Nokia to release Windows Mobile-based devices?! - Off-topic

I've long been asking for Windows Mobile-based (as opposed to Symbian, the current operating system of their handhelds) Nokia devices.
Now, well-known Finnish mobility guru Tero Lehto, who often reports about Nokia's stuff (for example, last time he was presented a prototype of the next "big thing" from Nokia, the N95 - see report here), has also asked the same in his blog (Finnish!), referring to the limited success of Symbian in North-America. He guesses Nokia will produce Windows Mobile-based phones; he asks whether this will happen in 2008, later or even earlier.
Of course, nothing more is known as yet - this is all guessing and asking. The Nokia 330 I've reported on here, on the other hand, is already CE.NET-based (as opposed to the Linux-based 770 Internet Tablet). That is, Nokia is already producing WindowsCE-based devices - just not with Windows Mobile. This may mean they're open to release other WindowsCE and, preferably, Windows Mobile-based phones. Hopefully not just the E (business) series, but also the multimedia N series.
If Nokia indeed also adopts the WM OS for us, will be is very good news for all the people that have long asked for mobile phones with far better multimedia capabilities (for example, built-in DVB TV receivers on top of the FM radio receiver), 3D accelerators, TV output and seamless call recording - four things (except for the FM radio in ONE, otherwise not very advanced and pleasing model) none of HTC's current models offer (only Gigabyte's PDA's, but they aren't sold anywhere in Europe / America).
Also see this excellent review (along with the comments!) of the N93.

Related

HTC Kaiser for control of a UAV

I'm planning to build an RC heli UAV, with a control and video uplink through 3G network, based on either stripped down Kaiser, or Eten Glofiish x800. I would need software that would allow Kaiser to receive commands via the internet and transform them into commands for the control surfaces of the Heli, probably via the USB port on the phone. Being able to tap into the raw data from the GPS chip on the phone would also be nice. Can someone with some tinkering experience advise me if this is feasible? Thanks.
try some BT to serial adapter and connect the controls to that serial port.
Should be way easier then using usb.
Great idea. My concern with that is adding another wireless link creates more latency and another potential point of failure. But lacking a viable USB solution, this is worth trying.
avernix said:
I'm planning to build an RC heli UAV, with a control and video uplink through 3G network, based on either stripped down Kaiser, or Eten Glofiish x800. I would need software that would allow Kaiser to receive commands via the internet and transform them into commands for the control surfaces of the Heli, probably via the USB port on the phone. Being able to tap into the raw data from the GPS chip on the phone would also be nice. Can someone with some tinkering experience advise me if this is feasible? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand it you are going to try and use the Kaiser as a remote control for a remote control helicopter? Can I come and watch the crash?
The lag time in response is going to be so large you will not be able to control the heli - you need instantaneous response that you will get with RADIO control/RF - internet and no joystick will kill the copter.
IMHO
Bill
No Bill,
I want to use Kaiser as the brains of the heli. Kaiser already has 2 built in cameras, GPS chip, status lights (for switching various components), 3G network (serving as a video and control conduit), a powerful CPU for basic video compression and autonomous logic, memory for hi-res photo storage, All of this is packed in the weight of a few dozen grams (once you strip case, screen, and keyboard), makes it a perfect platform to build a heli on.
The main issue as you correctly point out is latency. On ATT 3G network it's b/w 100 and 200 ms. This seems to be sufficient to control a remote craft, but I havent tested it, provided there is virtually no delay in other aspects of delivering commands to the controls.
Microsoft Robotics Studio is probably the best place to start...but I think that latency will become an issue. http://www.wimobot.com/
skyegalen said:
snip...but I think that latency will become an issue. http://www.wimobot.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can state catogorically - that no matter how much I love this phone and the current ROM - there are ALWAYS some "pauses" when you are using the internet - where "something" chokes and pukes.
When you are flying a remote control even a 1 second hiccup can be fatal to your craft.
I concur - I believe that latency will be the issue to overcome.
Bill
wouldn't there be a way to just add a program with no gui front in to run it. The video and everything lags it. I'm sure you could do something you have to remote into to adjust.. super simple.
I only picked Kaiser because it has 3G, 2 cameras, and GPS chip. If you can suggest an alternative HTC phone, I'd be glad to hear it (no x7500 please). Don't forget though, that the phone will not be used to render graphics on screen, which, as I think, is its main bottleneck due to missing graphics drivers. Also, it will only run programs necessary for aircraft operation, and none of the bloat that most people's phones are loaded with.
