Version 6.0 (build 21):

• The 'Touristic routes' function has improved. If no routes can be found, the function will not terminate immediately. Instead you will be asked if you want to try again.
• Again some changes on the server. Therefore there were also some changes to Tyre, to make sure that Tyre will work properly.
• There is a new function that will show you a message from time to time. This is done to keep you well informed.
  Don't be afraid that we will spam you: each new message will be shown only once.
• Some minor changes.

• The feature to create touristic routes has become more extensive: you can choose between a 'round trip' and a 'route':
  • For a round trip you only define one point on the map: your trip will start and end there.
  • For a route you define both your start location and your end location. Tyre will try to calculate some nice routes between these two points.
• A button has been added to the main button bar to activate the touristic routes feature.
• When a route has been calculated, the estimated time for the route will be displayed to left of the estimated distance.
• Tyre is being prepared to become available in three different versions: Basic, Plus and Professional.
  The current beta version has all functions that will be available from the future Professional version.

• New file types have been added!
  And they are not just 'some' other file types: Tyre has its own file types now for itinerary files and POI files.
  These file types make things easier in sharing routes and POIs:
  • Each itinerary file also contains the 'Preferences' that were used when the file was created (avoiding highways and toll roads, or not, route line color, etc.)
  • Each POI file also contains the image that is used to display the POIs on the map in Tyre and in your navigation device. No need to send a separate image file any longer... (Which I always forget to do, just like you, I guess.)
  • Sometimes you want to protect a file from editing by other people. That is possible now: Tyre files can be marked as 'read-only'.
  • Of course it is possible to change the 'preferences' for a particular file afterwards, and to set or remove the 'read-only' mark: just select 'Properties' from the 'File' menu.
• In addition, there are new options for sending files by email. Seven different file types can be sent by email now:
  • Tyre itinerary files: *.trf
  • Tyre POI files: *.tpf
  • TomTom itinerary files: *.itn
  • TomTom POI files: *.ov2
  • Garmin itinerary files: *.gpx
  • Garmin POI files: *.csv
  • Google Earth files: *.kmz
  
  For both Tyre file types, the 'read-only' flag can be set (if desired) right before sending the file by email.
• The Tyre file types can be set to be used as the default types. This option is available from the 'Files' tab in the 'Preferences' window.
• Do you want to be able to switch quickly between TomTom and Garmin for a default mode? Press Ctrl+T from the keyboard to select another default mode.
• Some minor changes.

• No new features, no bugs removed. There has been a change on the server that made this update necessary.
  (Older versions will be working properly until the end of the beta testing period.)

• A new possibility has been added: you can use Tyre to book a hotel somewhere on your trip. The popup window for a waypoint now has an item for that purpose.
  Very convenient: you will see only available hotels in the area of the selected waypoint, and you will have the opportunity to enter some more preferences.

• A new great feature has been added: creating touristic routes.
  The feature is available from the 'Tools' menu. Use this feature if you want Tyre to create some touristic routes for you.
• The 'Tools' menu has a new item (with some subitems) to display overlays on the map. The first two subitems enable selecting POI files and itinerary files.
  These possibilities were already there (via the 'Preferences' window), but apparently hard to find. Finding them should be easier now.
• In addition, some default overlays are available. The first overlay will display cheap fuel stations.
  The content of this overlay will be updated automatically using the database on the Tyre website.
  Displaying the overlay can be toggled on/off by the 'Overlays' option from the 'Tools' menu.
  Maybe there will be more such overlays in the future. At least, Tyre is ready for it!
• A small improvement has been added: if the 'Calculate' option is checked on the 'Google Maps - Route' tab, calculating will start automatically for all itinerary files. Not just for existing files that are being opened (as was the case until now), but also for newly created files.
• Google files (*.kml and *.kmz) were not displayed properly in Google Earth, when the file size grew too big. Apparently Google Earth does not display tracks when they contain too many track points. (I don't know the maximum number.)
  Anyway, I have adapted Tyre in order to have larger trips being displayed properly in Google Earth.
• There was a bug in displaying POI files in Google Earth: when returning to Tyre, the Tyre window appeared to be disabled. The bug has gone now.

• The possibility to install Tyre on a USB stick has improved for installing Tyre as an application for PortableApps.com: Tyre supports the new PortableApps platform v2.0 now.
• The expiring date for using the beta version has changed from January 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012. We expect the beta testing period to be terminated before that date.

