Product of the Week- iAIS, linking with your iPhone or iPad

by Des Ryan on 12 Nov 2011 If you don't have an AIS yet, or are ready to get a new one, it's worth considering the world's first wireless AIS receiver, which links with all the latest iPhones, iPad or other iTouch devices, giving you a greater flexibility of movement than you would have with a normal receiver.

Digital Yacht has been doing well with their new innovations on the market, notably the http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/canada/New-Product-Feature:--AIT-2000-from-Digital-Yacht/89007!AIT2000, which we featured a couple of months ago, and now this little beauty.

It's significant too, that they are one of the chosen nominations for a DAME design award, up there with 43 other products which have been selected as the finalists from 130 products that were entered.

So how does the iAIS work?

It's simple. First you have to buy the dual channel AIS receiver, which has an integrated 802.11b+g wireless access point. Then you get the free app downloadable from the Apple App Store, giving you access to a whole new generation of mobile devices.

iAIS also multiplexes any other NMEA data that is available on board the boat - for instance GPS, depth, speed and wind etc. All of this data is combined with the AIS data into a single wireless feed, that becomes available on any compatible application. By using the boat’s own GPS, even an iTouch or iPad that does not have an internal GPS can now be used for navigation and superior performance will also be seen on an iPhone, which some users have complained suffers from jitter or poor lock-on with its internal GPS.

As well as sending data wirelessly, the iAIS also has an NMEA0183 and USB interface so that you can output data to a PC (via USB) and a dedicated plotter (via NMEA) for larger installations.

The free iAIS app is available from the App store and is a simple AIS display program. However, one word of warning, the iAIS can only access one device at a time. For a more sophisticated system that will access more than one device, you would have to go to the http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=11665!Boatranet system

Of the nomination for the DAME design award, Digital Yacht CEO said, as you would expect him to, 'We’re really delighted to have been short-listed for the DAME Awards. Just being nominated is extremely credible and highlights Digital Yacht as an innovative brand that is in touch with new technology and trends. The entire team is dedicated to producing products that are forward thinking and competitively priced.'

For more information, prices and availability on Digital Yacht's products, http://www.digitalyacht.co.uk/index.php!click_here.