Blue squares---solved

 

Anybody know what these little blue squares are on the map screen along the road on the DriveSmart 65? They aren't signs and seem to have no significance but there are quite a few of them. One here, one there, cluttered at some intersections. Always along a road.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Likely some POI

Speed2 wrote:

Anybody know what these little blue squares are on the map screen along the road on the DriveSmart 65? They aren't signs and seem to have no significance but there are quite a few of them. One here, one there, cluttered at some intersections. Always along a road.

They are likely some POI (ATM machine, school, convenience store, etc). To check what they may be, and turn them off if desired, go to https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=BCnvnxd6b48flI1RIhjop8 and expand the topic "To change which POI categories are displayed:". Follow those steps and see if you find a category that matches what you describe as a "blue square.". The steps are outlined at https://support.garmin.com/en-HK/?faq=okfwZK4AlL3a7tsqRPDfd9.

You might also go to http://forums.gpsreview.net/discussion/31436/first-impressio... and scroll down to the images, one of which shows the icons for restaurants, gas stations and banks, Each are a small blue square. The gas station has a gas pump symbol, the bank a $ sign and restaurants a knife and fork. But the blue square is small and you may be missing the finer details.

I find the restaurants to be a nuisance because of the proliferation of McD's, Burger KIng, Starbucks, etc. on about every 3rd corner.

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John from PA

way off base

These things are on highways also, no atm's there, not even rest stops.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Well

On some Garmin maps they depict exits, but don't normally see them on an automotive device. What they do also depict are POIs that are part of the map data.

If you view the map in BaseCamp you'll see them.

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Not just ATM's, lots of things...lodging, schools, speed cameras

Speed2 wrote:

These things are on highways also, no atm's there, not even rest stops.

I'm still betting that what you are seeing is some form of category POI. Go to https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=BCnvnxd6b48flI1RIhjop8. Make sure you expand the individual topics.

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John from PA

Yep

I agree, see my post above. Easiest way to see them is using BaseCamp. If you look in Edit, Options, Activity profiles you can also look at the Map features to be displayed tab to see what are shown as blue squares, it's quite a range of POIs

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Blue squares

Speed2 wrote:

Anybody know what these little blue squares are on the map screen along the road on the DriveSmart 65? They aren't signs and seem to have no significance but there are quite a few of them. One here, one there, cluttered at some intersections. Always along a road.

See https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=d53fFKMCtd3O3qP3KXIo16... for your device. Look at number 6.

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

Looks like its Garmins way to unclutter the map.

Instead of icons for locations that clutter the map they are now using blue squares and a category listing.

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Nuvi 2460LMT.

i think

you'll loose that bet. These aren't icons, not in the form you would see in your poi's or saved places. You cannot create these little blue squares either. I wrote an small Faq on this unit http://www.poi-factory.com/node/50834 just because of the the items mentioned in your link. I have two of these units, i should try and see if my other units have these also.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Really

sussamb wrote:

I agree, see my post above. Easiest way to see them is using BaseCamp. If you look in Edit, Options, Activity profiles you can also look at the Map features to be displayed tab to see what are shown as blue squares, it's quite a range of POIs

POI's? Not possible. At 60mph on the side of the highway literately nothing but fields and there's supposed to be a poi?

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Let’s get past the semantics...

Speed2 wrote:

you'll loose that bet. These aren't icons, not in the form you would see in your poi's or saved places. You cannot create these little blue squares either. I wrote an small Faq on this unit http://www.poi-factory.com/node/50834 just because of the the items mentioned in your link. I have two of these units, i should try and see if my other units have these also.

OK, maybe they aren’t “icons” in the traditional sense, but a blue box with a $ sign is a bank, a blue box with a gas pump symbol (like on the dash of your car) is a service station...on and on.

Have you done what people have suggested in looking for categories that are enabled?

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John from PA

Well

Garmin POIs aren't always correct so the fact nothing is there doesn't mean blue squares aren't POI symbols. Post a location where you've seen them, or a screenshot with a location, and I'll tell you what POI it is smile

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Could do that

sussamb wrote:

Garmin POIs aren't always correct so the fact nothing is there doesn't mean blue squares aren't POI symbols. Post a location where you've seen them, or a screenshot with a location, and I'll tell you what POI it is smile

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

I think

John from PA wrote:
Speed2 wrote:

you'll loose that bet. These aren't icons, not in the form you would see in your poi's or saved places. You cannot create these little blue squares either. I wrote an small Faq on this unit http://www.poi-factory.com/node/50834 just because of the the items mentioned in your link. I have two of these units, i should try and see if my other units have these also.

OK, maybe they aren’t “icons” in the traditional sense, but a blue box with a $ sign is a bank, a blue box with a gas pump symbol (like on the dash of your car) is a service station...on and on.

