Nokia Maps 2.0 - a woman and pedestrian's perspective

[slitchfield]

Hearing that my long-suffering wife, Fiona, was off for a day jaunt to
'somewhere she'd never been before', I wondered if she'd like to get
help from some smartphone technology and try out one of the new
features of Nokia Maps 2.0 - namely the explicit pedestrian navigation
mode. She agreed and handed over her Nokia E51 for me to preload it
with the latest beta and the UK maps. I also stuck a pocket GPS in her
jacket and guessed it would see enough of the satellites from there.
Here's her Maps 2.0 report.

Read on in the full article.

[slitchfield]

Things to note from all this:

1) Next time I send her out, I'll install Screenshot as well, so that she can do more screen grabs of points she wants to make 8-)

2) Relying on points of interest databases has always been a bit of a mugs game. POI databases are gradually getting better, but they've still got a long way to go.

3) The speed of map rotation needs improving in Nokia Maps 2.0. A 10 second delay is ok for a geek who knows what to expect, but it's confusing for the average user.

That said, Fiona was generally impressed by the interface and had no problems navigating (sic) around inside Maps 2.0. The issue of personal security is a serious one for anybody though, and a lady especially. Maybe a voice-guidance system through the music headset or Bluetooth earpiece would be more discrete after all, as an option in pedestrian mode?

Steve Litchfield

[davidmaxwaterma]

Enjoyable read. Love the sense of humour

Perhaps it could be a regular thing; though I guess it would become less and less useful as she became more and more proficient.

[Ratkat]

I agree with your wife that the camera can take great pictures, I just wish Nokia would release a firmware update to get rid of the 'Green Tint' it spoils an otherwise great device.
You should add the location Tagger, works great on the E51 with external bluetooth GPS.

[malerocks]

Great Article...

Its always good to read things from a layman's perspective too, instead of just geeks like us.

Annoyingly I've just discovered that the Florida (Clermont) house that I am using for the next month is not on the latest Nokia Florida map, none of the same development is on there despite it all being built 2 years ago.

Interestingly it's not on TomTom either, though it IS on google maps.

I fully sympathise with Fiona's feelings regarding safety as she stood on an unfamiliar street with an expensive smartphone in her hand. It's even worse with an N95 which you have to keep open, with the keyboard fully extended, for the GPS receiver to work. You look a right idiot with that. Surely pedestrian GPS is one of the main uses for a smartphone Maps app? Why not place the receiver on the top of the phone? Has this improved in the N82 or the N96?

'It's even worse with an N95 which you have to keep open, with the keyboard fully extended, for the GPS receiver to work. '

For this reason and for performance I have continued to use an external bluetooth receiver.

[Mapperz]

Great review,
The N82 has the GPS at the top of the Phone (much better than the N95 and it's wonky slider).
Nokia Maps 2.0 the positioning refresh is a little on the slow side.
And the crows keep eating the breadcrumbs.... leave them on for backtracking if required.
Would be good to see the Nokia Maps Team combine the features of the Sports Tracker and the Nokia Maps 2.0 it's getting there.
Currently new N82 users get 3 months Navigation free when they purchase a new phone.
It is is far cheaper to have the maps pre-loaded on the phone, though you lose the hybrid and satellite mode. You can still used 3D mode.
Did a 10 minute test using Satellite mode and it used 18mb worth of download, expensive on any mobile network (lucky done it via Wifi).
Nokia please remove the 'Search bar' that is always blocking the map, put it in options>search (please).
More suggestions coming soon

Mapperz
http://mapperz.blogspot.com/

Funny reading though i am a woman geek so wouldnt have as much trouble as your wife and i know that road with no pavement and can you believe there is also a children's playground there so definetely not clever thinking by the powers that be. I have n95 and i think i would fallover and hit my head if i had to use pedestrian mode. It needs to be able to work via headset but not had chance to use it yet, so i dont know if there is an option for that.

dani2xll

Hi, I have two modes of pedestrian navigation.

1) Plotting a route. Looking at the map, READING it, phone back in pocket. Walking until I need to see the map again, getting phone out... reading map... until I am where I want.

2) Wearing the bluetooth headset voice and not watch the little screen. Simply walk and go. When in doubt which side street to take or simply want to check I am on track. I take out the phone and check the map.

Both modes are very inconspicous an make you look as though you know where to go and have a purpose. Which is one of the things that prevents a woman being bothered by thieves or vague street figures.

snoyt

Great article mate. You should do it more often . Amazing how much insight a non techie can give you

Good stuff!! And from Nokia point of view, I believe this kind of true "very human" stories encourage Nokia developers into action much more effectively than a random blogger arrogantly proclaiming how things should be done and how he knows better (the latter kind of feedback makes you defensive and find the flaws in the semi-valid argument).

Again, good stuff.

- tommi

Ps. about story-telling, I started to understand the power of stories when hearing Stephen Denning's (= ex-senior executive at World Bank + nowadays recognized author) presentation years ago. Also, reading books like Made to Stick and Presentation Zen recently, and having years of real-life experience about how stories spark action (and how academic analysis doesn't), have made me a full believer in the power of stories...

[krisse]

I think GPS for pedestrians will only take off when it's in the cheapest phones, which isn't a million miles away as the upcoming 6220 Classic has GPS and costs about half the price of the N95.

In 5 or 10 years time it will probably be difficult to buy a phone without GPS, and that's when the pedestrian features will start getting interesting.

For what it's worth, the pedestrian mode on the 6110 Navigator was pretty bad because the route-planning software didn't have much information on footpaths. Some of the routes it suggested were ludicrous. The 6110 uses Route 66 though, not Nokia Maps.

[bartmanekul]

Im very interested to see how good pedestrian mode is outside of London. Im thinking that out here in the sticks it wont be much better than just telling me to use roads.

If nokia would sort out the search bug in Maps, I could have a go.