Posts Tagged ‘directions’

  • How reliable are Directions (or Routes) in Google Maps?

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    Google Maps does not provide metadata about geographical data used for geocoding or routing. This could lead to some astonishment when the user see the routing results in Google Maps. For example a route from Hungary to Bulgaria will direct through Italy using ferry connections and lasting over 3000 km and 1 day and 15 hours. The reason for this behaviour is not well documented or presented to the user. Google Maps does not have routing relevant data (or the proper quality of data) for several countries. For example it is not possible to route in Serbia or Bulgaria. Therefore routes running through these countries will results in detours.

    gm_route

    An other interesting example is Moscow. Yon can calculate routes in Moscow but not in rural Russia. Google provides a document where all countries are listed and you can find out about their current map functionality.

  • Navigon MobileNavigator for iPhone

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    Now Navigon delivers also an offline navigational solution for the iPhone. Several months ago TomTom was the first company that announced real turn-by-turn navigation for the iPhone.

    The application can be downloaded via the AppStore and contains about 1.29GB of North America map material from NAVTEQ. I’m not sure about an European version of MobileNavigator, but if it’s not available yet it is only a matter of time. Functionality of the application includes Reality View Pro, Lane Assistant Pro, Speed Assistant and Day & Night Mode, users can specify their Home Address and setup favorite addresses or access nearby POIs for faster address search. The route is described via voice guided turn-by-turn directions and uses the iPhone accelerometer for an horizontal mode as it is known from the TomTom application. Navigon is offering it up for just $69.99 until August 15th.

    navigon-press-iphone

    First tests from Engadget classify the application as recommendable.

    [via Engadget]

  • Yahoo Maps with draggable routes

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    Yahoo has updated their Map Service for Europe. Now it is also possible to modify routes via drag and drop, as you know it from Google Maps. They included also an function to revert back to the original route and compare route distances.

    In my opinion the user interface in not as intuitive as in Google Maps. You cannot see the route changing while moving the cursor. You have also take care to drag your cursor near an road, otherwise you will not be able to find a solved route. With this update Yahoo tries to close the gap to Google, but if you look at details you can identify some flaws not to mention real innovation in case of performance or user interaction.

    yahoorouting

    According to Mapperz following additional updates were identified:

    In response to users feedback Yahoo made some major improvements to Yahoo Maps

    • Faster loading time -No more waiting for the application to load - Dial-up mode removed
    • Language preference – Choose from one of the 5 European languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and German*.
    • Interactive print page – Customize the print page to include only the information you need.
    • Personalised routing – Don’t like the route yahoo provide drag and drop the routes interactively.
    • Saved locations – For convenience, previously entered locations are automatically stored and available within Maps and elsewhere on Yahoo, such as Local and Weather.
    • Quickly look up places through auto-completion.
    • Waypoint support – Get driving directions for trips with multiple stops.
    • Save driving directions – Two places to save, Yahoo! Bookmarks and delicious
    • Zoom bar – now with the ‘+’ on top.

    *Yahoo will be rolling out the same set of Maps improvements in Germany in the coming weeks.

    [via Mapperz]

  • TomTom Navi now available for the iPhone

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    At Apples WWDC in San Francisco CTO and Co-founder of TomTom, Peter-Frans Pauwels introduced TomTom turn-by-turn navigation for the iPhone. The application looks very slick and fast and can switch between portrait and landscape mode. The text to speech functions sound clear and they also worked on a TomTom car kit as accessory for the iPhone. You can dock your iPhone in and use it on your windscreen in landscape or portrait mode. With the accessory you can power your iPhone while driving.

    This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

    TomTom has intruduced also an iPhone homepage: iphone.tomtom.com

    And here are the first photos from the WWDC:

    wwdc-2009-keynote-1438-rm-engwwdc-2009-keynote-1441-rm-engwwdc-2009-keynote-1444-rm-engwwdc-2009-keynote-1447-rm-engwwdc-2009-keynote-1450-rm-eng

    [via Engadget]