Re: Google Maps Navigation takes a mobile turn

["Kevin T. Neely" <ktneely@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I find Ovi Maps on S60 to be a great program and it's a must-have for me.  Like I posted earlier, I read somewhere that the Maemo version is not ready yet.  I suspect it is a big part of why the N900 was delayed, though I have no direct knowledge of that.

K

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 10:02 PM, Mark <wolfmane@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Apparently many think that Ovi Maps is just as bad as the tablet version...

http://mer-l-in.blogspot.com/2009/10/ovi-maps-really-is-this-best-we-can-do.html

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 1:27 PM, Kevin T. Neely

<ktneely@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Ovi Maps uses Navteq maps.  The engine is different from the mapping
> application on the N8x0 series tablets.
>
> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:13 PM, Mark <wolfmane@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Kevin T. Neely
>> <ktneely@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > That really works?  I've been rocking mobile navigation for a couple
>> > years
>> > with Ovi Maps (formerly Nokia Maps), and more recently waze.  The first
>> > is
>> > excellent, the latter very promising.
>> >
>> > I understand that Ovi Maps is not quite ready for primetime on the N900.
>> > Maybe one of the reasons they postponed the launch?
>> >
>> > K
>> >
>>
>> The Wayfinder Map app that came on the N8x0 is excruciatingly painful
>> to use for actual navigation. The map data (at least in my area of the
>> USA) is extremely out of date, and the POI database is severely
>> lacking. You can't load the whole country at once, only the western or
>> eastern half, and if you're traveling across the dividing line it
>> couldn't be any less user-friendly. You can't have more than one map
>> active at a time, so even though you can add maps at will, navigating
>> between any two of them is impossible. Trying to enter a destination
>> is an exercise in futility. If you manually pan the map and place a
>> "favorite" and use that for your destination the directions are pretty
>> good and the voice prompts are excellent, but there are so many
>> obstacles to getting to that point that the app is pretty much useless
>> for anything but showing you where you currently are. Plus, the app as
>> shipped is crippled to only show your current location - if you want
>> navigation you have to pay as much as a whole standalone navigation
>> device, but you don't get the stability or any of the other strengths
>> of the standalone devices. All of the other "navigation" apps for the
>> tablets are works in progress and none of them natively do routing.
>> Navit claims to, but if it does they've certainly hidden that
>> functionality well. RoadMap does rudimentary routing, but you have to
>> create the route manually. If you can't do routing, then you can't do
>> navigation...
>>
>> Neither Ovi nor waze is available for the tablets, and if Ovi is the
>> phone version of the tablet Map app that it appears to be, I'm less
>> than impressed. You do have to pay extra to get navigation and it more
>> than likely uses the same map data. Waze does indeed seem very
>> promising, but again they are duplicating much of what OpenStreetMap
>> has been working on for years, and everybody would benefit much more
>> if they would integrate their technology with OSM instead of striking
>> out on their own. OSM already has a huge amount of map data, but the
>> user interface is a PITA and they would greatly benefit from an app
>> exactly like waze.
>>
>> I don't own a smartphone, but Android 2.0 may be what changes my mind
>> on the matter. Even if I could afford an N900 I wouldn't risk it at
>> this point. Maybe if they are still being produced and supported in 2
>> or 3 years I'll consider it. My mobile mapping experience thus far has
>> been with PDA, Tablet and Laptop map/navigation software, and I have
>> yet to find an application - even the expensive ones - for any of
>> those that is in the same league as even the worst standalone GPSr.
>> The usability of even my piece of junk TomTom is light years beyond
>> anything I've tried that wasn't a dedicated unit.
>>
>> Mark
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>
>
>
> --
> In Vino Veritas
> http://rubbernecking.info
>
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