Nokia Maps 2.0 Beta – After a week
Guest blogger: Martin Ramsin from Nokia Maps team.
It’s been a week since the release of Nokia Maps 2.0 Beta and the team has been busy demoing the new features on Mobile World Congress in Barcelona but now we are back and listening to you.
Thank you each and every one of you for sending feedback. Both positive and negative feedback is more than welcome. We are eagerly reading your comments as it will help us improve our application. Here are some answers for the questions & comments. Please keep on commenting, we are continuing to monitor this page for further feedback, improvement ideas, errors and comments :).
The application works in S60 3rd edition feature pack 1 onwards. You can check the 3rd ed FP1 devices from this link.
The UI errors which are visible in E90 will be fixed, no doubt about that. Sorry for not putting it under the known problems. The “not on road” issue in Drive is another one that we are fixing. Map tutorial and traffic feature will be available in the final release.
The route planning feature is not gone. You can in fact make a route with multiple stopovers - this is new in Nokia Maps 2.0. Just select a location, press the joystick and select Add -> to route. You can add other stopovers from the Options-menu. Another way is to go to Favorites – Routes and create a new route from there…
If you experienced that a license purchased with previous version of Maps is no longer working it is probably due to a bug in the application but the license is not lost. Try to do an update (Options – Extras – Drive&Walk – Select the region – Options – Update) or in worst case install the official version of Nokia Maps at maps.nokia.com.
The list of purchasable navigation regions will grow in the final release. There will also be larger navigation regions available by then.
As mentioned earlier we have new map data available for Nokia Maps 2.0. Be sure you have the latest map data when using the walk feature since there are much more pedestrian pathways, for example through city parks, for many cities. Use the new Map Loader to update the maps.
We will go thru all your ideas how to improve the Nokia Maps application user interface. Thank you once again for the valuable feedback :).
Nokia Maps team
Nice, thx for that.I use it every day and it works quite good so far.Sometimes maps closes its self and i have to restart but is nice with new functions.
Comment by Heiko — February 19, 2008 @ 11:55 am
A big NO THANK YOU from an E61 user.
I always thought that buying a business class product asures longer life time. Oh btw nokia internet radio works even if nobody bothered to make a version for it’s landscape screen. That means that the problem is not old hardware…
shame shame nokia !
Comment by topologicalanomaly4747 — February 19, 2008 @ 12:30 pm
“The route planning feature is not gone. You can in fact make a route with multiple stopovers - this is new in Nokia Maps 2.0. Just select a location, press the joystick and select Add -> to route. You can add other stopovers from the Options-menu. Another way is to go to Favorites – Routes and create a new route from there…”
You guys are in desperate need of usability training. And lots of it.
Comment by Lasse — February 19, 2008 @ 12:33 pm
The Search field doesn’t work smoothly with the T9 Dictionary entry.
Other than this, Great Work
Comment by Maskar — February 19, 2008 @ 1:23 pm
A big NO THANK YOU from an E65 user.
Bought this device one month ago only to learn that S60v3 does not mean that S60v3 software will run on it. Could just have bought any other random proprietary product.
Comment by Max — February 19, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
got en E65 and of course this new version will not work, as usual with nokia software !
when do people at Nokia will understand that they should relase software for existing devices not for future ? Do you know that we are paying our devices ? Could you imagine that an E serie phone is able to take picture and play music and that an N serie phone is able to display pdf and sync with outlook ? Common guys, you should go outside of the nokia campus from time to time and lokk at the real life…
Comment by Laurent — February 19, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
Don’t install any beta software if you are not ready to face any problems. Just wait for the official release and use the first version of Maps until then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Beta
Notice words evaluation and testing.
Comment by Muumuu — February 19, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
Folks, I feel your pain about incompatibilities etc but I think the tone of voice (here and in the other Maps thread) is getting a bit too hostile and noisy. For example, it ain’t too constructive to shout “shame shame Nokia” here. You know, companies are incapable of having feelings, like shame. Or did you want me or Martin to feel ashamed?
The point is, we need to keep the signal-to-noise ratio here high enough, or otherwise the development teams will ignore our discussions.
If the downward trend in tone-of-voice and signal-to-noise ratio continues, something needs to be done. But I don’t want to start moderating the discussion, as it would be against the open nature of this site. What should we do then? Should I let the community do it, for example using tools like intensedebate.com or disqus.com?
Comment by Tommi Vilkamo — February 19, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
Thanks for this upgrade.
Many of us still looking for a missing feature wich is:
Alert on POI, with parameters like distance, sound, and the best alert only for POI on your road.
Please this feature is very interesting to alert on radar.
Comment by Charlotte BILLANT — February 19, 2008 @ 4:07 pm
I updated to NOKIA MAPS 2.0, remove old maps from the phone, load new ones and now my position is around 40 miles north of me
I’m in MIRAMAR, ARGENTINA and the phone locates me in MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA, another city…
In the old version, this wasn’t happening… is there a way to correct this?
Comment by Hernan Marsili — February 19, 2008 @ 6:11 pm
I tried Maps 2.0 with my N95 - I really like the idea of the “walk”-feature very much… On some points it’s still very beta, but I think generally it’s very good.
But as somebody already said, I think you really should improve the menu structure and usability. It is really difficult in some cases to do what you want, for example plan a route. I also had to search the POI function for a long while. Placing it under “search” isn’t a bad idea, but many people won’t find it.
Furthermore I think the navigation packages are a bit too pricey. I don’t use navigation very often and I’d prefer a cheaper daily package - or a half-a-day option. The current daily option is very unattractive to navigate for short distances.
But in the end I really like your software and it helps me out a lot of times…
Comment by Raphael — February 19, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
I am reasonably happy with my E90 but with at few extra things,I would like it even better.I am often on a business trip to different cities where I have a couple of hours or half a day free. I like walking around in my spare time. It would be very interesting to have a sort of back trekking feature in walk mode. Then I will always bee able to find my way back. If this feature also works where there not is a useable map (Hanoi, Vietnam) very good. Then I can also use it on my hiking tours in the Alps etc.
