Talk About Nseries

The Nokia N82, like the N95 series, has a built-in A-GPS receiver (Assisted GPS) and is pre-loaded with Nokia’s Maps application. Combine both of these and not only do you have a superb phone, camera, web browser,… (the list could go on!) but a portable satellite navigation system as well!

In this part of my N82 review, I will find out just how good the built in GPS receiver is, and how well it works with Nokia Maps…

Read on for more!!! Go to the loo first, and get a few snacks!!!

Before I start, I upgraded the pre-installed Maps application on the N82 to the latest Maps 2.0 BETA version so that I could benifit from some of the new features (and keep the review as up-to-date and futureproof as possible).
If you would like to install the new version on your device, visit the Nokia Beta Labs for the download.

Technical Bits!:

The GPS receiver that is inside the N82 is located at the top of the handset (which for a start is a big improvement over the N95 where the receiver is at the bottom - underneath the keypad). This should help the N82 get a GPS lock faster and is much more convenient when in use. It is also worth noting that both the N95 and N82 have a low-powered GPS receiver to reduce battery consumption.

The GPS module can also be network assisted (A-GPS) which will speed up GPS lock times dramatically. I would personally keep this on if it is possible but if not there is always the option to turn it off. If on, expect a charge for the use of data by your carrier unless you have a data package set up - cost will vary depending on your carrier.

In my experience, with A-GPS enabled you can expect a GPS lock in just over a minute maximum when outdoors in an open area and when A-GPS is turned off, you can expect it to be approx. 5 minutes maximum before you get a GPS-lock. It won’t be instantanious like a stand-alone sat nav receiver, but I think with A-GPS enabled you shouldn’t find this a problem at all. By the time you have set your route it will have locked on and you will be ready to go!

When I got a GPS-lock with both A-GPS on and off, the device had no problem at all keeping up with me and I didnt loose my connection at all.

Nokia Maps:

Nokia Maps is a ‘free’ navigation software pre-loaded onto the N82 which allows you to have turn-by-turn navigation to wherever you want to go! There is only one catch… - You have to pay for voice navigation and city guides (You get a 3 day free trial to try it out, but on the box of the N82 I received there was an offer providing 3 months of navigation for free. This will vary by country/region).

The program has been designed for use in the car, or starting from this new version by foot as well! Maps can be downloaded over-the-air (for free - apart from carrier data charges) or downloaded and transferred to your devices memory card via the Nokia Maps Loader PC app which is very easy to use.

When you load up the program, the GPS receiver is automatically activated and it will try to lock onto available satellites. You can tell when it has found satellites and has a GPS lock as the status bar (shown above) turns green, and the signal strength is shown by the length of that bar.

The red spot in the middle shows your current GPS position, and the black outline around it can be moved to any destination you want using the navigation pad (instead of entering the location), and by pressing the centre key, you can select whether you want to walk to that place, drive to that place or simply view the locations details. Easy!

To automatically go back to your current GPS position, press the ‘0′ key.

When you press ‘Options’, you have various different things to choose from:

• Search - To search for a place/specific location
• Favourites - Lists the places/locations that you have made a favourite for easy and fast selection
• Map mode - To view the standard map, map in 3D view, Satellite View (like Google Earth) and Hybrid view (like Google Earth with road names etc. in view)
• Traffic Info - To update traffic information in your area/redirect route avoiding traffic
• A map tutorial and Extras to purchase city guides.

By pressing search, you are shown the screen above which gives you lots of different ways to find a place/location, the most common (I would have thought) being ‘Favourites’ and ‘Address’ which are conveniently located at the top. You also have another quick search box like when you are within map view, so you can just start typing in where you want to go and press search!

It is great that the search function has been added in this release and it is a lot faster to find the destination you want.

In the address category, you enter the country and city/post code to perform a search, and to further refine it, you can also enter a street name and the number of the building.

Opening the Walk, Drive or places categories there are many different points of interests you can search for and find out where the nearest one is to you and navigate to them. You can also select which points of interests you would like to see shown on the map as well as you are driving/walking.

Nokia Maps 2.0 When Driving

Navigating with the N82 was really easy and got me to various different destinations effortlessly and accurately. It was also able to keep up with my position without any issues at all! I was really impressed with the devices accuracy when it had locked onto my position! On the odd occasion the voice told me to go a different direction to what was displayed on screen. This isn’t due to the GPS receiver but the software I was using. Nokia Maps 2.0 is a BETA software so I understood there might be some glitches with the maps/program until the final release is available. This shouldn’t be the case on the version currently pre-installed on the N82.

If for some reason I did take the wrong route, the software quickly redirected me so I was back on track to where I wanted to go/needed to be.

I didn’t have a mount to put the N82 onto so I relied on a willing passenger!!! Ok then! Maybe just a passenger! Girlfriend’s are useful!

The N82 provided clear instructions of which turnings to take and got me to my destination effortlessly. I was then able to park the car, and walk away with my multimedia computer tucked away safely in my pocket!!! Even when I was walking and I needed directions, I was able to get turn-by-turn navigation so that I could walk to where I needed to be. Dots (a bit like footprints) marked where I had walked from incase I needed to go back.

Nokia Maps 2.0 has great potential and in future maybe, just maybe our smartphone CAN replace stand-alone GPS units.

The N82 reminded me of what was said by a lady on the launch of the Nokia N95, these devices are really ‘the world in your hand’.