[DerAlte]

Hmmm. Something is better than nothing, but that is not helping removing glaring errors. Like there is a small road shown (both in MMI and Navteq) near my house, which is actually a covered drain about 8' across. Sure one can gingerly walk down that way, but only dogs use it as a short cut. There was another road that used to be shown (2 years back, again both in MMI and Navteq) joining another road, though there is a row of house bang across the road (it is a cul-de-sac or dead end). Fortunately that error does not show up now. Placement of PoIs in MMI are mostly hopelessly out of place, either 60-100' or on a totally different road.

Wonder how (and how spend per sq.mile) did Garmin do that for US maps, for example. Never tried OSM stuff, so not sure of their accuracy.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Wonder how (and how spend per sq.mile) did Garmin do that for US maps, for example. Never tried OSM stuff, so not sure of their accuracy.

Garmin did not spend anything on building map data, it relies on Navteq for that.

Navteq spent approx $ 2B over 10 years for building US maps. It used to be a public company (before it was acquired by Nokia). SEC filings for 2004 t0 2007 has these details. Symbol is NVT. Nokia paid $ 8B for Navteq in 2008.

[DerAlte]

A-ha. Thanks for the info. Garmin would have paid Navteq, right? I have a feeling MMI/SatNav (and even Navteq for India) are far away from that spend/sq.mile!

[ampere]

Very valid point. Only issue is, these guys (MMI/Satguide) are looking still looking for a good return of investment for such amounts.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Never tried OSM stuff, so not sure of their accuracy.

The problem with osm is not lack of accuracy, but lack of complete mapping. Its community driven. So wherever the members have travelled, they have GPS logs.
Where they do not have GPS logs, there will be no maps(unless detailed satellite imagery is available)

[iTNerd]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

You need Garmin Mapsource for this.



Thats is the way (driving around, capturing GPS tracks + video and processing in back office) map data is being created. Indian companies had to start from Zero since govt sources are useless. In last 5 years, maps have come a a long way. And these investments have helped setup back offices processes (including QA).

Tomom is doing it via "crrowdsourcing" from individuals and small companies, this initiative is called "spoider". Details on http://www.spoider.com/.

I downloaded what I believed was the Garmin MapSouce setup, but it turned out it was just the update portion. Where can I download the actual program setup for MapSource?

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

A-ha. Thanks for the info. Garmin would have paid Navteq, right? I have a feeling MMI/SatNav (and even Navteq for India) are far away from that spend/sq.mile!

They don't have to. Costs of Civil Diploma holders / drivers / back office is dramatically lower in India. And cost of sat images + GPS equipment has plummeted (as compared to 1990 - 2000, when Navteq / TeleAtlas mapped US).

Even Navteq's own costs in India way lower than US / EU. Recently it moved even US map processing to India.

Originally Posted by iTNerd

I downloaded what I believed was the Garmin MapSouce setup, but it turned out it was just the update portion. Where can I download the actual program setup for MapSource?

Download Garmin training center (Garmin: Training Center Updates & Downloads) and then install Mapsource.

[iTNerd]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Download Garmin training center (Garmin: Training Center Updates & Downloads) and then install Mapsource.

Thanks a lot, NetfreakBombay! Had been struggling for a while! Your step by step post from April on generating maps for MapSource with Gmaptool is excellent. Saved me a lot of precious time. I can now successfully plan and sync routes/waypoints to my Garmin device! Cheers!

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

@Prowler, right click on map and select "Find nearest places". Find "Cities" and try Mumbai and Goa.

Does it find these cities?

What OS do you have; is it 32 bit or 64 bit.

Originally Posted by ampere

@Prowler, the whole GMAPSUPP file should about 180-200 MB size. And are you sure, you are not seeing anything other than AP in Mapsource. Hope its not a rendering issue where S/W is not updating the display.

It should show all the details.

Thanks Ampere and NetfreakBombay. gmapsupp.img is 162,872KB (date stamp 8/27/10)
My OS is Windows Ultimate 64 bit (may be it is some sort of a 32 bit driver issue ? ). I will install the mapsource in my Laptop (Vista 32 bit) to see if this is the case.

NFB: I tried as you said - No joy. It really doesn't know any other place other than Anantha giri.

I didn't know it would take so many hours to get this working. Thanks guys.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

They don't have to. ...

Not like that. TANSTAFL, as Milton Keynes had explained. Garmin as a company would have had to pay for the services / products of another company - why would Navteq give anything for free to Garmin?

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

why would Navteq give anything for free to Garmin?

Navteq does not give it for free, my post was about different aspect:

1. Navteq spent a lot of money for building US maps
2. Spend on India maps would be much lesser. Reason is lower cost of services, equipment and manpower.

Originally Posted by Prowler

NFB: I tried as you said - No joy. It really doesn't know any other place other than Anantha giri.

I think there is some issue with unlock of maps. It would be prudent to start from scratch on a different machine of clean up exiting maps from current machine.

[DerAlte]

Aah, that way. Anyhow, the spend trend per sq. mile would still be comparable if one knows the elements of cost and the cost v/s earnings. I know it is crazy to think that way but in business, ratios and indices are always a phunny business.

Anyhow, I found that I had installed Mapsource on my laptop last year but never got around to using it. Will try out what @prowler was trying, some time.

[iTNerd]

I can successfully sync/export waypoints and routes from mapsource to my nuvi. But how do you get to work/retrieve the routes in the Nuvi? Mine is nuvi 1360.

Edit: Just read something in other Garmin GPS forum, that most Nuvi devices only support transfer of waypoints. Routes are totally ignored. Though I can still create a route with the waypoints created in MapSource, I would have loved to have ready to use route, which I planned in Mapsource in my Nuvi. Any workarounds?

[sgiitk]

Have Satguide stopped update for Garmin? Also, is there any way of buying Navteq for Garmin devices imported from abroad.

[cooljai]

Last night even I tried searching for the same.
Navteq site does not give the option of changing the country to India.
But the Garmin site lists City Navigator for India priced at $100.
Here is the link https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=253&pID=65217
Not sure if it's the same map that comes bundled with Garmin devices sold in India