Diaries of a Nokia Fan Boy

So Nokia released a new version of the 5800 XpressMusic – Navigation Edition. It appears that the software is all the same, its just a touchscreen, XpressMusic version of the 6710 Navigator. Comparing to the 5800 XpressMusic, the phone appears to be identical with a couple differences in what’s included in the package:

• Regional maps
• Lifetime pedestrian and vehicle voice-guided navigation licenses
• Car mount and car charger in retail package

So really its the same phone with a different color variation, included license, and some extra plastic for an extra $110 USD ($299 for XpressMusic and €285 or about $410 for Navigation Edition). It appears that the firmware version is the same, and the piece of plastic being available on eBay for $10, we’re really getting the license for about $100 USD. We can take a look at the Nokia website, and we find that the license for North America is €50, or $70 USD, per annum. Assuming that the license is transferable to other phones and includes future versions of Nokia Maps software and maps, this is actually quite a deal. Especially if we consider that dedicated GPS systems don’t come with maps upgrades!

But of course we have to ask ourselves if its really worth it. That is, is the application itself worth the license in the first place. There is Google Maps that is available for free (and indeed, Nokia Maps is free too so long as you don’t want guidance). There is also Garmin Mobile, and hopefully TomTom will release a new version of their software eventually which would work with touch screen devices and integrated GPS chips. To be honest, I think that TomTom is currently the best GPS guidance software out there. I had a chance to directly compare it to Garmin and Nokia on my E60 and N95, and out of the trio, TomTom came out the clear winner. The software was able to give me directions at the exact time I needed them (Garmin was a bit late), and when I made a wrong turn the recalculations took only 1-3 seconds. Also, Garmin likes to take me through small streets with speed bumps which does not make the trip any faster, and TomTom always takes the larger streets first and ends up getting me to my destination via the faster routes.

While I wasn’t able to compare Nokia Maps based on driving instructions, I was able to compare the maps themselves, and again, TomTom came out on top. The maps were easier to read, loaded faster, and seemed to provide more information without cluttering the screen. The interface on TomTom was much more intuitive and took a lot less time to get used to. And the last, but very important point – TomTom just seemed to load faster than the other two. And when you’re trying to figure out where to go, that matters.

Of course, I have to give it to Nokia Maps, they did develop arguably the first GPS system for navigating during walking. In that case voice guidance is not really required, as there is no traffic to keep your eye on. And the fact that the maps include pedestrian streets and walkways is also quite important. However I have not used that part of the software in a long time and so I’m not sure just how good it is in the North American cities.

So to conclude this: Nokia released a new device, its a great value, but you have to be sure that you want it.

-Nokia FanBoy

press release
via: Engadget (read)

I’ve always been a fan of uniqueness, and the fact that everyone has the iPhone just makes me want to stay as far away from it as I can. Which is why I’m beginning to dislike having the N95 8GB because so many people have it. However even that I’ve been able to get around by getting one of those plastic housings and replacing the original black one. Not as good in quality, and I need to tweak it to get GPS to work (antenna is attached to the bottom plastic piece that holds the microphone). But overall its not bad as I now have something different from everyone else.

Now moving on to the 5800 and the new Star Trek edition of it, everyone will have it and there will be no originality. Of course if you get the regular one you might still be a little original
On the other hand you could have people buying it and keeping in its original packaging to preserve the “integrity” of a “collectible”, in which case the actual usage of the phone wouldn’t increase.

Now what we need is for phones to be mass customizable, now that would be fantastic! Just imagine…

Lets start with a 3″ hi-rez screen, add some touch capability, a 5MP camera with a Zenon flash two LED’s for good measure. A slide out keyboard and some dedicated camera keys, a 600Mhz CPU and 16 gigs of memory. And lets make it all run on Symbian with a 1500mAh battery.

Now that would be amazing…
… Nokia, hope you’re getting the hint here

-Nokia Fan Boy
Posted from my Nokia N95 8GB

Posted by Wordmobi