Nokia Drive
As mentioned in the previous post I have just received a Nokia Lumia 800 and am now able to test out some of the great Nokia WP7 apps, including Nokia Drive. Ever since the rumours and leaked screenshots of the WP7 powered Nokia appeared on the web I have wanted to take the Nokia Drive app out for a spin. Like many people, I don't really need a dedicated GPS/navigation device like a Navman very often as I drive the same route to work every day, but it certainly is nice to have.
Having turn-by-turn, voice navigation really did help when I was on a family vacation in the USA recently and there are times when I do venture outside my comfort zone in Brisbane, so getting accurate and easy-to-use information is important. With Nokia Drive I seem to get the best of both worlds. I don't have a dedicated device sitting there waiting for the few times I need it, but I do get a good navigation system, with all the features I need, available on my ever present smartphone.
First Test
When you first start Nokia Drive, you will want to be connected to the web via a WIFI connection, as it will download maps relevant to your geographical location. When I selected Australia for the map location, the app told me I needed to download 200MB of data – that's a fair chunk of my monthly data limit on the phone.
Once downloaded, the app had no problem showing my current location on the map in a very short period of time (less than 20 seconds). Finding my destination did prove a little problematic though as the address search did not return any values for the street address I entered. I have seen this in the past when working on TrafficMATE. The Bing Map API and geocoding seems to be very strict about how you enter your address. I live in a Circuit, which is often abbreviated Cct. Nokia Drive found no results for both Circuit and Cct, but did find a match for Cirt – an abbreviation I have never seen used.
I used Nokia Drive to guide me home on my regular commute, which of course I knew all too well. I thought it would be interesting to see how well it preformed. The app performed its' task as expected, giving ample instruction about when and where you needed to go. It even appeared to give lane-assistance, telling me to "continue-right" when I was continuing on through an interchange where the left lane exited.
Of course having your GPS/navigation system sitting on the seat next to you is of limited use, so to get the most of the system you will need to put your Lumia in a cradle, but it certainly did everything I expected.
Final Thought
Ideally Nokia Drive would be integrated with other parts of the WP7 operating system so that you could get directions and start the app directly from the relevant areas. This would certainly speed up entering your destination and really does seem like a logical extension of the current 'map home address' feature available from the People Hub.