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.
[this is good] Great post!
Posted by: Al Pavangkanan | 07/13/2009 at 08:03 em
Did you find the release version to be stable? I tried an early beta on my E71 and it was terrible.
Posted by: Paul | 07/14/2009 at 01:36 em
I think Nokia Maps 3.0 is stable. Had no problems so fast. Only that the speed estimation in the tunnels are not correct, and that the voice guide is talking quite a lot, when reaching roundabouts.
Posted by: Geraner | 07/14/2009 at 07:45 em
[this is good] Have you tested ferries in your routes? The previous versions of Nokia maps did not have norwegian inlands ferries, and so were useless in west norway where we depend a lot on ferries.
Posted by: ottgrims | 07/15/2009 at 01:53 em
TUNNELS...
Given that the simulated speed in the various videos above is so different, I would make a fairly safe assumption
that the speed Nokia uses as an ESTIMATOR, when driving through
tunnels, is somehow directly linked/taken from your average speed in
the preceding however many miles/km BEFORE you entered the tunnel.
Hence
why on the fast roads in the video above, it was overly high, but in
the one where you enter by first coming off two roundabouts, it is far
too low (given the slow average speed before you enter the tunnel).
As
such, this is not a bug per se, but rather, Nokia trying to do MORE
with a restricted situation (no satellite signal received), than
competitor products currently do, which is simply give up altogether.
Up
to you which you favour - Nokia at least trying to cope of a fashion,
and often getting it wrong somewhat, but at least giving a rough
indication, so as to cope with junctions that exist inside some types
of tunnel, or the alternative - not getting it wrong ever, by not even
trying to estimate your position at all.
Please bear that in mind, because if I am correct, it totally changes the whole outlook of your entire article - instead of a negative, this is actually a POSITIVE with limits,
compared to every other manufacturer/provider out there, where the
sat-nav does not track no sat signal motion at all (without additional
hardware inside).
That though, is possibly the next step for
Nokia - true accelerometer tracking for those phones that contain this
hardware, like my top end TomTom currently does.
Posted by: Patrick Rice | 07/15/2009 at 03:58 em
No, I haven't tested inland ferries. We have some small here in Stockholm. I could check and see whether they have them included on the maps and come back with this information later. Good idea! :-)
Posted by: Geraner | 07/16/2009 at 07:07 fm
Thanks for your comment Patrick!
About the speed in the tunnels. The video with roundabout at the beginning, there the tunnel has a quite long entrance road into the tunnel, until reaching the main-road inside the tunnel. You are right, I'm slow when entering the tunnel there with only about 25 km/h. And Nokia Maps keeps this speed when entering the tunnel, as it looks. But once I'm on the mainroad inside the tunnel, the speed is either 112km/h or 47 km/h. Haven't seen any other simulated speed inside tunnels yet. At the same time,
I have also entered the same tunnel from the other side with 74 km/h on the tachometer. When I was in the tunnel, Nokia Maps increased the simulated speed to 112 km/h after only a view seconds. So it doesn't look for me that there is a "estimated speed guessing" inbuilt in Nokia Maps. It are more fix speeds (47 / 112) connected to the roads in the tunnel.
I agree with you, a real true accelerometer tracking would be perfect if Nokia could add this feature to there Nokia Maps software.
Posted by: Geraner | 07/16/2009 at 07:42 fm
Tested it now with inland ferries. And yes, it is working.
Nokia Maps 3.0 is guiding me using the inland ferries available, if this is the shortest way. :-)
Posted by: Geraner | 07/16/2009 at 03:33 em
nice review. Kudos!
Posted by: snoyt | 07/21/2009 at 03:47 em
Nice review of Nokia maps..I am using the Nokia Mobile i used the site http://www.mobileunlocksolutions.com/ For the Unlocking code purchsing
Posted by: gribber | 08/05/2009 at 08:23 fm
Posted by: Mark | 04/08/2010 at 09:15 em