Thanks for the Wimobot link. It's very useful.
I heard the iphone 3g can get er done.
http://gizmodo.com/5016947/berkeley-group-uses-iphone-to-control-uav-squadron
Nah, they use it to control the craft. It's surprising that it has even made news. I guess its all due to the iPhone hype. If they had made iPhone the brains of their UAVs, that would be a story then.
That would work well witht that phone, from what I understand it has something inside of it to tell it when it's level and upside down.
I think what he wants is real time operation of an aircraft. That iPhone story seems to say that the iPhone was used to send coordinates to the aircraft and they aircraft did the thinking.
Are you planning on having the phone inside of the heli or using the phone to talk to the heli? I've worked with many WM 6.0 phones and ALL of them seem to go slow. What is needed is a faster processor like the Diamond or Pro will have.
iPhone has a set of built in accelorometers. Unfortunately, I think they are not sensitive enough to use them to stabilize a heli, but I have to look into that.
Yes, they used iPhone to send directions to the UAVs, which can be done with any cell phone via text messaging or EDGE, or wireless, or Bluetooth, or voice-modem, frankly, making anything that has iPhone in it a news item is getting ridiculous.
Diamond and Pro are rather on the expensive side. From my experience with Wizard and Wing, the hardware specs are not bad, it seems the bottleneck is graphics and running many applications in parallel. In my case, it would only be video transmission through a service like Qik, AI for autopilot, and commands sent to that AI through 3G or as a fallback, SMS. While it sounds resource-intensive, people have made homebrew autopilots for their planes using 8Mhz cpus.
My main concern is how to get the AI autopilot soft running on the smartphone to interface with motor and servos. So the main issue is getting a low level USB driver that would allow in/out via USB, but in analog fashion.
I would suggest making your own computer for it.
http://www.logicsupply.com/categories/mainboards/pico_itx
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...AT&T+USBConnect+881+(Refurb)&q_sku=sku1230011
Then use a thumb or sd drive with
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Chumley,
Those things together weigh 3 times more than stripped Kaiser, and thats not counting increased power consumption.
I ended up getting a RC heli for xmas. A nice fancy one at that. Now I'm too scared to fly it and need to drop it on ebay.

Who has had a nokia N95?

I am going crazy with windows mobile. i have never had a reliable phone with windows mobile there is always another problem. anyway who has had a nokia n95? how does it compare with your htc phones?
thicker, compared to touch hd , sometimes may open to the wong side while in your pocket(tight pocket) and go to media, It doesnt have a touchscreen!!! I only had it for 2days(a year ago), cause my Nokia 5610 was broken at that time, and after those 2 days I had to give the N95 back and use Nokia 6230!! How about some other nokia with symbian like Xseries or maybe some other phone (non Nokia) with touchscreen and symbian?
Still have mine!
You cannot compare to HTC phone as it like compare apples and bananas.
N95 is a very nice phone and I have no problem with mine actually the VoIP phone feature is very very good on the Nokia, much better than on any Windows phone I had.
But it's a question of taste, some like Windows some like Android and some like Symbian, but as said earlier it's a very nice phone.
Garcia
love the nokia n95
i have had this for about two years...i have used it as a back up phone. Completely customizable! i have android on it via flash. i also pay dumpphone unlimited internet prices thru at&t and in my town its gives me 3.5g full bars...i use at home as my internet just tether thru nokia suite and video works great....and no tethering fee!the cam is also still pretty good!
I had a Nokia N95 which I gave to my dad. Typical Nokia reliability and good voice/signal quality. Only problem the phone has is that the batery gets wasted pretty quick, nothing a spare battery couldn't fix. I am not sure what generation it is as I got the phone 3 years ago... He still has it though and it works perfectly and still looks great.
I used to have it, but sold it to get sony xperia x1.. I loved the camera on it, best camera i ever seen on a mobile phone.
Here are the smart phones that I have used:
Samsung SCH-I760 - 1 year
iPhone3G 16 GB - 3 months
Xperia X1 - 1.5 years
Nokia E90 - 3 months
Nokia N95 - 1 year
Here are phones that I have access through relatives:
HTC Touch Pro2 T-mobile - I've used it for 12 hours
Well...the Nokia N95 and the Nokia E90 are pretty much the same thing except:
1) You will realize that an accelerometer, not found on the E90, is useless on a Nokia N95 Phone because it's not a touch screen interface.
2) The N95 has 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss high quality camera lens and senser. The Nokia E90 has 3 Megapixels with ordinary lens.
