The visits to my posts about installing Nokia Maps 3.0 on the Nokia E71x phone have been nothing short of amazing! Hopefully, I’ll get some return visitors and we can have a great conversation going on this little blog. I have a couple of comments on the Ovi Maps (.sis file) service and things/quirks I have noticed from my usage. Before all of that, here are some things that might help in getting the best out of Nokia/Ovi Maps on your device:
- Make sure you have the latest version of the Nokia PC suite software, Nokia maps updater, and the map uploader software.
- If for whatever reason, you can’t get the maps to download via the Map loader software, check out this site which has links that point directly at the maps files on Nokia’s servers here: http://diabo.freehostia.com/symbian/indexmaps.htm As always, caveat emptor when downloading links from external sites posted here. 🙂
- Also, you might want to consider uninstalling the Maps Updater and Maps Loader software entirely and re-installing them if you run into issues about the Maps initialization failure, etc. It appears to have worked for the guy in this thread.
On to the rest of the post, if you downloaded the Ovi Maps software hoping for free Drive Navigation, you are wrong as I found out. Now, I don’t blame them as they have to make money somehow. However, you can get drive navigation on your device by purchasing a license from Nokia. Thankfully, the purchasing process is painless i.e. either online or at designated retail locations. For buying the license(s) online (a.k.a. on your device), all you need to do is: (i) Have your credit/debit card ready (ii) Fire up your Nokia maps application and go online if it asks you. (iii) Select “Options” and select “shop & licenses”. It should then automatically update with the latest offerings that Nokia has to offer. (iv) Follow the prompts and tada! I opted to purchase drive navigation and it cost $64.05 including taxes. Be aware that it actually charges your card in foreign currency so you will be hit with transaction charges by your bank. Thankfully, we’re talking about less than $1 with my bank, Wachovia (acquired by) Wells-Fargo so double-check with your bank. I have found the Drive Navigation to be pretty accurate and I actually prefer it to the Garmin XT software I had previously used with my Palm Treo 750 device! As always, configure the options to suit you such as making it take the shortest route (mileage-wise) versus the fastest route which might result in your taking random roads/alleys, etc. 🙂
The second purchase I opted to make was for the City Explorer which is supposed to act like someone giving you directions using landmarks in the city you are in and is tailored for someone who is … walking and not driving. 🙂 I haven’t had a chance to use it much, but I will update this post when I do. The third license I decided to try out was Traffic info and I can honestly say that this doesn’t do much, but tell me when I’m going over the speed limit. I live in an area where traffic congestion is not a huge issue. Thankfully (yet again), the license cost less than $12 for a year of service and I don’t intend to renew. If you have a data plan, it might make sense for you to be constantly updated on live traffic and it also allows re-routing of your trip to avoid traffic jams. If you only get online via WiFi, you will lose out on this useful feature for jampacked areas like San Francisco, etc. Guides is exactly like it sounds, but I’d advise you to only get this is you are sight-seeing in a new town, etc. It’s just another way to get more money out of you. 😀 Lastly, pricing for these items is also available on the <a href=”http://europe.nokia.com/explore-services/maps/prices_and_coverage/pricing-tables-navigable”>Nokia website</a>.
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