GPS Navigators on Symbian

As soon as Nokia XpressMusic 5800 came out in Australia, my wife conveniently lost her HTC touch smartphone. So I bought the XM 5800 for her from Bangkok (and it turned out to be genuine ). Then on the same day she conveniently found her HTC in her friend's car...

So I was charged to install all the must-have software onto the new phone. Since both XM 5800 and my old N95 support GPS, a GPS navigator became the top of the list. I have tried Garmine Mobile XT, Route 66, TomTom and Nokia Map using my N95. I quickly dismissed Garmin since it refused to start the trial period claiming some error requesting the server over the internet (and I am sure my wifi setting was correct and it did get through the internet to attempt to connect to the Garmin server).

I have been using R66 Mobile 7 and then 8 for a while until I successfully installed TomTom v6.02 on my N95. The R66 maps simply don't look good comparing to TT and Nokia Map.

So now I am using TT and Nokia Ovi Map (v3.01) at the same time.

Comparing to Nokia Map, TT is better at navigation. As soon as you type a letter, it intelligently prompts a list of names. When I typed Dolls Point, it automatically points to the beach which is exactly what I wanted. The lane guidance and camera alert work perfectly.

The disadvantage of TT comparing to Nokia Map is in its map browsing capability - perhaps rightly so, considering the fact that TT is a navigator, not a map system.

Nokia Map shines in its usability - you can easily download and configure maps and voice packs in different languages. Its maps are quite pretty and detailed. Here is a screenshot of Nokia Map showing where I am stranded (due to mechanical failure of Royal Brunei Airline flight).

However, the version that I am using does not seem to include camera alert or lane guidance.

When it comes to the XM 5800, there is not much choice because it is running S60 v5 and not equipped with any keyboard. The only choice on XM 5800 for me is Nokia Map.