uPRO....Anyone seen this latest entry in the GPS wars?

[mrb]

http://www.uprogps.com/

 

Check it out....Pretty heady stuff

 

From their site:

 

There's certainly no shortage of GPS devices out there to aid your golf game, but the folks at uPlay seem to think they've got one to beat 'em all, with them even going so far as to tout their new uPro device as the "iPhone of golf GPS technology." Exactly what earns it that designation, we're not sure, but the device will let golfers determine the distance to holes from their current location, and give them aerial photography, video flyovers, and details on course hazards, among other things. No word on a price or release date just yet, it seems, but we'd expect those details to be revealed when uPlay shows off the device at the 2008 PGA Show that gets underway in Orlando on January 16th.

[Trxjw]

Yeah just saw that on engadget. Eager to hear more about it at the product show this year.

[EJ Mac]

I'm definitely foaming at the mouth that thing is the new must have club for my bag.

[HammerTM24]

$399 - not bad - much cooler than Sky Caddy IMO.

[NPVWhiz]

It looks like an interesting product, but I went to their website and checked a few thing out...and there way one thing that bothered me.

 

In their "News" section, they say that the device "made the cover of Golfweek", and the have a link to an "article" in Golfweek. On the Home Page, on the lower left, they tout " See UPro on the cover of Golfweek. Read Article."

 

But if you pull up the "article", you find a note that says "This cover wrap accompanies a limited number of subscriptions to the retail golf industry". The cover is marked "Advertisement", and the article that accompanies it isn't an article by Golfweek, but a "Special Advertising" article most likely written by the company.

 

More honestly, they should have said "See our ad in Golfweek!"

 

 

For some reason, this type of thing really bugs me. The website gives the impression that Golfweek thought the product was so great that it belonged on the cover...but then you realize it's not really the cover of Golfweek...just an ad that looks like the cover of Golfweek.

 

Does anyone else think this is a little disingenuous?

 

Does it make you think that maybe the rest of the information might be less than accurate as well? I've frequently found that outfits which "oversell" and exaggerate or mislead in their promotional material rarely deliver a quality product.

 

I have no knowledge of this one way or the other, but I just thought it was a bit of a mischaracterization. I don't have a dog in the fight either...don't own or use a laser or GPS.

[Mud]

For some reason, this type of thing really bugs me. The website gives the impression that Golfweek thought the product was so great that it belonged on the cover...but then you realize it's not really the cover of Golfweek...just an ad that looks like the cover of Golfweek.

 

Does anyone else think this is a little disingenuous?

 

Um, yes.

 

 

The technology looks cool, so let's hope that this is a mistake and not an indicator of the company's integrity.

[withdrew]

Looks pretty cool. Where does this fall with respect to the rules? Satellite photos? Very interesting.

 

FYI:

I read HERE that Apple was going to release a software developers kit, I guess that means more legitimate third party software would be soon available. A golf GPS or score/stat keeping application would be pretty sweet, no?

[myndcraft]

Could anyone find any info on their pricing structure? I read their faq and they skirted around the question.

[guit80]

Could anyone find any info on their pricing structure? I read their faq and they skirted around the question.

 

under their "products" tab it has a price of $399.99

[snuggyph1]

For me, the determining factor would be the number of courses in my area that are mapped.

[rrkman]

Looking at the site, it looks like you have to buy the courses...any find how much a course will cost?

 

I just got an SG3 from Santa so it would be awhile before a new GPS device shows up but it did look pretty nice.

[myndcraft]

Could anyone find any info on their pricing structure? I read their faq and they skirted around the question.

 

under their "products" tab it has a price of $399.99

 

Sorry I should have been more clear. I was referring to the pricing structures for course maps/info. The unit is 399 and comes with one course download After that you need to buy additional courses and they come into versions regular and pro. I would assume the Pro to cost more, but Im curious what the cost for even just the regular will be.

 

They make mention all over about how you don't have to spend $40 a year for a subscription, but if you play a lot of course I could see you spending more than that on the downloads. I highly doubt we are talking iTunes style 99 cent maps.

[BankerGolfer]

You know the saying about if something's too good to be true, it probably is? It applies here with this product....

 

In other words, I'll believe it when i see it.

[myndcraft]

Well just because something wasn't built with the SDK doesn't make it less legitimate in my eyes. In fact if you have a jailbroken iPhone there is a decent golf scoring application I have used. I will agree though that something much nicer will come when the SDK is released.

 

As for using it like a SkyCady or something I wouldn't count on it. The iPhone does not have GPS built in so it would have to be an external device. Yes you can do triangulation, but there aren't enough cell towers in enough locations to make it worthwhile.

[Ghost_Orchid]

I checked their website too...the product looks cool..except for buying maps...they dont say how much per map.

[EJ Mac]

Thanks guy for all the insight and info I will wait on this one to see what comes in the following months.

[kkhender]

http://www.uprogps.com/faq/product/

 

On their faq, it looks like it is $2 for a basic course download and $10 for a pro download. They are supposed to have 3K courses initially. It would be nice if you could make your own coursemaps with google earth. It sounds like they have a provision for manually walking your course and programming the key points. I wonder if you can make requests for certain courses to be added... I was thinking about upgrading my SG2 to an SG5 or maybe a sureshot (I like the GIR/fairways hit/scoring feature), but I think I'll wait until I can test drive a upro.

[Taylormadematt]

We already have one here in the uk which is very simular, it brings up the actual picture of the hole and you can zoom in to see hazards and doglegs etc. you then revert back to the original screen to get the yardage information, looks real good, but not sure if i'd get due to the fact if it went wrong it could be costly

[Gsco]

Hmmm....

