Nokia phone = Free world wide GPS ?

bargrin on 13/01/2012 - 20:25

Hey

Someone posted a Nokia deal but it got pulled. The deal looked like Nokia phones all get free world wide maps with navigation. Anyone know if that's right ?

I assume nokia needs to compete with android and iPhone so offers Nokia navigation street maps for free?

Thing is I was going to sell me Nokia N95, but if I can use it as a portable GPS without needing to use interent for maps then it be great to keep and use for travelling. At the moment if I go travelling and need GPS I take android phone but need to buy SIM card locally to feed map app with internet data.

….Much sweeter if can download country maps to my Nokia and store on phone permanently.

Mobile

Comments

  • pao2x on 13/01/2012 - 21:23

    That's right, I have used gps navigation for nokia in a few different countries now. All you need is to download the maps to your phone by ovi suite. Some of them are pretty big, Australia has 500mb of data for its map and continental USA is in the gigabytes. All offline. Although data helps a lot with positioning

    • bargrin on 14/01/2012 - 02:26

      yeah I remember when using n95 for GPS one problem always had was positioning, would take ages to get a lock on the GPS satelite but I though that was fixed by some app you had to download.

      • JakDac on 08/04/2012 - 10:51

        n95 FREE ovi maps ? I got one you have to PAY correct ?

    • cheepwun on 18/02/2012 - 14:46

      Hi pao2x
      Australia (& New Zealand) map data is currently less than 200MB to download (it's actually downloaded in zip form before Ovi Suite/Nokia Suite extracts it to your phone's memory card or whatever, where it becomes larger than the actual download. That's for both countries; Australia alone is smaller than this. Voices and Index files (which allow searching) make the total a few megabytes larger, but still shouldn't be close to 500MB sitting on your phone (extracted). Closer to 300MB sitting on your phone and far less than that to download (about 200MB to download). You can check how much space all these things take on your phone by checking the size of the contents of Cities folder on your memory card using your phone's File Manager (though some phones come without memory cards).

      Just making a small correction to what you stated.
      Cheers.

  • scotty on 14/01/2012 - 08:05

    Yeah Nokia has made navigation free for quite a few years now. Downloading the maps data has always been free on Nokia Map (or Ovi Map back then), but they have to make navigation free as well when Google Maps navigation was released for free on Android.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/01/2012 - 08:18

    I dont understand, both android and IOS have many offline map programs available free so why carry both phones.

    simple instructions here for your android using Google maps

    http://reviewunit.com/how-to-download-google-maps-for-androi…

    • bargrin on 14/01/2012 - 12:29

      Onh cool i didnt know googel maps now allowed download.

      Might reluctantly get rid og n95…was a great phone.

      • pao2x on 14/01/2012 - 18:58

        It's only a few square kilometers for each downloaded area though. I guarantee you Nokia navigation is heaps better than Google navigation. I use both + sygic and samsung navigon as well. Nokia is best.

        • bargrin on 14/01/2012 - 20:14

          yeah I might hang on to n95 its a work horse of a phone!

        • SlartiBartFozz on 14/01/2012 - 23:32

          I beg to differ — NokiaOviNavigation is one of the crummiest pieces of navigation software available. you would be better off using any of the well-known alternatives (TomTom/Navigon/Sygic/CoPilot/Google), although I can't vouch for maps availability for all countries and many of them you would have to pay / download, but the key is the software has to be functional and the maps are current. the Ovi maps are more often out of date compared to the Google/TomTom which I normally use, the interface is clunky and the imagery and feature set of Ovi is strictly first-generation, on top of that the in phone antenna on most Nokias ensures you won't get a signal in many clearview locations — you will need an incar kit with an antenna booster to get results like a portable GPS unit. oh but it's free…

        • scrimshaw on 15/01/2012 - 06:29

          Yeah, I hated the Nokia Ovi Maps that used to come with my 5800 and E71.

          Most of the time, it needed an internet connection to find the exact POI you were looking for.
          Entering an address was also a major pain as the interface was a bit unintuitive.

          Out of all the GPS software I've used (TomTom, Navigon, Garmin, Ovi Maps and Google Nav), Garmin ranks as my top choice, followed by TomTom and Google Nav.

