July 23, 2012 5:27 pm
Nokia Drive 'My Commute' brings smarter traffic info to Lumia phones - ZDNet
Summary: Nokia has updated its turn-by-turn voice guided navigation app with a new feature called My Commute, which aims to cut down on the amount of time people spend in traffic jams
Nokia has released an update to its turn-by-turn navigation software, bringing new features such as My Commute to Lumia devices.
The update, which was first announced at Mobile World Congress 2012, started rolling out to Lumia owners on Friday from the Windows Phone Marketplace.
One of the headline features of the upgrade is a new option called My Commute, which will learn users' preferred route to frequent destinations, while supplying detailed traffic information so they can avoid jams when necessary.
However, while the update is widely available, the My Commute feature is not currently active outside of the US. Nokia said in a blog post on Friday that it would begin to roll it out to other countries when it has more traffic info for them.
Other more minor changes to the app include automatic switching between day and night mode and the ability to pin favourites to the Windows Phone start menu, for quick navigation to frequently visited destinations.
Nokia Drive is currently available on all Nokia Windows Phone handsets, including the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900. In future, Nokia Drive will be available to all Windows Phone 8 smartphones, including those not made by Nokia.
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Gadgeterija and the Nokia 808 - 'a magnificent device' - All About Symbian
The review's well worth a glance though, in terms of text and images/comparisons.
Some quotes and an image of interest:
So, here it is, contrary to all the ongoing trends of making devices thinner and yet larger in screen size, as well as stuffing of the components once thought they will never show up in mobile devices, alone stands the 808 unit. It has no myriad of CPU cores, it has no tons of RAM, and it has no screen resolution that surpasses most displays on our desktops. This chubby (even name fits it!), yet adorable device resists all of the industrially pushed factors. At a glance, it seems cumbersome, jarring and inconspicuous at the same time. A deceiving glance...
Comparison of sensor sizes - from tiny iPhone 4S sensor through to the largest camera sensors available
Backing up my own feelings and theories on thin vs naturally contoured smartphones:
Peculiar and ergonomic curves of the coarse(r) textured, matte polycarbonate shell that surrounds the Gorilla glass covered front enable a simply outstanding grip. One may go as far as to say that it is actually a great joy to use compared to many of the competing smartphones which are considerably thinner – yet all together failing at the ergonomics class. Even the hump where the camera optics and sensor lie is ergonomic – along with textured surface, it prevents the phone from slipping downwards when held in one hand.
The use of a nHD screen on the 808 has drawn criticism by some, but Gadgeterija agree with me that this really isn't an issue:
Viewing content is easier thanks 4” CBD AMOLED screen. Where it lacks in resolution (360×640) it more than makes up with quality; during daytime, it is perfectly visible in all conditions, and although “pixel peepers” might notice the lower resolution in close-face encounters with the device, image quality is fantastic. Sharp, rich and eye catching. Decision to not use the PenTile matrix in 808 PureView was certainly a wise one.
The 808's video capture impressed Gadgeterija in particular:
In case you were wondering, general quality of the video is superb. In addition of a tripod, Nokia 808 PureView becomes a fully capable professional recording unit, and competition in the mobile world simply doesn’t exist.
Mounting the 808 and a Canon 5D on a tripod, some really detailed photos were shot, with the following conclusion:
As 808 PureView lacks the ability to oversample images automatically to 12MP, test photo was done on a tripod and manually oversampled to fit dimensions that Canon 5D produced. What you can see in crops is not a trick. There is no photo editing whatsoever, and both devices fired in auto mode. 808 managed to provide more details in every single part of test photo; be it sprocket in the background, be it blade of grass above the plastic shovel, be it holes on the cardboard box or fibres on the broom.
One has a most difficult time trying to figure out the fitting epithets to use for image quality on 808 PureView. Even compared to some Canon full frame monsters with L-class lenses attached. Oh the blasphemy. Perhaps. Perhaps not. The matter is quite simple, really – in some conditions PureView can outperform anything. That is all.