3) The Nokia N95 has excellent speakers. The Nokia E90 has excellent speakers but you need to place it on a surface that has an acoustic feedback (a wooden table is good enough). All-in-all the Nokia E90 speakers is 90% as good as the N95 (I promise).
4) N95 has headphone jack, and E90 has 2.5 mm miniature headphone jack.
Get the N95 if you want the music experience to be 10% better than the E90 and the camera to actually be useful. Get the E90 if you want excellent Personal Information Management and excellent media player.
All-in-all, I could not believe that the E90 was not marketed to the U.S. consumers. Because of this stupid bull**** reason, I bought the N95 first, which really fooled me. The E90 is a better phone.
Of course, this is coming from a guy who rarely use the camera, and mostly use the calendar application.
I agree with poetryrocksalot's points. I used my N95 in between my AT&T 8525 and Fuze. I love the N95 for:
- camera quality
- speaker quality
- Nokia SportsTracker. This is an excellent application for GPS tracking. I haven't found anything for WinMo that I like as much.
- smaller size and light weight
- built-in SyncML support
- general quality of hardware
Things I did not like about it that ultimately drove me back to WinMo:
- no touchscreen. I can't stress enough how frustrating it was to go from a touchscreen phone to a non-touchscreen phone.
- no copy/paste support outside of text editing areas. You can copy and paste in the SMS app, for example, but not the text of a web page.
- terrible, clunky email client. ProfiMail is better, but still limited.
- lack of ability to customize the OS. For example, the Nokia web browser comes with several useless bookmarks and bookmark folders that you cannot remove. There are apps that remove them for you, but they return on the next restart as they're built into the ROM.
- application signing
- lack of updates from Nokia
anybody want to trade me theirs? i have a good cdma touch pro i will trade or a htc wizard + sx66
romana said:
I agree with poetryrocksalot's points. I used my N95 in between my AT&T 8525 and Fuze. I love the N95 for:
- camera quality
- speaker quality
- Nokia SportsTracker. This is an excellent application for GPS tracking. I haven't found anything for WinMo that I like as much.
- smaller size and light weight
- built-in SyncML support
- general quality of hardware
Things I did not like about it that ultimately drove me back to WinMo:
- no touchscreen. I can't stress enough how frustrating it was to go from a touchscreen phone to a non-touchscreen phone.
- no copy/paste support outside of text editing areas. You can copy and paste in the SMS app, for example, but not the text of a web page.
- terrible, clunky email client. ProfiMail is better, but still limited.
- lack of ability to customize the OS. For example, the Nokia web browser comes with several useless bookmarks and bookmark folders that you cannot remove. There are apps that remove them for you, but they return on the next restart as they're built into the ROM.
- application signing
- lack of updates from Nokia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Application signing was a nightmare
If you are looking for one, PM me. My father was talking about selling his yesterday.

Question about bluetooth support

With the recent release of the CDMA kernel, will there be developments toward making the BGP100 (pocketnow.com/review/bgp100-bluetooth-gamepad), or any other bluetooth gamepad compatible with android? Or is the issue in the bluetooth api or something? I really would like to play Link to the Past without extreme difficulty controlling Link
Probably not going to get support for that anytime soon. Bluetooth is a universal component, but you must have support for specific profiles in order to use the functions of those profiles. We are just now getting OPP and PBAP Bluetooth Profiles once we get Android 2.0 or higher, and earlier platforms only natively support A2DP/AVRC and HSP/HFP. The profile support you would need for an external keypad would be HID.
I use the trackball myself to play ROM's, and SNESoid has a virtual keypad too, so you probably don't need something like that to still be able to play.
keeneraver said:
I use the trackball myself to play ROM's, and SNESoid has a virtual keypad too, so you probably don't need something like that to still be able to play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see how you play any of the "oid" emulators on the Hero.
What would be nice would bale to hook a PS3 controller, either bluetooth or USB, to a Hero & be able to use it for emulators...
The biggest problem you'd have with a bluetooth gamepad driver is the fact that no Android phone has a real gamepad, so most games don't even try to handle that particular input scenario. As a practical matter, MAME and NES/Gameboy/other console emulators are the only software that would really know what to do with one. The problem is that when no real standard gamepad exists for a platform, games end up being written that don't even assume that a gamepad is a possibility. Sure, some games might pay lip service to users playing with a trackball as a faux digital gamepad... but that mode usually isn't tested very well, because it tends to be so dysfunctional for real users, it ends up being more like a tacked-on afterthought.
