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One of my hobbies over the years has been mapping on the
handheld, starting with my own (now rather dated and in need of revision)
Mapper project. On the Psion Series 3 version, this
had support for plugging in a GPS receiver, to get a primitive moving map. I
never did get this to work reliably on the Series 5 and the functionality got
dropped. But no matter, as several others came along to fill the gap.
So, without further ado, platform by platform, here are
the info and links you'll need to get going!
Psion/EPOC
 The
software you really need is TomTom CityMaps
Europe, which comes on CD, has every street in Europe mapped out, with
good route planning and full GPS support. It's no longer sold by TomTom, but
people like Expansys
still have copies left, and there's always eBay. Make sure the box looks like
this (see notes below, under the 9210 section). As a last resort, its
predecessor, StreetPlanner, will do just as well.
On the GPS side, TomTom used to do a dedicated
Psion-connecting GPS receiver module, but again this is now only found on the
second hand market. With a little patience, you can do just as well using any
standard handheld GPS and the appropriate DIY cable. GPS signals are sent as
the plain text, NMEA 0183 standard, and you only need two wire connections from
GPS to Psion. So, if bastardising two existing cables/connectors, you've only
got to handle soldering two wires. Making such a cable is beyond the scope of
this article, try a Google search for pin
info for your GPS.
Once connected, go into CityMaps and use 'Maps |
Preferences | GPS' and use the settings:
Use GPS: Ticked
(obviously)
Seconds between updates:2
Keep position on
screen:Ticked
Map matching:Ticked
In 'Maps | Preferences | General',
set:
Route indicator follows table:Unticked
With these settings, CityMaps will track your position
on-screen, against the current planned route, with your next instruction
counted down at the bottom of the screen. If you go 'off-track', just pull
over, tap on the 'Set (cursor as)' button and press 'Enter' to accept the
default of 'Departure'. A new route is quickly planned from your current
position and it's off you go again.
Nokia 9210/9210i
 At the
risk of sounding like a TomTom advert, it's their software you need again, and
again it's called CityMaps Europe. However, it's a totally different
version of the package to the one mentioned above for Psion, you have been
warned!
On the GPS-side, TomTom unfortunately never got round to
writing drivers for generic NMEA-talking receivers (theoretically connected via
the PC Suite serial cable). So your only option is the official
Nokia GPS (model
LAM-1), not officially available anymore but plentiful on the likes of
eBay. The good news is that the GPS
package also includes both the CityMaps Europe and RoutePlanner Europe
applications, so you don't have to buy these separately. So, if you think about
it, the GPS is better value than at first glance.
 The Nokia GPS clips neatly onto the left
hand side of the 9210 and is recognised instantly by the two TomTom
applications (though note you can't run both at once). As with CityMaps for
EPOC, it's easy to recalculate routes on-the-fly, with bottom-of-screen
instructions as to what to do at the next junction.
For optimum usability (and mimicking the current Nokia
9500, Palm OS and Pocket PC Navigator products as far as possible), you'll
probably want heads-up display, with real-time updating of both map and
navigation instructions. Here are my recommended settings:
Map orientation:
Heads-up
Color style: Greys (for best visibility in sunlight on the
9210)
Route indicator follows table: unticked
Keep GPS position on
screen: ticked
Map matching: ticked
In use, this solution works well. If you go 'off-track',
you do need to pull over briefly though, pressing the 'Cursor' command button
twice and then waiting while a new route is compiled and drawn.
Note that because the Nokia 9210 insists on auto-dimming
its display after a while, you may want to invest in the shareware utility
Smart Display, which will let you
keep the screen at maximum brightness.
Nokia 9300/9500 (and Series 60) devices
TomTom again are the ones in the frame, with their
MOBILE 5
product, which works on the Nokia 9300/9500 and all Series 60 devices built
on Symbian OS 7 and upwards. This comes with a suitable Bluetooth GPS and the
whole system is tremendously well worked out. See my full review of the
Series
60 and Series 80
versions.
Other possible solutions include
WayFinder, which works well in urban
areas but falls flat when your smartphone is out of GPRS coverage, and (for all
Series 60 devices)
Route
66, which has the benefit of working on all devices, regardless of OS age
but is slightly slow and clunky compared to TomTom MOBILE 5.
UIQ (e.g. the Sony Ericsson P800/P900)
 For Europe at least, there's currently
only one navigation solution for UIQ, with the comprehensive
WayFinder service. In short, the
application talks wirelessly to any Bluetooth GPS and (also wirelessly) to its
home server on the Internet, via the wonders of GPRS. It's quite frugal with
bandwidth, don't worry, your biggest cost will be in stumping up for the year's
subscription to the service.
The upshot is that it can guide you from anywhere to
anywhere else using both visual prompts and digital audio instructions. Being
able to keep your eyes on the road and let WayFinder talk to you is extremely
liberating and a big step forward.
For more screenshots (including maps) and more
information, see my
detailed
review over on AllAboutSymbian. |
