Wanganui $4.19
Hawkes Bay $2.59
Taranaki $2.59
Wellington $2.59
Nelson-Marlborough $4.19
West Coast North $2.59
West Coast South $2.59
Canterbury North $2.59
Canterbury South $4.19
Otago North $4.19
Otago South $4.19
Southland North $4.19
Southland South $2.59

New Tools for Content Owners

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0100

ViewRanger makes it easy for Outdoors Content Owners to reach walkers and cyclists via their smartphone.

Augmentra, the company behind the ViewRanger outdoors GPS navigation app, has released new tools on its location aware mobile publishing platform that make it simple for any trail-guide content owner to publish and promote interactive guides to smartphone users.

The publishing platform adds to the company’s online community and trip planning website, which the company launched earlier this year. The ViewRanger platform can now be used by trail-guide owners around the world to publish content via smartphones and tablets, and to showcase and promote it within their own websites, blogs, and Facebook sites.

ViewRanger offers authors and owners of walking and biking guide books and trails a simple and controllable mechanism to get into mobile digital content publishing and to reach the growing audience of outdoor enthusiasts with smartphones. Publishers such as The AA, CycleCityGuides, OutdoorNI, Shropshire Cycle, Walkhighlands, and Walkingworld, are already using the ViewRanger platform to deliver fully branded, IPR protected, monetised trail guides.

Importantly for content owners, the platform allows the author or brand owner to faithfully present their trail concept, with written navigation and interpretation information, imagery, even audio and video clips triggered by GPS location, putting it at the forefront of location aware digital publishing. Content owners can deliver free trail guides, or can choose a price point to sell premium trail guides. When premium guides are delivered to a consumer, a simple revenue-share agreement is used between Augmentra and the content owner.

The newly released tools includes a range of web “widgets” for content owners to embed in their own website to showcase and promote their content to their visitors. There are three widgets available that can be easily added to a content owner’s website providing visibility of an individual route, a portfolio of routes or a content publisher’s brand profile.

1. The route widget - ideal for showcasing and promoting a specific route. (see live example below)

2. The map search widget - enables the content owner to add a dynamic map displaying all their routes or an accommodation owner to show the range of routes that are available in their local area. (see live example below)
3. The brand profile widget – allows a content owner to share their publisher profile and all their content via the My.ViewRanger.com community site. (see live example below)

Craig Wareham, CEO, said “Alongside our popular ViewRanger navigation app and our My.ViewRanger social networking site for outdoor enthusiasts, we are now creating an easy but powerful publishing channel to make it simple for publishers, authors, and tourism organizations worldwide to deliver dynamic and exciting trail-guides. We are also enabling a dialogue between consumer and publisher – a publisher can see comments and ratings left by outdoor enthusiasts who have tried their trail guides, and publishers can understand more about and communicate with the consumers who have affiliated themselves with the publisher or their content.”

END

ViewRanger integrates Twitter into BuddyBeacon

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0100

ViewRanger Users can now choose to share their outdoor trip experiences along with their location using BuddyBeacon.

ViewRanger, the award winning mapping and outdoors GPS app has today launched a further enhancement to its innovative BuddyBeacon location sharing feature by adding integration with Twitter messages. This new feature means that from today not only can customers use ViewRanger on their mobile to share their real-time location with friends, but also they can attach Twitter messages and pictures too by simply associating their Twitter account and then tweeting.

BuddyBeacon has long been a popular feature of ViewRanger with its customers, as it allows real-time location sharing between mobiles and to the web. It means that if groups get separated whilst out, for instance walking, cycling or skiing, they can use the ViewRanger app to see where others are and to navigate to them. The web access to BuddyBeacon means that non-users can also view the location of friends from home.

ViewRanger BuddyBeacon has become popular with charity adventurers, who use it to share their event progress “live” with sponsors and supporters. It is also frequently used by the many Search & Rescue teams who have adopted ViewRanger to assist in their important lifesaving work as it helps team coordination both in training and during rescue operations. Each ViewRanger user protects their BuddyBeacon location using a PIN which they can choose to share with people that they want to allow to see their location.

With this new feature enhancement any Twitter message sent from an attached account can be appended to the corresponding time stamped BuddyBeacon location, when viewed via the web portal at www.viewranger.com/buddybeacon.

ViewRanger CEO Craig Wareham said “ViewRanger BuddyBeacon is a popular aspect of our app and one which takes it beyond the capabilities of dedicated GPS devices. With this new Twitter integration, people can now share their outdoor trip experiences with text and photo’s as well as sharing their location.”

