4 ms·

Nokia to Offer Its Maps for iPhones and Android Phones

42 points by dvdhsu 14y ago

freehunter 14y ago
Using my new Nokia Lumia 920, I was quite disappointed in the maps. Not because they're lacking anything that I used from WP7, but because they didn't add the number one feature I was looking forward to: Nokia's excellent 3D maps based on WebGL that they offer on their website. Apple has very nice 3D maps on their new Maps application. Nokia has excellent 3D maps in the browser. Why they didn't integrate this into the phone, I do not know.
- viggity 14y ago
  They don't have 3D maps in the "maps" application, but they do in the "nokia drive" application. I love it, I'm considering purchasing another nokia to be my dedicated GPS unit in my car.
  - freehunter 14y ago
    Interesting. I have the 3D maps enabled in Nokia Drive, but I haven't see the 3D map data that is enabled in the WebGL version. I do live in a city where this data isn't present on their website, but if those handful of cities is the only ones they have I'm disappointed.
kryptiskt 14y ago
Don't forget Firefox OS! :-) This makes sense on many levels, Nokia is currently a niche player in smartphones and they have made and continues to make big investments in mapping. The best way to monetize that is obviously to step outside their own hardware and build a separate mapping brand. The upside is far greater than whatever incremental sales they would have got from having good mapping on their phones, if there even would have been any, maybe interest in an ubiquitous mapping solution helps to market the phones as well.
- vladikoff 14y ago
  yeah I agree, Firefox OS is probably the only platform that will benefit from this application.
adolph 14y ago
Link didn't work for me. Mobile version did: http://mobile.nytimes.com/bitsarticle?articleId=123018 http://mobile.nytimes.com/bitsarticle?articleId=123018 I didn't see a link to the actual web app. Here it is: http://here.net/ http://here.net/ It looks like they don't have an app store app but have a mobile app available at here.net.
fungi 14y ago
> Nokia has emphasized the power and thoroughness of its mapping database only if you assume tokyo is a rice paddy with a train line through it http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,normal.day http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,normal.day
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  That is kind of funny. I wonder why the amazing lack of any sort of detail there.
- brianobush 14y ago
  zoom out; there are 23 wards (sections) in Tokyo. This is a zoomed in section of a couple wards on the water (with a river inlet).
  - fungi 14y ago
    turn sat on http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,hybrid.day http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,hybrid.day it is smack in the middle of the sprawling metropolis.
  - snogglethorpe 14y ago
    Here it is centered on shibuya station, zoomed out enough to include harajuku: http://here.net/35.6573768,139.7077558,15,0,0,normal.day http://here.net/35.6573768,139.7077558,15,0,0,normal.day That's one of the busiest and most important areas of Tokyo (one of the most important cities in the world) ... and it's pretty much completely blank on this map. Amusingly, the one feature that shows up in that mostly blank view, what appears to be a rail line, seems to be completely wrong: there's no rail line (surface or subway) following such a route in real life.... [based on the shapes, it appears they are supposed to be JR east lines, but are mis-positioned by 1-2km!]
- veidr 14y ago
  Ha ha! And I thought iOS 6 Tokyo maps were an abysmal clusterfuck. That is literally the worst I've ever seen. I presume they wouldn't even offer their map apps in Japan or anywhere else with that embarrassing level of detail, though.
hnriot 14y ago
I hate it when an article concludes with something to the effect that the app is awaiting apple app review. By the time the app gets on the store the buzz created by the press has waned and I have forgotten it. If the app store had a url placeholder that would be bookmarkable while the app is pending it would solve this problem. Searching for "here" is obviously unproductive. The app store's search is incredibly lame. Even when I use the actual app's name it fails to find it, let alone when it's misspelled (beam[e]r, re[e]der etc)
_gm 14y ago
here.net = slow.net or is it just me..
Gustomaximus 14y ago
They seem to be revisiting this a bit. They announced a similar thing almost 2 years ago and then took it back. Then released a Android/iPhone version in 2011 (though as a HTML5 page not app), and now again in 2012 as an app.... 2010: http://gizmodo.com/5479932/nokia-confirms-ovi-maps-will-appear-on-android-but-will-that-be-a-nokia+branded-android-phone http://gizmodo.com/5479932/nokia-confirms-ovi-maps-will-appe... 2011: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/25/nokia-maps-officially-arrives-on-ios-and-android-touts-offline/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/25/nokia-maps-officially-arr...
tmcw 14y ago
> But Nokia’s Lumia smartphones haven’t sold very well. So why give away its secret sauce to rivals? Providing SDKs for multiple platforms is not 'giving away secret sauce', it's just selling proprietary stuff in a different way. Offline support was announced by Google months ago in their 'afraid of Apple' media event. 3D maps are already done by Apple and everyone has already discovered that they are no silver bullet, and need more explanation for why they're useful. As one friend put it, they're the MacGuffin of maps: everyone feels motivation to have them, but for no big reason.