Have you done what people have suggested in looking for categories that are enabled?

your missing the point here. I wouldn't be questioning a blue box poi with a dollar sign or any icon with an indication of what it was. These icons are at least half the size of a normal icon. I've had many units and never saw these, still have a 3590LMT and a 2598LMT and i'm sure they don't have it.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Check this

Speed2 wrote:
John from PA wrote:
Speed2 wrote:

you'll loose that bet. These aren't icons, not in the form you would see in your poi's or saved places. You cannot create these little blue squares either. I wrote an small Faq on this unit http://www.poi-factory.com/node/50834 just because of the the items mentioned in your link. I have two of these units, i should try and see if my other units have these also.

OK, maybe they aren’t “icons” in the traditional sense, but a blue box with a $ sign is a bank, a blue box with a gas pump symbol (like on the dash of your car) is a service station...on and on.

Have you done what people have suggested in looking for categories that are enabled?

your missing the point here. I wouldn't be questioning a blue box poi with a dollar sign or any icon with an indication of what it was. These icons are at least half the size of a normal icon. I've had many units and never saw these, still have a 3590LMT and a 2598LMT and i'm sure they don't have it.

Go to the manual at https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/C1BaJ2eAlkS... and specifically page #3. There is a map shown i the right column, I believe Watney Street in London. You will see numerous blue squares. Is that like what you have?

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John from PA

Here are two

These are a bit more obscure rather than an intersection

N49° 06.388' W121° 58.590'
N49° 06.282' W121° 58.668'

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Yes

John from PA wrote:

Is that like what you have?

some of those are in the middle of no where also. The manual does not tell you what they are.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Those are POI’s but the

Those are POI’s but the text isn’t visible because the view is zoomed way out.

Or do what charlesd45 suggested earlier. 11:26 AM my time, probably 8:26 your time.

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John from PA

Zooming

John from PA wrote:

Those are POI’s but the text isn’t visible because the view is zoomed way out.

Or do what charlesd45 suggested earlier. 11:26 AM my time, probably 8:26 your time.

I saw all that and i can guess what they might be on those intersections, but they are not from my POI's and they are not my saved places. Some are in the middle of no where and those are what i'm interested in. Now as far as highlighting them, it didn't get me anywhere but zooming in i never tried. i'll try that and see what i get.

Can't do it unless driving. They don't come up when i hold it in the hand

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Here ya go

Speed2 wrote:

These are a bit more obscure rather than an intersection

N49° 06.388' W121° 58.590'
N49° 06.282' W121° 58.668'

First one is a POI named Sardis Branch, maybe a bank?

No blue square at second one?

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Not yours but garmins

Speed2 wrote:

I saw all that and i can guess what they might be on those intersections, but they are not from my POI's and they are not my saved places.

They are part of the POIs Garmin include with the map

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Funny

sussamb wrote:
Speed2 wrote:

These are a bit more obscure rather than an intersection

N49° 06.388' W121° 58.590'
N49° 06.282' W121° 58.668'

First one is a POI named Sardis Branch, maybe a bank?

No blue square at second one?

Now thats funny. here are the links....no banks anywhere near..lol
If you look at the picture its on a side road for the first one and the second one is on a dead end street.

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/49%C2%B006'16.9%22N+121%C2%B058'40.1%22W/@49.1046767,-121.9770591,18z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d49.1047!4d-121.9778

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/49%C2%B006'23.3%22N+121%C2%B058'35.4%22W/@49.1056195,-121.978844,16.17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d49.1064667!4d-121.9765

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Well

As I said, Garmin POIs aren't always correct smile

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

lol

Not even close. Thats my whole point on posting this. Even if they had put this icon for the school across the street it wouldn't justify the one on a dead end residential street on the other side of the school. What about the ones on the highway with nothing around but fields, no residential or even a farmers barn. I'm going to try to zoom in on those things next time. I have found that when i zoomed in on a green dot which already tells me what it signifys, the whole thing eventually disappears. The drivesmart 65 is quite a bit different than our regular 4x3 series. I spent a lot of time making some 48x48 icons to go with our poi's and with these newer drivesmart units those icons have come to haunt me. They worked fine with the older units they don't show up till you call up a poi. Even with a 7" screen those icons that we have attached to our individual poi's are showing up on the screen whether you like it or not. It can end up a clutter. So you delete all your icons and it all goes away except your saved places and those little blue squares. Sorry but i like a clean screen that does not distract from my driving, i want to decide what i see and what i don't see on my screen.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Well

You've had your answer from many of us, the blue squares show up when the Garmin map is selected and are even searchable as POIs. Maybe you're seeing something different from the rest of us, hence my request for a screenshot. Until you either provide that so we can see better what you're seeing and the rest of us can't, or come up with another explanation that makes sense, I'm happy they are POI locations as I've yet to find a blue square that isn't.

Look for example at the blue square at 49° 06.667' -121° 59.294'

This is Vedder View Gardens Cemetery, I chose that as cemeteries generally don't disappear, other POIs do.