• Support for newer TomTom devices (Nav3) has changed a bit, because there were errors on some computers. I hope the errors are gone now.

• Newer TomTom devices, like the GO 1000, VIA LIVE, etc., do not have itinerary planning functions. Therefore Tyre cannot be used to create itineraries for these devices.
  But it is possible to copy your own POI files to these devices. Now there is a new feature in Tyre that supports copying POI files to them.

• Google has started a new API version. This new one is causing some errors in Tyre. Therefore Tyre will use the previous (stable) version of the Google API, which requires a new Tyre installation.

• It is possible to edit the coordinates manually: select 'Edit' from the 'Waypoint' menu, or click on the coordinates at the bottom of the list.
• Your selection when clicking on the bike or car image on top of the map to switch between these two options, will now be saved into the preferences immediately.
• It is now possible to use spaces when entering the phone number for a POI.
• This update is a first step in preparing a 64bit version of Tyre:
  • It has been created with a new compiler, that promises to create 64bit applications too!
    But there is still a lot be done...
  • A new file has been added to the Tyre 'Program Files' folder: TyreFunc.exe. It is (and will be) used to execute some functions.

• There is a new feature: files can be expanded to the maximum possible number of waypoints. In most cases this number will be 48.
• With this new feature there are several functions now concerning a file's size: split, reduce, expand. To keep the menu clear, these three items are grouped into a submenu, called 'Size' (available from the 'File' menu).
• On importing route tracks as waypoints (for *.gpx files) a large number of tracks could cause problems. Therefore the imported number of tracks/waypoints will be reduced to 1000, when opening a *.gpx file this way.
• Satellite view was causing problems on some computers. I have changed the code a bit, and I hope things will be OK now.

• Help is now available in English and in Dutch. For other languages there is an automated Google translation available.
• There was a small bug (only irritating) in pasting multiple waypoints: when auto-numbering was active, the numbers disappeared after canceling the paste operation. The bug is fixed now.
• There was a bug in selecting overlays (POIs and itineraries) for the map: the overlays could not be selected. The bug is gone now.
• Opening (multiple) files by double clicking on their names has improved.

• There was a hint ('Ctrl+F') showing up on the wrong places. That has improved.

• Most users expect that the key combination Ctrl+F will enable them to find a location on the map. Therefore two key combinations have changed:
  - Ctrl+F is now used to find a location on the map.
  - Shift+Ctrl+F is now used to find an item in the list of waypoints.
• The splash screen and the info window will now display an image according to your own preference (riding, driving, cycling, walking).
• Coverage for cycling routes is limited. This may be confusing. Therefore a message will come up, when the 'Cycling' option is set.
• A new feature has been added to displaying and printing road books: you can have the total time and distance displayed and printed for each destination in your trip. This feature is optional.
• The window for importing waypoints from website is looking better now.
• The default path for saving and opening files is no longer 'My Documents', but a folder called 'Tyre' as a subfolder from 'My Doucments'.
• This is irritating: the use of altitude data for GPX files is disabled. Apparently some Garmin software (BaseCamp and MapSource) could not handle it...
  Really strange, since the GPX file format is a native Garmin format, and using altitude data is described on the GPX manual website.
• Some minor changes.

• This version was not published. It was used for testing purposes only.

