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 <wolfm...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Kevin T. Neely > <ktne...@astroturfgarden.com> 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 USA) is extremely out of date, and the POI database is severely 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 > _______________________________________________ > maemo-users mailing list > maemo-users@maemo.org > https://lists.maemo.org/mailman/listinfo/maemo-users > -- In Vino Veritas http://rubbernecking.info
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