Although Symbian generally wasn't a problem, the reviewer did have the usual software gripes:
However, there are some things that simply belong to the past that irk and annoy the user and must be taken off the back immediately; app installation seems to last for an eternity, and although it is done in the background, some of the applications even ask for a device restart (!?). App store seems to be in quite a messy state, and it was impossible to find a Skype available for Belle.
Browser is horrid. Some of the colleagues complained about the speed of rendering the page initially while I have an opposite grudge. I hate the behaviour on screen after the site is loaded, and the whole experience reminds one of the old days of equally horrible Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Mobile.
I would point out that Skype for Belle FP1 is available if you know where to look, mind you....
Battery life and general performance was good though:
Using the camera in a more normal fashion, device can run on a single battery charge without major problems. Belle is brilliant at managing system resources without any input from the user (to close apps etc.). Regarding multimedia, we once again return to the power of the dedicated imaging processor. Zooming in full sized images on the device is a breeze, and fluidity does not stop while listing the whole gallery for a while to load images.
Summarising, the reviewer wrote:
Nokia 808 PureView is truly a magnificent device, the very best that the world of mobile image capturing has to offer (and even beyond). Overall impression is somewhat impaired by the used operating system which is, although polished a number of times, still a relic of the past. Using it on a daily basis occasionally resembles using long forgotten Windows Mobile, and even (earlier) Android versions. Features, on the other hand, are numerous. Worth of special noting is definitely the integrated complete navigation solution from Nokia. It works like a charm and has never failed during the test.
Despite the bad points, before anyone steps up to claim the whole device is not worth getting just due to the operating system used, one must remember that the sole operating system is not the product. Product is the device in its entirety, and that entirety is more than acceptable for many users. Overall, let us just say that Nokia 808 PureView does not hide the fact that it is punching its way through primarily to niche of users, especially ones that appreciate the saying that the best camera is the one you have with you – not the one you left at home.
Also of note in the review is that they seem to have the full 'journalist' kit that we got, so you also get mini-reviews of the various 808 accessories.
Report: Nokia Shopping Exclusive Windows Phone 8 Deal in Europe - PC Magazine
Windows Phone 8 smartphones will likely have plenty of competition from a new iPhone and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-based devices, so Nokia is reportedly considering a new strategy to drum up excitement for its upcoming Windows-based smartphones.
According to the Financial Times, Nokia is negotiating with European operators to offer an exclusive opportunity to carry Nokia-branded, Windows Phone 8-based devices.
What that means is that rather than offering up its device to as many carriers as possible, Nokia will take a more Apple-esque approach and cozy up to one or two carriers.
Companies already in talks with Nokia include France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom, the Financial Times reported Sunday. No final deals have been made.
Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak declined to comment on the rumor, saying only that the company has an "ongoing dialog" with its operator customers around the world. However, he said, those discussions remain confidential.
A source told the Financial Times that Nokia's new relationships would also offer service providers a financial stake in the phones' success, which Nokia hopes will provide an incentive for the carriers to push Windows Phone device at the retail level. In June 2011, PCMag went to carrier retail stores and found that there wasn't much enthusiasm from carriers or from their sales people to push the platform.
Many European operators are looking to turn the Windows phone into a credible third choice behind Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Android lineup, both of which carried 90 percent of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2012. Nokia will have to make a hard sell to catch up to its competitors, ABI Research said last month.
"At this point in the year, Nokia will have to grow its Windows Phone business 5,000 percent in 2012 just to offset its declines in Symbian shipments," Michael Morgan, senior analyst for ABI devices, applications, and content, said in June.
In the U.S., Nokia offers the Lumia 900 exclusively on AT&T. Last week, Nokia slashed the Windows phone price from $99 to $49.99, a move the company said is "normal" for the three-month-old product.
For more from Stephanie, follow her on Twitter @smlotPCMag.
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