Summary: Apple iPhone 5 owners have plenty of options for navigating to your Thanksgiving destination this week and both Nokia and Telenav announced updated apps for iOS today.
Last week Nokia announced that HERE Maps would be coming to iOS devices and at the time was available via the Safari browser. The HTML5 app is now available in the App Store and looks just like the browser-based solution I tried out last week. Telenav also just announced a major update for Scout (iTunes link) that gives you FREE voice-guided navigation on iOS. As you can see, there are now plenty of GPS navigation options, check out my review of iOS 6 Maps and eight alternatives, to help you get to grandma's house this Thanksgiving.
Nokia's HERE Maps
I have been using Nokia Maps on Symbian devices for years and also enjoy the experience on Lumia Windows Phone devices. Today, the HERE Maps (iTunes link) application is available for iOS devices. It is essentially the same thing that you saw via the Safari web browser without the bottom browser menu items. It is a solid GPS navigation solution available for free that also offers the ability to download maps for offline usage. You can save a map area and the app gives you the expected level of detail so the offline map quality is quite variable depending on the area you select.
As described by Apple and Nokia, features of HERE Maps include:
- Map views: Pick the map you need from map view, live traffic view, public transport line view or satellite view
- Save map areas & wander without data coverage
- In selected countries, access community maps created and updated by users
- Maps, search and place coverage for nearly 200 countries
- Search with history and suggestions
- Share places with just a tap, including the location and how to get there, over SMS, email, or social networks
- Organize places you love into Collections
- Sign in to HERE Maps with your Nokia Account or Facebook login
- Sync with Here.net: Access your Collections anywhere
- Step-by-Step voice-guided walk navigation
- Walk navigation through pedestrian routes, parks, alleyways, and more
- Public transportation and driving directions
HERE Maps is not as full featured as other dedicated navigation applications, but it is free and provides a solid backend mapping database.
Telenav Scout
I enjoy the fresh UI of Telenav Scout on my iPhone 5 and was lucky to get in on the free premium offer in September. Today, the folks at Telenav announced that the free version of Scout for the iPhone now includes voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation for walking and driving directions. This is a great alternative to Apple Maps and includes several other attractive features, including:
- My Dashboard: Personalized commute times to Work and to Home
- My Places: Users can save and share the places they love for easy access at any time
- My Search: Find it faster as Scout learns friends, favorites, and recent places
- Traffic: Real-time traffic information
- Speech recognition: Speak in an address or search by using commands like "Find a nearby Starbucks" or "Go Home"
- 12 New car icons to choose from including a convertible, motorcycle, SUV, minivan, muscle car and sports car
There is still a premium version, called Scout Plus, available for that includes offline navigation, speed trap alerts, red light camera alerts and lane assist, but the free version should be useful to most people using their iPhone for navigation purposes. The one last thing Telenav needs to do is update the app to support the larger iPhone 5 display, but I also understand from developers that this is not as easy to do as I would like as it can break things for older iPhones.
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario