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Nokia’s rebranded mapping service will soon arrive on iPhones and and Android devices, under the moniker of Here. For Android users this isn’t a huge deal, but for iPhone owners living in the age of iOS 6, it could change a lot. Nokia’s maps, on other platforms, have been fantastic.
The apps aren’t quite available yet, but the web-based version of Here is functional on mobile browsers, offering a glimpse of what we can expect. What’s so great about it? Quite a bit, actually.
Cached Maps: Here will allow you to select a zone and zoom level for any given locale, and then the app will download all the data it needs so that you can access the maps offline. I chose lower Manhattan at the setting which just starts to detail streets, and it cached a ~35 megabyte map for me. This is a feature I can see myself using on a regular basis.
Smart Traffic Routing: Unfortunately, the web version of Here does not have turn-by-turn, but its static driving directions do make up for that some. You see, there happens to be an option to select the time of day you’ll be driving, and it will determine the most efficient route from point A to point B based on the normalised traffic data it has collected in the past for any given time of day.
Public Transit
Yes, public transit is a prominent part of Here. But more than just giving you subway directions when you ask for them, it displays the name of each metro station on the map and gives you the option of overlaying train maps on top of the standard map (see top image).
Collections: Going on a trip and want to bookmark all the places you’ve researched on a map? Wandering around randomly one day and want to remember that shop you stepped into? Collections is a quick and easy way to plot points on a map. It’s like a more functional Google Custom Map.
Points of Interest: If you search for a business, restaurant, or anything else using Here, it will automatically generate a list of nearby spots that you might also be interested in. Handy if the place you’re trying to travel to is closed, or fully booked.
Of course, this is still just a web app, so it’s a little lacking when it comes to beauty and polish. But if Here can combine the functionality of the web app with the perks of a natively coded app, it could be really awesome. We’ll find out in a few weeks.
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Google maps in its current form has all the above… or have i missed something?(Competition is great for google … and great for ios users without maps)
But anything here that I won’t find on the already useful google maps?
Google map thinks that I can walk over a 50 metre wide habour to get home. Nokia map thinks that I should take the bridge.
Always nice to have a bit of competition. You never know, google may one day mess up their service or try and screw people over. In which case a use-able alternative will be pretty handy.
I personally don’t think it’s healthy to rely on one company to supply your whole digital life.
Rhyme needs this. Rhyme been shouting at Siri for weeks now to tell me where the fine bitches at. Siri don’t know. Rhyme don’t know. Somebody know I guarantee.
NOKIA! WHERE THE FINE BITCHES AT?
They’re dead. All of them.
I told them not to go and pillow fight in that old mine tunnel but did they listen? of course they didn’t!
I had Nokia Maps on my Nokia N95 8G Black – the best mobile phone I have ever owned, Jack of all trades, good at them all. (Despite owning various iPhones and Androids, a D-Pad is still the best one handed method to operate a device, and the N95 had a really nice one.) Anyway, the turn by turn voice assisted directions that were built in to the N95 and other Nokias were (are!) superb and no worse than today’s latest Google maps. So, whilst their handset business may still be an unknown, if Nokia can pull a Sega and leverage their content, they may yet be able to climb out of the pit they are in.
Cool that all of these things work…in the States. Any info on international compatibility?
Just what I always think. Just because it’s good for them doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll work here. But Nokia isn’t American so I’d say the chances are pretty good it’ll work well here.
So it’s just a poor version of Google Maps.
One thing surely I miss is that Ovi Map where you could use it without the need of data conenction, sure I could do it pre-downloaded offline Google map on my Android but bit of a hassel.
Yes and thats what Nokia did on Ovi maps just preinstalled the maps on your handset no real difference to doing this on your android handset
Question – will these features work in UK/rest of the world?
I’ll be interested to see how big an app it is, the 13mb Google Maps takes a fair chunk of what little memory I have left.
I currently use nokia maps/drive on my L800 and it’s great. Never let me down although I’ve never used google drive so I can’t compare