MapLoader 1.1, designed to pre-load Nokia Maps data onto your smartphone memory card in order to save you data bandwidth while on the road, addresses all the criticisms of v1.0, in that rather than loading data onto card as it goes, it now grabs the 100MB or so you typically need in one go and then writes to the card afterwards. In practice, this makes a huge difference, I downloaded and then card-loaded the whole of the UK in under 15 minutes.
There's also something dramatically improved about the way the myriad small data files and indexes are written to your memory card, since, in addition to speeding up the writing to card process in the first place, searching for addresses within Smart2Go is around TEN TIMES faster, with matches appearing almost instantaneously. And remember, the main application hadn't changed, so it's definitely something to do with the files themselves.
In any case, the speed boost is very welcome!
The overall status of Nokia Maps seems uncertain at the moment, with the beta not being listed at all on the main site and with a 'prelaunch' (que?) version listed for a handful of devices. The sooner Nokia simplify things with a proper S60 release for all 3rd Edition smartphones, the better. Income from navigation subscriptions will also be suffering as all the millions of people (like me) who have the original beta loaded won't want to commit to any kind of subscription that could be rendered null and void at any moment by the full release version appearing, with revamped license manager and subscription system.
Nokia's plans seem to include integrating Maps into its Mobile Search tool, but I wish they'd hurry up and just do it!
Steve Litchfield