Just look at the mess PC gamepads have been, basically forever. In the beginning, they emulated legacy analog joysticks, and sort of worked, because back then games DID actually tend to support joysticks. Then they became more sophisticated, added buttons, went digital, and ceased to be meaningfully useful with 99% of PC games... because games almost universally at that point had migrated to keyboard control. USB arrived, solved the driver problem, and made us realize that games still didn't have a clue how to deal with gamepads... we just never managed to get the damn faux-MIDI drivers working long or consistently enough to notice. Even today, you can go out, buy an expensive PS3/X-Box-like gamepad, and struggle to find a game that really puts it to good use, and doesn't leave you handicapped with it relative to someone playing with a gaming mouse or keyboard.
Ditto, for Windows Mobile. I have the same bluetooth gamepad you do... I think I managed to find 3 games that really put it to good use... and THAT was only because the games pretended that the usual 5-way controller found on most WM phones wasn't completely dysfunctional for gameplay... so by emulating one, the game would actually work.
Personally, I'd kill for a phone with the body of a Sidekick LX 2009, and the soul of a Nexus One
Thanks for the replies guys, I knew it was more complicated than I thought.
Yes I currently play Snesoid and Gameboid with the trackball, but there's no real control for action games. I love RPGs on the emulators though.
If the games supported them, and the companies made them, there'd be a nice market for mobile phone gamepads. I guess the masses aren't exactly demanding them though, well besides me
Well, assuming T-Mobile's "buy your own phone and get a huge monthly discount" catches on (or at least remains available from T-Mobile), I can easily see us having a HUGE assortment of carrier-agnostic phone hardware to play with 3-5 years from now. In fact, I'll go so far as to even predict that Microsoft is going to do two things to save Windows Mobile from irrelevance:
1) Release Windows Mobile 7 as a boxed retail product suitable for upgrading existing phones with supported hardware (read: anything made by HTC over the past 5 years, even if the hardware really, really isn't up to the task of handling WM7)
2) Ensure that almost any halfway-conventional phone shipped with Android can be reflashed with Windows Mobile.
Essentially, we'll have with phones the situation that exists with laptops: it might come with Android or Windows Mobile, but reflashing it to run the other instead (or running both with VMware Phone Edition) won't be much harder than doing it is today with a PC. Apple will still be living in its sealed-off bubble, skimming the cream from the wealthiest market segment that just wants their phone to be pretty and work.
The supreme irony is that it will probably be Microsoft that puts an end to the need to root our phones to do our own upgrades once and for all. They themselves wouldn't dare to risk the wrath of the US Federal Government by making it impossible to install Android on a Windows Mobile phone... and you can bet they'll scream bloody murder if they decide to start selling Windows Mobile as a retail product, and Android phones continue to get sold that make it impossible (without rooting) for end users to install it. Google won't stand for mischief by Microsoft, but I suspect it will be perfectly happy to hold Microsoft's hand long enough to push the carriers and federal government to create a platform-neutral playing field where anybody (with the technical means to do so) can flash anything they want onto the phone hardware they buy. Microsoft and Google are adversaries and opponents... their enemies are the American CellCos that would lock everything down and force users into walled gardens if they could get away with it... and in the meantime, will do their best to try anyway.
If you are interested in alternatives to the MSI or Chainpus BGP100 bluetooth gamepad, google search "modded by bacteria" go to the "work in progress" section of his forums, and search for the thread "Re-housed Bluetooth controller". The creator of the site, Bacteria, will be transplanting the innards of the BGP100 into an SNES controller. Previously, he has transplanted it into a PS1 controller. It seams feasible to DIY into almost any controller housing.

Limitations on Garmin Street Pilot in WP8

Well,
First of all, I know, there is a threat of Garmin and WP7, but I have to know if actually in Windows phone 8, with nokia 820 there is a way to install custom maps in Street pilot…
I have a Samsung i9300 running a cmd10.1 v4.2.2 and the maps for Uruguay are in img format or nm2.
How there isn´t a navigator for android with support to .img maps; and the nm2 (navitel) is incompatible with Android 4.2.2, because the versions more old since 3.5 (more old supported) and 5.1.2 (the last support for nm2) freeze with Android 4.2.2. and the versions after the Navitel v7 work well but the nm2 files don´t work, is invisible for navigation (Only the maps in nm3 or 7 are supported)… I thincking to sell my phone and by a Nokia 820 or 925 but I have to know if I can put the Maps from Uruguay created by MAPEAR in the windows phone…
There is a way? I can root the Nokia phone and install some explorer to copy the maps???
