Ovi Maps – A Great Tool For Business Travel
I’ve recently discovered a great business travel tool and I didn’t have to spend a dime to get it. When you’re on a business trip to a new city, you need to be able to find your way around very quickly so that you don’t waste valuable time. Ovi Maps (formerly Nokia Maps) helps you to do just that. If you have one of the recent touchscreen Nokia phones, then this mapping program comes as part of the package. I recently put it to the test, using my Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.
Getting Started
In order to use the maps program on your phone you will need to download some maps. There’s no need to worry about the often prohibitive cost of data downloads. The bundled Nokia software also includes a desktop maps program, so fire it up and download the maps to your computer. That can take a while on slow connections, but once it’s done, you can sync the maps you need to your phone.
The maps are divided by continent and then by major area. For the UK, you can load maps for either England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, but not (as far as I could tell) for specific regions such as London. Similarly, the US maps allow you to load maps for each state. I loaded up New York and New Jersey in preparation for my trip and set my phone to use the program offline to avoid roaming charges.
Built In GPS
Another feature of this particular phone (and many others in the range) is built in GPS. Though you have to pay to use additional GPS services (more on that later), it isn’t expensive to pinpoint your location via GPS, though how well that works depends on the number of satellites and strength of coverage in your area. On trips through the Caribbean, the mapping software was no use, but I tested it several times in New Jersey, and at least 75 per cent of the time, it was able to pinpoint my location and mark it on the map.
Adding Favorites
This is where it got interesting, because I was able to save the location, give it a name and add it to my favorite places. I was also able to use it as a starting point for future journeys. Once you have found your location you are also able to search for shops, transport, museums and attractions, restaurants, business services and accommodation near you, mark them on the map and get directions. You can also save copies of your maps for future reference.
In the free version, there is no audio for walking or driving directions, though the program uses GPS to guide you, but if you want audio directions like your normal GPS you can purchase this in packages for a day, month or year.
You can save collections of places or routes too, rounding out a useful package of services. Even if you don’t want to spend any money, you can get a lot of use out of this maps program. I am very impressed with it so far, and will definitely be using it on future trips.
Additional Services
Maps are available in the plain version, 3D, satellite or hybrid. Other tools include traffic information, and the ability to download guides for the region you are visiting. These services are not free, but could be useful add-ons to this excellent program.
Tags: business travel, travel, Travel Tools
