The GPS/Maps Discussion Thread (Dedicated Satnav, Smartphones, Tablets, etc)

NetfreakBombay · 23rd June 2009, 22:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar

MapMyIndia is terrible, to say the least

In Malad / Goregaon west area, MapMyIndia's maps are quite inaccurate.

What I have observed is, Navteq based maps are way better than MapMyIndia. Garmin, Satguide, Nokiamaps share the same source for maps in Mumbai (and probably rest of India) that is Navteq .

rishi_kapoor · 24th June 2009, 00:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

What I have observed is, Navteq based maps are way better than MapMyIndia. Garmin, Satguide, Nokiamaps share the same source for maps in Mumbai (and probably rest of India) that is Navteq .

How can we get Navteq directly for Garmin?

NetfreakBombay · 24th June 2009, 07:45

AERIAL SERVICES PVT. LTD. - Home

This comapny sells Navteq maps for India. This is in Garmin format. Costs 3k.

MapMyIndia also sells Garmin maps. They cover more cities then navteq but for each city maps are not that good.

suman · 24th June 2009, 09:15

Guys, I have Satguide as well as Miomaps (on a SDHC card). Believe me when I tell you this - each is as bad as the other. After two trips to Corbett & one mother of all trips to Leh, I'm unimpressed with both.

There are important roads that are missing on both and the most frustrating part is (as already mentioned by someone) - for some inexplicable reason, they show you as being parallel to the highway instead of being on it!!!!

NetfreakBombay · 24th June 2009, 09:20

Highways are not recorded properly in ANY navigation map so far.Did a random check last week, none of the Map providers cover all NH roads.

Maps are quite good for navigation inside city.

suman · 24th June 2009, 09:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Maps are quite good for navigation inside city.

Depends. There are roads in Gurgaon which have been around for over a year & a half - they do not appear on Satguide. Even after pointing it out to them in November, it doesn't appear on the recent upgrade.

Road names don't appear on most cities in North India, heck, most city/town names don't appear in North India

. There is a famous Hotel & revolving restaurant in Jammu which has been around for decades and is a landmark - doesn't appear in the POIs in either Mio or Satguide. I stopped using them on my recent trip except to cross check altitudes. Not that I was expecting any directions to Leh but I thought that at least Jammu & Srinagar should be mapped out properly!

NetfreakBombay · 24th June 2009, 09:58

J&K is not mapped by ANY provider. And its not going to be mapped in next few years (no buyers for maps like telecom).

At present only large cities are covered well. I think only 14 cities have "Prime" coverage.

d_payne · 24th June 2009, 10:01

Guys, just one query:

- Is Google-maps still more comprehensive to use than any of these services? And will it be better in the future as well?

I plan to buy a Google G1 (T-mobile) which has GPS and comes pre-loaded with the maps app anyway. If any of these services is wayyy better than the Google Maps app, then I might consider picking up a standalone GPS navigation system.

Please enlighten me.

Payne

suman · 24th June 2009, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

J&K is not mapped by ANY provider. And its not going to be mapped in next few years (no buyers for maps like telecom).

It is mapped, both Jammu & Srinagar are mapped. Its just that they don't bother to upgrade the maps.

If you're saying that you have 300 cities mapped, at least have reasonably current maps - that's all we're asking.

NetfreakBombay · 24th June 2009, 11:07

Overall, it will take a few years before decent road maps for non-metro cities are made available.

Those J&K maps are just what Govt makes available. And as expected it would have lots of gaps.

In bigger cities, companies like CE / GD Data trawl roads with GPS loggers in cars. And they record names of each building manually. And these go thoru matching with Sat Images + manual verification / QA.

But that costs $$$ so only when Relaince / Airtel / Mahanagar Gas pays up for road and utility survey then detailed maps are prepared.

Later, maps are enhanced with POIs like restaurent / ATM when some Sat Nav provider like TeleAtlas (Gogle Maps) or SetNav pays for it.

suman · 24th June 2009, 11:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Those J&K maps are just what Govt makes available. And as expected it would have lots of gaps.

I'm not sure it is as easily dismissed as that. If you log on to the Mapmyindia portal, the street level maps are far more detailed than what they are showing on their PNDs - how do you explain that? Name any city & the MMI portal has way more detailed maps than what they sell for the GPS units.

Its not about what the Government makes available. IMHO.

trrk · 24th June 2009, 12:51

Hi,

After using the MapMyIndia in their two versions locally, I always thought that things would be better in the North thinking that these people would ignore the South.

From what is being reported here, it does not seem so.

In my short experience, the NH47 from Kochi to Trivandrum is completely covered, except for misspelled names for our places. I have used this in the Trivandrum Fort Area to get back to the byepass there.

Have used it successfully navigate Nagercoil on the way to Tirunelveli.

A trip I did from Alleppey to Thanjavur (via Kumarakam, Kottayam, Kumily) also was with the help of the software. Except for a 'no entry' in Kottayam (which has been like that for all the years that I know), the route was clear enough.

No entry roads are generally not marked properly is what I saw pertaining to the roads that I use.

NetfreakBombay · 24th June 2009, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

I'm not sure it is as easily dismissed as that. If you log on to the Mapmyindia portal, the street level maps are far more detailed than what they are showing on their PNDs - how do you explain that? Name any city & the MMI portal has way more detailed maps than what they sell for the GPS units.

Its not about what the Government makes available. IMHO.

Did you try the maps they released in May, they should be the same as what is shown in Portal.

At least for Bumbao/Pune they are.

And even here, areas that are not mapped manually still show roads as per BMC (Municpal) topology maps.

For example, in this area BMC have still not adopted roads from builder. So all buildings are shown to be in "Water body". BMC has approved the buildings not roads do not exist in BMC maps.

