TakItWithMe – Handy GPS Tool

My friend Virgil of EarthNC.com has produced a very handy tool called TakItWithMe (in beta) which allows you to take placemarks, lines/paths, etc. from Google MyMaps or from Google Earth (or KML content from wherever) and download it straight to most Garmin GPSes – or port it to many other GPSes using the standard GPX file format. I’ve been talking to Virgil throughout the development of TakitWithMe. He started working on the ability to output directly to GPSes right after Garmin announced their new API at Where 2.0 in late-May.
Don’t let the simple interface fool you. By combining the power of the new Google My Maps, or by using Google Earth, you can quickly and easily create – or use existing – location information you might want with you when traveling to a destination into your handheld GPS. You can even create and port over a route between points. You will need to install the Garmin plug-in the first time which enables the browser application to interface to your Garmin. Once you have it installed, you won’t believe how easy it is to get place information to your GPS with TakitWithMe. If you don’t have a Garmin GPS, you can still output a GPX file and use a variety of other tools to port the information to your GPS. See Leszek’s FreeGeographyTools blog for all kinds of ways to output to a GPS. Here is a video demonstration of TakItWithMe:

By the way, you can literally select a waypoint (or a collection of them) in Google Earth in the “Places” pane with your right mouse button and copy the placemark. Then paste it to TakItWithMe’s KML conversion page and then output it to your Garmin or to a GPX file. This is practically drag and drop!
EarthNC is an excellent Google Earth resource for boaters. Check it out – especially if you boat in the US. See my previous review of EarthNC’s announcement last May, and the details on their US chart data for Google Earth.