Comment by Ole — February 19, 2008 @ 6:52 pm
[…] Here more information about the new application. […]
Pingback by biskero.org home page — February 19, 2008 @ 10:22 pm
I’d like to say that Maps 2.0 is a HUGE upgrade. the new features and the interface in general is vastly superior. Especially the new search function. I’m using it more than google maps now!
Unfortunately, I’m having issues with my drive & walk license key. I purchased a 30 day license key on Feb, 1 2008 and updated to Nokia Maps since then. I’m running the latest N95-1 firmware. The main problem is that the region that I purchased the license for is not listed. I purchased the license for USA, but the only existing option in Maps 2.0 is USA (Incl. Puerto Rico) so if I try to put in my license key for USA (Incl. Puert Rico) I get a message that the key is invalid.
Is there a workaround for this or any way to add USA without puerto rico into the list of available regions?
Thanks again to the betalabs for releasing this
Comment by Trev — February 19, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
Hi Tommi Vilkamo. Will be an SDK available for Maps 2.0 to built own applications around this? For example to generate a POI while the app is running?
Comment by Karsten — February 19, 2008 @ 11:45 pm
Searching for Walmart gives me directions to a Walmart alright–IN MEXICO. Funny, because I did this search within the U.S. and Canada both and got the same results. Many other stores that I know are nearby don’t show when I search.
Comment by PhoneBoy — February 20, 2008 @ 12:20 am
As a very satisfied user of the new Beta Maps version, I hope the Nokia Maps team will not be discouraged from releasing early versions in the future by the unhelpful outbursts from some reviewers. You could consider it a positive that some people have such an emotional response to your product - at least they have high expectations.
Comment by biskits — February 20, 2008 @ 12:31 am
1. Well said Tommi in 8 above! I heartily agree about the signal to noise ratio! So far is “if this continues” is concerned, let’s cross that bridghe when we come to it, and in the meantime hope that things improve.
2. Well done Martin and the Maps Team for posting their response above. The content is very much to the point, and its great to be reassured again that Nokia are listening. (Martin, I’d value reassurance that your team will follow up the UK postcodes issue in the Search box. That’s the biggest issue for UK users I’d venture to say, and Google Maps does this, and extremely quickly too, so I guess it can’t be too difficult.)
3. Well said biskits in 17 above. I too hope that Nokia won’t be discouraged, and I had begun to fear that their experience of some of the user responses might lead them to think the process is more trouble than it’s worth! It’s good that they don’t seem to be thinking that.
Comment by Geoff — February 20, 2008 @ 1:16 am
Excellent software, but naturally still a few bugs. The application sometimes shuts down, happened once when trying to access “Create new route” in My Places/Routes.
On my wishlist is a much wanted feature to add my own POI:s from PC Nokia Maps. Would like add POI:s with coordinates and an icon for it e.g. speedcams and restaurants.
Good work!
Comment by MiG — February 20, 2008 @ 10:52 am
E61/E65 users… Stop moaning.. You brought the handset, well aware of its functionality and features. Existing devices are limited in performance and features (as will newer devices someday). S60 3ed FP1, is the requirement. Its simply because all these devices HAVE the minimum hardware requirements to be able to run this application effectivly.
Its like me buying a Playstation 2 today and complaining that I can’t buy PS3 games on it?
Comment by Nigma — February 20, 2008 @ 1:40 pm
Installed on my Nokia N95 as soon as it appears in this blog. In general it’s great, but I cannot even try the “routing”, cause it asks me for licence. Where is promissed TRY&buy? Also traffic is not working (I know that it’s a known issue but anyway). And I’m wondering, why Google Maps use GSM only so good and Nokia Maps takes ~15 min near the window to find me?
Comment by Alex G — February 20, 2008 @ 3:10 pm
a) Redrawing maps seems to be a bit faster on a N95 8GB and use few processor cycles - I can listen to music and navigate simulataneously with only a few hiccups in the music (unlike Maps 1.0)
b) Not convinced about the search box as it takes up too much real estate on the screen
c) a point made before but UK postcodes are key. Also, 6 digit postcode without having to go online would be very useful (not all of us have “all you can eat” data plans).
d) Have downloaded latest UK maps but still very poor on walking navigation using footpaths. Tries to take me on a 3 miles route to the station when using footpaths its 1 mile.
Nick G
Comment by Nick G — February 20, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
One feature I would like to see is that I could add landmarks using GPS coordinates. And show gps coordinates of current position (or landmark for that matter).
Comment by sami — February 20, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
It`s work with N76 and Hulix 1000M GPS module (bluetooth) but when internet connection is on and i try to use navigation capabilities, phone is freezing sometime. I believe it`s caused by unstable connection (GPRS BTS handovers)…
And there is no traffic information for St-Petersburg (Russia), i`ll buy it ^)
Comment by booka — February 20, 2008 @ 8:23 pm
I can’t use any offboard functionality (loading maps, purchasing licenses) of maps 2.0 while connecting my N95 through O2 Germany’s APN “internet”, whereas it works flawlessly through WiFi.
If Maps 2.0 establishes a 3G connection, the 3G symbol blinks continuously and quickly and even after minutes of waiting “0.0 b” are transfered.
Except for maps all other applications work fine through the named APN - I can browse the web (including Nokia’s pages), get eMails, place VoIP-calls (via 3G) and get the Nokia catalogue by “Load!”.
Did O2 Germany block the maps server or maybe do they have a routing problem to your maps server? Could you guys give me the IP address of the maps server, which serves the map application, in order to check if it’s an IP-caused issue? Thank you!
Comment by Christian von der Ropp — February 20, 2008 @ 9:33 pm
Another O2 customer, with whom I discussed the issue, told me that the Nokia Maps server is accessible only through another APN of O2 Germany (”surfo2″), for which relatively expensive time-based rates apply. After trying “surfo2″ I can confirm this.
So O2 Germany has obviously blocked the Maps server on their most important APN (”internet”), used for volume-based rates.
Maybe a first countermeasure of O2 to hinder Nokia from entering application/service-market and so taking away revenue from the network operators. At least Ovi is still accessible for now.
Comment by Christian von der Ropp — February 20, 2008 @ 11:25 pm
Team - any ETA (however vague) for the release of Maps 2.0 for Series 40 devices?
thanks,
Marty.
