Explore cities in 3D with Nokia City Scene for the Nokia N9
Tue, 2011-10-25 16:20Have you used your phone to find where a coffee shop is or where your friends are? Well now you can take that to street level using Nokia City Scene on your Nokia N9!
We combine Navteq drive imagery, 3D building models as well as terrain data, and used laser rangefinder data (LiDAR) to align everything. The result is an N9 application that allows you to search and explore point of interest data from Nokia databases spiced up with check-in data from Foursquare and Facebook.
We see it as a natural extension of maps that brings new ways of interacting with location: finding what a building contains with a click, or showing information on building facades including any checked-in friends that might be inside. The 3D visual environment aims to be more natural than conventional ways of displaying location on phones. Seeing how places look from the street helps you remember if you've been there, or recognize them when you arrive.
In the first phase we cover about a dozen cities in the U.S. but the number will increase steadily as Navteq completes more drives. First European cities should be available soon as well.
We're interested in hearing what you think about the app and the different ways you'd like to use it. So please share your feedback once you try it out.
- Tuomas, Nokia City Scene team
Comments
"we cover about a dozen cities in the U.S." - Who cares? Its not like Nokia is selling the N9 here, unless your plans are to make this available for the likes of N8 (sold in US) or future Win phones.
Great guys, I will also love to see this coming to Symbian Belle and Windows Phone 7.5, any current plans? How are you doing with the expansion of your supported cities on Nokia Maps 3D? I guess that has much to do with this project.
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HTC Surround T8788 Windows Phone 7.5 [7.10(7720)] & Vodafone 858 Smart (Huawei U8160) Android 2.2 (SmartLucky2.3) | Previous: Nokia E7-00, X7-00, N8-00, N97, N96, etc.
Nokia Suite Beta Tester | Nokia-news.com & LoveMyNokia.com writer
Waouw! Wonderful! Very impressif!
I hope that more cities will be available soon
Looks good!
@bartek
Yeah that is really Nokia dripping salt into an open wound...
@bartek, @EskeRahn - Don't forget the second part of that sentence, "but the number will increase steadily". So consider this a proof of concept for things to come. After all, "Beta" is our middle name (literally).
John - Community Facilitator @ Beta Labs
@John
Well, starting ANYWHERE where the phone is officially available would have been an OBVIOUS choice... And NOT in an area where a heated debate is on for why they can't get it.... Thus: Salt into an open wound. That's really a: DOH!
@EskeRahn - Understood. Unfortunately, the availability of the phone and the availability of the enhanced imagery, building models, and terrain data aren't in sync at the moment. Nevertheless, we chose not to wait on releasing this to start gathering feedback while new cities are being added.
John - Community Facilitator @ Beta Labs
it would be perfect if it works with n8