20 July 2007

Navigation on vacation
with the Nokia GPS enabled phones

Beyond the obvious advantages of staying in touch, the one application that makes it really worthwhile having your business phone with you when you’re on holiday, is navigation.

Navigation is a useful business application because it takes the stress out of finding your way to customers, suppliers and to other off-site meetings. But navigation shows its value when you are on holiday too, especially if your holidays involve exploring new places.

Furthermore, you’ll still be able to ‘talk and walk’ because a call won’t interrupt the navigation.

Let’s say, for example, that you decide to spend a long weekend sightseeing in a city, such as Florence, Budapest or Barcelona. You can use your phone and simple-to-use mapping software to navigate to your destination, say by car; to find your way around on foot when you get there; locate points of interest to visit; find a restaurant to eat in, book a table and even check the weather forecast to see if you’d like to eat inside or al fresco – all depending on the type of software you install on your handset, of course.

Navigation requires a connection to the GPS network of satellites so that whatever mapping software you are using, you know exactly where you are on the map. This connection is free.

The GPS module and map software have to be purchased separately for most handsets, but some devices, like the Nokia N95 or Nokia E90 Communicator, have GPS functionality and mapping software (Nokia Maps) built in.

You can augment Nokia Maps by purchasing extra functionality online from Nokia, or purchase one of many third-party navigation packages which run on the Nokia N95, all of which provide turn-by-turn routing directions and many other features.

If you know what your destination will be, you can download maps to your PC using Nokia MapLoader and then transfer them to your phone’s memory card. Or you can stream maps direct to your mobile over 3G or GPRS networks – a useful feature if you are given to spontaneous meandering.

The maps available cover much of the globe, although they are more detailed – down to street-number accuracy – in developed areas. In more remote territories major roads and road junctions are shown.

Wandering around a strange city can be a frustrating exercise, but navigation software, like Nokia Maps and third-party packages - highlight points of interest (POIs), such as museums, art galleries, churches, municipal gardens, restaurants and theatres, as well as essentials like filling stations and carparks.

Depending on the software you use and network availability, you can have real-time traffic reports so you can avoid delays and even check the weather forecast. Some navigation packages provide a fuzzy-logic search engine for addresses, will integrate navigation with your contacts book and even allow you to share navigation details with other mobile users in your travelling party by SMS.

Using navigation applications on your phone instead of a separate personal navigation unit means you only have to carry one device instead of two, which for foot-weary sightseers can be a distinct advantage.

Navigation on your phone also means you can have integrated communication with POIs identified by the navigation software, if the software allows it. So, for example, you can have direct dialling to book a table for dinner at a restaurant, or direct internet access to the online booking facilities of a theatre.

If you make or receive a call, the GPS connection won’t drop, so you’ll still have navigation facilities. Better still, some navigation software will keep the routing directions on-screen during a call so you can talk and walk.

When you finally arrive at your destination and realise you’ve left your camera at home – don’t despair – if you’re using a Nokia E90 Communicator, it also has a 3 megapixel camera, or even better Nokia N95 with its 5 mpx sensor.