Comment by Marty — February 20, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
Following sami’s comment, I would also appreciate output and input options for GPS-coordinates (in all common WGS84-formats: DDD.DDDD, DD MM.MMM, DD MM SS.SS and maybe also UTM).
Further I miss a detailed satellite status screen, that shows the reception level of each satellite. An orrery view like in the 6110 Navigator including sun/moon position would be nice, too.
Comment by Bratislav Metulsky — February 21, 2008 @ 12:02 am
Nokia Maps is becoming a great software! But… I still miss a feature all other GPS software have: Let the map rotate in driving direction. This only works while navigating and this is very frustrating. I often use the GPS while driving just to see where I am and to learn new street names without any routes. So please Nokia! add this feature again, at the very first beta I know this feature was present but for some reason it has been removed during the develompment.
Comment by Henrik Lundgren — February 21, 2008 @ 8:44 am
PLzzzzzzzzzz add some pakistan maps too..
just maps of big cities of pakistan
thnkz
Comment by sabir — February 21, 2008 @ 9:24 am
After using it for 2 days I must say that the improvement is great compared to the previous version.
I would still like a fast rough position based on other sources than GPS while the GPS starts up.
Some filtering is needed for the GPS position. Now the car jumps 20 meters left at a junction sometimes and I get really stupid advice. My suggestion is to create 3 positional devices:
- based on GPS
- based on dead-reckoning (measured speed + direction)
- based on base stations
Then add a kalman-filter and feed to output to the maps.
After this you get really consistant coordinates.
Comment by karri — February 21, 2008 @ 10:48 am
I don’t understand how some people find this is a very good product, even though I agree it looks quite good.
I agree with the usablility issues: using the application can get very annoying.
But the main problem is the basic function of the software itself: it does not compute the best routes. The time estimation is every time by far too optimistic, and hence totally wrong. Which makes it incapable of computing the “quickest” route, as it gets the time wrong.
My experience in Paris is that the proposed route is never good. Other products (tomtom, sygic) offer an accurate estimation of the time and the computed routes are usually very efficient. Right now, Nokia Maps really is a bit what Wayfinder was 2 years ago when it comes to turn-by-turn in car navigation.
So in a nutshell: perhaps you should spend less time on the bells & whistles of the software (which are usually not very ergonomic) and concentrate on the core product first.
Comment by Nicolas — February 21, 2008 @ 4:26 pm
Just a suggestion - right now you have to plan a route in advance and you can’t alter it once you start navigation.
So you can’t, for example, set a route from A to B and along the way decide you want to visit the nearest gas station (point C) without changing the final destination.
Garmin have this implemented as the VIA option which pops up when you hit drive to a location while already routing.
Comment by Peter — February 21, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
I asked previously if there was any formal route for submitting bug reports and product feedback but haven’t received any response, so I guess I’ll just post here.
Removing things that have already been reported, like the button labelling errors on the internal screen of the E90, I still have a number of points, all based around the E90.
- My car has a built-in Bluetooth handsfree function. During a phone call, the CD/radio is muted, and phone audio is re-routed to the car audio system. This, however, ONLY occurs during a call…but the bluetooth is always connected.
The end result of this is that I cannot hear the voice commands from Nokia maps. The phone sends them down the Bluetooth connection which isn’t live for audio.
With a Bluetooth headset it is fine, as the audio connection is always live, but with the car handsfree kit it doesn’t work as it only mutes the CD/radio when you are on a call.
A workaround needs to be found for this. If I disconnect the Bluetooth connection, I cannot make/receive calls easily.
- I know it’s an OS function that the current application closes when you hit the red button. Sadly, it’s easy to do when using the navigation controls, especially on the outside of the phone. Is there any way you could prompt “do you really want to exit?” or similar. Alternatively, could you store GPS/route settings until the application is restarted. Pressing the red button mid-journey is a complete disaster.
- In the ‘route selection’ settings, we now have 3 options. Shortest, fastest, economical.
Shortest should be self explanatory, although I’m not convinced it always picks the absolutely shortest route.
Fastest is presumably based on road speeds. Where can these be defined? Most sat nav systems allow you to set your average speed for different road types, allowing this function to be more accurate.
Economical is very interesting. What exactly does this mean and how is it calculated?
- Under map settings, we have “Maximum memory use”. On what? The system? The phone? Or the memory card? What happens when this is full?
- I think somebody mentioned it before, but we need a proper prompt for which access point to connect to, offering all available connectivity options. We would use (free) wifi when available and only use chargeable GPRS when necessary. Ideally it would prompt again when you start driving. I find it a lot easier to search and programme my route when on a fast wifi connection, but I lose this connection when I go out to the car. When connection is lost you should inform the user and prompt to ask which connection to use instead.
- The ‘my position’ function doesn’t seem to always be available. Why is this? I’m currently in my office with no GPS connection. I loaded maps and ‘my position’ wasn’t available. A few mins later it is available, I still have no GPS connection. If I use the option, it takes me to my home location…not where I am now. This would be the last location where GPS was used, not my location specifically. I can understand ‘my position’ not being available until a GPS lock is achieved, after that it should get the right place.
- I find application speed is improved when NOT using the memory card that Nokia supplied. Using a replacement, faster, SanDisk microSD card I find map scrolling etc. much improved. You might want to test this and mention in the release notes that memory card speeds have an important factor in application performance.
- I’m not seeing the cropped text around the data transfer meter than others mentioned. UK E90 model.
- Is there any way of changing some of the colours? Motorways are blue in the UK and it would be nice to stick with standard mapping colours that we’ve had in place for 40 or so years.
That will do for now, looking forward to the next software release.
Comment by Ben Rose — February 21, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
I think Nokia has to do better on Maps. I use Maps on an E90 and it’s a slow application, if you drive from Amsterdam to Muenich and you want to use the routing of Maps you have to wait till Dusseldorf before it calculated the route. That’s way to slow!!! And sometimes the applications ‘hangs’and the E90 has to be restarted. Come on Nokia, test yourself and fix this!! I hoped that the Beta-version would be faster, it’s not, and the UI is not tested at all. Nokia’s hardware is I think best, software and UI are okay, but Maps is on a less mature level, less usable, and not definately not worth the money. Again Nokia, please fix this on short notice!