Thanks for some support here…
Calen77 said:
Well,
First of all, I know, there is a threat of Garmin and WP7, but I have to know if actually in Windows phone 8, with nokia 820 there is a way to install custom maps in Street pilot…
I have a Samsung i9300 running a cmd10.1 v4.2.2 and the maps for Uruguay are in img format or nm2.
How there isn´t a navigator for android with support to .img maps; and the nm2 (navitel) is incompatible with Android 4.2.2, because the versions more old since 3.5 (more old supported) and 5.1.2 (the last support for nm2) freeze with Android 4.2.2. and the versions after the Navitel v7 work well but the nm2 files don´t work, is invisible for navigation (Only the maps in nm3 or 7 are supported)… I thincking to sell my phone and by a Nokia 820 or 925 but I have to know if I can put the Maps from Uruguay created by MAPEAR in the windows phone…
There is a way? I can root the Nokia phone and install some explorer to copy the maps???
Thanks for some support here…
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nokia phones have free access to nokia drive, which is probably the best navigation software you can get for free. So far, it hasn't let me down. It even knows all the streets in my village hidden between hills.
mcosmin222 said:
Nokia phones have free access to nokia drive, which is probably the best navigation software you can get for free. So far, it hasn't let me down. It even knows all the streets in my village hidden between hills.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer.
I know how the Nokia drive is good, I always have Nokia phone before the i9300 ...
The only problem that is Uruguay is a small and simple country, all the softwares have maps for others country but for us...and for south america nothing is so good like the MAPEAR maps.
And i always use my phone like a GPS to make maps for all the people who works in the farm...
I use a simples software to make waypoints in gpx format and after it, in home, i open the garmin mapsource in my PC and build new trackz with that points.
With nokia i can transferência that waypoints ?
All that thing that Nokia phones are closed and lock is true ? No file manager ???
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Calen77 said:
Thanks for the answer.
I know how the Nokia drive is good, I always have Nokia phone before the i9300 ...
The only problem that is Uruguay is a small and simple country, all the softwares have maps for others country but for us...and for south america nothing is so good like the MAPEAR maps.
And i always use my phone like a GPS to make maps for all the people who works in the farm...
I use a simples software to make waypoints in gpx format and after it, in home, i open the garmin mapsource in my PC and build new trackz with that points.
With nokia i can transferência that waypoints ?
All that thing that Nokia phones are closed and lock is true ? No file manager ???
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure nokia drive has everything you will ever need, regardless of country.
I do not believe you can import the waypoints into it. Even if the file access was exposed, you wouldn't have been able to modify the files yourself, because the app will notice you tampered with the files and will ask for reinstall.
Hummmm...
In really there are many time that I want to by a Nokia phone, I just waiting a phone with a good procesor, 2 g of ram and a SD card slot...
But returning in the threat, I want export the waypoints for my PC and in my computer i'm going to build the maps.
With the garmin mobile xt I can do it, but with Windows 8 I don't know. If I can export the way points I'm happy.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Not a lot of point to 2GB of RAM on WP8; very few apps use even a large portion of the available RAM on 1GB models, and apps are generally not allowed to run in the background.
I'm rapidly becoming disenchanted with Here Drive. It does the job most of the time, but it has some serious flaws too:
Its ETAs are significantly less accurate than the WP7 built-in navigation was. I suspect this is because it's not actually very good at traffic knowledge.
It really isn't very good at traffic. In fact, the built-in Bing Maps app in WP8 is still better about routing around heavy traffic than Here Drive is, even if you launch Here Drive from Bing Maps.
It is absolutely terrible about road closures. I regularly get directed down roads that have been closed for months (which Bing maps knows about, incidentally), or get directed to go the wrong way down a one-way expressway that switches directions every day on a schedule. Bing maps (and WP7) were much better about this. These is *not* some obscure city, either; in fact, I'm less than 20 miles from Microsoft headquarters.
It has once completely frozen my phone (while navigating, when I lost cellular reception in a mountain valley). Tapping the Power button didn't even turn the screen off; I had to hold it down (or pull the battery, which isn't practical on all phone models) and hard-reboot. That shouldn't even be *possible*, of course, so the OS takes some **** for that too...
It doesn't send turn directions over Bluetooth headset profile (only A2DP/"Music" profile) the way that WP7 would.
It doesn't pause music playback when speaking directions the way wp7 would; it just mutes the music temporarily.
If the music is paused, and the phone is on Bluetooth (both music and headset profiles), it will resume music playback after speaking the directions (admittedly, this might be the fault of the Bluetooth in this particular car).