• Tyre is now able to use altitude data: those data will be used for GPS Exchange files (*.gpx) and for Google Earth files (*.kml and *.kmz).
• Adding a new waypoint has changed slightly: Tyre will not suggest to rename the new waypoint right away. Instead, in the informational popup window the 'Rename' option is back, to activate the rename function.
• The 'Remove' option is also back in the informational popup window.
• On top of the map window, a new button has been added to stop calculating.
• A new option has been added to the 'Add' tab in the preferences window: it is now possible to add locations from the clipboard the same way they are added from Google Maps.
• Running the additional features from the program group in the Windows Start Menu caused an error message, if Tyre was already running. Now the additional features will be activated as they should, even when Tyre is running.
• The library has a new feature: for itineraries from the Tyre website, you can read the description (if available).
• And there is another new feature for the library: for itineraries on the computer, you can select your own drives or folders.
• There will still a few bugs on moving waypoints up and down within the list. I hope they are all gone now.
• Importing BMW route files needed some improvement, since there have been some changes on the BMW route planning site.
• There were some bugs in the road book functions. They are gone.
• There was a bug in selecting a group of favorites. It is gone.
• A small bug in the optimize function has gone.
• Saving and printing for road books and maps did not work properly yet. These actions should work properly now.
• There are some changes in the 'Preferences' window: the old 'Googla Maps 1' and 'Google Maps 2' tabs have been reorganised. As a result, they have new names: 'Google Maps - Map' and 'Google Maps - Route'.
  I hope it will be helpful in setting options easier.
• The behavior of the route direction arrows has changed a bit. Now it works like the Google Maps website. If the option to use those arrows is selected, they will only be visible when the map is displayed with a higher zoom factor.
• Searching a location on the map has changed. Lots of users could not find the new search function. I hope they can now.
• When you maximze the map, the distance for the route will be displayed to the right of the file name, on the file tab.
• Displaying the 'About' window and the splash screen is now better for screen settings with bigger font sizes.
• There were some changes on the Google Maps website, that made the map unreadable (small font size) for users who changes their Windows desktop settings from the default (96 dpi) to bigger (120 dpi).
  To solve this new problem there is a new option added to the 'Google Maps - Map' tab, which can be used to set the size for the map, the fonts and the images.
• There were problems using version 6.0 with a proxy-server. It seems that those problems are gone now.
• Some minor changes.

• This version was not published. It was used for testing purposes only.

• The library will indicate the file name, when asking to replace a file on your GPS device.
• After copying files to your GPS device from the library, the library contents will be updated automatically.
• On riding/driving/walking, the estimated remaining time will be displayed to the right of the current speed.
• After optimizing a route, the full route will be displayed.
• Additional icons in the program group have their own images now.
• A bug concerning the distance indication is gone: the distance indication on top of the waypoints list will now always be set to zero after closing all open files.
• Another bug has been fixed: if you tried to open a file that was already open, the tab with the open file was activated (as designed), but then the program got stuck: an hourglass cursor, and lots of actions that could not be performed any longer. As mentioned: this bug is gone now.
• For some reason the 'Import from website' function was not working at all. Now it should work properly.
• There was a bug in calculating the selected waypoints. It is gone.
• There was a bug on installing Tyre onto a USB-stick. It is gone.
• Tyre did not work properly on a USB-stick. It should be okay now.
• Some minor changes.

• This version was not published. It was used for testing purposes only.

This is a completely new version.
I have combined lots feedback from users to create an application with a look and feel that is even more intuitive compared to the previous versions.
I hope you like it.
Please keep sending me your feedback and suggestions.

Most important improvements for this new version:

• It is no longer necessary to use two separate windows (one for the list and another one for the map) to create and edit files: all operations can be done within one window that contains all necessary information.
• It is possible to open more than one file at the same time inside the same instance of Tyre. To have more than one file open at the same time, it is no longer necessary to activate new instances of Tyre, which could be confusing (with maybe lots of instances of Tyre open).
  Starting or opening a new file creates a new tab with a new map. Switching between the files is easier then ever before: just click on the tab belonging to the file that you want to have in front.
• There is a new feature, that I have called 'Library'. This library offers a collection of all available files (itinerary and POI) on the website, on your computer and on your GPS device.
  This is an easy way to handle all available files: you don't have to search any longer to find the file(s) that you need.


Other enhancements are:
• A new file type has been added: Tyre can operate with *.csv files too now!
  This is done for better integration with Garmin devices, because POI information for Garmin devices is often stored in that kind of file type.
  This means that funcionality for TomTom and Garmin is now fully equal: for devices from both manufacturers, similar functions (and similar file types) are available.
• Informational popup windows for waypoints on the map have less actions than they had in previous versions. Most actions can be performed by speed buttons and/or menu actions.
• Informational popup windows for waypoints have a new option: 'Skip'. Use this option to skip the calculation for that waypoint and the next one.
  This is handy in cases that the calculated route is obviously wrong.
  This is the situation, if Google does not calculate your route over a pass, or if an existing ferry boat is not known by Google.
  If you select 'Skip', a straight line will be drawn from the selected waypoint to the next one.
• A new feature for calculating has been added: it possible to select a certain number of waypoints from your list, and have the route calculated for those waypoints only.
  The maximum number of waypoints for this action is 10.
• A search action for an address, post code, etc. will be saved in a list. That is making a repeat much easier. The list contains the last 25 search actions.
• After updating the POIs on your GPS device, you will be offered to see a full report about the update.