Schmap Player FAQ |
 |
|
|
| This FAQ answers some common Schmap Player related questions. (For detailed questions on Schmap Player functionality, please refer to our Schmap Player User Manual; for questions and answers relating to our destination guides, please see our Schmap Guides FAQ). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 What is the Schmap Player? |
|
|
| |
The Schmap Player is a small and easy-to-use piece of freeware; installed on your computer (Windows only for now, please see below), it'll bring our Schmap Guides dynamically to life. (Schmap Guides are digital travel guides, like Lonely Planet or Frommer's, except they're digital and downloaded for free to your computer). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
A download? Why not just put your Schmap Guides on the Internet? |
|
|
| |
While there are indeed several very good online travel guides, we nevertheless found some compelling reasons to develop our downloadable Schmap Player:
1. An online travel guide might allow for interactive browsing, but we wanted to link content dynamically... The Schmap Player allows for seamless browsing of maps, destination background reading, reviews and photos.
2. A lot of the functionality we've put into the Schmap Player - things like printing your own customized guide and customizable virtual tours - would have been very difficult to achieve in an internet browser. (And some of the functionality we're planning for Schmap Player 2.0 – see below – would be pretty much impossible without a download).
3. We wanted you to be able to enjoy Schmap Guides offline as well as online. More than 60% of us now travel with our laptops: how about browsing a Schmap Guide on a plane or train, or in the hotel, (without having to worry about connection fees)?
4. Many people still have metered broadband or dialup internet access: browsing an online travel guide can be expensive and cumbersome for such individuals. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Makes sense. So will Schmap run on my computer? |
|
|
| |
To run Schmap, you will need:
• a PC running Windows 2000 or Windows XP; with
• a Pentium III 800MHz processor or faster; and
• a minimum 128MB of RAM; and
• a minimum 50MB of available hard-disk space
On certain older, lower spec machines, Schmap should still work OK, though the zooming, panning maps might prove a little slow (we have added a way to tailor performance to your own computer).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Great! So how do I get Schmapped up? |
|
|
| |
Easy. Just go to our Schmap Player download page, click the 'Download' button, then run the setup file on your computer. The Schmap Player comes with a Schmap Guide of your choice – and once you've installed Schmap, you can get as many more Schmap Guides as you'd like, all for free. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Actually, not so great for me... When will Schmap be Mac compatible? |
|
| |
Schmap Player for Mac is scheduled for release this April. We'd like to have it ready sooner, but the port from our Windows version (which took three years to develop) is actually quite challenging... Mac users who can't wait till then to see what all the fuss is about could befriend a Windows user - only temporarily, of course - and ask him or her to start up Schmap (thus avoiding exposure to Windows menus/jingles etc). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
What about Schmap for my PDA/smartphone/Ipod? |
|
|
| |
Travel guides for portable devices would seem to be a no-brainer (when do you most need a travel guide? When you're traveling, of course!). So why has no one has ever developed a compelling/successful portable digital travel product? A major reason for this is that browsing travel guide content (maps, reviews, photos and background reading) on a screen just a few inches in size tends to be a frustrating experience. Screen size aside, the Schmap Player relies on the type of processing speed and RAM found only on a computer to achieve dynamic browsing of Schmap Guides, so it wouldn't be possible to port, as such, to a PDA or smartphone. All this said, we'd like to allow Schmap Guide content to synch somehow with your portable device, for convenience, even if the dynamic Schmap experience is lost in the process. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
It's rumored you're working on Schmap Player 2.0 - where's this Schmap thing going? |
|
|
| |
That's top drawer - who told you that? Now that's out of the bag, we can confirm that, later this year, we will indeed be unveiling Schmap Player 2.0, which will additionally let you create and share your own travel guides or collections of local places, complete with photos, reviews and links. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Cool! Actually, I have a Schmap idea or two of my own – how can I share these with you? |
|
|
| |
What if Schmap could automatically display my friends' addresses on a Schmap map? What if Schmap could link to Google for seamless local search? Please use our feedback form to share your cool idea with us. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Back down to earth, I've found a bug in the current Schmap Player – how do I let you know? |
|
|
| |
Please, please, please log this on our feedback form. Try and be as specific as possible (what were you doing when the error occurred?), and leave an optional email address, assuming you don't mind a Schmapster contacting you with further questions (in event we can't repeat the problem). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
All very interesting, but your FAQ hasn't answered my question... |
|
|
| |
Please go ahead and post your question on our feedback form. While we tend to not reply directly to messages received, a genuine living, intelligent Schmapster reads them all (and if a few people ask the same question, then we'll think up an answer and post it on this FAQ). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
