This week, I have finally been able to make the change from a 100MB data cellphone plan to an unlimited data one. My usual monthly spending for the line came to an average of about HKD$220, sometimes up to HKD$250. So this HKD$232 unlimited data + 3000min talk time adding a couple of other extra feature should not be any noticeable change in monthly spending to me. With this, I’ll have carefree online experience and I’ll be able to use Google Maps more frequently.
Although Nokia had make Ovi maps navigation free for “everyone” last month, my Nokia E71 is still not listed as a supported device. I could try the E72 version but I don’t feel like debugging for manufacturer again here as I usually ended up doing for most other new features new gadgets. That’s because I have a 5″ Chinese GPS navigation device for my car now which is a very nice upgrade from my older 4″ device since dad don’t want to bother with it after I had given him the 5″ one for his birthday last Dec.
Nokia Maps has been a love hate feature over these years for me. The nice feature is of course the handiness of having GPS navigation readily available at all times. However, the installation of maps is a logic (or the lack of it) course in itself. The single most important feature in worldwide map is having the local language available. Google Maps does this brilliantly. The reason being so is that when one is traveling abroad, all signs and people speak their own local language. Asking for direction or simply checking the street signs to match the location on the map with the local language is the only way. Even in my local town Hong Kong, official street names can sometimes be translated in it’s literal meaning or by the sound of the pronunciation, making it difficult to decipher the names between the 2 official languages here – Chinese and English.
I use my phones in English, Nokia or otherwise. It is because I find English much more easily recognized at a glance than Chinese. Sorting in alphabetical order alone is enough to make me use English as I still don’t know how a Chinese list is being sorting when not in the number of strokes for the first word. Like those names in a country list in any M$ products; I could be staring at it for weeks and I still have to search for it one by one or switch over to Chinese input and type in the full Chinese character to let the system search for (or miss) it. When one downloads a Nokia Map and subsequently upload it to the phone, Nokia sends the map in the language which is currently set as one’s own phone operation language set. In my case, English. I am sorry this could be my fault but, what good is an Hong Kong map to any Chinese in English anyway? If you had further downloaded any maps for the rest of China, you are bound to redo all your map downloading chores. In order to have maps in the local language, I think one might need to switch the operating language before each and every country. I doubt that my phone has all the languages in the world.
Having an unlimited data line and Google Maps only solves half the problem. There is no free roaming for data.
I just fired up Ovi maps online with my computer and saw this…
The above screen shot shows the widest view on Ovi Maps where it no longer shows “Hong Kong” on it. Yet, Macau is still promptly being showed on the map. Way to go HK.
Another thing that shows on the screen shot picture is the local languages available for Ovi Maps. Chinese (Traditional or Simplified) is not on the list.
Creating a worldwide map for everyone in the world is no easy task. Google is by far the only one that has what it takes to be on the leading edge.
WhaUSay?!