It won't/can't keep the screen turned on when navigating on battery; I get that it drains the battery faster (although the GPS does that quite well already) but I like to be able to see directions at a glance.
It doesn't display the full list of directions once you start navigating (at least, I haven't found a way to make it do so).
It will send you down obscure, tiny, alley-like, residential, or meandering country roads, even if the (slightly longer route on the traffic-free) highway would be much faster, because it doesn't know what the speed limit on those streets is and therefore can't tell that it's substantially slower than taking the slightly longer route (and yes, I have it set to "fastest" not "shortest").
It has no lane assistance at all (neither did WP7, but other apps and devices do, and it would be very handy).
GoodDayToDie said:
Not a lot of point to 2GB of RAM on WP8; very few apps use even a large portion of the available RAM on 1GB models, and apps are generally not allowed to run in the background.
I'm rapidly becoming disenchanted with Here Drive. It does the job most of the time, but it has some serious flaws too:
Its ETAs are significantly less accurate than the WP7 built-in navigation was. I suspect this is because it's not actually very good at traffic knowledge.
It really isn't very good at traffic. In fact, the built-in Bing Maps app in WP8 is still better about routing around heavy traffic than Here Drive is, even if you launch Here Drive from Bing Maps.
It is absolutely terrible about road closures. I regularly get directed down roads that have been closed for months (which Bing maps knows about, incidentally), or get directed to go the wrong way down a one-way expressway that switches directions every day on a schedule. Bing maps (and WP7) were much better about this. These is *not* some obscure city, either; in fact, I'm less than 20 miles from Microsoft headquarters.
It has once completely frozen my phone (while navigating, when I lost cellular reception in a mountain valley). Tapping the Power button didn't even turn the screen off; I had to hold it down (or pull the battery, which isn't practical on all phone models) and hard-reboot. That shouldn't even be *possible*, of course, so the OS takes some **** for that too...
It doesn't send turn directions over Bluetooth headset profile (only A2DP/"Music" profile) the way that WP7 would.
It doesn't pause music playback when speaking directions the way wp7 would; it just mutes the music temporarily.
If the music is paused, and the phone is on Bluetooth (both music and headset profiles), it will resume music playback after speaking the directions (admittedly, this might be the fault of the Bluetooth in this particular car).
It won't/can't keep the screen turned on when navigating on battery; I get that it drains the battery faster (although the GPS does that quite well already) but I like to be able to see directions at a glance.
It doesn't display the full list of directions once you start navigating (at least, I haven't found a way to make it do so).
It will send you down obscure, tiny, alley-like, residential, or meandering country roads, even if the (slightly longer route on the traffic-free) highway would be much faster, because it doesn't know what the speed limit on those streets is and therefore can't tell that it's substantially slower than taking the slightly longer route (and yes, I have it set to "fastest" not "shortest").
It has no lane assistance at all (neither did WP7, but other apps and devices do, and it would be very handy).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whoow...
Amazing feedback !!!
I will going to wait for a time before by another phone.
I read in GSM Arena that Nokia is going to Show somethinck big tomorow...
But today i was drive in a small village, in a midle of the farm, and the Navigator with the Open Maps don´t show nothing, horrible.
Uruguay is in the end of the Earth, but with Garmin i can use the .img maps of MAPEAR...
Why Android change all with Android 4.2.2 ??? Only for business, for shure *&¨%&¨&(¨&¨*
Well, thanks for the support !!!
I can confirm, that Here Drive+ (the new name of Nokia Drive Beta) has indeed the option to download maps for Uruguay, the maps themselves are of 47.4 MB size. This is indeed quite small, however I have no idea how big the country is, so it may just be enough.
On the other hand, I disagree with GoodDayToDie on one of his points: I own a bluetooth headset, the Jabra Wave Plus (love this headset), and I can indeed hear both the speed warnings, and the voice directions on the headset.
I'm using an HTC Windows Phone 8x.
Hope I helped.
@TheGoldrocker: Can you also stream music over your headset? If so, the headset supports both "Headset" profile (mono-channel audio + microphone, intended primarily for use with hands-free devices) and at least one of the audio / music profiles like "A2DP" which provide quality stereo sound but no microphone. A single device can, and many will, offer both at the same time. However, many cars still only offer Headset profile, and at least for me, the instructions (and audio warnings) do not play over the headset profile connection. When the phone is connected to a Music profile Bluetooth device (and doesn't have headphones connected), it will send all of its audio (including stuff from apps) over the Bluetooth connection; that isn't anything special that Here Drive is doing.