 

Is the uPro™ compatible with Macs?

Yes, the uPro™ does work with Macs.

[Falang_Golfer]

FYI,

 

I emailed the uPro folks a lot and got a few answers from them.

 

1) They have a 4 day guarantee to map your home course if you buy a unit. Only applies to the US (strike 1 for me). I am not sure if this is the pro mode or regular mode, I would hope pro mode.

 

2) You cannot map your own course right now (will be a free software update in the summer sometime). Strike 2!

 

3) They will have scoring and stats features but again sometime in the summer (and for a fee!!). Strike 2.5

 

4) You cannot search for courses on their website. Strike 3!! If I can't map my own and can't see if my course is there, I could be carrying around a brick with only the comfort that my home course will be there.

 

5) You cannot transfer courses to your friends. I understand this but kind of annoying if your buddies play the same course. $10 each for a league for example gets old.

 

I had very high hopes for this unit but it just does not seem ready right now. In the summer this may be the hottest thing out there. I was ready to plunk down my money if you could map your own course now (as they said basic mode only) or they would have mapped mine out of country. This does seem to be the future though, with being able to pick points on the whole course.

[myndcraft]

It appears that this is now shipping so has anyone had a chance to play with one yet? Right now I'm debating between a Sureshot and this so would love some more feedback.

 

Also just checked their site and in regards to some issues above.

 

#2 - According to the Product FAQ you can map your own course

 

#4 - The search link is on their site, but currently under development

[Gxgolfer]

I talked to them the other day as well. They said they will be using a purchased credit system. So the more "credits" you buy, the more courses you can download. Also, you can keep them forever in your profile that you setup on their site. Still seems a bit steep and they don't have any units for review at the moment. I am curious of the battery life in realtime because of the graphics involved.

[myndcraft]

Thats some good info GX, I hope you guys can score a review unit when they are available!

[DavidR]

Looks like they came to the market a bit prematurely with this product. Maybe this time next year it will be ready to go. They still have quite a bit of work to do from what I can see.

[DemolitionMan]

I saw the product in action in Orlando and it was awesome. The fly over videos of the hole were cool and the fact you could measure any distance between two points on the color screen. It's a great design, better than any other GPS device I have seen. But the downside....price. It is too much. $399 + $10 per course! They need to come up with a subscription or package deal. Being in NorCal, I easily would like to have 20+ courses at my disposal just in my immediate area...but I am not going to pay $200 just for course files.

 

My biggest concern would be if they have enough money to keep the doors open long enough to lower the prices and make better numbers on sales because at $399/$10 they won't be able to sell enough to pay bills.

[agoodgolfer]

I saw the product in action in Orlando and it was awesome. The fly over videos of the hole were cool and the fact you could measure any distance between two points on the color screen. It's a great design, better than any other GPS device I have seen. But the downside....price. It is too much. $399 + $10 per course! They need to come up with a subscription or package deal. Being in NorCal, I easily would like to have 20+ courses at my disposal just in my immediate area...but I am not going to pay $200 just for course files.

 

My biggest concern would be if they have enough money to keep the doors open long enough to lower the prices and make better numbers on sales because at $399/$10 they won't be able to sell enough to pay bills.

 

Did you have hands on?

 

What kind of quality was the fly over? I'm just wondering if its a aerial photo or if its a 3d rendering of some sort?

 

They also make mention to the combination of "laser and GPS" accuracy but I cant imagine how that would be done - my guess is its a play on words, and borderline false advertising. From the demo it looks like they're calling the point to point measurement using the software as laser measurement.

 

10 dollars is a hefty price, especially since I cant imagine there is much behind making each of the courses. Its some simple digitizing of a aerial photo.

 

I still wont get on the GPS bandwagon though - its insane to think of them as accurate.

[phil75070]

It appears that this is now shipping so has anyone had a chance to play with one yet? Right now I'm debating between a Sureshot and this so would love some more feedback.

 

Also just checked their site and in regards to some issues above.

 

#2 - According to the Product FAQ you can map your own course

 

#4 - The search link is on their site, but currently under development

 

I, too, was intrigued by the SureShot as a possible replacement for my SkyGolf SG2. I ultimately went with the Golf Guru. It has something similar to the Intelligreen feature and, if you want, you can keep your score and basic stats (FIR, GIR, # of Putts). One big difference is that it does not have a color screen but the price is right, $249 and no subscription fees until January 2011. It is US made and sold and customer service has been a dream!

[philfan316]

I have a pocket pc and I use Golfwits. It is basically taking a course yardage book and making it interactive. No GPS, but it is pretty good. This uPro thing looks sweet because it is like having the course yardage book, with GPS.

[agoodgolfer]

I have a pocket pc and I use Golfwits. It is basically taking a course yardage book and making it interactive. No GPS, but it is pretty good. This uPro thing looks sweet because it is like having the course yardage book, with GPS.

t

Is there software that works on a PPC and is GPS enabled? The UI for upro does look nice, but I cant imagine spending that much on a unit - especially when I already own a PPC with integrated GPS.

[Gsco]

Here is their price list.

 

Course Download Price List

ProMode™ Download

# of Courses Cost of Package

1 $10.00

5 $40.00

10 $60.00

20 $80.00

50 $120.00

BasicMode™ Download

# of Courses Cost of Package

3 $10.00

15 $40.00

30 $60.00

60 $80.00

150 $120.00