ENDS

Notes:

i) Twitter is a trademark of Twitter Inc, this service integration does not indicate any affiliation with the trademark owner. Picture feeds are supported for Twitter photo sharing ie Twitter for iPhone, as well as many third party picture tweeting services ie Twitpic, Instagram, Flickr, Yfrog, Twitgoo

ii) BuddyBeacon uses mobile network coverage to transmit a user’s location. In areas with no mobile coverage locations are stored and transmitted when a mobile signal is available.

iii) To view the location of a BuddyBeacon via the web go to www.viewranger.com/buddybeacon enter the user name & PIN code of the user.

ViewRanger GPS Now Available to Lowland Search Dogs Teams Via ViewRanger VSAR Program

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

ViewRanger GPS, the leading outdoors app for mapping, tracking, navigation and location sharing, is now helping Lowland Search Dogs teams through the ViewRanger VSAR Program that delivers the app, plus maps, to accredited teams.

ViewRanger is already used and trusted by 50% of mountain rescue teams in England and Wales, and is used by search and rescue teams in Scotland and Ireland too. For search and rescue teams the app offers a combination of detailed Ordnance Survey mapping, accurate gps location, search track recording, and the unique BuddyBeacon location sharing that lets users see the position of other team members whilst, literally, out in the field. The ViewRanger app runs on Apple, Android, and Nokia Symbian smartphones and tablets.

Of particular note to Lowland Search Dog teams will be ViewRanger's exclusive integration with the Retrieva Tracking GPS dog collars, that allows even the search dogs themselves to be tracked in real-time as part of the BuddyBeacon location sharing feature.

Accredited LSDogs teams interested in joining the VSAR Program should contact craig@viewranger.com for details and an application form or contact Lowland Search Dogs directly. Information on the Program can be found at www.viewranger.com/SAR

Séamus Kearns, Chairman of Lowland Search Dogs, said "The ability to have accurate mapping in the field is essential in order to search for missing people. Using the terrain and contour lines can significantly reduce the time taken to search an area with a dog, and ultimately save lives. Viewranger apps also allows reliable and portable tracking of routes and paths on a smartphone often, negating the need for expensive GPS devices."

Craig Wareham, CEO and co-founder of ViewRanger said "We are all keen outdoor enthusiasts at ViewRanger, and the VSAR Program is one small way that we can recognize and support the superb work done by search and rescue teams across the country. So we look forward to welcoming many of the LSDogs teams to the scheme."

About Lowland Search Dogs.

Lowland Search Dogs is a non-profit, voluntary organisation formed in November 2002. This 'umbrella' organisation was set up to bring together regional Search and Rescue Dog Units and to create and oversee standards for non-mountainous search dogs, in the UK.

They are available free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

One of the greatest benefits of Lowland Search Dogs is the ability to call upon a large national resource at short notice. For example, if a young child goes missing, the local dog unit can immediately call for the services of all the other teams. Thus increasing the professional search resources available to the police

About ViewRanger GPS

Augmentra Ltd is the Cambridge UK based Angel funded software development company behind ViewRanger, the award winning mobile app, which delivers Mapping, Navigation, GPS- enabled guides & route content and Location Sharing to anyone who wants to get more from their time in the Great Outdoors.

The App runs on a massive range of smartphones and devices that use the Apple iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android, or Symbian OS and works virtually anywhere in the world using web based mapping, which can be cached for off-line use. Additionally, it can upgraded to run premium topographic map data like Ordnance Survey maps in Great Britain, for a growing number of countries, including Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, parts of Italy, Norway, New Zealand, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland & USA.

ViewRanger is also a GPS-enabled content publishing platform that allows Guidebook & Route owners, like The AA, Walking World, Cumbria Tourism and Cordee to deliver their content directly to a user’s smartphone.

www.viewranger.com

Free Routes Promo to celebrate the launch of ViewRanger's online community & route planner

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0100

If you’re thinking of getting out for a walk or cycle over the bank holidays, why not let your phone guide you? ViewRanger, the app that turns your smartphone into an outdoors GPS, is providing a free cycling or walking route each of those days – that’s four free routes.

The free routes are to celebrate the launch of ViewRanger’s new online community & route planner “My.ViewRanger.com”. The new website works alongside the app and will make it even easier for customers to plan, find and share trails using the big screen of their pc or laptop.

