I really enjoy using my Nokia N900, but think the Ovi Maps client loaded on it is quite lame. I want the Ovi Maps 2.0 software that all my S60 devices have, but we still have no idea when (or even if) Nokia will ever release a good version of Ovi Maps for the N900. In the meantime, Sygic just recently launched their Mobile Maps 9 product for Nokia Maemo 5 devices. I was sent an evaluation code to install and test the software on my device and gave it a first spin last night. I shot the video below of the interface and some initial navigation testing to give you all a feel for the software.
As you can see the software has fairly typical functionality for navigating to your destination. My first impressions are that it has a finger friendly interface for the menus and has all the necessary navigation options, but the map UI could be improved with larger zoom in and out buttons and the ability to automatically switch into a full screen mode and hide the upper task bar. I may have this full screen mode, but I have yet to find it. I put in a route and then tried going another way and the program had some issues staying with me while it fought to reroute me and kept jumping my location to roads that were nearby. I then put in my real destination and it did a fairly good job of navigating me to my destination.
I need to spend more time with their Points of Interest (POI), navigation accuracy, and other settings while using it on more routes. I’ll try to get more testing done over the next week or two and post my full review so you can make an informed decision since there does not appear to be any trial version. It is currently priced at EUR49.99 ($67) so it is not a cheap software solution.
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I have bought this software and it works pretty good. Fullscreen availability would be nice to have in version 10 which will be released for Maemo soon. Also those other interesting things like contacts navigation and policetrap system is coming to version 10 which is already available for other systems. Anyway, this beats Ovi Maps 100-0 and is as good as normal navigators with added features for now.
wow this thing is bad
it’s great finally gps navigation on n900 but there are no maps for eastern europe [with garmin(mac,android...)you have] and i think that customers from there will be sad and disregard
I already use Sygic for a period of a year of even longer, on a Symbian Device (N82). In the beginning I saw a few things to be replaced. After an e-mail, within a month, it was corrected. I’m now a true fan for this software. A few weeks ago I became a proud owner of the N900. The first thing I did, was to buy and install Sygic Maps 9.
It works great! I still have to be costumized with N900’s interface, but the software works faster on it, of course.
PS: If you ask it nice to Sygic, I think they wil give you a “trial version.”
Just keep going with your reviews, I wonder…
I have found this “first look” video slightly disappointing, especially with that very long re-routing issue during the trip. However that could be one-off hiccup, so I’ll wait for a full review.
What concerns me more is general responsiveness of the UI. We all know that N900 generally likes to lock-up often during general use (due to high CPU utilization at random times), and that symptom could be seen on the video too. App stopped responding for a while few times, while status bar applet was showing high CPU usage. Having said that, I’m wondering whether using N900 as satnav device and phone and internet tablet at the same time makes sense from general performance and usability point of view.
Looking forward to see the full review and decide whether it’s worth the money, or should I just go and get myself a TomTom for peace of mind… Such a shame that Sygic don’t offer trial editions.
Please note that the mentioned price is for the USA maps package. The Europe maps is listed on the site as 59.99euro
That’s a very useful video, thank you. It seems the sygic software still has a little way to go before you could use it in place of a standard satnav device.
I look forward to your in-depth review.