  • activist on 14/01/2012 - 09:16

    I purchased a Nokia 2710 in Dec 2010 with navigation a great phone. Dick Smith sales Spiel "GPS Navigation: Yes with lifetime free maps updates. The 2710 uses version 2 mapping and I have NEVER been able to upgrade mapping as V2 has not been updated and will not be for Australia since purchase. Clem 7 tunnel and the new 5.4 km section of the Gateway Motorway at the Brisbane Airport do not exist. Some Nokia navigators take V3 and V4 mapping. Neither NOKIA (Philippines)nor 'Navteq'(Singapore), the company who produces the mapping, are able or willing to inform me about V2, V3 or V4 as to when the last maps were produced or for how much longer they will be upgraded. Nokia are offering me an exchange phone. One uses V3 and the other V4 mapping but cannot tell me when updated for those mapping will cease. All of my phone conversations I interrupt by, Please speak slower, Please repeat that again, I cannot hear you, I cannot understand what you are saying, the phone lines leave a lot to be desired as will as what would in my case describe as an ENGLISH language barrier.
    Yes the phone uses satellite navigation and is sometimes slow in finding them and has led me astray on a few occasions. There has been updated to the phone software over the time which may improve navigation but I cannot comment on this. Check out the mapping version and get in writing any claim for lifetime free map upgrades for I am considering a complaint to the ACCC and Fair Trading. Please ask who's lifetime!

  • alebox on 14/01/2012 - 09:51

    sweet thread.

    my old n95 which i left gathering dust is now going to be my car gps :D

    i have never used gps on this thing before. quick google shows this:
    http://mapperz.blogspot.com/2007/04/more-n95-free-applicatio…

    do i just download and install everything? gonna use my pc and then bluetooth it across as the phone doesn't have 3g anymore

    • bargrin on 14/01/2012 - 12:30

      I think you use ovi software for everything.

  • pkdelaney on 18/02/2012 - 15:19

    I have the n95 8bg and i swear by garmin gps on my phone, best gps i have used and the updates are free, only issue i find is if there is alot of cloud or moving fast ( as on the freeway) it can take a while to connect from a cold start. One plus though compared to other symbion gps programs is it doesnt drain the battery as quick as others do, and there is an option to turn off using data through your phone provider and rely soley on the internal gps chip to save money on your phone bill, and is the best option if you want to use the phone only as a gps so you can remove the sim card and use the phone as a standalone gps unit.
    Its really easy to install, you just download the program and maps then install/transfer them to your phone with the usb cable. You can also download any country map and also use it on the program.
    Unfortunately there is not a free version, i brought mine off ebay for about $20. There are places and torrents on the net you can download the program and maps but these are not technically legal as you dont pay for the program so best to avoid…

  • joannatan on 20/02/2012 - 00:05

    anyone know how to use nokia n96 offline data?

  • Charlotta on 02/03/2012 - 23:18

    Love the Ovi Maps and GPS on my E71.

    A few comments re above.

    In general when searching for and address try to be minimalist - i.e. typing less can offer more matches. Thus I often just type "134 Jones" rather than "134 Jones Street, Campbelltown". Took me a while to learn this.

    I find the assistance of the data connection better for two elements:-
    - faster initial location finding using A-GPS
    - better searching for addresses.

    The A-GPS is particularly useful in CBD areas where tall buildings prevent penetration of GPS signals to set location.

    However one of the best features of this phone's GPS is being able to download maps before travelling overseas for use in countries where it's not easy to buy a local sim-card with data.

    Given the hassle of getting cheap data sim-card in Japan I was expecting to use off-line Ovi maps there - however no maps were then available for Japan because it is not worth Nokia licensing them given that noone in Japan uses Nokia phones. Just as well we didn't rent a car there.

    When driving in unfamiliar places (esp on freeways) I find that choosing one of the voice options that includes street names is a major advantage. Also the natural recorded voice of the Nokia is many many times better than the machine generated voice of Google maps on my Android ZTE MyTab. However in contrast the Android with data connection is invaluable in cities where public transport times and connections are all on Google maps (eg. Sao Paulo, Brazil where I lived for 3months last year. Out of the city in a rental car the Nokia was much better.)

  • Splashtash on 02/03/2012 - 23:30

    My garman nuifone A50 i got like a year ago for only $200 has a self built in gps system without having to pay a cent. When I went to China all the maps were working :)

  • JakDac on 03/05/2012 - 21:05

    Does not download as FREE maps on N95 I tried AM I doing something wrong

  • SomeGuyOnOzB on 25/04/2013 - 20:36

    Is there anyone with a Nokia 5800 (or any Symbian based phone) who can still sync their maps?

    • SomeGuyOnOzB on 26/04/2013 - 22:11

      I've fixed my problem. Running Nokia PC Suite at the same time as "Ovi" Suite, seems to allow connection to the maps server (connected in < 30 seconds).

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