Streets & Trips power users often use custom point of interest (POI) BMP icons to customize their maps.  I thought I would share with you a 2010 .est file with thousands of custom icons.  You’ll not only get all the new icons that came with 2010 but also the entire 2006 set and a few hundred other custom icons as well.  It should give you a good start :-)

Many people hit the roads over the US Thanksgiving holiday.  This file will help you as you plan your trip.

Download the EST file from here.

[UPDATED: Nov 20, 2009]

These are a few questions that our new Streets & Trips users ask when they start using the product.

• How can I customize my trip Start/End times?
• How can I save automatic rest stops?
• How do I save custom driving Speed adjustments?
• How can I save fuel consumption and tank capacity?
• How to save Custom fuel cost values?

To get them start using Streets like a Pro and to make use of the powerful template feature we decided to create this post.

If you go to the ‘More route options’ window by clicking the <More options> button, then you will see a series of tabs. Each of these tabs (except segments) lets you customize your route information based on your trip needs

Say for example,  you wanted to set your custom values for Fuel costs and also include refuel warnings on your trips then you change the values under the Fuel tab according to your needs and click <OK>, likewise for other tabs.

Now, select ‘Save’ from the File menu. And change the ‘Save as type’ field to be ‘Map template (*.stt)

Create a copy of the original New North American Map (right-click on New North American Map, choose copy, Ctrl_V to paste it with a new name)

Now single-click on the New North American Map (this will populate the 'File name' text box with the correct name of the default template).

click <Save>.

You have now successfully created your very first custom Streets & Trips template file. Every time you launch Streets, it will open with this new default template.   Now you won’t need to edit the mileage or other route preferences each time you plan a trip.

In celebration of the recent release of Microsoft AutoRoute 2010 we have put together a saved map file (.axe) full of pushpin sets for the UK.

This is similar to the S&T 2010 Discovery Owners Mega File which has been very popular.

This file contains 76 pushpin collections with a huge number of points of interest above and beyond what is already included in the software.

Pushpin sets include:

• A&E Hospitals
• ASDA locations
• Caravan Club sites
• Focus Stores
• GEORGE High Street
• Morrison Supermarkets
• Notcutts UK
• Premier Travel Inn
• Tesco locations
• Travel lodge locations
• UK Safety Camera
• Visit Britain Accommodations
• Visit Britain – various POI categories
• Visit Scotland – various POI categories
• Visit Britain – various POI categories
• Wickes stores

The POI data is provided by Microsoft (back in 2007) so current accuracy has not been verified.  Pay no attention to the “CTRL & CLICK on icon for more details”  I don’t know why that is in all the balloons.

DOWNLOAD THE FILE HERE - AR2010_POI_Files_From_MSDownloads.zip (7.4MB)

If you are interested in adding even more 3rd Party POI (points of interest) to your AutoRoute map start with these websites:

• Motorhome Parking - PoI Download Page
• GPS Data Team
• Archie’s Camping

Christmas is around the around the corner and Santa Claus has planned his special deliveries using Streets & Trips. But how is Santa going to keep track of pending deliveries and the ones he has completed. Using Streets & Trips that will be a very easy thing to do.

This is the map that Santa has created. It has 2 pushpin sets: Pending Delivery and Delivered. All pushpins in the map are now associated with ‘Pending Delivery’ pushpin set.

As and when a delivery is made, Santa needs to transfer the pushpins from the ‘Pending Delivery’ pushpin set to the delivered pushpin set. To do that right click on the pushpin and select its Properties.

In the Pushpin Properties window, change the Data set name to be ‘Delivered’. This will move the pushpin from one pushpin set to the other.

What if you wanted to move multiple pushpins from one pushpin set to the other. You will not be able to select multiple pushpins from the map but you can do this from the Pushpin set properties window. Right click on the ‘Pending Delivery’ Pushpin set and select Properties. The pushpin set properties window will open. Now select the ‘Matching’ tab. You will be shown a list of pushpin that belong to ‘Pending Delivery’ pushpin set. Select the pushpin that has been delivered and then right click on the selected pushpins and select ‘Cut’

Tip: Use combinations of Ctrl/Shift keys to multi select the pushpins from the list

And then click the <OK> button on the pushpin set properties window. Now right click on the ‘Delivered’ pushpin set and select ‘Properties’. The pushpin set properties window will open. Now select the ‘Matching’ tab. You will be shown a list of pushpin that belong to ‘Delivered’ pushpin set. Right click on the list and select ‘Paste’

By this way you can transfer multiple pushpin sets from one pushpin set to the other.