Comment by Betty Bruijns — February 22, 2008 @ 2:18 am
I had subscribe 1 year navigation license for Malaysia, Can i still using my license once i upgrade to Nokia Maps 2.0?
Comment by Hugo Pua — February 22, 2008 @ 7:16 am
The new map for New Zealand has nothing, just the coast line.
Comment by Reiner — February 22, 2008 @ 7:55 am
I think I’ll just try to sell my 3 moth old E65 since it is allready old technology and Nokia is not supporting it. I feel that I’ve really spent my money wise…
I think that with the money (if someone wants to buy old device) I get I will try to buy HTC or some other windows mobile phone since I’m getting feeling that Nokia doesn’t care for it’s customers. Or at least they dont care about long term customer relationship. Making sure that applications work in the models that are being used at the moment is called after-sales service, which is the most important thing in log term customer relationship.
Anyway this was the last Nokia I’ve bought.
Comment by michel — February 22, 2008 @ 11:03 am
Hi again Tommi,
Stating the obvious, the signal to noise ratio is an issue for forum contributors as well as for Nokia, as a forum full of misplaced, irrelevant, ill-tempered or ill-informed comments is unrewarding to read.
I don’t know enough about forum technology to know what intensedebate.com or disqus.com are, but I’m coming to agree with you that tehre is a problem. A small example is the number of posts in this thread that are about the application, and would be better placed in the thread that’s already in place for that.
So how about this as a way of dealing with the signal to noise ratio?
1. Have two separate blog areas for each app - one for quick comments from unregistered users, and another for registered users. This would mean that you could have the best of both worlds - you wouldn’t exclude non-registered users from commenting, but for registered users, there would be the benefits of what is liklely to be a better quality dialogue.
2. For Registered Users, use the same technology that the main Nokia discussion area uses, that allows registered users to rate the posts of other contributors, and shows an aggregated score for showing the overall quality of their posts, as perceived by forum users. This would be great information for developers, as they would get a much better picture of which issues really mattered to the Beta Labs registered user community as a whole. It would also be good for the registered users, as it should provide for a more interesting forum, that there’s more incentive to read.
Comment by Geoff — February 22, 2008 @ 4:10 pm
Hi there,
Love the new Maps but I have an issue with it ‘forgetting’ my existing licence details. Using the recommended fix of Options – Extras – Drive&Walk – Select the region – Options – Update, seems to work but whilst tracking starts, voice navigation doesn’t.
When I leave Maps and go back I have to perform the update again before getting to the tracking stage.
Love the new layout though, app is showing great promise.
Thanks
Martin
Comment by Martin Doyle — February 22, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
I personally think that maps 2.0 is a good improvement over the old one, even with some of the quirks.
The search is the more painful one, it takes forever and often with useless results. Also Canadian postal codes are incomplete, i.e. only shows and searches by the first part of 3 digits/letters, and that’s a very large area (similar problem with US zip codes).
Routing is definitely off, even quite strange at times; and also seems often confused on what road you are, especially when multiple levels of roads (e.g. bridges, ramps, exists etc.), something that I have not had issues with other navigation software.
On a side note, I also had issues with my licence from vers.1, since I did a firmware update and directly upgraded to 2.0 and my licence wouldn’t work (likely because US/Canada is not listed as a region, which my licence is for). Second time around, I updated the licence in v1 and then upgraded to v2, and all worked well.
Still, it is a beta version, and things are definitely moving in the right direction.
Keep up the good work!
Comment by Doni — February 23, 2008 @ 11:21 am
Hi
Comment by Salah — February 23, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
Will this app be available for Nokia Internet Tablets? I wish it will, I’m far not happy with the current version of Wayfinder
Comment by szucsati — February 23, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
REMEMBER NEW ZEALAND MAPS!!!!!!
right now its not looking to good! :#
Comment by JOsh — February 24, 2008 @ 3:52 am
I like the UI and the search function. Currently navigation is not available for Singapore.
When will it be available?
Comment by ec — February 24, 2008 @ 4:09 am
All in all it’s working quite good on my N95 8GB, but there are still issues calculating a simple route e. g. from Nuremberg to Prague - it’s not possible! It doesn’t work with Maps 2.0 Beta (with new map data) and the *old* version either
Comment by wotschie — February 25, 2008 @ 12:53 am
Regarding comment #25 the issue is solved:
The N95, like all other generic Nokia phones, has an incorrect preinstalled APN-profile for O2 Germany: The profile for the APN “internet” has a proxy defined, allthough a proxy is not needed and this is the cause Nokia Maps didn’t work for me before, as the preset WAP-proxy only allows a few ports/protocols to be used.
However O2-branded Nokia phones provide a correct profile for the APN “internet” without proxy out of the box.
Maybe forward this to the responsible developers.
@Josh & ec
The maps used in Nokia Maps are not doodled by a Nokia engineer, but require Navteq (Nokia’s map supplier which are about to be acquired by Nokia) to map each country in a complex, time-consuming and labor-intensive process. As a lot of the required data (road signs, oneways, lanes etc.) can only be gathered by mapping vans driving along all major roads, this takes weeks or months, before you can compile all the data to a navigable map. So asking the Nokia Maps developers for your countries doesn’t help.
Anyway Nokia are absolutely aware, that there’s a global demand for local maps and they aim to achieve global map coverage asap, but it may take a while, until your countries are available.
See how Navteq’s competitor’s mapping vans work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxQEDVSc9p4
Comment by Christian von der Ropp — February 25, 2008 @ 12:54 am
Maps should be integrated with Contacts.
If I have someone’s address in Contacts, I should be able to choose it from Favourites list and use it for navigating.
Comment by Lasse — February 25, 2008 @ 11:11 am
Apparently it IS possible to get the address from Contacts, but this requires first going through the Address selection and then choosing “Select from Contacts” from the left softkey menu.
Not exactly what I’d call intuitive.
Comment by Lasse — February 25, 2008 @ 11:14 am
@Lasse,
We’re talking about the Maps application here. It links to contacts and works pretty well.
Linking to maps from contacts is a whole different ballgame. Contacts is within the phone firmware and can’t easily be changed, certainly not by the developers of the Maps application.
