With the huge choice of applications available for Symbian hardware and the N95 it’s often hard to find the perfect tool for the job, and GPS apps are no different. So like my previous articles, I’m going to try to report the pros/cons of each of the GPS/Navigation applications I could find for the Nokia N95 & S60v3 platforms. There seems to be an enourmous amount of applications that all do approximately the same thing which makes finding the perfect one especially difficult. Do you trust one of the older players in the GPS market like Garmin/Tomtom, the kings of the internet map sites Google Maps & MGMaps (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, etc) of finally one of the other mapping applications, like Nokia Maps or Map24Mobile.

1. Nokia Maps

Availability: Free (Comes with Phone)

Seeing as this is the default maps app that comes with the N95 it seems like a logical place to start, and with it’s voice navigation (a paid addon) and great integration it may be hard to top. That is, until you use it and try and get it to point you from a to b. It,s not that it does a terrible job, it,s just so slow at everything.

Standing in full view of all the eyes in the sky (read: satellites) from starting the app until it had located my position it had taken about 45 seconds to a minute. It,s just not responsive enough to warrant whipping it out of your pocket when your late for a meeting, but you can’t for the life of you remember where Ord Street North is, let alone trying to get it to give you directions whilst behind the wheel.

On the other hand, it has access to a decent point of interest database and standing in front of Westminister Abbey i found the map littered with places to see, eat, etc.

Pros

• Default app that comes with the phone
• Well integrated into nokia’s gallery & other phone features
• Great points of interest database with clear icons
• Has Voice Navigation (like in-Car Sat Nav Systems)

Cons

• Slow as a dog (bad boot time, slow map responsiveness, etc)
• No Terrain/Aerial/Satellite Maps

2. Mobile GMaps

Availability: Free

MGMaps is (I believe) a joint effort to bring maps from a range of providers (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, OpenStreet, Ask, etc) to give the maximum choice for finding the perfect map for the required situation. There’s the usual Street Map styled map, through to aerial/satellite and a hybrid of the two, terrain maps (for hiking I presume) and specialised maps with monuments, points of interest clearly marked.

Map with Tube/Underground Overlay

The real beauty with this app, however, comes with the map overlays and addons. Venturing in the the addons menu unlocks a host of options like Traffic reporting, Metro/Underground/Transport Maps, Wikimapia (user built Point of Interest database which is constantly growing) and a few other things that I didn’t really understand. Some of the overlays include geographic position, altitude (approx), speed & direction of travel, which can all be quite useful although can interfere due to the small amount of screen real estate.

Aerial/Satellite View

And where Nokia maps failed due to its slowness, and lack of usability, MGMaps shines, it’s quick and easy to use, the maps are drawn quickly, and the direction/guidance mapping seems accurate and didn’t get me into trouble once.

I won’t go into detail on the mobile version of Google Maps as pretty much everything you can do in Google Maps you can do in MGMaps, but also a lot more. I’m not sure what the exact story is, but I’m assuming Google has otherwise stopped development of its Mobile maps app and is participating in the newer better App.

Pros

• Free

• Huge choice of maps and map types

• Nice selection of overlays/addons

• Good Direction/Place finder

Cons

• No Voice Nav

TomTom: Simple, yet as a navigational tool whilst driving. Perfect

3. Tomtom Navigator 6

Availability: £87 (at time of writing) from http://www.tomtom.com

As I stated in the introduction, if it’s a navigation tool you want for driving and direction finding then look no further, Tomtom is the package you want. Everything is smooth, from the search/menu panel, quick bootup, routing, clear map (showing only path you need to take) and by far the best implementation of the voice navigation than I’ve seen on a phone/PDA yet.

Despite driving a small car, we found it ever so difficult taking the Walking Route

Like the In-car GPS unit you get to sit on your dashboard, if you’re driving and you really want a clear way from getting from point A to B without having to constantly have a hand on the unit this is the way to go. It’s as simple as typing in a destination, and following the prompts:

• Take the third exit at the roundabout
• In two miles follow the shoulder toward the M5
• Calculating Route (when missing a turn off)
• Arrived at Destination, Thankyou

And so on… And whilst your on your way you’ll get an annoying *beep* sound every few minutes, or so I thought at the time, until I realised Tomtom was warning me of approaching Speed/Redlight Camera and Dangerous spots in the road

 

The Trip Overview/Planner

The Tomtom navigator is, without doubt, the best drivers friend, its a no frills tool that serves a purpose, and one purpose only. What it lacks in maps, addons and features it more than makes up in usability (and I actually feel safe using it whilst driving, Mobile GMaps took far to much configuration and watching of the screen to be considered safe for driving).

Note: Screenshot didn’t seem to want to work while Tomtom was open, so I’ve used others screenshots

Pros

• Perfect Street guide, Driving Navigation Tool
• Seamless Voice Navigation, Traffic/Camera alerts

Cons

• Lacks all the cool features, like points of interest, overlays and different map types

4. Map 24 Mobile

Availability: Free from www.map24mobile.com

Really not much can be said about this app, it’s not useful for driving/navigation, and it’s speed, ease of use and features are nothing to write home about, but it is in early development. Map24 Mobile does have one interesting feature though, point it to a location and it knows where everything, and I mean everything, is. From my front door for instance, it tells me where the Shell station is, the library, 4 or 5 pubs, the police station and various other shops and restaurants are straight away.

Granted, I’m standing on my front porch, I can clearly see the Shell sign, two pubs and the side edge of a library and restaurant, but I can see it being a life saver when the apocolypse hits and I need to emerge from bunker 714 in pitch darkness and dense radioactive fog, so I’ll keep it on hand, anyway.

“3D View” - I couldn’t find a use for it

Pros

• Map24 knows retail, it really does

Cons

• … pretty much everything else

Like the IM Client article, there are honestly too many different apps to try and each would have its own set of pros and con’s, and quite often its own price tag, but I’ll list a few anyway:

• Garmin Mobile XT - One of the other Strong players in the handheld GPS market, similar features to TomTom
• Route 66 Mobile Britain
  
• Amaze GPS - A free Java GPS client, looks a bit like Tomtom, but with aerial maps too

From the point of view of the occasional user Mobile GMaps is definitely the one to go for, its very well put together and a full package without a lot of depth. And for the driver/navigator don’t look past the TomTom Navigator client, but I can see where all four apps would quite often come in handy so its probably quite handy to keep them all on at once, as really, you never know when you might need them (where is that Shell Station again?).

Tags: GPS, Nokia

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 2:19 am and is filed under Computing, N95, Online, Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.