Most of us are familiar with the “road hit detect” feature in Streets & Trips.  If you zoom down to street level you can click on a road and you can see what the street address is for that location.

There is a lesser known feature called “area hit detect” which can be very useful for knowing about the location hierarchy for areas other than roads (like parks or when you are zoomed too far out to see roads).

In past versions up to  2008 - “area hit detect” was done by double-clicking on a blank space on the map. 

In versions after 2008 – double-clicking was added as a new way to zoom in the map.  Although this improved the general usability of the software – we lost “area hit detect” in 2009.   All this to say that it is back in 2010 using Ctrl+shift+double-click.

Now you can always know what Country, State, City, and County you are clicking on!

You may have heard rumors that the Microsoft AutoRoute product was dead but apparently it was just hibernating.

What is AutoRoute?  It is trip planning and navigation software much like Microsoft Streets & Trips but with European maps.  In fact, it contains maps for 43 countries! It will be available in 3 languages – EN-UK, French, and German.

The last version of AutoRoute was released in 2007 so there are 3 years of new features available in 2010.

Here is how 2010 compares to 2007:

Availability date:

For download: NOW (links at bottom of this post)
Avail in stores: TBD
Download additional UK Points of Interest here.

Trial files for AutoRoute 2010 (International English version) are ready for downloading.

Instructions:

1. Please download ALL three files listed below to a directory on your machine, making sure to put them all in the same location.
2. Once the downloads are complete, run the setup (setup.exe) file and the installation of your AutoRoute 2010 free evaluation will begin.
3. Note: The download files are large, so use a high-speed internet connection.

• AR2010 pt1
• AR2010 pt2
• AR2010 setup

NEW --> DOWNLOAD THE AR2010 Megafile HERE - AR2010_POI_Files_From_MSDownloads.zip (7.4MB)

Import Data Wizard has always been a killer feature in Streets and Trips that differentiated this software from the rest. Streets & Trips users have taken advantage of this feature in the past and have created custom data and overlay them on the map which they use for business or travel purposes. From Streets & Trips 2010 this feature got a little more exciting by the addition of the show/hide pushpin set feature. Now users can import multiple collections into a single est file and also have the ability to turn on/off the sets that they want to see on the map.

Here is how to import additional POI collections into your existing map file:

1. If you do not have Streets & Trips 2010 then please download the 60 day trial version from here and then launch the program.  

2. Open the .est file that you use for your trips or business

3. Go to the DiscoveryOwners.com POI downloads page. And select ‘Text Only’ from the dropdown list

3. Then the page would refresh and will display the list of data that is available as shown below

4. Select the zip file from the download column against the collection that you want to download and save the file on to your local disk.

5. Now go to the file saved location and unzip the downloaded file.

6. In Streets & Trips application, select ‘Import data wizard’ from the ‘Data’ menu or press Ctrl+I to invoke the Import Data Wizard. Then select the text file that you just downloaded and click <Open>

7. Once you have selected the text file, Streets & Trips will automatically select the separator character (ie, tab, semicolon or comma) that is appropriate for the file.  Normally you can just click <Next> on the dialog below:

8.  If there are valid location headings found then Streets & Trips will match them accordingly to the data types if not you will need to match them based on the data. Below shows an import that needs some manual column matching: 

9. To match column headings with the data types, simply select the data types from the dropdown list and match them against your data. And then Click <Finish>

Tips:

a. Select data type as ‘Name’ to show the POI / business name as the title of the Pushpin balloon in Streets & Trips
b. If you want any additional info to be shown in the title of the balloon then select ‘Name2’ as the data type against that field
c. If the source text file does not have a column heading (it says F1, F2, F3 etc) then type a more descriptive heading in this screen.
d. You can select an appropriate pushpin icon to use for the set or import/create your own custom icon.  (see post on Using Custom Pushpin Icons in your Maps).
e. For additional free POI collections visit: POI-Factory.com (registration required to download).

Now Streets & Trips Import data wizard will import the data and will display in in the map and will also create a Pushpin set in the ‘Legends and Overview’ pane. Right-click on the pushpin set to view properties and all pushpin management options that are available for you.

Is there anyone left that doesn’t already know about the all the great points of interest files (aka Map Overlay files) available from the folks at DiscoveryOwners.com?

Well, they’ve been busy this fall working on a better way to access these files.   You will definitely want to bookmark these pages as you will want to return regularly to check for updates.

No more horizontal scrolling! :-)

1. Visit the new Points Of Interest Download List here (or click on the image below).

2. Use the new dropdown menu to choose your software product or Text files (recommended for 2010 users)

3.  Download the new or updated POI collection (a zip file) and unzip it.

This is a huge improvement and makes accessing these collections much easier!

