Nokia Maps 2.0 beta formally 'available'

[slitchfield]

Well, in theory, anyway. The URL is www.nokia.com/betalabs/maps but the software's not actually online as I write this at midday, 11th Feb. Comments welcome if anyone notices that Nokia Maps 2.0 beta sticks its head above the parapet...

Read on in the full article.

Downloads available now for S60v3 FP1 devices with or without Maps presently installed.

m.

[Nick17]

Downloading and installing right now..

Great, looking forward to maps 2.0. Also saw that the new share online 3.0 revision for ovi share supports puts a thingy on the today screen. Love it.... Now, just want an N96 with a bloody xenonflash, a 1500 mAh battery and NO tv. Can hardly wait until tonite to test the new softwares...

Cheers snoyt

I don't see any download either. Wonder where some are getting the software...

Ah, tried the following: go to maps.nokia.com using your mobile, click the maps 2.0 beta banner and there you are... This is the same url as mentioned in the starting topic. Looks like normal browser users are being redirected or something.

[Nick17]

Maps looks very nice on the N95..

The app is very big however (much bigger than the
586kb it says it will install..

Functions look very promising..

Not quite the place, but I like the DVB-H on the N96
(was one of the first to ask for this), but am afraid that
the same battery will not cut it.. Nokia should be building
in solar cells by now.

Love the new N96-commercial, which can be viewed
on you tube already..!

[neilhoskins]

"We recommend you do not purchase or use Traffic info with this Beta release." Mmmm.... that was my main motivation for trying it. Think I'll wait a while until that's sorted out.

What a waste of display estate...

Should work again. Nokia Maps 2.0 Beta was the most important Beta Labs guest so far. And as you know, this is the bullet-proof method for inviting the demo effect and Murphy's law to give you a visit... Apologies everyone.

Could you Steve update the title of this post? :-)

Why the heck should i pay for Nokia maps when i can DL TomTom straight to my phone? Stupid!!!

Unless Nokia comes with FREE maps for any Nokia phone, I dont see why someone would pay for such a service. (or maybe they're hoping ppl are stupid enough) Good luck!

my 2cents

[matchstick]

Why the heck should i pay for Nokia maps when i can DL TomTom straight to my phone?

1) If you're "downloading" TomTom straight to your phone, I suspect TomTom would like to have a word with you about whether you've paid for a license to use it.

2) Even when fully licensed the current version of TomTom for S60 doesn't support an internal GPS. External BT units only.

3) The Nokia maps ARE free. You only have to pay if you want the route navigation features etc.

[elp]

Just installed v2 beta on my E90 and the first thing I noticed is that it's almost as slow as ever :-( Zooming has been improved slightly as it now doesn't redraw the map until you've finished zooming. This makes it a little bit more usable. But scrolling is still dead-slow and virtually unusable. Menus are also very sluggish.

Apart from the performance issue, there are still a few broken bits and piece here and there but it looks like the final version is still going to be a nice upgrade from the current version. The UI could definitely improved, there are too many really tiny icons that are hardly readable and just make the whole thing look cluttered (actually, this problem only occurs on the internal screen; on the external screen, the icons are big enough but some overlap with each other).

Thanks anyway for having made this beta available to handset that already had Maps pre-installed. This is really nice to be able to test things and not have to wait for months for a firmware update.

Will submit a proper feedback via the feedback form.

[bartmanekul]

Interestingly, the new navigator model released will not have route66 on it, rather its touted with nokia maps.

This is good as neither company (nokia/route66) provided support.

Looking forward to people reporting if the routing is improved for nokia maps.

It's gone back to being "UNAVAILABLE for download".

On my mobile, using the hint suggested, the 2.0 Beta Banner Ad is now no longer an actual clickable hyperlink.

On the Nokia Maps page on a real PC, it's just the same.

And at the Nokia Beta Labs site, clicking the link for Maps 2.0 Beta, just re-links back to the very page you are already looking at.

I LOVE these staggered, messed up beta download releases.

*lol*

Oh well I'll keep trying this afternoon.