The ViewRanger App will turn your phone into a complete countryside guide with GPS, maps, navigation, location sharing and provides access to thousands of guided routes across the country from people like WalkingWorld, The Ramblers, Cumbria Tourism, Cordee and The AA, CycleCityGuides and Nick Cotton Rides. The app runs on Apple, Android and most Symbian smartphones.

My.ViewRanger.com is free to use and all ViewRanger customers can log-in using their existing ViewRanger account details. Once logged in, customers can link the service to their mobile device and use it to create their own routes or browse and choose from the massive database of published routes, installing their choice into the mobile app. The website is also accessible to non-customers, so it can be used to invite friends to participate in activities, by sharing a link by e-mail, Facebook or Twitter.

To get free routes all you have to do is install the ViewRanger App on your smartphone, currently from just 59p for Apple iphone or even use the 15 day free trial for Android & Symbian and register. Then browse the routes and the first four paid routes from any publisher will be delivered at no charge. The promotion runs over the period Sunday 17th April to Monday 2nd May, giving you a few days before Easter to select routes.

…ends

Notes:

The promotion runs over the period Sunday 17th April to Monday 2nd May covering the Easter, Royal Wedding and early Spring 2011 bank holidays: Good Friday April 22, Easter Monday April 25, Royal Wedding April 29, May Day May 2.

The free offer covers all standard routes (excl Hadrian’s wall Video & Guides incl mapping) from ViewRanger for all registered customers (includes those using the 15day free trial over the period). The first 4 paid routes from any publisher will be delivered at no charge. Subsequent routes during the period will be charged as normal. Free routes (eg Trail Magazine routes) do not count against the 4 free paid routes. A customer with a zero credit balance can benefit from the 4 free routes providing that they are registered. Customers who do not download all 4 routes before 2nd May will not be able to access the offer after this date. The normal value of routes varies between about 50p to £2.00.

South Downs National Park

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:00:00 +0100

ViewRanger have created a GB OS 1:25K Explorer edition map for the newly established South Downs National Park. The map is available to install on Apple, Android or Symbian versions of our App. Available via the in-app store for Apple or via our web shop for Android & Symbian.

Cycling content deal with Cycleroutes.com

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000

ViewRanger is delighted to announce that it has entered into a mobile publishing partnership with the owners and contributors to Cycleroutes.com, such that the hundreds of quality cycle routes on cycleroutes.com are now available for download directly to most smartphones via the award-winning ViewRanger mobile app. The deal means that from today, in addition to be able to access routes via the cycleroutes.com website itself, people with the ViewRanger app on their smartphone can browse, select, purchase, and instantly download full navigation and route instruction information directly to their phone anywhere they need. Once stored, the map, route and content is held on the phone, so will work even without mobile coverage.

Available on iPhone, Android and Symbian phones, ViewRanger allows cyclists to choose to view their location and routes on either OpenCycleMap* as standard or upgrade to view on Ordnance Survey (1:50,000 Landranger or 1:25,000 Explorer) mapping. The search function of the app which allows the user to find any of the rides by name, brand or location, lets people takes full advantage of the huge range of routes from sources including: Traffic-Free Cycle Trails, the best-selling guidebook from CycleCity Guides; the Cycle Tours series from Cordee Publishing; the popular Coast-to-Coast (C2C) route in Northern England (in stages) from Excellent Books; and scores of rides from Nick Cotton, renown author of more than 40 cycling guides across the country.

Martin Whitfield, director of CycleCity Guides and the driving force behind cycleroutes.com , said the partnership with ViewRanger meant users were being offered maximum choice in the way they wished to view their rides. “We know that people with smartphones want to download directly to their phones and they can now do that through the excellent ViewRanger App,” he said.

Commenting on the launch, ViewRanger CEO Craig Wareham said “We are delighted that cycleroutes.com has partnered with us as their mobile publishing platform. Whilst ViewRanger’s core user community has been with walkers, we are seeing an increasing following amongst cyclists – both on and off-road, so the ability to download GPS enabled routes, navigation and content from such an exciting range of trusted authors will be of real benefit to our customers.”

ViewRanger teams up with Cumbria Tourism to bring tourist & leisure guides to smartphones

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Augmentra, the maker of the award winning outdoor navigation app ViewRanger GPS has partnered with Cumbria Tourism to publish walking & biking routes in the Lake District on their mobile platform. The deal means that residents & visitors to the Lake District with a smartphone will be able to use the ViewRanger mobile app to access these tourist board endorsed routes as downloadable, interactive guides - with maps, GPS navigation & detailed, reliable local information. The aim is that it will drive an increase in accessibility to the countryside and landmarks, while encouraging more people overall to visit Cumbria in 2011 and beyond.