TheGoldrocker said:
I can confirm, that Here Drive+ (the new name of Nokia Drive Beta) has indeed the option to download maps for Uruguay, the maps themselves are of 47.4 MB size. This is indeed quite small, however I have no idea how big the country is, so it may just be enough.
On the other hand, I disagree with GoodDayToDie on one of his points: I own a bluetooth headset, the Jabra Wave Plus (love this headset), and I can indeed hear both the speed warnings, and the voice directions on the headset.
I'm using an HTC Windows Phone 8x.
Hope I helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, good thing to know.
I don´t know how big is a Here Drive + file compare to an nm2 (first type of Navitel file), but the complet Map of Uruguay in NM2 has just 30m.
Talking about Uruguay, it is a very small country, i believe it have 20009306 ha. If you take a car at one point of the country and go and make a complete "circle" in it, returning at the first point, the distance will going to be more or less 1800 km...
Well, returning to threat, what type the file works Here Drive + ? It works with .img or gpx ?
Nokia, i believe that in a short time i will turning back to you...
GoodDayToDie said:
Can you also stream music over your headset?
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Click to collapse
Yes. I just used the TuneIn Radio app to listen to online radio on the headset.
In the Bluetooth settings menu it says:
JABRA WAVE+
connected voice, music
Calen77 said:
I don´t know how big is a Here Drive + file compare to an nm2 (first type of Navitel file), but the complete Map of Uruguay in NM2 has just 30m.
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Click to collapse
The Nokia maps come from a company called Navteq.
I do not have any info on what extension or what format they're stored in, because WP8 doesn't have a file explorer yet.
However the analysis I can give you is the following: I live in Romania, which is 238,391 square kms, compared to Uruguay's (according to wikipedia) 181,034 square kms, it's 31% bigger.
But if maps also depend on the number of people living there: Romania's population is 20,121,641, compared to Uruguay's 3,286,314 (also wikipedia data) is an increase of 612%.
Knowing, that Romania's road maps weigh 115.8 MBs, I see it quite possible, that 47MB of maps can be enough to cover most, if not all of Uruguay's roads.
The road details are really good here, even most of the unpaved roads are mapped (and we have a LOT of those ), so I hope you get a similarly detailed road experience.
I forgot to mention, that as a non-Nokia phone owner, I had to pay for my Here Drive+, it costed about 33 Euros (44 USD). For Nokia, there are 2 versions of this app available:
Some phones get Here Drive+ (which is the same as the app I'm using) for free
Others only get Here Drive - this app only includes free maps for a single area or country. It can be unlocked to be used in more countries, but it will cost a little. I'd estimate something up to 20 Euros. Someone with more Nokia Lumia experience could help you more here.
I've used them both and I prefer Garman over Nokia drive. Nokia Drive is a basic Navi app, for what it does, for the most part does a great job. It's kind of stripped down as a navi app. I could not find how to show the full directions(I like to take a look how it's routing me before starting through to see if it's a place I want to avoid) or how to turn on POI's (places to eat, gas stations, etc).
Nokia drive is a nice basic navi app that is free but, If you want a full featured one, Garmin offers that and could be better depending on your needs. (too bad it does not support off line maps, but, I have unlimited data it's not a major deal to me)
Does anyone else who has used both agree here or did I miss something on Nokia Drive (I have a Lumia 928 in the US)
DavidinCT said:
I've used them both and I prefer Garman over Nokia drive. Nokia Drive is a basic Navi app, for what it does, for the most part does a great job. It's kind of stripped down as a navi app. I could not find how to show the full directions(I like to take a look how it's routing me before starting through to see if it's a place I want to avoid) or how to turn on POI's (places to eat, gas stations, etc).
Nokia drive is a nice basic navi app that is free but, If you want a full featured one, Garmin offers that and could be better depending on your needs. (too bad it does not support off line maps, but, I have unlimited data it's not a major deal to me)
Does anyone else who has used both agree here or did I miss something on Nokia Drive (I have a Lumia 928 in the US)
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Click to collapse
I just yesterday wondered the same thing. There was an update for HERE Drive. Its mostly a UI revamp, but it now displays POIs. Also, it seems to have a trail feature, not that anything can be done with it yet. I still can't find full directions either. It seems that Nokia wants people to use HERE Maps for that. Why Nokia insists on having TWO mapping apps, I'll never know!?
thals1992 said:
I just yesterday wondered the same thing. There was an update for HERE Drive. Its mostly a UI revamp, but it now displays POIs. Also, it seems to have a trail feature, not that anything can be done with it yet. I still can't find full directions either. It seems that Nokia wants people to use HERE Maps for that. Why Nokia insists on having TWO mapping apps, I'll never know!?
