[Smooth Drive]

Yup, google map is way too detailed than any other stand alone mapping app's. With voice navigation it is a wonderful!

If you have installed the new gmaps for your iOS devices, it instantly connects to your car's bluetooth (If any and your phone has to be synced before) and gives you a vocal direction through your speakers!

If you are going to go to a particular town, cache it first! Highways are fairly marked and you need not sweat out cacheing it. The new map is vector based, hence you can cache more than the previous gmap app.

Don't worry, the network coverage on the highway's is fairly decent in south. Hope this Helps!

[ozzyrules]

Originally Posted by golfdude

I am planning to go on a road trip from Pune-Kodaikanal-Coimbatore_Madurai-Pondicherry and am planning to use Google Maps.

I've used Google Maps in most of the South Indian places you've mentioned and it worked like a charm.
I was on roaming and it didn't cause a huge spike in my mobile phone bill. To conserve battery and money, I usually switch off GPS and data roaming once I reach my destination
Just make sure you carry a car charger with a cable long enough to reach your phone when mounted.

Cheers and have a safe trip!

[binand]

I had gone on a trip Bangalore-Calicut last month. I mapped out the trip before starting and then used my S2 Google Maps' "Offline" option - so even when there was no signal, the mapping was quite accurate. So not too sure if the main complaint about Google Maps still holds good or not.

[WindRide]

I find sygic with MMI offline maps very useful. I dont use google maps since i dont want to pay for navigation.

Downside in sygic being search feature sucks. So i use wifi+google maps to find route and save that route beforehand in sygic before embarking on journey. Problem solved.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by ozzyrules

I was on roaming and it didn't cause a huge spike in my mobile phone bill. To conserve battery and money, I usually switch off GPS and data roaming once I reach my destination

I don't know about the other operators but Vodafone MH doesn't charge anything extra for data if you are already subscribed for a 3G pack. Works like a charm on most of my rides for nothing extra.

[lurker]

Originally Posted by WindRide

I find sygic with MMI offline maps very useful. I dont use google maps since i dont want to pay for navigation.

Downside in sygic being search feature sucks. So i use wifi+google maps to find route and save that route beforehand in sygic before embarking on journey. Problem solved.

Can you please explain how you do that ?

[binand]

Originally Posted by WindRide

I find sygic with MMI offline maps very useful. I dont use google maps since i dont want to pay for navigation.

Google Maps with voice navigation is completely free. I am not sure what payment you are talking about - mobile data plan?

[mayankjha1806]

Even if google allows caching the whole country map on the phone you would need good 3G network in all the corners of the country for it to match the MMI equivalent offering.

At many places the phone (even if you have 3G) switches to GPRS and this is where the problem is. You can get the map but the speed at which it updates your current location and statistics about your destination is very slow and very quickly gets out of sync, and in my experience Out of Sync map is useless, especially in areas you do not know the direction.

One of my friend was flashing his new smartphone and proclaimed similar thought, to test i suggested him to use google map to give directions to some place were we were planning to go for Dinner.

So firstly even within city limits first it was too slow to detect that we have reached a signal and hence was always delayed in suggesting if we should take right/left. Second it consistently moved between 3G and GPRS and that meant every-time it had to be refreshed. Bottom line we reached the destination before the map could tell us the direction.

In MMI this is not the case, the updates are spot on, i have rarely missed a turn because of MMI being slow in detecting my location, and this is not only in city but across country. Hope this helps.

So the way i see it, today this is not replaceable, maybe in next 5 years when 3G coverage is awesome across all corners of the nation (Including deep Jungles) there is a possibility but until then MMI business proposition does not look like challenged.

[WindRide]

Originally Posted by lurker

Can you please explain how you do that ?

Let me illustrate with an example.
In sygic i couldn't find the popular picnic spot in Bangalore called "Big Banyan tree". Looks like it is not marked in its map. Maybe my search wasn't accurate but i just couldnt locate it (thats why IMO sygic search is below par since the search keyword spelling has to be exact). As a workaround, i located it using home wifi+google maps, moved tiles to to the same location (manually) in sygic, tapped on the location of big banyan tree (as indicated by google maps), and chose the 'navigate to here' option in sygic. Voila, i have the same route what i get using google maps. Saved the route and reloaded it on the day of journey and drive confidently with full turn by turn voice navigation without paying anything to my mobile service provider

Originally Posted by binand

Google Maps with voice navigation is completely free. I am not sure what payment you are talking about - mobile data plan?

Yes. I pay on a 'per-use' basis (ie, pay per KB downloaded), and definitely dont want to run up a huge bill by downloading map tiles as i drive.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Even if google allows caching the whole country map on the phone you would need good 3G network in all the corners of the country for it to match the MMI equivalent offering.

At many places the phone (even if you have 3G) switches to GPRS and this is where the problem is. You can get the map but the speed at which it updates your current location and statistics about your destination is very slow and very quickly gets out of sync, and in my experience Out of Sync map is useless, especially in areas you do not know the direction.

One of my friend was flashing his new smartphone and proclaimed similar thought, to test i suggested him to use google map to give directions to some place were we were planning to go for Dinner.