Available from 7th February 2011, the initial 30-plus walking & biking routes to be released by Cumbria Tourism & ViewRanger includes favourite routes in the region. The partnership re-interprets existing materials published on the Cumbria Tourism website. Publishing on mobile with ViewRanger, goes one step further than the existing web based access to visitor information about the Lake District and enhances the visitors’ experience by providing the peace of mind of GPS mapped location and location specific information.

The popular ViewRanger GPS app is available for Apple, Android and Symbian smartphones and can run 1:50K or 1:25K OS mapping. ViewRanger is already popular with Outdoor enthusiasts around the world. The fact that it is used by a growing number of UK Search & Rescue teams is a testament to its accuracy & reliability. Each route with full navigation and local information can be purchased (£1.50/route) and downloaded to the visitor’s smartphone using the ViewRanger app. Visitors can purchase ViewRanger from their app store or even via Cumbria Tourism own web e-shop together with OS mapping for the whole of the Lake District. Importantly, it is the first time that a regional tourist board has implemented this approach.

Ellis Butcher, a spokesman for Cumbria Tourism, said: "The Lake District and Cumbria is the best walking and cycling destination in Britain. With increasing numbers of our visitors packing smartphones it makes perfect consumer sense to give them the chance to download some of this area's best routes direct to their handsets. When visitors are in the area they often need additional information which is not necessarily always found on traditional maps. This is where the new project comes into its own by utilising the information we have on our tourism website and putting it into the hands of visitors when they need it. Anyone wanting access to the routes can get them through both the ViewRanger App and our own online e-shop.

Craig Wareham, CEO of Augmentra - the company that develops ViewRanger commented – “This is a great partnership. The Cumbria Tourism has been really forward thinking about this project. Obviously, they have unparalleled regional knowledge and we have offered them a way to ensure that it is made available to a wider audience. Hopefully this will encourage more people to visit Cumbria in the next twelve months. I believe we will see many more Tourist boards across the UK adopting similar approaches very soon, as it offers an innovative way to generate additional income from existing content”.

ViewRanger create mapping products for Germanyâs Nature Parks

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000

ViewRanger GPS, the award winning Outdoor navigation app announces availability of pre-defined map products for the major national park areas in Germany. These include the two largest, the Bavarian Forest National Park (~4,300 sqkm) and the Schleswig Holstein, Hamburg and Lower Saxony Wadden Sea (4,600 sqkm), but also ten other important park area such as Naturpark Altmühltal, the Geo-Naturpark Bergstraße-Odenwald and the Eastern Alps. For each of these popular hiking areas the successful provider of UK has put together specific regional map products at a scale 1:25.000. It is based on the high-quality, official maps of the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG).

This specially tailored maps for the national parks offer are aimed at hikers, cyclists, mountain bikers, and tourists, in short to all who like to be out and about. It is these groups who particularly profit from the benefits of the ViewRanger App by using it to:

plan routes in the nature reserve in advance and see real time position on the moving map on screen
Record tracks, to be exported, or shared with others.
In addition, statistics on the distance traveled, altitude gain/loss and speed.
Share your GPS position using BuddyBeacon function with other ViewRanger users and via the web.

The new ViewRanger maps for national parks can easily be purchased from the ViewRanger website or obtained via in-app purchasing (Apple). They can be permanently saved on the phone before a visit, such that it will work without a mobile phone signal. The new offering is available for Apple iPhone and iPad as well as Symbian and Android smartphones. Outside of the Parks maps, you can buy & install BKG (Federal Agency of Geodesy and Cartography) 1:50 k or 1:25 k for any area of Germany onto any variant of the ViewRanger app. The app also provides access to a range of web based global Open Maps – street, terrain, satellite – that can alos be stored for off-line usage. ViewRanger announces the availability of these special maps for the following national and nature parks for the first time at ISPO 2011.

Commenting on the launch, Craig Wareham, CEO of Augmentra, the company behind ViewRanger GPS says "Since its initial launch in Germany in the autumn of last year, ViewRanger has successfully established itself both with the Premium version as well with the Open Maps Edition in Germany. The National Parks maps make our app even more attractive to the outdoor audience. Helping users to get more from their time in these beautiful areas and share their experience with others."