Fifteen times around the world every day; that’s the distance Nokia’s Ovi Maps guides users every day, and with the quiet introduction of Ovi Maps SR4 (v3.0.4) that number is likely to get even bigger. The first significant update since Ovi Maps went free four months ago, Nokia have already passed the 10m download mark and, while they’re not talking updated figures quite yet, are still apparently seeing a new download every second. Ovi Maps SR4 brings with it over 2m kilometres of newly navigable roads, boosts points of interest (POI) to over 25m and speeds up zooming and searching, not to mention slipping in Qype reviews and recommendations. We sat down with Marcel Duee, Places project manager on Nokia’s Ovi Maps team, for an update on why SR4 is special and what’s still in the pipeline.
The first thing Ovi Maps users should see is increased speed, both of the app itself and of the positioning lock. Nokia have developed their own WiFi triangulation system, which now means you’re more likely to get a positioning fix while indoors or in “urban canyon” style built-up areas. They’ve also set up a dedicated team to track hotspots, and the WiFi positioning system will be available as an API for other location-based services (LBS) to access on compatible Nokia devices. Meanwhile to speed positioning in larger countries, such as the US and China, Nokia have used a nifty shortcut to narrow down GPS/A-GPS positioning by factoring in cell tower ID.
While the technology might be getting more complex, the Ovi Maps UI has been tightened up. User feedback said the positioning indicator was too easily confused with the data meter, trying to give too much information when people only wanted to know if they had a fix or not, and if so how accurate it was. Now there’s a better partial-fix display, defaulting to a zoomed-out view that shows the limits of its accuracy. Zoom in, meanwhile, and that radius disappears so as not to overlap with the 3D landmarks, which have also seen a boost in number. City searches, meanwhile, default to a zoomed-out view that encompasses the whole city, rather than zooming in to the closest level.