Preview of Nokia Maps 3.0 on Windows Phone 8

Information technology'south no secret that nosotros're fans of mapping applications and with Windows Phone 7 we had a very capable built in mapping app created by Microsoft themselves that used the Bing mapping at the backend. Since so Microsoft have switched Bing to apply Nokia's mapping platform on the web and at present with the latest version of Windows Telephone.

With Windows Phone 8 we meet a marked upgrade to the baked-in capabilities of maps, equally Nokia accept embedded their "where" platform right into the centre of the Bone. Nokia have simply updated their Nokia Maps app to 3.0 and with information technology nosotros first to see some of the big improvements that these underlying changes to the Os will bring. Nosotros think yous're going to like information technology.

With Windows Telephone 8 all apps volition at present exist able to accept advantage of the underlying improvements to mapping platform so offline mapping and turn by turn will be available to all. Nosotros accept seen how well Nokia'south mapping apps perform on Windows Phone 7 with products like Nokia Drive so nosotros know they can bring the appurtenances to the table. It's of no surprise to run into that the company are already hard at piece of work to make certain their location apps have some of the best experiences available in the marketplace.

Nokia Maps 3.0 offers true offline use and then that you won't be defenseless out while navigating in poor signal areas and the first truly discoverable mobile implementation of venue maps . Y'all'll as well get vastly improved directions while navigating on foot.

There is nonetheless more to come up with Nokia Maps, pedestrian navigation will go spoken turn-by-turn events in a hereafter update and we know Nokia are keen to keep these things fresh. Following is how things are looking as the app reached its 3.0 milestone..

About, Settings and What'southward New..

Pedestrian Walking Maps

When selecting a pedestrian route in the new version of Nokia Maps the view changes to prove yous which way to plow at each corner. Also at the bottom of you become the option to slide through each function of the route by swiping left and correct every bit desired. In testing the map swang around and moved fluidly throughout this process and kept pace with my movements well even in an urban setting.

The coming version will feature phonation guidance which should mean nosotros can finally put the telephone in the pocket and simply listen to the prompts. For now the map experience in this mode is much improved and points the style to how this should exist done.

Pedestrian Turn past turn view

Venue Maps

This is a feature many take been excited about for some time, Nokia have been busy amassing detailed internal maps of key public locations. These venue maps were bachelor in Bing Maps through the web interface but have and then far been absent from Windows Phone ( in an intuitive and fully fleshed out manner ) until now. Initial reaction to this is Nokia take washed a really skillful job of the user experience around this potentially complex feature. The improved underlying performance of the platform has allowed them to provide a new visualisation layer to aid brand this visually more than comprehendible.

When using the maps, you'll see that sure buildings like a shopping mall volition take a blue icon near or fifty-fifty on top of it, if yous printing this it highlights the venue and shows more data about the inside layout. If the building has public spaces on multiple levels and then y'all'll be presented with a sliding selector to choose different floors, it all works rather well.

When you lot accept selected the venue, the bottom department of the screen shows you a peek at what lays inside, for instance you can select 'directory' and information technology will listing every business concern in the mall or if y'all slide over to facilities and then it will list cardinal points of interest such as ATMs and such. If you desire more information on a shop that'south inside a mall and so you lot can retrieve that past clicking on its proper name in the map and it volition bring up the address and other details.

I plant the experience to exist very intuitive and didn't have whatsoever bug figuring out the entire feature, this is a actually adept implementation of this new level of mapping. I expect forrard to seeing how this characteristic gets developed and tuned over time, the continual calculation of venue data will be key to ensuring the utility of such a feature. It must be pervasive and not the exception to the dominion to be able to see the venue maps for public space, as long as Nokia tin continue to add new venues this shouldn't be an issue.

Want to know where to go within the building? Nokia can help with that!

Map options in Nokia Bulldoze 3.0

Integrated Transit Directions

I notable improvement many have sought is the integration of public transit directions in the mapping experience. That's here too and works in just the way you would expect although it'due south non quite as fully featured as Nokia's dedicated Nokia Transport App. With Nokia's Transport app it presents multiple routes depending on when you leave and includes jitney routes.

In my testing I wasn't able to bring up any routing options for a bus simply that may non be conclusive equally to the possibility it exists. In my testing merely cloak-and-dagger lines and metropolitan surface lines presented themselves as routing possibilities. I will check with Nokia and update when I get feedback.

Public Ship is now an choice along with walking and driving routes...

Downloadable Maps

This is something of a back-end feature now in Windows Phone 8 but it's good to see how this works. I live in the UK so added the entire map for our picayune island, it took up 280MB of storage. You go to add as many maps as you delight and drill into each region if yous only desire function of a state if y'all wish. I looked at the map download for the entire US which came in at a cool 2.5GB.

The new devices will all accept more infinite on them generally so these sizes shouldn't be also much of a business. Information technology'southward simply good to know that when you demand to do some serious mapping yous tin can pack your phone out with everything you need and not worry nearly getting a mobile point to utilize it. Enough memory and you tin can have all the worlds offline maps on your phone.

In Windows Phone 8, the maps tin can besides be independently updated and so Nokia can provide faster updates to mapping information on the phone. This should meliorate the experience profoundly while providing that all-important accuracy.

Download, update and stay current with your map data okay?

Refreshed platform brings new experiences

The mapping experience in Windows Phone 7 with the native mapping app was practiced. The problem with it was that it was locked into the Bone and so could merely exist changed when the whole Bone was updated. Thankfully we're moving away from this mode of doing things with Maps and even the phone itself can be updated on fly without the need for carrier intervention or major OS upgrades to change certain cadre experiences.

Mapping on smartphones has become incredibly popular, we saw with the issues that Apple had when it launched its mapping product how much people rely on this characteristic. The outrage that followed the mapping snafu did real damage to the normally Teflon-coated fruit themed company. With maps we meet a huge opportunity for Windows Telephone 8 and Nokia to really lead in this area, we hope to run into them fully promote this advantage.

In using maps for this curt corporeality of time, it's hard not to be impressed with the speed and fluidity of the user interface. Where there are 3d elements to the maps you lot'll meet those move around at nice loftier frame rates.  That isn't to say there are never slowdowns, the maps occasionally doesn't update fluidly but this is likely a sign of the platforms relative newness. With more updates in the pipeline including the turn by turn pedestrian guidance things are looking skillful indeed for maps on Windows Phone 8.

Nosotros'd like to hear what you recollect of these improvements, if you have whatsoever questions send them along and I'll do my best to respond them. We know that folks from Nokia exercise read these comments equally much as we do and they do often wade in to provide some answers where they can.

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/preview-nokia-maps-30-windows-phone-8

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