Comment by Ben Rose — February 25, 2008 @ 11:47 am
> incorrect preinstalled APN-profile for O2 Germany
Thanks Christian, I just sent this to be investigated.
Comment by Tommi Vilkamo — February 25, 2008 @ 11:49 am
Ben: I was talking about Maps as well.
Trying to navigate to an address specified in the Contacts is quite well hidden. I would have expected to see it somewhere under Favourites (like “Favourites / Contacts”), or when adding a stopover, having contacts as one of the top-level entries.
Going through Addresses / Select from Contacts isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. I spent 10 minutes before posting the first comment looking for it. Then I only found it by accident (obviously 3 minutes too late
Comment by Lasse — February 25, 2008 @ 2:26 pm
Nokia,
I have always been a fan of yours! And, I’ve never owned another device. Now, I have decided to move to Macintosh from PC (In fact, I already have!).
But, the sad fact is that, although I can easily install the Phone software from any OS I please to, even directly on my phone’s (N95-1) browser, it is in fact high time you guys started releasing the Linux and/or Mac OS X version of every app of yours. The market today wants inter-operability, and consumers don’t like being tied down! And, of course, with the current state of affairs, you’re losing a sizable number of customers to Apple on the iPhone simply due the Windows only approach of yours.
Give it a serious thought!
Comment by Anup Rajput — February 25, 2008 @ 9:19 pm
I have just installed the 2.0 beta on N95 -1
obvious the settingsscreen does not show the current settings but going into the tabform shows the settings
I think the drawing of data has slowed down when zooming it’s more blurry until you release the zoom and after a short while it’s “focused” can’t recall that from the old one.
It would be nice to have in settings a way to disable the zoom markers to the right after a week or so you know them.
perhaps a autohide of the searchbar/selectable in settings could popup when pressing middlebutton.
what does memoryuse mean? will it be better with more memory?
BTW how often is the maps updated is there a way to know when to reload the maps for us that is using preloaded countries
Ola
Comment by Ola — February 26, 2008 @ 1:29 am
No 7 digit Postcode search facility for the UK like in other Sat Nav Software from TOM TOM etc.Needs fixing to make a viable product in the UK.
Thanks for litening and apologising for bad UI on E90.
Comment by Heiko Luder — February 26, 2008 @ 3:44 am
Nokia Maps 2.0 seems like a great improvment, but ther is one seriously big problem with this software. After installing I could not use it to navigate any more. I have a vice guided function activated on my N82, but all of this disapered after installing Nokia Maps 2.0 Beta, and I had to go back to version 1, I find it strange if you want people to test out new beta software, that you don’t let us use the Navigate function.
Any comments on this?
Comment by RAB — February 26, 2008 @ 3:48 am
@Anup - There are 2 sides to every story.
Linux and Mac owners voluntarily choose to move to Windows. You should make that decision based on what is cool or trendy, but actually what works best for you as a user.
For example, my main areas of PC usage are web browsing, word processing, iTunes and gaming. I stick with Windows purely because my games won’t work on the Mac or Linux.
This isn’t the gaming software developer’s fault. Surely, if Mac/Linux developers want to tout their software as ‘leading edge’ and ‘the best’ then it should AT LEAST do what my old OS does. It can’t.
Re-developing the game for just the Mac platform would (finger in the air) likely double development costs. New installers, driver support and testing would be required. You’d also need a team of developers who knew how to write for the alternative platform.
All this would increase the price to the end user, at what benefit to the vendor? It would allow the same games buyers to play them on a different OS. I doubt it would sell any more games at all.
I expect things are similar with Nokia and their desktop software. Additionally, Nokia are primarily developing for their own hardware/firmware using Symbian OS…the Windows based utilities are just a bit of a non-essential tie-in.
It’s up to Nokia if they wish to support an alternative OS to Windows. It’s their product and their target market. They may lose some customers along the way if they find Mac support insufficient for their product, but I expect these to be very few. There are, for example, plenty of phone sync tools for the Mac platform.
It is a big equation for you though. Which is more important? Getting rid of Windows for Mac/Linux? Or being able to use all the OEM Nokia tools? If these tools are so important, Apple should make them work.
I know about a dozen people who have moved to a Mac in the last year. The first thing they did is install virtualisation software to get Windows XP running on it. So, basically, the first thing they did was admit that their new OS didn’t do as much as their old one. This is Nokia’s fault?
Of course you could always buy an iPhone, and be stuck with one carrier service…a great choice Apple gives you there.
You could use iTunes, which only works with an iPod device…excellent inter-operability there!
Comment by Ben Rose — February 26, 2008 @ 12:34 pm
This is my first time to use a sat nav. I am using Nokia maps on my N95. The Beta version, I just used it this morning and I managed to get it work which is very good. The previous version looks easier but the new version will be I think more easy when to get to know all about it.
Well done and Hope I will enjoy it more
Comment by Seal — February 26, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
Hi, I love the new interface, it makes it so much easier to use while driving.
The only issue I have is that in the UK when searching for an address from a post code only, it does not find the exact street and appears to be using only the first 4 or 5 digits from the code.
Other than that, brilliant product!
Comment by grimmy — February 26, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Hi, It seems to be okay, but as in the first version it would be nice if it would show the reel way you are driving, and not like you were driving in the wrong side of the road, when you not have made and navigation ??.In other navigation systems it´s called up north direction or face up. But all around it´s good.
Comment by Jim Mortensen — February 26, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
Hello,
Few issues in case you don’t know already:
1) Got “Update error” using Nokia_Maps_2.0_0511_s60_3.1.sis for E51. As an interim solution, had to first install old version then upgrade with Nokia_Maps_2.0_0511_s60_3.1_u
2) is cable transfer mandatory for maploader? hopefully not when this is released…who would have cables around all the time…
Cheers
Elsie
Comment by Elsie — February 26, 2008 @ 6:49 pm
What happened to the New Zealand maps? :\
Comment by Jono — February 26, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
Great update that is really showing it’s potential to be a great piece of software. Only two thing stop it from becomming great for me:
As said before the lack of a 7 digit postcode search in UK makes the software useless for me. Having a navigation device that can’t find locations accurately kind of defeats the object. Weirdly the 7 digit postcode search used to work on previous maps versions but now doesn’t so guess it must be fixable??
