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Ovi Maps Now with Some Improvements: Short URL and Share Location

One of the things I did after I lost my phone was to synchronize some of phone data between my Nokia 5800 XM and E72. Actually, I only keep my contact and maps. About map, I use Ovi Maps provided by Nokia (see also: Yahoo Maps powered by Ovi Maps) After I added a location using Ovi Maps, I simply sync it to my Ovi account. Not everyday, maybe once in a week or two. Even I don’t visit Ovi Maps website regularly, I’m still thinking that I might need later in the future. And, I need it.

When I visited Ovi Maps page, I saw that there were some differences. It seems that Ovi Maps page has been improved.
One thing I notice is that it becomes more social now. You can easily share a certain location marked as “Favorites” to Facebook and Twitter. This might be useful if you want to share a location. If you don’t have any locations in your Favourites folder, you can easily add one. It’s like: “This is the location. I should bookmark this. Then, when I need it, I can find it easily or even share with others”.
For every location link, Ovi Maps uses ovi.me domain. Yes, it’s shortened, just like what Google Maps has right now.

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General

Goodbye Nokia E72!

Nokia E72No, not that I hate my E72. I lost it. Last Monday, I reached my hometown for holiday. I liked the fact that I finally got home without loosing anything. A perfect situation. :)
On the evening, I had plan to have dinner with my girl. That should be a nice dinner. But, it turned into bad situation when I realized that I didn’t have my Nokia E72 with me. That was the time when all food were on the table. I haven’t touched anything — well, not really ‘anything’, but only some peanuts. Last time I remembered was that when I was in a taxi. I called the taxi operator and worked with the guy on the phone. I even called the taxi driver and asked him to pick us again. No luck. In short: I lost my phone. Now, I only have 5800XM with me.

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General

Ten Things Why Nokia N8 Is Better (than iPhone 4)

Ten Things Why Nokia N8 Is Better (than iPhone 4). Comparison on these subjects: price, design, video call, HDMI + Dolby Surround, memory, USB On-the-Go, usability (reception issue), sensor, Xenon flash, editing software & Ovi Maps are free (Symbian^3)

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Yahoo Maps powered by Ovi Maps. And more!

Some of you probably have heard about this news: Nokia and Yahoo! have an agreement to work on they really’re really good at. According to the press release:

Today, Yahoo! and Nokia announced a worldwide strategic alliance to extend the reach of their industry leading online services and offer people rich experiences that keep them connected to their world and the world around them.
Building on more than five years of collaboration, Nokia and Yahoo! ® will leverage each others’ strengths in e-mail, instant messaging and maps and navigation services, to provide consumers with access to world-class experiences on both PC and mobile devices.

You can also find the press release at Yahoo! Yodel Anecdotal. So, what does it mean for you? Probably… nothing. But, for me it means something. Let me tell you why.

I use Flickr — and I’m really enjoying it. Sometime, I take advantage of its geo-location feature. I can put my photos into map. You can do it manually, or automatically using geo-location meta data captured from your mobile device. I did it using my mobile device. Flickr photos with geo-location information will be integrated with Yahoo! Map. You can see my Flickr map page to see it in action. Is it good? Yes, but not that good. Why?

  • When I had my photos with location information, they’re not placed at the correct information. So, I have to edit their location in the map.
  • Yahoo! Map does not have much details about my hometown, Jogjakarta. Especially, when it comes to street names. For example, my photo taken in Malioboro Street, it’s detected as it was taken in other area, and it’s not even close.
  • I remembered that I have put my photos into correct location. But for some reasons — I don’t know why — the location was changed. I hope I’m wrong with this. The zoom effect or something, I don’t know.

With the new partnership I mention above, I hope I can see improvements. Ovi Maps has a great database of location, and it works really well. I know, sometime it has some mistakes on the street naming, but… still, it’s a great tool.

Categories
General

Ovi Maps (3.04) is available. How do I use Ovi Maps?

Few days ago, Nokia Ovi Maps v. 3.04 for mobile was released for public. If you’re following the news, Nokia released Ovi Maps with Free worldwide Walk & Drive navigation last January. And, I have my Ovi Maps on my Nokia 5800 XM upgraded. And I like it. Find more details about Ovi Maps.

Now, I want to share how I use Ovi Map daily use. Right now, I’m in Jakarta and I have been staying in this city for few months. It’s not my first time, but still, I’m not familiar with the streets and routes. I met Ovi Maps when I had my N78 few years ago and found it really useful. But, it was when I stayed in my hometown, Jogjakarta.

Mobile photoblogging (by orangescale)I love taking pictures with mobile device. When I found out that all photos captured using my N78 can have location information, I usually had the GPS information turned on. By this, I can find out where the photos were taken and — the important thing — was that I knew where I stood. How is it useful? A simple example: I went to Solo city and took a picture at the railway station. Then, I went to some places in Solo and took another picture. The result? I could find out what places I visited (with photos).

Okey, that was related to photo. In Jakarta, when I go to a place I usually save the location — based on the GPS data. This is useful since I can also find the navigation, or at least what direction/route I should take from one place to my destination. Usually, when I took bus or taxi — and I’m not familiar with the street route, the first thing I do is firing up my map. Until today, I never lost. :D

Anyway, I rarely notice about the 3D view. But, when I took my time to explore Jakarta in Ovi Maps, I found some buildings/landmarks available in 3D view map. For example: Monumen Nasional (see pictures below).

Buildings/Landmarks Jakarta OviMaps (by orangescale) Monas, Jakarta (by orangescale)

For more screenshots about some buildings/landmarks I found using Ovi Maps, you can go my Flickr photostream set.

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I write this based on personal experience.