Introduction
Nokia released their Nokia Maps 3.0 at the beginning of July this year.
Previously I had Noka Maps 1.0 installed on my Nokia N95, which I never upgraded to any new version. I was instead using Navigon MobileNavigator 6. But for Navigon the maps are now 2 years old, so I was looking for an upgrade or a different version.
Nokia offers a 7 days free navigation license, to test the product.
http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/maps/free-trial
So I asked for a 7 days license and tested Nokia Maps 3.0 for one week.
The maps can be downloaded for free via Nokias Map Loader.
Nokia Maps combines normal GPS (if included in the phone or via external GPS sensor), Network based location, and A-GPS. If this “positioning” is activated Nokia Maps finds a actual location within 5-15 seconds!
A-GPS uses a network connection, so for this reason it is possible the disable this feature if you are in a foreign country.
Speed Limits
Door to door navigation on Nokia Maps works very well.
All major roads have known Sped Limits included. So if you are driving slower than max. speed limit, you current speed will be shown in green colour.
Driving faster then the current speed limit, the speed will be shown in red together with a speed limit sign / warning above. After driving a some hundred metres faster then allowed, the navigation voice tells you “Observe speed limit!”.
Below, driving slower / faster then current speed limit:
On smaller roads, the speed limit is not available. In this case, your current speed is shown in with colour.
Picture below, is taken during Night view.
Speed Cam warning
There is a possibility to add so called “Traffic & Safety” to your Nokia Maps which is a license you can buy.
http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/maps/features/traffic_safety_maps3
When this license is activated, Nokia Maps will warn you of Speed Cameras. If you are driving faster then the allowed speed limit, you will see a red warning on the screen, together with your speed, how many km/h you are driving too fast and the distance in meters to the speed camera. I really liked that feature!
If you are driving slower then the allowed speed limit, your current speed is shown in green colour again, but the speed cam warning is still flashing.
To demonstrate how the speed cam warning is working in reality, see the video bellow.
Day- and Night-view
As you already have seen in some of the screen shots above, Nokia Maps offers a day-view and night-view. This can also be set to automatically switch, depending depending on how much light you have round you. (using the mobile phones light sensor) I think it also uses the local time. Haven't tested this out so much yet. Maybe I will post an updated about this feature later on.
Bellow you can see a small film I made while driving with Night-View:
Navigation in general
In general the navigation with Nokia Maps works very well.
If you are reaching a crossroad, Nokia Maps, shows you a lane indicator, on which lane you must use. See screenshot bellow:
Route recalculation
Several times I was driving the route as Nokia Maps suggested, to see how fast it was recalculating the route. - This is works really fast, as you can see on the video below:
Driving through tunnels
Here in Stockholm we have some tunnels. Even this handles Nokia Maps, and does not stop with the navigation just because it has lost the GPS contact. Instead Nokia Maps continues with the navigation by simulating the driving through the tunnel.
But here comes the problem!
Normally the speed allowed to drive in the tunnels here is 70 km/h or 90 km/h.
But while driving through the tunnels, Nokia Maps reduces the vehicles speed during simulation to 47 km/h or increases the speed to 112 km/h!
As a result of this, you lose navigation in longer tunnels, because the estimated speed is not correct. Alternatively, Nokia Maps loses GPS contact because it simulates the driving at to high speed and expects that you should have come out of the tunnel already, but doesn't gets any GPS signal.
Below you see to screen shots of the two speed simulations in the tunnel.
Also see this video as an example.
This is somehow a bug which needs to be corrected by Nokia as soon as possible!
One more thought is that the voice guide is talking too much when reaching a roundabout.
This feels sometimes like information overload whilst driving.
I made a longer video about driving through roundabouts and tunnels, and route recalculations in the video below.
City Explorer – 3D Buildings
Nokia Maps also offers something called “City Explorer”.
http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/maps/features/city-explorer3
This includes Walk, Guides, Weather Information and 3D Buildings in larger towns.
As you can see some screenshots bellow taken while walking through Stockholm.
In August, I will go for two weeks to USA. I will use Nokia Maps there as well and buy a 30 days Drive-license for North America and test Nokia Maps there. I will for sure come back with a small review after my trip to USA.
Recent Comments