Getting Started...

Getting involved with Phresheez is easier than ever. That's because Phresheez didn't exist until now, so how could it be anything but easier? The main thing you need to have to make Phresheez exciting for you is some kind of GPS. Once you have that literally in hand, you'll be laying tracks in minutes.

Phresheez can use just about any GPS tracker, like a Garmin or Magellan hand held GPS tracker, but they are large, power hungry, a pain in the ^$^$#! to deal with their batteries (they don't use lithium rechargables), and require a fair amount of skill and perseverance to get your tracks off of them with their software. Fortunately things are changing to make life easier by using your cell phone or cheap GPS trackers.

• Phresheez for your Cell Phone
• Phresheez for cheap MTK-based GPS trackers
• Phresheez for your hand held GPS

Phresheez for Android and iPhone

It couldn't be any easier than this. All you need todo is install the Phresheez app on your Android-based cell phone, and coming soon... the iPhone. You then tell the Phresheez app your login and password to Phresheez and it will start tracking you. No muss, no fuss. If your cell phone goes out of range -- like in those super-secret powder bowls in east-Nowhere -- the Phresheez app will still be recording away for you, until you finally come back up for air and hot chocolate in the village.

As a bonus, you get all of the Phresheez interactive features such as viewing your tracks thus far, and most cool of all being able to find all of your buds on the mountain in real time. No more phone tag, text tag, or any of that nonsense. If the slackers haven't moved an inch since the hot tub last night, you'll know it and gloat knowing that you'll be getting those first powder tracks instead of waiting for the losers.

Check out the download pageto get started with the best companion the mountain lover's ever had.

Verizon Considerations...

We've heard that Verizon is going to release an Android based phone and that it will be fully open, including its GPS functionality. We've also heard rumors that Verizon has finally relented and opened up their other GPS enabled phones (the Blackberries in particular), but we haven't confirmed that. If you can successfully download and use the Blackberry App on Verizon's network, we'd LOVE to hear about it!

Phresheez for MTK GPS Trackers

About a year ago, a new crop of little GPS trackers came on the market based on the MTK chipset. Their advantage is that they're cheap (< $100), they run practically forever (often 20+ hours on a charge), and have a lot of tracking memory to store your points (easily several 24 hours days tracking once a second: even the most devoutest Phresheez user really ought to think about sleep).

The ones we like are the QStarz BT-Q1000P, the i-Blue 747, and the i-Blue 757. The i-Blue 757 has the advantage that it has a solar array to charge while you're out and about, but it seems a little flimsier than the others and we worry about its longevity because of that. They are all in the same price range ($70-$90) with various other models from the same companies which have various features... bottom line is that if it has the MTK chipset, it ought to work with Phresheez so if one has the exact set of bells and whistles you need... go for it. The one that we don't really recommend is the Holux M241. The M241 is actually very cute -- looking like a Kodak film canister -- but it requires AA batteries which are both a pain and in cold weather battery life sucks. The other thing is that it has in our opinion a serious -- maybe fatal -- design flaw: when you switch it to log your points, it doesn't work unless it's synced up with the GPS satellites. This is a huge inconvenience as it can take minutes for them to find the satellites again, and the most likely thing you'll do is turn the Holux on, forget about the fact that it's not tracking, have a great day out on the mountain, and get home to realize that you have no points. No bueno.

Overall, the nod goes to the QStarz BT-Q1000P which seems reliable, compact and not terribly expensive. The great thing about the MTK GPS trackers is that you can use the Phresheez Automagick GPS Sender app with all of these devices to greatly simplify the task of uploading points to Phresheez:

1. Plug the GPS into your USB (you need to charge it anyway)
2. Turn it on
3. Start up the Phresheez App
4. Click on Upload, and your tracks are sent back to Phresheez in a few minutes

Heck if you leave the Phresheez app up and the GPS on, you can get rid of two steps and it'll be just that much easier! Check out either Semsons or Buygpsnow above to see their latest prices.

Phresheez for your handheld GPS Trackers

Phresheez can also be used with hand held trackers like Garmin and Magellan, though it is a bit harder. The main thing to understand is that you need to run the map software that came with your GPS and tell it to upload your tracks. The next thing you need to do is save those tracks in GPX format (ie, export them, or whatever it is the app calls that). The Garmin software that we've used seems slightly brain damaged in that it always uploads *all* of the tracks on the device, including stuff you've already sent to Phresheez. Now if you are the one and only Phresheez user for that GPS that's not a problem, but if you share your GPS with your rich Aunt Tilly when she takes you to Chamonix, you might be a bit embarrassed to see that you have tracks showing you going to that Mud and Caviar Spa she went to before you arrived.

Once you get the GPX file onto your computer, it's a snap to load them into Phresheez.

1. Go to the Phresheez GPS upload page
2. Upload your file

Once done, you can view your new Journal entries as well as your tracks