Nokia and the never-ending map-quest

Nokia may not be the smartphone leader it once was, but the Finland-based company continues to evolve some of the best navigation software out there - and keeps it free, which is also nice. Mark Hacking explicates.
Toronto, ON - I still remember the very first time I used a navigation system in a car. The year was 1999 and I was driving through some small towns in the Inland Empire in California aboard the then-new Acura 3.2 TL. The car was a completely enjoyable family sedan, not very exciting to be sure, but comfortable and competent through and through - apart from its on-board navigation system.

In these early days of the technology, miscues were common and instructions were regularly off-the-mark. Example: In the Acura, I was advised to drive down a pedestrian walkway and then instructed to make a right turn through the front window of an insurance office. (I don't think this latter direction was sponsored by the insurance office in question, but it's still too early to tell.)

Even to this day, the information provided by the average navigation system is not 100% reliable. Over the past two years, I've been thoroughly lost in Monaco, Palma de Mallorca and Seville for many, many minutes due to over-reliance on built-in navigation systems. Just last month, I followed a suggested detour around a traffic tie-up in Munich - stau! - that certainly cost more time than it saved.

Here's the other thing about built-in navigation systems: Historically, they have been wildly expensive compared to the portable devices available by the truckload in your local Best Buy. For years, the navigation system option has been one of the most profitable up-sell opportunities on the dealer's lot, a brilliant cash-grab that (needlessly) drained thousands of dollars per transaction from customer wallets.

Recognizing this fact, manufacturers now offer more reasons to choose an on-board navigation system - and its screen - instead of an off-the-self system, including touchscreen functionality to operate various non-navigation controls and handy-dandy rear-view camera systems.

I'll be the first to admit that a large, multi-functional touchscreen is a very desirable feature in a car. I appreciate any technology that enables me to simply focus on the act of driving, free of as many distractions as humanly possible. Plus, in terms of aesthetics, a built-in system certainly beats having a tiny TomTom suction-cupped to your windshield.

But with the advent of the iPad, we're now on the verge of the next generation in navigation devices - more versatile, more portable and more useful for objectives other than just getting from point A to point B. We've already seen that the interior design of certain cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, is preparing for the day when a tablet will slot right into the center console. The Tesla Model S, due in 2012, will feature a built-in, 17-inch touchscreen. Seventeen. Yowza!

Companies such as Nokia are adept at recognizing these types of trends; they have been one of the leaders in mobile phones and have developed tablet devices in the recent past. But they're active in software as well as hardware, as evidenced by the latest version of Nokia Maps, which was released in mid-2010 as Ovi Maps, but enhanced and rebranded earlier this year.

During a brief test drive in downtown Toronto, I had the chance to experience the software and came away reasonably impressed with its potential as a stepping stone to something greater. Accompanied by a Nokia representative who had pre-loaded a drive route onto his smartphone, we set out on our test, but encountered difficulty early on.

We seemed to hit a disturbance in the cellular network (or something), so we lost the turn-by-turn instructions completely. He switched to a back-up smartphone and we continued on our way; see my earlier comment about navigation systems not being 100% reliable. Of course, it was little challenge for the system to send us in the right direction - these days, that should be a given. But what was interesting about Nokia Maps is the following: It covers 140 different countries and 80 different languages, it's free for Nokia smartphone users and there are no data charges for using the maps in a foreign city or country.

The system also offers real-time traffic updates (long overdue for North American drivers), local advice courtesy of Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor and 3D maps, which will be a positively stellar development as soon as they start using digital video instead of animated simulations. In addition, for the audible driving instructions, you can record a voice into the system using the Own Voice application rather than relying on the more robotic guidance that systems commonly provide.

Ultimately, the Nokia Maps system clearly has a number of great features, many of which deserve a far closer look. The major challenge the company faces is this: In an increasingly Apple-centric world, you need to own a Nokia smartphone in order to take advantage of all the free content.