Ovi Maps uses Navteq maps. The engine is different from the mapping application on the N8x0 series tablets.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:13 PM, Mark <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:wolfmane@gmail.com">wolfmane@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="im">On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Kevin T. Neely<br>
<<a href="mailto:ktneely@astroturfgarden.com">ktneely@astroturfgarden.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> That really works? I've been rocking mobile navigation for a couple years<br>
> with Ovi Maps (formerly Nokia Maps), and more recently waze. The first is<br>
> excellent, the latter very promising.<br>
><br>
> I understand that Ovi Maps is not quite ready for primetime on the N900.<br>
> Maybe one of the reasons they postponed the launch?<br>
><br>
> K<br>
><br>
<br>
</div>The Wayfinder Map app that came on the N8x0 is excruciatingly painful<br>
to use for actual navigation. The map data (at least in my area of the<br>
USA) is extremely out of date, and the POI database is severely<br>
lacking. You can't load the whole country at once, only the western or<br>
eastern half, and if you're traveling across the dividing line it<br>
couldn't be any less user-friendly. You can't have more than one map<br>
active at a time, so even though you can add maps at will, navigating<br>
between any two of them is impossible. Trying to enter a destination<br>
is an exercise in futility. If you manually pan the map and place a<br>
"favorite" and use that for your destination the directions are pretty<br>
good and the voice prompts are excellent, but there are so many<br>
obstacles to getting to that point that the app is pretty much useless<br>
for anything but showing you where you currently are. Plus, the app as<br>
shipped is crippled to only show your current location - if you want<br>
navigation you have to pay as much as a whole standalone navigation<br>
device, but you don't get the stability or any of the other strengths<br>
of the standalone devices. All of the other "navigation" apps for the<br>
tablets are works in progress and none of them natively do routing.<br>
Navit claims to, but if it does they've certainly hidden that<br>
functionality well. RoadMap does rudimentary routing, but you have to<br>
create the route manually. If you can't do routing, then you can't do<br>
navigation...<br>
<br>
Neither Ovi nor waze is available for the tablets, and if Ovi is the<br>
phone version of the tablet Map app that it appears to be, I'm less<br>
than impressed. You do have to pay extra to get navigation and it more<br>
than likely uses the same map data. Waze does indeed seem very<br>
promising, but again they are duplicating much of what OpenStreetMap<br>
has been working on for years, and everybody would benefit much more<br>
if they would integrate their technology with OSM instead of striking<br>
out on their own. OSM already has a huge amount of map data, but the<br>
user interface is a PITA and they would greatly benefit from an app<br>
exactly like waze.<br>
<br>
I don't own a smartphone, but Android 2.0 may be what changes my mind<br>
on the matter. Even if I could afford an N900 I wouldn't risk it at<br>
this point. Maybe if they are still being produced and supported in 2<br>
or 3 years I'll consider it. My mobile mapping experience thus far has<br>
been with PDA, Tablet and Laptop map/navigation software, and I have<br>
yet to find an application - even the expensive ones - for any of<br>
those that is in the same league as even the worst standalone GPSr.<br>
The usability of even my piece of junk TomTom is light years beyond<br>
anything I've tried that wasn't a dedicated unit.<br>
<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
Mark<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>In Vino Veritas<br><a href="http://rubbernecking.info">http://rubbernecking.info</a><br>