Secondly, the search box takes up too much screen real estate and teh map image is now much smaller than in maps 1.0. Prefer the search function to be a pop up box as the most important thing is to have as much map visible when driving as possible.
With these two things fixed I’d gladly recommend nokia maps to friends, but until then it’s just an occassionally useful gimmick for me.
Comment by Ed — February 26, 2008 @ 10:25 pm
Much improved from V1.0 and hope Nokia make it easier to use.. otherwise It will be TomTom for once they get it working with S60 internal GPS.
One minor thing is the road I work in which was in the V1.0 maps is missing part of it.. so no longer navigates me to this location.
I would have hoped the maps were upto date, even for a Beta! Can we feedback map errors?
Comment by ub8jayuk — February 27, 2008 @ 11:55 am
I notice in the installation instructions that for the N95-1 that firmware v20 is recommended/required. Since T-Mobile UK branded N95s still don’t have this firmware authorised yet (latest is v12) is this a hard requirement for Maps 2.0 or just a recommendation?
Comment by MikeB — February 27, 2008 @ 3:54 pm
I own an N80 which is S60 3rd edition but not FP1. Are you planning to release a version of Maps 2.0 that could work on earlier releases than FP1. I would most appreciate that!
Comment by Norbert — February 27, 2008 @ 8:32 pm
I’m another T-Mobile user who is unable to test the new release yet.
But one feature I’d very much like to see, is the integration of Landmarks into Maps. In V1.0, the two are entirely separate which doesn’t make any sense at all.
Categories added to Landmarks should show up as Categories in maps. Also, from Landmark=>Options, it should be possible to open the Landmark in the full maps application, not just in the limited functionality version of Maps you get when you choose “Show on Map” in V1.0.
I understand that V2 has favourites and folders; hopefully they will be used to address the V1 limitations.
Comment by KeithL — February 27, 2008 @ 9:26 pm
Thanks for the update to maps 2.0.
As mentioned previously will the option for a 3 year subscription come back? It seems expensive when I can buy an alternative product elsewhere (for an unlimited period) and then transfer between devices etc.
Also it would be really helpful to have a PC client that allows you view the maps, edit favourites, set preferences etc.
Comment by Simon — February 28, 2008 @ 1:51 pm
I’m found labels error in Russian language.
In English version I see labels “Drive to” and “Walk to”. In Russian I see: ” Drive to” and …. Yes, “Drive to” :(((
Comment by Dmitriy — February 28, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
I doesnt work on my E61I (latest F/W) This is not an ‘old’ machine and i bought it especially for navigation as it has the best screen by far. The fact that it is not supported just goes to show Nokias support for the business user.
Comment by Eric Stammers — February 28, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
Why the POI don´t work with Nokia Maps 2.0?
The maps still not actualised in Portugal.
And you want money too use?
A very expensive price!
Why?
Comment by Jose — February 28, 2008 @ 8:44 pm
I don’t understand how everyone is using maps without a 7 digit postcode search function - how do you find a location for route planning? Ok if you have a simple address with number and street name you can find the place, but so many adresses do not have this format and just can’t be found. This software appears great but just isn’t practical as I can never find destinations to navigate to!
Comment by Jay — March 1, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
Hi,
what happened with Serbia`s Maps? In Ver.No1 file size was app. 7 MB, in ver.No2 is app.4 MB.
With ver.1 it was quite pleasurable to navigate, with new version there are only contour.
Best regards.
N82 user.
Comment by Nenad — March 1, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
I was pleasantly surprised when I used the software today. I drove through a long tunnel in Hong Kong, so I expeced that loosing the GPS signal would make my position freeze until I exited the tunnel.
Lo and behold, the red pointer kept moving without a GPS signal, and I can only presume that the software used my speed when I entered the tunnel to move the red arrow along.
I couldn’t believe my eyes! Well done guys!!
Comment by alcatraz — March 1, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
I don’t know if anyone in the development team is still reading this post, but if you do, the following features would be nice to have…
Find POIs on route, great to have when you need gas or food:-)
Speedcam function. I have SpeedAlert from Wayfinder but the two applications doesn’t work well together
Comment by Anders — March 3, 2008 @ 12:51 pm
I have tried to install is on my N73 but when I do that (I have downloaded the beta version to be used when one already has an ealier application installed) it flashes a message indicating that since the application exists it failed to install the app. I have checked the version that is installed on the phone (from the “About”) menu and it says v1.2……..
Please suggest how to install thebeta version on my N73 in view of the above.
Comment by Sarthak — March 3, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
I am using Maps 2 on Nokia N95. In my earlier version of Maps with older firmware version tracking functionality was there which has been removed. Could Nokia consider restoring it back so that people who bought N95 with inbuilt GPS can have some functionality even without navigation license.
Comment by M — March 3, 2008 @ 2:26 pm
If Nokia want to reduce the heat in this forum they start by clarifying the issue of whether Maps 2.0 will only support 3ED FP1 devices when it is released, or whether it will support older devices as well. They haven’t made a definitive statement as far as I know.
And if it won’t be supported on earlier devices, Nokia should prepare themselves for a storm of protest, unless they are going to continue to support and develop Maps 1.0 on those earlier devices. People are so irked because Maps 2.0 appears to be taking away something that they can currently use on their handsets - Maps 1.0, and replacing it with something which they can’t - Maps 2.0.
If that it the case, it frankly shows a worrying degree of disregard for current customers. If you are prepared to dump a large proportion of your Maps 1.0 customers, why would anyone ever believe that using Maps 2.0 would be any safer? The natural conclusion will be that when Maps 2.x or 3.0 comes around, you’ll just do the same again and ditch all the existing customers.
Also, what about customers who have paid for a 3-year Maps 1.0 license? Are you going to refund their money if they can’t use Maps 2.0 on their existing handsets? If you don’t I’m pretty certain you are in breach of contract - you undertook to provide a service for three years.
You have a great product, but this is a fiercely competitive market and you upset your customers at your extreme peril. I’ve been a loyal Nokia customer since the days when your phones looked like house bricks, but if this is how you are going to behave, my next handset purchase will turn me into an ex-Nokia customer.