If you interrogate the blue square it even shows the address as 44675 Watson Rd and if you look at it in Google earth you'll see the cemetery itself.

Unfortunately Garmin's POIs aren't known for being up to date, so just because you come across blue squares for POIs that no longer exist doesn't negate the fact that that is what blue squares are.

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

The key

I never questioned the blue squares when i saw them at an intersection or somewhere where there was traffic per say. Annoying that they were there maybe. Its only when i saw them in the middle of nowhere, and there are lots of them. We already established with those random two i gave you that there is nothing there. That area hasn't changed in over 20 years and neither has the the area along the highway, so giving you a pic is irrelevant.
You saying "Garmin's POIs aren't known for being up to date" doesn't make it acceptable. Its not like they sell there stuff for free. Besides, up to date doesn't apply here. Nothing has changed
on farm land in maybe 100 years or even more and garmin puts a poi there? I'm done entertaining this. This blue square stuff is like flyers in the mail and or averts, don't like it but its here to say it seems.

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2 DriveSmart 65's - We do not live in Igloo's and do not all ride to work on snow mobiles.

Well

One did have a POI with a blue square there, I assume for the other your location was wrong. Unless someone can show otherwise all the blue squares on my maps are POIs. By my maps I mean the NA, EU and Middle East maps. All three have blue squares and I've yet to find a blue square on any of them that isn't a POI.

As for accuracy, or being up to date, wherever I've looked there seem to be more 'inaccurate/out of date' POIs on the NA map than the EU one but they are all POIs

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Where there's a will ... there's a way ... DriveSmart51LMT-S, DriveSmart50LMT-D, Nuvi 2508LMT-D, 1490LMT, 1310, Montana 650T, Etrex 20

Seriously...

As someone who had responded in an effort to be helpful I am somewhat annoyed at your (Speed2) attitude.

There are two issues at play here, one being the category POI’s being up to date, the other being the accuracy of coordinates.

Let’s take one of your questionable points as an example; N49° 06.388' W121° 58.590'. If I run that through Google Maps I come up with a point that is about 60 feet from the center of Tyson Road. But when I look at that map I happen to notice a bus stop, about 170 feet down the road and on the opposite side. I don’t know for sure if a bus stop is a category POI by Garmin’s definition but they do show “Buses” as a category POI. Can you positively be certain there was never a bus stop at N49° 06.388' W121° 58.590'? When using Google maps, where do you take your coordinate measure from; the darker red center of the teardrop shaped figure, or the pointed tip. Depending on the scale, that can be a distance of 60 feet. Indeed N49° 06.388' W121° 58.600' is at the curb instead of 60 feet in from the center of the street. Note that I’ve only changed the longitude coordinate by one thousandth of a minute of arc.

As far as your comment "Garmin's POIs aren't known for being up to date doesn't make it acceptable.” The category POI’s that Garmin define were available in the link provided earlier by “charlesd45” and include the following list. Do you really think Garmin should be takings steps to investigate on some time interval the accuracy and potential name changes of all these categories (worldwide)?

Restaurants
Gas Stations
ATMs
Shopping
Grocery
Parking
Attractions
Entertainment
Bars & Nightclubs
Recreation
Hospitals
Lodging
Airports
Car Rental
Buses
Trains
Auto Services

Last thing, you've stated "This blue square stuff is like flyers in the mail and or averts, don't like it but its here to stay it seems." You been given methods by which many of these can be disabled should you find them annoying.

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John from PA

A request

Here's a request that you can choose to follow or not when threads here at The Factory are referring to specific locations. I believe this suggestion makes things easier to research for us.

Since the Garmin devices use long/lat values as decimal degrees, I suggest we all set our GPS devices to decimal degrees since that's what we'll need in creating custom POI files, etc.

Doing this will remove the need to change offered coordinates in degrees,decimal_minutes or degrees,minutes,decimal_seconds or other convention and I expect are faster and easier to type.

Just a thought.

Not Garmin's fault

Please remember that Garmin does NOT create the maps. They buy them from "HERE Technologies". Any errors in embedded POI locations belong to HERE Technologies.

Somewhere on their site you can submit corrections. I did a quick search and couldn't find it though. I have submitted 2 corrections before, that were corrected within a month.

I was impressed by how fast navigating their online map was. Even the satellite view was fast.

HERE Technologies used to have a web page that displayed where they were currently updating their map(s). Seems that they do a certain area at a time to add new roads.

How you add businesses and other POIs was not clear, but there must be a page for that. If the business uses an antique cell phone or makes a typo, that could explain why there are so many errors. Also remember that Google maps are not always that accurate.

EDIT: Found the correction info at HERE

https://here.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/240...

Map with icons is located here:

http://mapcreator.here.com/mapcreator

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Metricman DriveSmart 76 Williamsburg, VA

Here is where you report issues to Garmin

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John from PA