The MAP WAR

In the present era when everyday a new gadget and technology has been introduced,it is obvious that the people which are passionate towards these gadgets and technologies must compare it to the other.

So two days ago,a new operating system was launched which is known as IOS 6and in this IOS apple removed the google maps from its OS and it was not removed due to any flaws in the application but it was removed due to rivalry between two companies which was born after the largest search engine developed ANDROID mobile operating system.

On this rivalry the officially NOKIA BLOG states that

Unlike our competitors, which are financing their location assets  with advertising or licensing mapping content from third parties, we completely own, build and distribute mapping content, platform and apps.

In other words, we truly understand that maps and location-based apps must be accurate, provide the best quality and be accessible basically anywhere.

In fact a recent survey by IDG found that 77% of respondents are using smartphones for GPS navigation.

Here in this post i show you location experience some of the newest smartphones

The number of countries where voice guided turning navigation available is shown below for nokia,google and apple maps

availability of nokia maps

Availablity of google maps

Availablity of Apple Maps

from the above pictures you can just see that nokia is better than google in most measures and
best than apple in all measures.

And in this MAP WAR it is NOKIA who took most benefit because apple maps received very bad comments from everywhere and nokia thinks why not to take advantage from this and on this nokia states on its blog

Our superior apps are built on the most accurate, automotive-grade Navteq maps, meticulously developed by over 20 years of know-how. We believe that the best user experience comes indeed from precise data, robust processing of core platform functionalities like routing, geocoding and traffic, and by user friendly apps. All this cannot be built overnight.

But in this MAP WAR google also has the biggest advantage as its google maps application is available for almost all the operating system in the market.

And in this MAP WAR,NOKIA brought the most innovative feature which is called NOKIA CITY LENS.

What actually is this city lens?

“Nokia City Lens is Nokia’s location-based augmented reality application. Using the phone’s camera viewfinder, Nokia City Lens provides an augmented reality overlay view of buildings and instantly highlights places of interest.

It basically turns sight into the next interface for searching the world around you. The app then provides information about each building or landmark in the area giving the user an at-a-glance understanding of what restaurants, museums, shops and others places of interest are nearby.”

Although we have seen these types of augumented reality apps like yelp and layar,but nokia stands out this when we compare it with apple and google,because only 3rd party developers have tried hands on this and kudos to nokia for this feature

But there are some limitations and key issues in Nokia city lens

• POIs in Camera View may overlap if compass calibration level is weak or there is magnetic interference
• Get Directions option on POI detail  page may be difficult to view while you are moving
• Nokia City Lens may not be immediately installable for your geographic region. If you cannot immediately install Nokia City Lens,  we suggest you try again in a few days.
• If you have City Lens as a pinned tile prior to the upgrade, the pinned tile may not launch the app after the upgrade. Please delete the pinned tile and add it back in via the app list.

Conclusion:

It is very odd to sell a downgrade as a new feature just because apple did not want to play nice with google.

Google has been investing heavily on google maps for over half a decade and copying it in a very small time could not be possible for any compnay and if steve jobs could be alive he would rejected this map release because for him customer experience comes first