Related links:

• Original DiscoveryOwners.com/cginfolinks.htm page
• New page – listed alphabetically
• New page – listed newest first
• ST2010 - DiscoveryOwners Mega File containing all the collections in one est file (UPDATED Nov 16 2009).

Did you know you can easily import points of interest into your Streets & Trips map?  There are many internet sources for collections of POI.  One popular (and free) website which shares out such information is DiscoveryOwners.com/cginfolinks.htm.

There are over 200 pushpin sets yours to freely download and import into Streets & Trips.  You can also create your own custom icons for these collections.

Now here is the good news…all the work has been done for you!  Marvin from LaptopGPSWorld has shared this all-in-one POI mega-file.

Download it from here: http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/microsoft-streets-trips/2595-mega-file-pushpin-collections-truckers-rvers-other-travelers.html or

from the S&T team skydrive.  (UPDATED - NOV 11, 2009)

Note: this file will only work with the new Streets & Trips 2010 version.

The mega file is the result of a collaborative effort and would not be made possible without the contributors at DiscoveryOwners and all others involved.

Thank you! Thank you!  I believe this file is a MUST HAVE for all travelers.

Many travelers and Streets & Trips enthusiasts have asked for additional POI categories.  Great idea!  We’ve added 5 new categories for the 2010 release.

1. Pharmacies
2. Post offices
3. National parks
4. Community centers
5. Ferry terminals

These new categories (as well as the other 50+ categories) can be turned on/off from the Categories dialog.

Then click on the “Find nearby places” toolbar button and they will show up on the map.

You don’t see many like this anymore…that is for sure.

[Source: TopCultured]

Here is another little improvement that will improve the usability of Streets & Trips 2010.  We added the ability to rename your route points.   What a great idea – can’t believe this wasn’t included in previous versions.

Here are some easy links to some posts that have been very popular on this blog:

• How to Use Your Earthmate GPS with Microsoft Streets & Trips
• How to copy latitude and longitude (lat/long) coordinates in Streets & Trips 2010
• New for 2010 – Improved Pushpin Control
• Sending pushpins and route details to your GPS Navigation Device
• How to send route points to your Garmin Nuvi
• Using Custom Pushpin Icons in your Maps
• Looking for POI collections?  Try These
• How do I find Points of Interest (POI) along my route?
• Make Finding your Mouse Cursor Easy

More good times today at the RV show.  I got high-fived today in response to telling him we brought all the pushpins icons back in 2010.  :-)

I showed many people today how to import 3rd party points of interest (POI) using the import data wizard.  If you have never done this…you are missing out. 

One gal was asking if I could find a collection of Quilt shops as she was really in quilting.  I did find a huge collection with over 4400+ locations at http://www.POI-FACTORY.com.  The collection was only available in GPX format but since 2010 now supports GPX it was perfect.  I imported them right into Streets & Trips and she was amazed!

I met up with more internet celebrities and as they filmed for an upcoming episode of RV Buddies.  Here is me with RV Buddy co-host Elise Baughman.  The whole crew was great to talk with and I would encourage you to visit their website and subscribe to their podcast on iTunes.

Time to sleep for a few hours before heading back to the show. 

The new 2010 product has been well received by the attendees at the show.  I think more than any other release we’ve really delivered a bunch of new features that were based on suggestions from our user base.   Many times I’ve heard people say something like “I LOVE your product and I’ve used it for years but….”  This  release has removed many of those buts. 

Today I met with the internet celebrities Jim and Chris Guld who run Geeks on Tour.   They are full time RVers and computer support professionals who give seminars at various RV rallies across the country and generally help RVers with their computer needs.

Check out their website (with videos) here:  http://www.geeksontour.com

If you are in the Hershey PA area, stop by the Giant Center and catch some of the action going on at the RV show. 

Now you can send places on the map or routes that you created in Streets & Trips to your GPS navigation device. When you send data directly to your GPS navigation device, Streets & Trips sends the name, latitude, and longitude of the location. Additionally, if the information is available, Streets & Trips also sends the address, phone number, description, and Entertainment Online coupon.

You can send data directly to your GPS navigation device using either of the following methods:

• Wirelessly, through MSN Direct, if you have an MSN Direct-enabled GPS navigation device. For more information, visit MSN Direct Services, and then click Send to GPS.

• Through a USB connection, when you don't have MSN Direct. To use a USB connection, you must have a Garmin navigation device and you must install the Garmin Communicator Plug-in

Note: both methods above require an internet connection

How to Send a location to your GPS navigation device?