I’d like to think I’d get some sort of response from Nokia, but I suspect that is unlikely - although I’d be delighted to be proved wrong.
Comment by Alan Burlison — March 3, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
@78 - Alan Burlison,
I think you need to chill a bit.
The existence of Nokia Maps 2.0 does not affect your purchase one bit. You fail to say which handset you have, but when you purchased, it was able to do Nokia Maps 1.0.
Maps 1.0 is free, but you have to pay for a license if you want to use the routing/guidance features.
Maps 1.0 still works on these handsets. You can still purchase a guidance license and still update your maps/routing. It still does exactly what it did on the day you purchased it and were happy.
Whether Nokia release new software that doesn’t work on your platform has no relevance whatsoever to your purchase. It is still fully capable of doing what it did on the day you purchased it and the release of Maps 2.0 should not affect those functions.
Comment by Ben Rose — March 3, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
I’d reply but the comment system on this site appears to be broken…
Comment by Alan Burlison — March 5, 2008 @ 11:10 am
@Ben, Maps depends on back-end servers for search and map downloads. It also needs a regular stream of mapping updates to remain useful. Nokia haven’t said they are going to keep the back-end needed by 1.0 alive when 2.0 appears, so I can only assume they won’t be.
So I’m sorry but your assertion that the release of 2.0 won’t affect 1.0 is just plain wrong - you are assuming the only component needed for 1.0 to function is the software on the handset, and that’s incorrect.
Having taken money for 3-year licenses, Nokia *should* provide support for that period of time.
Comment by Alan Burlison — March 5, 2008 @ 11:17 am
Much improved interface from nokia maps 1. Looks better. However, it has locked up my phone a couple of times. Had to remove the battery to get it going again. This seems to happen if you move around the maps a lot especially when viewing large geographical areas (eg zoomed out quite a bit).
The routing is annoying if you take a wrong turn it often just gets you to turn around rather than a nice re-route. However, I think the routing is improved from previous version.
As everyone else has commented this product is nearly totally useless without 7 digit postcode. You can put street names in but what if the address doesn’t have a number and you don’t know the street name, like a hospital or unit in a business park for example, these often have their own postcode but you can’t find it that way at the moment. Also, with maps V1 I was able to search for some local parks, these are now missing from searches.
The three year license option seems to have vanished, £50 in the UK for a 1 year license is fantastically overpriced. You may as well go buy a dedicated sat nat with a larger screen and much better GPS receiver. £80 gets something quite acceptable (often includes extra features such as traffic and speed camera data) which makes this nokia solution rather expensive if you need a sat nav daily. There are also other cheaper and even free navigation software options.
However, for occasional sat nav users (such as myself) the £1.50 per day option (and one month option at £6) is also very good. This makes it much cheaper than buying a dedicated unit.
Having to pay for on foot directions is madness too since you can do this for free (there are data costs but this isn’t much) using other software. I’ve tried it out and the map data doesn’t actually seem to include any footpaths at all! As far as I’ve found. Perhaps this will be improved as time passes.
Comment by tim wilding — March 8, 2008 @ 7:47 pm
To all those UK posters: there is no such thing as a 7-digit postcode! It’s one or two letters, followed by one or 2 digits (making the first part) and a digit followed by two letters (the second part), making a total of either 6 or 7 CHARACTERS.
Comment by Chris — March 8, 2008 @ 8:09 pm
I checked the official blog which said that I could use my existing licenses but after having installed the upgrade I got a message saying that a 3 day trial has been activated. I have payed 99,49 EUR for a 3 year license quite recently.
I have the confirmation mail and a license key but I can’t seem to find where in the application to enter the license.
I don’t understand the licensing region options either. I bought a western europe license and at least it works in sweden, denmark and germany. I will go to norway, england and scotland soon and I expect it to work in all these places.
How should I activate my license and have it work as before?
//BH
Comment by BH — March 11, 2008 @ 10:04 pm
Here’s some feedback from a non-user. I’m non-user because Nokia and T-Mobile (UK) have not yet made the new version of the firmware available to their users, despite the fact that it was released almost four months ago.
I mainly use Maps when walking around London. I’m a light phone user,I don’t have a data connection. If I upgrade to Maps 2.0, I will lose the Tracking function which Nokia arbitrarily removed. I will also lose the locally stored search function. In order to restore the search function, and get the cut-down version of Tracking (the crumbs function) I will need to increase my plan to include data. If I do that, I may as well use Google Maps which by all accounts has better results and is faster for both searching and navigating.
I’m disinclined to subscribe to the Nokia system for the following reasons:
1. I object to the way Nokia removed the Tracking functionality.
2. I feel that if I do subscribe, I’ll be sending a message to Nokia that it is okay to continue to act with contempt towards their customers.
3. I object to the 250% increase in licensing fees.
4. I don’t like the fact that it is taking so long to release the new firmware for my phone.
5. I don’t like the fact that Nokia won’t tell me why it is taking so long.
6. If I do have to upgrade, I may as well go with Google Maps which, by all accounts, is a better product.
Comment by KeithL — March 13, 2008 @ 6:03 pm
Hi,
My phone is Nokia E51, it has Nokia Maps 1.2.
After I install Nokia Maps 2.0 beta, the map becomes blue color! How can I change map color to original one??
Plese go below URL to see the blue color map of Nokia Maps 2.0 beta:
http://qianwen.googlepages.com/BukitBatokCentral.jpg
Please help me to fix this problem, thanks!
Comment by Qian Wen — March 17, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Hi,
I wonder if there is a user guide for Nokia Maps 2.0? Please let me know the url. I only find
one for Nokia Maps 1.0.
Thanks
Tian
Comment by Tian — March 18, 2008 @ 4:47 am
Geat blog this. I have a brand new N95 (3rd ed, I think). My firmware version is 10.2.006 and model il R-160. I read that I need to update my firmare to version 20… to be able to install Nokia Maps 2.0 Beta. The problem is that, when I try to make an update, Nokia Updater says that there are no updates available for my device, like if my 10.2.006 firmware was the most updated. What can I do ?? Can I install Nokia Maps 2.0 with my present firmware ? Thanks
Comment by Lorenzo — March 24, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
I have an e61i and tried to install this new beta version before finding out that it does’t work on it. Now I cannot remove or uninstall the program and I cannot get the old Nokia Maps to work. I have tried a hard reset but it doesn’t work either. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Best regards,
Jeppe
Comment by Jeppe — March 27, 2008 @ 12:30 am
I agree with Comment 29 by Henrik Lundgren
“Nokia Maps is becoming a great software! But… I still miss a feature all other GPS software have: Let the map rotate in driving direction.” Is really essential- otherwise there is no point in really using the software without the navigation- it is really confusing if it does not show which way you go- or is that the point so people will have an extra reason to buy the licence?