So firstly even within city limits first it was too slow to detect that we have reached a signal and hence was always delayed in suggesting if we should take right/left. Second it consistently moved between 3G and GPRS and that meant every-time it had to be refreshed. Bottom line we reached the destination before the map could tell us the direction.

In MMI this is not the case, the updates are spot on, i have rarely missed a turn because of MMI being slow in detecting my location, and this is not only in city but across country. Hope this helps.

So the way i see it, today this is not replaceable, maybe in next 5 years when 3G coverage is awesome across all corners of the nation (Including deep Jungles) there is a possibility but until then MMI business proposition does not look like challenged.

Nope.
Map download takes lot of bandwidth. Navigation instruction packets are very small in size and even a 50kbps poor quality EDGE connection(available in remote areas too) is good enough for navigation.

Regarding "out of sync" I could not understand your point. Why would you need a data connection to know your location on the map.

If you pre-cache the map of the area, then there is no problem in navigation both in cities of remote areas.

[chinmaybaikar]

I use the Sygic with MMI maps for Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. It looks good on the 7" screen and works like a charm. Just enter the place in the search and you are ready to go. I did use it to go to some remote village in Shahapur, and I was amazed by the accuracy of the maps. The points of interest and many other functions come really handy.

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

even a 50kbps poor quality EDGE connection(available in remote areas too)

OT - I've not come across even the best EDGE connection giving more than 25 kbps! I noticed 24 kbps in Lavassa and in cities, it has never been more than 8 kbps! All measurements were done with speedtest app.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

OT - I've not come across even the best EDGE connection giving more than 25 kbps! I noticed 24 kbps in Lavassa and in cities, it has never been more than 8 kbps! All measurements were done with speedtest app.

As long as you can download a few kilobits you are good to go. Navigation main data usage is map tile download. For actual navigation instruction, the amount of data downloaded is miniscule.

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

OT - I've not come across even the best EDGE connection giving more than 25 kbps! I noticed 24 kbps in Lavassa and in cities, it has never been more than 8 kbps! All measurements were done with speedtest app.

Yes you have. You're talking about KBs and he's talking about kb.

Edge powered Google maps are useful in a pinch, but the map quality and detail all over India is definitely better in dedicated mapping software for now.

[T1000]

My Views on Online maps like google and offline devices like mapmyindia.

All companies like mapmyindia, satguide, google maps, nokia maps source maps from the same source. The resolution they offer is more or less the same.

Where they differ is their database of routes and POI(point of interet).

I own a satguide device, i have reviewed google maps, satguide and mapmyindia devices, here im sharing my observations.

Google maps:
Pros:
1. Upto date POI/route database. the database gets constantly updated, sometimes weekly or even daily. Chances of seeing a newly opened restaurant or a newly named hospital is high.
2. Its handy, No need to carry another device/charger.
3. Can offer navigation while walking or going in a rick/taxi. This is useful, you can check if the taxi meter is tampered or not. If you are new to the city you will know if you being taken for a ride.
4. No initial investment
5. User friendly interface.
6. Gives alternate routes, gives more information about a location
7. Freedom to switch to another provider, If i find nokia maps covering my city better than google, i have an option to switchover without any additional cost.

Cons
1. Its not entirely free, you pay high data charge on use, very high if you are on a 3G network.
2. Not so convinent to use, if you are in the middle of traffic and get a phone call the application stops working till you answer the call , chances are you will have to pamper the application to get it working again by refreshing or restarting..etc.. you may loose track of a junction and take a wrong turn
3. Doesnt work everywhere, there are pockets when data network is not available. Not advisable for highway use.
4. If you use your phone as a music player. then you have to choose between navigation and entertainment.
5. Practical issues like battery time prevents continous usage. Ex, a phone using internet, display light and GPS drains the battery quickly. you need to always carry a battery charger.


Offline devices like mapyindia/satguide:
Pros:
1. Easy to use and its a pleasant experience to use once you fix up a route.
2. Works everywhere, even in remote parts of the country
3. Its not depended on telecom network
4. No usage charges
5. A dedicated device for navigation
6. Accuracy and quick response time, i have observer around 10mts accuracy with these devices.
7. Gives you the freedom to go anywhere in the country anytime. Very helpful if you are the type who makes last minute random plans.


Cons:
1. High initial investment(Min Rs7000)
2. Alternate routes are limited or sometimes gives wrong directions
3. Map updation has to be done manually, updates are released every quarter. It costs (Rs500-1000) after 4 free updates.
4. Map updation process is not user friendly and these companies are yet to focus on after sales service support and customer friendliness.
5. Cannot use while walking, the battery lasts hardly few minutes against the manufacturers claim of upto 2hrs!.
6. You are stuck with one service provider. Ex. i have observed mapymyindia has better POI/route database than satguide. But i own a satguide, im forced to wait till satguide wakes up.
7. Device user interface is not as user friendly as google maps.

What i do?
I use combination of both. I first check my gps for POI, if i dont find i check google maps for its lat/long, then enter the lat/lon co-ordinates in my gps.
After couple of bad experience, i normally double check the route given
by my GPS with google.

Cheers
T1000