GPS Navigation Services for Mobile
Posted on 06. Dec, 2009 by admin in Phones
Source: (blog.rightmobilephone.co.uk)
One of the real lesser used features of a mid to top end mobile phone is the GPS capabilities. It is rare that in a buying decision that the availability of GPS is given any consideration, of the additional features a mobile phone can offer, I’d suggest the two most often considered features are email capability and quality of camera. Then there are the media capabilities, generally music then video, followed by suitability for web browsing. GPS tends to rank after all these considerations, if it ranks at all.
This could be set to change though, in the light of the recent announcement by Google regarding voice navigation on their Maps product. Currently, officially, this is still only available in the USA, although there are hacks and workarounds that offer Google Maps navigation for Android phones in the UK. Eventually the service will be officially available here, and the interest in Maps and GPS location based services is sure to increase as a result.
But you don’t need to wait for Google to work around all the licence restrictions for their Maps application to start utilising GPS features on your mobile, there already exist a range of services that will allow you to make full use of your phone’s GPS functionality, and we’re going to look at a couple of those now.
One of the more polished services currently available comes from Nokia. Their Nokia Maps service is available for Nseries and Eseries phones, as well as a host of mid range series 60 devices and now also some S40 devices too. The Nokia Maps is currently available in version 3.0, and comes under the OVI Maps name. One of the benefits of Maps from OVI is the fact that you can sideload the Maps onto your device using the Nokia Maps Loader. Ideal especially for roaming, as this means that you don’t pay any data costs as all the Map data is stored on the handset’s memory card. Maps from OVI has many free elements, allowing you to locate your position, search for an address, and seek out many local services and attractions. In fact, almost everything is free bar the voice guided navigation elements, which are optimised for pedestrian as well as car navigation. Purchasing a license also gives you access to traffic and safety camera information, plus other premium content and weather services. Some Nokia devices are sold with a free short period license to these services as part of the sales package. Whilst the Nokia offering is an excellent service, there is a slight issue with the fact that it only works on Nokia phones! A bit obvious, really, but all the same not everyone is a Nokia fan.
An alternative solution that is available for a wider range of handsets is something like SmartNav from TrafficMaster. SmartNav works on a variety of handsets, as well as Nokia there is something available for BlackBerry handsets, plus Windows Mobile, and the iPhone, as well as the Sony Ericsson Satio and the Samsung i8910 HD (thanks to these handsets running Symbian OS). The SmartNav user interface is fairly basic, with simple to understand icons which are well presented on the handset display. Because the maps are not stored on the device, but downloaded to the phone, an element of data use is incurred, but typically a route will use between 30 – 40 kbs of data, which isn’t too much at all. Thanks to the Traffic Master network, routes are regularly checked and if traffic problems occur, a route can easily be re-calculated to save you time. SmartNav also utilises Time Aware routing, offering a route that takes in to account whether it is rush hour or not, and plots accordingly. There is also an option to call a Personal Assistant, available 24/7, who can look up your destination and send the route to your mobile. SmartNav comes with varying licence options available, including monthly, yearly, or a one-off lifetime subscription.
These are just two of the possible solutions available for SatNav usage on a mobile phone. And although voice navigation isn’t yet available, the Google Maps package is still a real contender, with many useful features. There are also many apps available for various smartphone platforms from the traditional names in Satellite Navigation, such as Tom Tom, Co Pilot and Garmin.
More and more handsets these days are shipping with built in GPS, and displays are getting larger as touchscreen technology continues to develop, which is only going to serve to make the mobile phone a real competitor to stand alone SatNav devices. Will the mobile phone do for SatNav what it has done for digital photography?
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GPS Navigation Services for Mobile
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