The GPSr market is a features war,with device makers competing to load up their devices with fancy add-ons like music players and digital cameras. These extras play well to the digerati,but what about the technophobes among us who just want to seek a geocache?
Mobile software maker Apisphere has teamed with Groundspeak and outdoor equipment retailer REI to introduce an ultra-simple geocaching device called the Geomate.jr . Targeted at kids and families,the Geomate.jr carries a list price of $70 and comes preloaded with 250,000 geocaches across the US. Switch it on,and the GPSr points you toward the closest geocache. It also tells you how to get back to where you started. Other than a compass and a couple of simple informational screens,the two-button device has no additional features. An optional update kit enables owners to download new waypoints when they’ve exhausted nearby options. Kids may be the target audience,but something tells us they’ll be the ones teaching their parents how the gizmo works!