1. Open the map that contains the location that you want to send to your GPS navigation device.
2. In the map or in the Find nearby places pane, select the location that you want to send to your GPS navigation device, and then, on the toolbar, click Send to GPS device .
   
   
   
3. If you have an MSN Direct-enabled GPS navigation device, click Send wirelessly with MSN Direct.
   
   - Or -
   
4. If you do not have MSN Direct but you do have a Garmin navigation device, click Send with USB.
5. Click Next, and then follow the on-screen instructions. (Separate download of free plug-in may be required)
   
   

You can also send a route to your GPS navigation device by selecting the route and then, on the toolbar, click Send to GPS device .

Note: To check if your GPS navigation device is compatible with MSN Direct service, visit MSN Direct Service Compatibility. You must be connected to the Internet to view this website.

Note: Garmin devices such as the Nuvi 885 support routes via MSN Direct.  These devices have a “Send to GPS” button.

In an earlier post we showed how you can send data to your personal navigation device using Garmin’s POI Loader, which transfers the Pushpin data (waypoints) that you have created in Streets & Trips. In this post we will see how you can transfer the route that you have created in Streets & Trips to your Garmin Nuvi device provided that your Garmin device supports Multi point routing.

1. Start Streets & Trips application and create a route,

2. Then Export the route into a .gpx file by selecting the ‘Export to GPX file’ menu from under the Data menu. And save .gpx the file to the local machine.

3. Plug-in your Garmin Nuvi device and then browse to the.gpx file (exported from S&T) on your local machine, copy the file and paste it into the GPX folder in your Garmin device.

4. Now unplug the Garmin device from your computer. And wait for it to boot up. Then Select <Tools>

5. Scroll down and select <My Data>

6. Now select <Import Route from File>

7. And Select the <Route.gpx 1> file you just transferred to the Garmin Device. And click <Import>

8. Once the route is successfully Imported then go back and select <Routes>

9. Select the Route you just Imported.

10. That’s it, now you can see the route in your Garmin device

Even though you have transferred the route successfully from Streets & Trips to your Garmin device you may not get the same directions in your Garmin device as seen while planning your route using Streets & Trips. So review the route in your Garmin device before navigating on your route.

You now have the ability in Streets & Trips 2010 to open or close all the balloons for the visible pushpins on the map with just 2 clicks.

1. Right-click the pushpin set
2. click Show all pushpin information or Hide all pushpin information

    Result:  All the info balloons for that specific pushpin set are displayed or hidden.

If you have info balloons open from many different pushpin sets you can close them all at once by right-clicking on ANY balloon and choosing "Hide all information" and all the balloons on the map will close.

This is yet another simple feature (requested by several users) that makes Streets & Trips 2010 easier to use than ever.

Here is a change for all the power users.  Have you ever found yourself trying to import 20,000 addresses from an access database or an excel spreadsheet using the “Import Data Wizard” and you see this error? 

In past versions the maximum number of addresses you could import at one time was 10,000.  If you wanted to import more than 10,000 addresses you could do it but you needed to do multiple batches of less than 10,000 each.

The 10,000 address hard limit has been removed in the 2010 release!  Go Crazy!

Note: no such limit ever existed for importing data using latitude and longitude coordinates. So if you are importing a CSV or XLS file with Name, Lat, Long - this was never limited.

Many people rely on S&T to do their road trip planning.   Have you ever wished you should share this information with your Garmin without having to re-enter all the stops etc? Now you can!! In the 2010 version you can share the data from Streets & Trips to your Personal Navigation Device using the new GPX feature. GPX (GPS Exchange Format) is an industry-standard file format for exchanging GPS information between applications or devices. Click here to learn more about GPX.

You can export: 

• waypoints (pushpins) (no maximum limit)
• routes (where you plan to go)
• tracks (GPS trails - where you have actually been)

If your GPS navigation device has the capability to record data and save it as a .gpx file, you can then import that data into Streets & Trips.

Import / Export GPX menus are listed under the Data menu. Once you have exported a GPX data you can then use the Garmin POI loader and transfer the data into your Garmin device. Garmin POI loader can be installed from here. Once you have successfully installed the Garmin POI Loader, plugin your GPS device to your computer and launch Garmin POI Loader. Then follow the onscreen instructions and select your GPS device from the drop down

Then select the folder in which the GPX file(s) are stored and Finish the wizard.

It will take a few minutes for the data to get transferred and once it is done, you will get a confirmation message.

Now unplug your Garmin device and browse to ‘Where to’ –>‘Extras’ and select ‘Custom POIs’ and now you will see the POI that you had just transferred in to the device.

