Clearly, I am a Gadget guy. I love the latest and greatest in the world of Electronics. Even I, however, would love to simplify my life and combine the functions I crave, in less devices. Nowhere is this truer than in my car. Alk Technologies has introduced a potential solution for me - and millions of others - CoPilot 6 Q Edition. If my Motorola Q can really be my phone, email, calendar and GPS device - I might have truly found Nirvana.  

I love the convenience of GPS and I need the convenience of my cell phone with me. For about a year, I settled on a compromise - I have a Pocket PC running my GPS and also have my cell phone for hands free, email, etc.

I tried to do this with my formerly beloved Treo - but to no avail. Since the Treo can only handle one Bluetooth connection at a time, I couldn?t connect to my hands-free and my GPS at the same time. There was no really good hard-wired solution that helped, so I went back to the Pocket PC for GPS and the Treo for all other features.

CoPilot 6 for the Q offers the hope that I might, finally, be able to leave a device at home. Let?s see how it fared.

Here is the official line from Alk Technologies:

Plug-and-Drive CoPilot Live 6 GPS navigation software including our award-winning CoPilot Bluetooth GPS receiver with the SiRFstarIII chipset for the fastest time-to-first-fix; software and street-level map data for the U.S. and Canada pre-loaded on a 1 GB MiniSD card.

What's Included:

This package includes a pre-loaded SD card that makes setting up your GPS nav system as easy as inserting the MiniSD card into your Motorola. The full CoPilot Live software CD set is included so that you can load our Desktop Trip Planner to your personal computer (optional).

• 1 GB MiniSD card pre-loaded with software and street-level map data for the U.S. and Canada
• CoPilot Bluetooth GPS receiver with the SiRFstarIII chipset
• In-vehicle mounting hardware
• 12-volt in-vehicle power adapter
• Printed Quick Start Guide
• 1 Install Disc
• 1 Data Disc with street level detail for the U.S. and Canada
• User's Guide available as a PDF in desktop software

ADVANCED FEATURES INCLUDE:

• NEW! Enhanced 3D Map Display with Mileage Markers, Moving Maps, and turn arrows that highlight the way ahead
• NEW! Customizable Routing Profiles give you complete control over what kind of roads CoPilot prefers (highways, local roads, etc.)
• NEW! Ability to create and share your own voice or download new voice sets as they become available
• NEW! Change Voices on the fly between the included male and female or select from any additional voice sets you have created/downloaded
• NEW! Easier Points of Interest Importing and support for widely available 3rd party OV2 formats
• NEW! Fully compatible with the Windows Mobile 5 operating system
• IMPROVED! RV Routing uses 12'6" height restrictions on highways and overall routing has been refined based on user feedback
• IMPROVED! Automatic Bluetooth GPS set-up avoids the need for complex configuration

BLUETOOTH GPS RECEIVER:

Quick Hit Specifications:

• Chipset: SiRFstarIII
• Channels: 20 Channels all-in-view tracking
• WAAS-enabled: Yes
• Connection Type: Bluetooth
• Position Update: 1/sec
• Accuracy: Autonomous <10m, SBAS <5m
• Time to First Fix:
• Reacquision: 0.1 sec.
• Hot Start: <1 sec., on average
• Warm Start: <15 sec., on average
• Cold Start: <35 sec., on average
• Battery: Lithium-Ion rechargeable
• Charge Life: 6 hours, on average
• Time to Charge: 1 hour, on average