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Click to collapse
I have both of them installed (I own Garmin), and I do a compare on both of them for a bunch of trips now. If you just need to get from Point A to Point B with no frills, Nokia drive is your app but, If you want the extra features that you would get off a full blown Navi system, Garmin is the one for you.
Unless someone can show me How to get the full directions that it will be taking before or during a trip and POI but, I will have to check to see if it's there after the last update..

Alternate Thought: Why not build in the mini android pc into the car

I know I'm missing something about AA, but let me ask this newbie question anyway. Oh silly me ..... what is/are the advantages of AA ..... what if users like me are happy with our car sound and video system but just want a Google centric pc and display in the car. You can buy Android mini pc like Minix, Tronsmart and others for around $200 USD or less. 16:9 HD displays with usb touchscreens have dropped in price, so mount one instead of the Garmin type Navi screens.
Yes, for connectivity you do need a wireless technology bridge from LTE to cat5 wired. But really (!), for $500 or less you get great Android system built into your car and you get to operate your sound system seperately. You can mirror or even 'sidesync' between car pc and phablet/phone if you want. Heck, with those smart TV type boxes you can watch all kinds of stuff. With a little thinking, you can connect audio into your existing sound system. You can use any number of ODBII devices to connect to your car's port and run the Torque app on your car Android pc to have all kinds of car diagnostics and live meters. You have almost the entire Google ecosystem available like any other device (almost).
What does Android Auto get you?
I apologize for asking such a seemingly silly question. Why does everything have to become so complicated and expensive?
The promise of Android Auto and its current reality don't quite match up yet but it is very early and I think it is a matter of time.
AA (and CarPlay) is meant to surface the most important functions of your smartphone and provide a more integrated and less distracting way of interacting with those functions. More integrated in terms of working with steering wheel functions (e.g. volume, next/prev, voice command, etc) and current media playback (e.g. pausing or muting existing audio to deliver turn-by-turn instructions). Less distracting in terms of simplified UI with less touching/typing required and more dependence on voice commands. It also eliminates non-essential notifications while driving (I don't need to see the latest Instagram post until I am parked thanks).
I think it also showcases to auto OEMs what is possible with some good design thinking. I own a 2014 VW with the most unintuitive, cumbersome, slow, frustrating navigation you could imagine. An Android Auto head unit that provides an excellent Google Maps nav experience is light years ahead of a system like that.
Dropping in a smartphone Android interface into a dashboard misses much of what AA is meant to deliver. It may be somewhat more integrated but it is no less distracting.
SCKoman said:
I know I'm missing something about AA, but let me ask this newbie question anyway. Oh silly me ..... what is/are the advantages of AA ..... what if users like me are happy with our car sound and video system but just want a Google centric pc and display in the car. You can buy Android mini pc like Minix, Tronsmart and others for around $200 USD or less. 16:9 HD displays with usb touchscreens have dropped in price, so mount one instead of the Garmin type Navi screens.
Yes, for connectivity you do need a wireless technology bridge from LTE to cat5 wired. But really (!), for $500 or less you get great Android system built into your car and you get to operate your sound system seperately. You can mirror or even 'sidesync' between car pc and phablet/phone if you want. Heck, with those smart TV type boxes you can watch all kinds of stuff. With a little thinking, you can connect audio into your existing sound system. You can use any number of ODBII devices to connect to your car's port and run the Torque app on your car Android pc to have all kinds of car diagnostics and live meters. You have almost the entire Google ecosystem available like any other device (almost).
What does Android Auto get you?
I apologize for asking such a seemingly silly question. Why does everything have to become so complicated and expensive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your "build your own Android mini-PC" idea will seem VERY complicated to "regular people".
Regular people can buy a new car with AA HU installed, and simply plug their stock Android phone in. Or buy an aftermarket HU and have any of thousands of shops install it for you. How may shops will build, configure and install a custom mini-PC ? Mp3car.com MAY do it for $10,000.00 or more I guess... (See their website for custom work.)
Android Auto, after a few years of fixes and new apps supporting it, will hopefully provide a "just works" solution.
Android/computing enthusiasts may prefer to build their own systems and spend many hours tinkering etc. Or they may just want a "just works" solution here too.
Different audiences, different requirements.
Good points .... marketing savvy ... I like.

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