There are no limits in the number of Pushpins or route points that you can export from Streets & Trips, however there may be a limit in the number of custom POI’s that a Personal Navigation device may accept. In case of Garmin Nuvi it is usually 500 custom points of interest.

The exact route is not transferred even though the route points (waypoints) are exported in order but the receiving device will use its own routing algorithm.  Not a big deal but if you have customized your road preferences in S&T you may see a slightly different route. 

Here is a set of features in 2010 that I’m really excited about .  People have been asking for many of these changes and we’ve listened!

The Problem:

Imagine if you are someone with a huge collection of POI (points of interest) that you collected from somewhere like RV Directions, TruckStopsPlus, DiscoveryOwners etc.  It doesn’t take long before your map gets overloaded with information.

Here is an example of how bad it can get.  The map has all the info but it becomes impractical to use. --->

The Solution:

Actually, when we thought about it there were many ways to fix this.   Here is what we’ve done:

1. Allow the ability to show/hide pushpin sets.  This is great because your default map can contain all of them but you can just turn on (or “show”) the sets you are currently interested in.  For example,  Low on Fuel? – turn on your Flying J set,  Hungry? – turn on your Cracker Barrel set. 

Here is what I do.  I have a save map file (*.est file) with all my favorite poi loaded.  Then I hide them all.

Look how easy it is to do this:

Right-click on the “Pushpins” and click “Hide all pushpin sets” from the context menu that pops up. 
Poof! They’re gone!  Ur…well…hidden to be more exact.

Displaying all the pushpins again is just as easy. 

Notice how each pushpin set says “…(hidden)” to indicate its current state.

Q: What if you want to show a single pushpin set but not all of them?

A: No problem…right click on the name of the individual pushpin set and click “Show pushpin set”

2. Allow the ability to delete the pushpins in the areas you don’t need.  So if you never leave the Pacific Northwest – why keep all the pushpins outside your traveling area?  In the past you could delete each pushpin manually or the entire pushpin set but not partial sets.  Now you can.  Just draw a select box around the area, right-click and choose “delete visible pushpins outside selected area”.  You can also do the reverse – that is – create a select box then choose “delete visible pushpins inside selected area”.  But wait there is more….if you hide a pushpin set then it doesn’t get deleted!  Only visible pushpins get deleted. 

Below: Delete Pushpins OUTSIDE selected area:

Below: Delete Pushpins INSIDE selected area.

I have more to say but I’ll save that for another post.  Please put any questions in the comments.

Gladwin and Larry will be at booth #123 (easy to remember) at the 41st Annual PA RV & Camping Show in Hershey, PA.

One of us will be giving a seminar - “The Perfect Trip Is At Your Fingertips” Wednesday through Saturday (9/16--> 9/19) from 4-5pm in the Green Room.

We will be giving the first ever public demonstrations of Streets & Trips 2010! We’ll also be giving out free 60-day trial DVDs of Streets & Trips 2010 to everyone who comes by our booth to say hello.  So if you are in the area please come by and bring your list of questions, comments and suggestions.  We look forward, as always, to meeting many of you.

For more information visit PRVCA.org.

We are very pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Streets & Trips and Microsoft MapPoint North America! 

The updates in Streets & Trips and MapPoint are largely based on all the great feedback from people using the software and sharing their comments, praises and suggestions.   Your emails, letters and contributions on this blog and other user forums have helped to make the 2010 releases the excellent products they are!

The new release brings great new and exciting functionality to Streets & Trips that is sure to make planning and navigating your next road trip even easier.

Here is a quick list of the new features in Streets & Trips that you can look forward to enjoy!

• New map data from NavTEQ - a world leader in premium-quality digital map data and content.
• 348 pushpin icons! (back by popular demand)
• Ability to share data with your Personal Navigation Device (like your Garmin)
• Full GPX support (import and export)
• Click'n'Drag rerouting
• Improvements to help with pushpin management and control
• Return of the Back (and Forward) functionality
• 5 new POI (points of interest) categories
• Ability to copy latitude and longitude coordinates to your clipboard (ctl+alt+c)
• Ability to rename your route waypoints
• Ability to show or hide individual pushpin sets
• Displays the distance to your next stop as well as your destination
• Ability to search for Highway Exits
• Easy customization of your map view
• Ability to pause Windows Media Player during spoken instructions
• Plus numerous other improvements, tweaks and bug fixes

We will blog about all the new features right here on the Streets & Trips Space blog so come back tomorrow.

oh...one last thing   Here is where you can download the FREE 60 day trial copy.

MSRP: $39.95 for Software only version (green box), $69.95 for Software plus GPS locator (blue box)