MapmyIndia - maps, directions, and local search across India - just search, print and go!

Garmin showed similar results till last update. But GD mapped this area and now roads are shown.

mdsaab · 30th June 2009, 15:11

Hey Everyone,
Took the Nav 300 for a small test yesterday. Did not have my car here in Kolkata. So set it in pedestrian mode. Took a walk around the block. It was quite accurate, and guided me perfectly to a shopping mall near by. On my way back though, it did have one hiccup. It showed me parallel to the road when I was on the sidewalk. This was quite bugging as the voice prompts stop when you are not aligned with the road. First impression is good. Let’s hope it lives up to the high expectations I have set out for it.

Mash

mdsaab · 2nd July 2009, 19:54

Hey everyone,
Was flipping through the july edition of Autocar India. And saw a garmin ad. Looks like they have launched in India now. Two models are in the ad. Nuvi 215 which is 3.5' bluetooth enabled touch screen. And the other is nuvi 715 which has a 4.3' touch screen. They have mentioned a website too but when i checked it directed me to the singapore website. Its www.garmin.co.in the ad says it comes with street maps of over 200 cities and 1.5 million poi's. If anyone is using the garmin india maps would like to hear your review.

24th June 2009, 07:45	#153
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,466 Thanked: 1,021 Times	AERIAL SERVICES PVT. LTD. - Home This comapny sells Navteq maps for India. This is in Garmin format. Costs 3k. MapMyIndia also sells Garmin maps. They cover more cities then navteq but for each city maps are not that good.
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 09:15	#154
suman Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Kolkata Posts: 4,589 Thanked: 279 Times View My Garage	Guys, I have Satguide as well as Miomaps (on a SDHC card). Believe me when I tell you this - each is as bad as the other. After two trips to Corbett & one mother of all trips to Leh, I'm unimpressed with both. There are important roads that are missing on both and the most frustrating part is (as already mentioned by someone) - for some inexplicable reason, they show you as being parallel to the highway instead of being on it!!!!
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 09:20	#155
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,466 Thanked: 1,021 Times	Highways are not recorded properly in ANY navigation map so far.Did a random check last week, none of the Map providers cover all NH roads. Maps are quite good for navigation inside city.
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 09:58	#157
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,466 Thanked: 1,021 Times	J&K is not mapped by ANY provider. And its not going to be mapped in next few years (no buyers for maps like telecom). At present only large cities are covered well. I think only 14 cities have "Prime" coverage.
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 10:01	#158
d_payne BHPian Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 180 Thanked: 210 Times	Guys, just one query: - Is Google-maps still more comprehensive to use than any of these services? And will it be better in the future as well? I plan to buy a Google G1 (T-mobile) which has GPS and comes pre-loaded with the maps app anyway. If any of these services is wayyy better than the Google Maps app, then I might consider picking up a standalone GPS navigation system. Please enlighten me. Payne
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 11:07	#160
NetfreakBombay Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,466 Thanked: 1,021 Times	Overall, it will take a few years before decent road maps for non-metro cities are made available. Those J&K maps are just what Govt makes available. And as expected it would have lots of gaps. In bigger cities, companies like CE / GD Data trawl roads with GPS loggers in cars. And they record names of each building manually. And these go thoru matching with Sat Images + manual verification / QA. But that costs $$$ so only when Relaince / Airtel / Mahanagar Gas pays up for road and utility survey then detailed maps are prepared. Later, maps are enhanced with POIs like restaurent / ATM when some Sat Nav provider like TeleAtlas (Gogle Maps) or SetNav pays for it.
	() Thanks

24th June 2009, 12:51	#162
trrk Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Alleppey, Kerala Posts: 2,114 Thanked: 34 Times View My Garage	Perception from South Hi, After using the MapMyIndia in their two versions locally, I always thought that things would be better in the North thinking that these people would ignore the South. From what is being reported here, it does not seem so. In my short experience, the NH47 from Kochi to Trivandrum is completely covered, except for misspelled names for our places. I have used this in the Trivandrum Fort Area to get back to the byepass there. Have used it successfully navigate Nagercoil on the way to Tirunelveli. A trip I did from Alleppey to Thanjavur (via Kumarakam, Kottayam, Kumily) also was with the help of the software. Except for a 'no entry' in Kottayam (which has been like that for all the years that I know), the route was clear enough. No entry roads are generally not marked properly is what I saw pertaining to the roads that I use.
	() Thanks

30th June 2009, 15:11	#164
mdsaab Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Pune Posts: 1,624 Thanked: 453 Times	Small test of MMI Nav300 Hey Everyone, Took the Nav 300 for a small test yesterday. Did not have my car here in Kolkata. So set it in pedestrian mode. Took a walk around the block. It was quite accurate, and guided me perfectly to a shopping mall near by. On my way back though, it did have one hiccup. It showed me parallel to the road when I was on the sidewalk. This was quite bugging as the voice prompts stop when you are not aligned with the road. First impression is good. Let’s hope it lives up to the high expectations I have set out for it. Mash
	() Thanks

2nd July 2009, 19:54	#165
mdsaab Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Pune Posts: 1,624 Thanked: 453 Times	Garmin in India Hey everyone, Was flipping through the july edition of Autocar India. And saw a garmin ad. Looks like they have launched in India now. Two models are in the ad. Nuvi 215 which is 3.5' bluetooth enabled touch screen. And the other is nuvi 715 which has a 4.3' touch screen. They have mentioned a website too but when i checked it directed me to the singapore website. Its www.garmin.co.in the ad says it comes with street maps of over 200 cities and 1.5 million poi's. If anyone is using the garmin india maps would like to hear your review.
	() Thanks