Chryssa
Comment by Chryssa — March 27, 2008 @ 10:59 am
when is the next beta planned? that works a bit nicer on the E90 (not that obvious ui glitches and so on)
I am pretty pleased with the 2.0 beta version but i would like to help more by testing more version on the way.
Comment by Johan — April 5, 2008 @ 2:50 pm
New interface is great - “mature” as another user put it. Usability is excellent IMO.
Seriously though, in the UK we have a 6/7 character postcode. To only search using the first 3/4 characters makes the software almost obselete compared to competitors, for a UK market at least.
Comment by Harvey — April 6, 2008 @ 2:58 pm
I purchased a 1-year licence using Maps 2.0 but found the navigation feature barely works - it continually leads me down dead-end streets, loses the car’s position often when I’m stopped at lights, and takes me the long way round, indirectly, via back roads when taking a main road would be much quicker.
So, I downgraded to the original version of maps - but found the licence I had purchased does not work with maps v1. Nokia refuse to provide support and just tell me that I cannot use a beta 2 licence with v1. Why is this? This is absolutely disgraceful and I have lodged a complaint with the relevant consumer affair organisation in my country, and will be issuing a chargeback on the credit card used to purchase the licence.
Comment by Joel Clarke — April 9, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Joel Clarke (and others with similar problems)
On my *personal* behalf, I’m sorry for letting this happen. We have a Beta Labs entry criteria checklist, and there is requirement about Beta Labs apps being free to the users. As the basic functionality of Maps 2.0 beta is free, we interpreted this to be ok, even though the additional navigation licenses put into grey area.
Having heard about your problems, we will review the Beta Labs entry criteria next Monday, and I will propose a more strict policy towards having paid service licenses available during public beta phase.
Hope you will get the refund.
Note: this is just my *personal* opinion (not an official reply from Nokia) as I’m not the right person to deal with your particular case.
Comment by Tommi Vilkamo — April 9, 2008 @ 8:29 pm
BUG REPORT!
There still is a bug in the mechanism to search for addresses from contacts; if a persons street address has the format of number first, street next it cuts the string after the first space. This basically renders the mechanism useless for french addresses like “5 Rue Emilie” which would show up as number 5 on the street “Rue” and result in quite a few wrong hits
Also I’d like the first screen search box to look for contacts as well.
Apart from that I’m very happy with a lot of improvements in this version!
Comment by Rasmus — April 11, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
Some thoughts;
First, v2 is really an excellent update, I can’t wait for the full version. There are however some issues and requests from me;
- There is an issue/bug in search box: you can’t begin text with lowercase (i.e you can’t type “foobar” street, it will come out as “Foobar”, this may cause problems with unicode languages).
- Can you implement a mechanism that lets user to scroll/zoom in and out the map in navigation/walk mode? Sometimes I have to look at the next turn or junction before I actually reach there. Also paralel to this, I think you should implement an easier way to fit entire route to the screen at once. such as putting it on Options menu when navigating.
- IMHO you are wasting precious screen space with search bar and top title bar, can you make them optional/use a smaller font? Also can you make soft buttons and search disappear when not in use?
- Please give us different options for lookup types, i.e. North relative, user relative and free (map rotates with user) Someimes I get confused with the topdown look (2D) to the map.
Thanks, cheers
Comment by levent — April 15, 2008 @ 5:36 pm
The landscape mode is horrible. Garmin, Sygic or Route66 have an excellent landscape mode. Really ridiculous!!
Comment by swisstekk — April 26, 2008 @ 3:26 pm
Any news regarding a version working on none FP1 device (such as E61i…)??
Comment by Tom — April 30, 2008 @ 9:04 am
mi manca dati gps
Comment by carlo — May 1, 2008 @ 12:04 am
mi piace il nokia
Comment by carlo — May 1, 2008 @ 12:04 am
Well after getting annoyed with TomTom on my N95 I decided to try Maps 2.0 and activated a 30 day licence. I actually think the interface is cleaner and simpler than tomtom so I’m happy with that. After I finally realised that if you drop the space in the middle for a UK postcode it finds it perfectly, the search box made sense.
I think it’s missing the ability to review my route before I set of so I can decide to adjust it. This should be done as steps on the map screen or a text screen of each step. I’m really missing that feature
Also after working for 2 days fine, now every time I load it up it says I need an data connection and goto …. to set it. Yet after accepting this message it then shows the map screen and the 3G link is connected and transferring data?
I tried taking an alternative route to see how it handled re-routing me and for nearly 2 miles it kept trying to make me turn left and double back on myself. This seemed mad considering I was closer to the place via the alternative route I took, following re-route ‘back’ to where I went wrong on the original route would double up my journey!
But hey it’s a beta and it still works better, faster (very!) than tomtom did.
Look forward to the final version and would love to know when traffic data for the UK will be available? Plus anyone but the speed camera database on maps yet?
Comment by Darren — May 7, 2008 @ 12:39 pm
I have an N95 and have bought a 30 day navigation licence. It works ok but it regularly gives me the instruction: “at the next junction” or “3″ or “next possibility” or “250″ and these phrases seem to be missing the crucial “turn left/right” bit. Am I missing something or do I need to look at the screen to see the arrow to know what action to take?
Comment by james — June 11, 2008 @ 7:09 pm
James,
Something definitely seems odd, the instruction is pretty clear on my E90.
When you upgraded to Maps 2.0, did you upgrade your maps database and re-download the voice pack?
Comment by Ben Rose — June 12, 2008 @ 11:40 am
Thanks Ben
downloaded the voice files and now it works fine - (btw now have male human voice when before had femail computer voice!)
Comment by James — June 13, 2008 @ 10:19 pm