Tag Archives: nokia drive

Switched On: Shedding Dead Skins

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Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

DNP Switched On Shedding Dead Skins

Apple and Nokia don't seem to have much in common these days apart from participating in the global smartphone market. While the former may not have the broadest product line, it's riding high in the PC, tablet and TV accessory market, whereas the latter is fighting to make a comeback in the handset market it once dominated. But while their rationales might be different, both companies are providing more value to their users by focusing on differentiation via software and services rather than trying to make over user interfaces.

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Switched On: Shedding Dead Skins originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin

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Nokia Drive offline navigation review taking the Lumia 900 for an offthegrid spin

I've sung praises about it for years, but it seems like only now the industry is getting on the same train of thought. It could be my unnatural adoration of travel, or just an entirely healthy fear of getting lost, but offline navigation has long since been a top priority for me when choosing a mobile device. Or, more importantly, a mobile operating system. For the longest while, iOS forced my hand to Android due to Google Maps Navigation being available only on the latter, and while even that wasn't offline, it still far surpassed any other routing app in terms of system integration, map updates and general silkiness.

Even dating back to our 2010 mobile GPS shootout, Nokia has been a player. At that time, it was the outfit's Ovi Maps leading the pack, offering the only legitimate offline solution amongst a legion of ho-hum alternatives that required bits of data to keep you on track. But frankly, there wasn't a Symbian device in Nokia's stable that could show up my Nexus One in terms of overall utility, so begrudgingly, I pushed it aside. Eventually, Google came around and added caching to routes, which effectively downloaded all routing guidance along your path as soon as you plugged in a destination. The killer, however, was that it wouldn't take too kindly to veering far from that path should you ever drop signal. Close, but no cigar.

Fast forward to today, and we've got Google Maps already working in offline mode for Android 2.2+ devices. Furthermore, the company's Brian McClendon confessed to us at its June 2012 'Maps' event that it's "committed" to bringing all of the app's features to iOS (and potentially other platforms). But in my haste to find something in the here and now, I recently turned to the Lumia 900 for guidance. Literally. Back in late March, the Lumia-exclusive Nokia Drive application gained full offline access, and I sought to use the handset exclusively to navigate a 1,900-mile trek through some of America's most remote locales. How'd it go? Join us after the break to find out.

Gallery: Nokia Drive navigation on Lumia 900

Continue reading Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin

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Nokia Drive offline navigation review: taking the Lumia 900 for an off-the-grid spin originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia Drive 3.0 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late (video)

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Nokia Drive 30 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late video

Nokia gave us a hint of Nokia Drive 3.0's commuter-friendly additions all the way back at Mobile World Congress in February. It's been quite the wait, but the update is at last lurking in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Although developed at the same time as Google Now, the Drive update will feel like a small slice of Android 4.1 for Lumia owners through its predictive routing: it can learn when you leave for work and how driving habits will affect the trip, giving a heads-up about traffic jams before you turn the ignition. Windows Phone reasserts itself through the option of pinning favorite destinations as tiles on the home screen, and an automatic switch between day and night modes is just as new. Drive's My Commute feature will initially work only in the US, but it should be available within the next day or two for any Lumia owner -- so those being denied Windows Phone 8 still won't have any justification for being late to the office.

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Nokia Drive 3.0 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia wants to become the ‘where?’ company, Lumias to become sensor masters

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Nokia's Stephen Elop at CES 2012

Nokia is still taking its lumps in earnings, but CEO Stephen Elop has an idea as to how the troubled phone giant can carve out its slice of the smartphone market: like a real estate agent, it's all about location, location, location. As he outlined in the company's fiscal results call, the aim is to make Nokia the "where?" company -- the go-to for location-based services, whether it's Drive, Transport or anything else that locks in on our whereabouts. Facebook and Google are the "who?" and "what?" companies, Elop says. He also imagines that his own firm "could be a leader" in sensors as a whole, tracking subtler cues like the owner's pulse rate. Whether or not Nokia puts itself in front through positioning, the executive gave a small tease of the future during the call -- the next wave of Lumia phones will have "more differentiation," and both Windows Phone 7.8 as well as Windows Phone 8 will make their way to budget Nokia hardware.

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Nokia wants to become the 'where?' company, Lumias to become sensor masters originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom opens up MapShare to all 60 million of its GPS units (video)

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TomTom's MapShare offers crowdsourced updates as a free daily download

TomTom has seen the inexorable rise of smartphone navigation and decided that it needs a cheaper way of updating its head units. Its cunning solution has been to open its MapShare community to all 60 million TomToms in the wild -- which was previously limited just to smartphone apps and select devices. MapShare works by allowing users to update their, erm, maps, when they spot a change has been made, which is then uploaded when they get home. It'll now be aggregated and pushed out as a free daily download. Users can filter updates, deciding if they want ones submitted by "some," "many" or those officially verified by the company itself -- so don't bother trying to game the system to make your morning commute easier.

Continue reading TomTom opens up MapShare to all 60 million of its GPS units (video)

TomTom opens up MapShare to all 60 million of its GPS units (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 to use Nokia map data with built-in turn-by-turn navigation (update: deals too)

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Windows Phone 8 Nokia maps

You won't have to use a Lumia phone any longer to get Nokia's mapping expertise: Microsoft just announced that Nokia's map technology is being built into Windows Phone 8. Along with the requisite NAVTEQ map information, it'll carry many of the things that Nokia Drive users love so well, including offline map support, developer control over maps, and (you guessed it) turn-by-turn directions. That makes three major mobile platforms that have or will have driving directions baked in from the start -- it's now becoming par for the course rather than an advantage to lord over others.

Update: Along with core navigation, there will also be support for Microsoft's new deals feature as part of the mapping update, so you'll know when the coffee house around the corner is discounting cappuccinos.

To check out the latest updates from Microsoft's Windows Phone event, visit our liveblog!

Windows Phone 8 to use Nokia map data with built-in turn-by-turn navigation (update: deals too) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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