Streetview Navigation
Garmin and friends have been critically wounded by the iron mongers Google and Nokia. Recently Google announced that Google Maps on GPS enabled smartphones will provide free navigation. This meant that any smartphone with GPS was capable of directing you anywhere around the world. The only down fall of the Google Maps application was the fact that it needed a constant internet connection to the internet. This had it down falls for some but for most of the planet would be able to use it.
If your data plan is expensive you can forget about using Google maps navigation but for the lucky few who do have a good data plan (non-existent in Malta) you could enjoy Google Maps. The feature that impressed me the most was the fact that while driving the phone can use the street view which allows you to see the actual view you should have in front of you. This would make knowing when you arrived at your destination much easier. When Google announced this new feature the stock of any company which sold GPS units crashed so hard the board of directors wet themselves.
Ovi Maps Navigation
The next salvo came from Nokia, which was considerably worse than the attack from Google. On all Nokia devices with a GPS unit (which nowadays is almost all their range) have an application called Ovi Maps. When you get your phone this application gives you a number of months of free navigation around the world. You simply have to connect your device to your computer and download the maps for free onto your device. Last week Nokia announced that navigation will be free forever on most of their smartphone range. This meant offline navigation for free on any device. What was left of the stock value for GPS companies nose-dived once again. You get this free navigation on your smartphone you need to update the software on your phone.
In the case if you are Maltese and would like to use these free navigation solutions, none of these applications work in Malta. However, if you go abroad you can use these solutions. Malta is still considered to be the mole on the back of the earth.
Source [Nokia Ovi Maps, Google Mobile Maps]
#1 by Etienne Pellicano on January 30, 2010 - 9:26 pm
do you really need an internet connection to use the gps on a mobile? doesnt the gps connect to a satellite in space or something? :S
#2 by Malcolm Micallef on January 30, 2010 - 9:33 pm
if you using google maps yes because it gets all its data from the google servers. But on the nokia ovi you connect from your computer and download the map files onto the device so you don’t need to connect to the internet to get the mapping data.