42 points by dvdhsu 14y ago

Using my new Nokia Lumia 920, I was quite disappointed in the maps. Not because they're lacking anything that I used from WP7, but because they didn't add the number one feature I was looking forward to: Nokia's excellent 3D maps based on WebGL that they offer on their website. Apple has very nice 3D maps on their new Maps application. Nokia has excellent 3D maps in the browser. Why they didn't integrate this into the phone, I do not know.

viggity 14y ago
They don't have 3D maps in the "maps" application, but they do in the "nokia drive" application. I love it, I'm considering purchasing another nokia to be my dedicated GPS unit in my car.
- freehunter 14y ago
  Interesting. I have the 3D maps enabled in Nokia Drive, but I haven't see the 3D map data that is enabled in the WebGL version. I do live in a city where this data isn't present on their website, but if those handful of cities is the only ones they have I'm disappointed.

kryptiskt 14y ago

Don't forget Firefox OS! :-) This makes sense on many levels, Nokia is currently a niche player in smartphones and they have made and continues to make big investments in mapping. The best way to monetize that is obviously to step outside their own hardware and build a separate mapping brand. The upside is far greater than whatever incremental sales they would have got from having good mapping on their phones, if there even would have been any, maybe interest in an ubiquitous mapping solution helps to market the phones as well.

vladikoff 14y ago
yeah I agree, Firefox OS is probably the only platform that will benefit from this application.

adolph 14y ago

Link didn't work for me. Mobile version did: http://mobile.nytimes.com/bitsarticle?articleId=123018 http://mobile.nytimes.com/bitsarticle?articleId=123018 I didn't see a link to the actual web app. Here it is: http://here.net/ http://here.net/ It looks like they don't have an app store app but have a mobile app available at here.net.

fungi 14y ago

> Nokia has emphasized the power and thoroughness of its mapping database only if you assume tokyo is a rice paddy with a train line through it http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,normal.day http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,normal.day

ChuckMcM 14y ago
That is kind of funny. I wonder why the amazing lack of any sort of detail there.
brianobush 14y ago
zoom out; there are 23 wards (sections) in Tokyo. This is a zoomed in section of a couple wards on the water (with a river inlet).
- fungi 14y ago
  turn sat on http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,hybrid.day http://here.net/35.6825729,139.8357904,13,0,0,hybrid.day it is smack in the middle of the sprawling metropolis.
- snogglethorpe 14y ago
  Here it is centered on shibuya station, zoomed out enough to include harajuku: http://here.net/35.6573768,139.7077558,15,0,0,normal.day http://here.net/35.6573768,139.7077558,15,0,0,normal.day That's one of the busiest and most important areas of Tokyo (one of the most important cities in the world) ... and it's pretty much completely blank on this map. Amusingly, the one feature that shows up in that mostly blank view, what appears to be a rail line, seems to be completely wrong: there's no rail line (surface or subway) following such a route in real life.... [based on the shapes, it appears they are supposed to be JR east lines, but are mis-positioned by 1-2km!]
veidr 14y ago
Ha ha! And I thought iOS 6 Tokyo maps were an abysmal clusterfuck. That is literally the worst I've ever seen. I presume they wouldn't even offer their map apps in Japan or anywhere else with that embarrassing level of detail, though.

hnriot 14y ago

I hate it when an article concludes with something to the effect that the app is awaiting apple app review. By the time the app gets on the store the buzz created by the press has waned and I have forgotten it. If the app store had a url placeholder that would be bookmarkable while the app is pending it would solve this problem. Searching for "here" is obviously unproductive. The app store's search is incredibly lame. Even when I use the actual app's name it fails to find it, let alone when it's misspelled (beam[e]r, re[e]der etc)

_gm 14y ago

here.net = slow.net or is it just me..

Gustomaximus 14y ago

They seem to be revisiting this a bit. They announced a similar thing almost 2 years ago and then took it back. Then released a Android/iPhone version in 2011 (though as a HTML5 page not app), and now again in 2012 as an app.... 2010: http://gizmodo.com/5479932/nokia-confirms-ovi-maps-will-appear-on-android-but-will-that-be-a-nokia+branded-android-phone http://gizmodo.com/5479932/nokia-confirms-ovi-maps-will-appe... 2011: http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/25/nokia-maps-officially-arrives-on-ios-and-android-touts-offline/ http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/25/nokia-maps-officially-arr...

tmcw 14y ago

> But Nokia’s Lumia smartphones haven’t sold very well. So why give away its secret sauce to rivals? Providing SDKs for multiple platforms is not 'giving away secret sauce', it's just selling proprietary stuff in a different way. Offline support was announced by Google months ago in their 'afraid of Apple' media event. 3D maps are already done by Apple and everyone has already discovered that they are no silver bullet, and need more explanation for why they're useful. As one friend put it, they're the MacGuffin of maps: everyone feels motivation to have them, but for no big reason.