Faria buys Maptech Touch, & where’s Maestro? (Updated)
Today Faria announced that it had acquired “certain marine-related software products from Maptech”, as well as several former engineers. Of course that must mean the Touch Screen Navigator program that Faria is putting into its Maestro System.
I’ve been wondering what happened to Maestro—whose well connected backside is seen below—as I thought it was going to ship nearly a year ago, but have yet to see one in a boat. Have any of you? I also wonder if this transaction means that Touch Navigator will not be bundled with tablet computers or sold by itself, as I was hoping for. It’s Faria’s call I guess, but I think they’d be wise to let customers choose between their own or an installer’s touch screen hardware setup and Maestro. Meanwhile, in terms of Maptech’s dissolution, selling Touch Navigator to Faria made obvious sense, and certainly doesn’t mean that it will part out all its various components. In fact what I hear is that there are several parties considering offers for the bulk of Maptech’s assets.
PS: I’m told that Maestro is not shipping quite yet, but not for lack of development efforts. For instance, it’s going to have an XPe implementation which will result in a fast start up and solid protection against viruses that might arrive via its WiFi and/or cellular Internet connectivity.
i have an issue with my Maptech hardware. My units seem to be working at both stations except for my depth indication. Is it a program issue or problem processor? Will the Maestro be compatable with my current 312 system? If it is when will you be shipping? Are you aware of any hardware avaliable to repair this issue? The transducer is operational from what the tech found.
Thanks,
JC
JC, The Maestro never did ship (to my embarrassment). There may have been some issue about the source code as the Sea Ray Navigator is also based on it.
At any rate, there are a lot of SRN and Maptech i3 systems out there, and I understand that there’s still a technical support network. I’m looking into details, and will get back to you. In the meantime, there do seem to be live forums here:
http://www.maptech.com/support/forums/index.cfm?CFID=21617045&CFTOKEN=56839992
Although the Maestro has not shipped in the quantities that Faria originally expected or had frankly hoped for, Faria has in fact shipped completed Maestro’s for installation on Sea Ray’s and other vessels and is in stock for immediate shipment and delivery. Furthermore, Faria has continued the development of the product while also continuing to support any and all customers that have purchased a Faria Maestro, Maptech I3 or Sea Ray Navigator whether Faria manufactured and sold the product or not. Regarding development, Faria offers many additional features not originally found on the Maptech I3 or Sea Ray Navigator including internet connectivity, telematics integration, Maretron N2K functionality and Fugawi to name a few – all of which have been displayed at recent industry trade shows. Customers should also know that the everything from the Faria hardware to the operating system are significant upgrades to the product that was released by Maptech in the past. For questions regarding the Maestro in the future, I invite you to contact Faria at (860)885-2097 or at [email protected] to obtain the latest information.