Industry analyst M:Metrics says mobile mapping services are on the rise, which is unsurprising given the number of companies punting these services to mobile users. Apparently 2.7% of UK mobile users accessed maps on their phones during May this year, which is about 2.1 million people.Browser-based maps are the most popular form, with 57% of European mobile map users accessing them that way, compared to less than a third through dedicated applications. M:Metrics also has some stats on where us Brits are using mobile maps - 57.9% use them while driving, 30.2% while on public transport, and 41% while walking, running or biking.It’d be interesting to see a more detailed breakdown of which mapping services are most popular. I’ve been using Google Maps heavily on the iPhone recently, for example, but I’m not sure if the mobile browser version is dominant on other handsets or not.
Tag Archive for 'Maps'
Live in London, Berlin or Madrid? Got a Nokia phone with GPS and some spare time?
Then Nokia needs your help. Nokia’s Beta Labs are trying to improve the @Drive’ satnav add-on for Nokia Maps and are looking for test users who drive in those three cities who wouldn’t mind helping them conduct some tests.
In return you get, “an opportunity for you to influence the development of the car navigation feature for the next software release” which is all well and good but hopefully you might get a tshirt or something nice as well.
If you use Drive and fancy helping out, contact Nokia via this form and await further instructions. Nokia will contact a selection of applicant in the next few days, ready to start the tests around July 21st.
Are you a company with a mobile application or service that has some - any - relevance to Moscow or football? Then this is the week to be making sure Man Utd and Chelsea fans know about it! Such is the case with Nokia, which is pitching its Nokia Maps app as the essential companion to anyone heading to Russia for the Champions League Final. Nokia is offering its Moscow map for free download to any GPS-enabled Nokia phones, with a street-by-street guide to the city, A-to-B pedestrian navigation, and info on key train stations, hotels, bars, restaurants and, of course, the stadium itself. Now, if someone can just offer a mobile application giving English fans the Russian phrase for ‘I’m sorry, officer, when I threw that chair at you, I was just expressing the high respect I have for your country and culture. Please don’t shoot me’, everything’ll be just grand.
You might think that Sony Ericsson, Samsung or maybe even an upstart like LG or Apple would be considered more direct competitors to the mobile behemoth that is Nokia, but the ever contrary Finnish company sees things differently, declaring Google as it’s main dueler.
It seems however that this is not a presumptive comment about the potential success of Android, but rather some mild chest beating about some of the inroads the company has been making on some of Google’s more established territory.
Specifically, mobile advertising is where Nokia believes it could step up to the plate as it has shipped over 35 million GPS-enabled mobile phones this year all capable of supporting location-based mobile advertising. Google is somewhat interested in this slice of the market as it already commands the lion’s share of online advertising and location-based mobile advertising is a particularly fertile economic pasture at the moment. It’s no surprise that Nokia is making an aggressive play in that area. Continue reading ‘Nokia going after Google…’
Nokia Beta Labs has released an update to the Nokia Maps app for S60 3rd Edition phones that adds realtime traffic updates to the device.
Using data gathered from collaborators ARC Transistance (they only sound like a form of radiation, they are in fact a Europe-wide body of automotive clubs like the AA) the Maps app will show traffic troublespots near your vehicle updated in as near to real time as your connection and their servers will allow which will let you steer your way trhough any roadworks, jams or other hazards.
Not that you should be gazing at your mobile while driving, of course. Hmm. Maybe you should get a passenger to check it for you.
There seems to be a slight bug in the current release that causes the app to download too much trafifc data at once, so it might be worth holding off on this one for a couple of days.
Nokia Beta Labs has used the Mobile World Congress to announce the release of Nokia Maps 2.0.
The new version of Nokia’s rival to Google Maps Mobile now has maps covering over 200 countries - many of which feature 3D and satellite imagery.
Version 2.0 has added Walk - a pedestrian route finder that complements the existing Drive in-car navigation system. Walk can give information about the surrounding area and shortcuts and can use the built-in compass of the Nokia 6210 to show which way you are walking.
Also new is the selection of downloadable multimedia city guides that point out notable features with audio and video descriptions.
Maps is fully compatible with built in and external GPS but seems to lack the My Location ‘pseudo GPS’ feature included in the latest Google Maps release although, given My Location’s lack of precision, this may not be such a loss.
As this is still a beta, Nokia recommend not trying to use their Traffic Info service and advise that some of the new map data might be drawn incorrectly.
This week Nokia held its annual Nokia World Conference in Amsterdam, outlining its 2008 plans. The key themes in CEO and President Olli-Pekka Kallsvuo’s keynote address were; the ‘convergence of mobility and the internet’; and the need for environmental sustainability.
Ovi
Central to Nokia’s ‘vision’ of ‘convergence of mobility’, is the merging of individual services such as mobile applications and mobile internet services, into a kind of joined-up suite of integrated services.
The aim of Ovi is to link different services across mobile, online and PC platforms – for instance linking Nokia Maps to Nokia Photos, to enable people to take pictures of/at a location, share them with friends on their mobiles and online.
Ovi launched this year with Nokia Maps, Nokia Music Store and this month, N-Gage games service. Nokia Intellisyc Email was also launched as well as web communities (such as Widsets and MOSH), and app downloads via the new Nokia Download! service available on new NSeries devices.
A web portal to Ovi is being launched next year, while an on-device version is already available on the 8GB versions of the Nokia N81 and N95, with new NSeries devices getting Ovi in 2008.
Read on for more of the highlights of the 2007 Nokia World Conference….
Continue reading ‘Nokia World 2007 Round-up:’
Nokia have released updates the firmware (the built-in software that runs the phone) to both the N81 and N95 8GB devices.
The N81 update provides improvements to Wi-Fi performance and management, memory handling and camera stability, while the N95 8GB receives bug fixes to Nokia Maps and the integrated web browser.
The updates can be downloaded using the Nokia Software Updater - or at least it can if you have access to a PC running either Windows 2000, XP or Vista. Mac and Linux users are out of luck, as are people who just don’t own a computer.
Aren’t Nokia always telling us that our phones are computers nowadays, anyway? As both phones have wireless internet access and 8 GB of storage, surely it should be possible to download this kind of update straight to the phone without a PC acting as middle-man?
Nokia has updated its S60 3rd Edition (Nseries et al) Maps application, adding user-requested features including a data-use counter, and an indicator to show when you’re connected to a satellite. Also improved is the user interface, which has been ’streamlined’, and the search categories have been updated.
The new version also comes with a free three-day trial Navigation license (the useful bit), which should function in around 50 of the 150 countries that have been mapped (full list here). Also updated is the PC-only Nokia Map Loader
app, which is designed to ease the process of loading new maps into your phone.
You can check it all out & download from Nokia’s Maps pages — obviously you need a GPS-enabled phone to use it. Having checked the coverage list, we’re curious to know how Ewan McGregor managed to ‘”stay on track” all the way through Africa with a 6110 Navigator handset, given that only South Africa is offered with navigable mapping…
