N97 - Maps/Navigation Question (probably a rather ...

Question

I have managed to update my actual maps. So that's good. My compass seems to work, so that is also good.
Before the Maps update I managed to save my home address and set it as a Favourite. Since the update of Maps (the app) and the actual maps themselves, I can't seem to save another Favourite location – such as my work address.
So, this may be a very dumb question, but I'm allowed a few surely? LOL Phones I'm OK with, computers are my livelihood – but GPS is a whole new confusing world to me. OK – I get the basic concept – my device communicates with a silver dish in the sky and decides where I am, I tell it where I want to go, it determines where that is and charts a route for me and guides me on my way (I hope – if the Telstra ad on TV here is any indication, that could be problematic).
How do I save a darn new address and make it a Favourite – I can't even save an address now, yet clearly I did before, because my home address is still there.
Also, I gather I have to subscribe to this thing if I actually want driving instructions etc. For $79.99 a year, it seems rather expensive – what am I actually getting for that $79 when the use of the satellite seems to be charged on my phone bill.
I'm so confused.
Can someone please give me a kindergarten intro to GPS/Maps/what am I paying for/anything else I need to know?  How to save an address would be a good start!  Or is the answer to that, that my trial period has run out?
Message Edited by au_n97_user on 26-Jul-2009 06:12 PM
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Answer 1

Dear Advanced Sage.
There are 4 components to a "SatNav" system.
1 - A GPS device, which triangulates your position using satellites in space. The same principle that land surveyors use to locate a point by measuring its distance from (at least) 2 other points.Your location is identified as a pair of co-ordinates on the world mapping convention system, latitude and longitude.
2 - A digitised map (or twelve).
3 - Some software which  locates the identified co-ordinates on the digitised map, and the co-ordinates of any other "known"location. The map includes data about the various roads between the 2 identified locations, and determines the permutations of ways to get from A to B. According to your chosen priorities (faster route, shorter route, no toll roads, no ferries, etc) the software will inform you of the "best" route. It will normally do this by showing you this route, possibly step by step, on the screen of your SatNav.
The cost of these 3 elements  is paid for (once and for all) in the purchase of the phone.
To make the work of the number 1 component easier, that is, the task of the GPS to locate you in the first place, the GPS designers came up with AGPS - "Assisted" GPS. The assistance comes from the phones natural ability know where it is to a crude, but useful, extent by knowing the location of its "cell". This knowledge helps the GPS to calculate its position more quickly, by narrowing down its area of search. For the GPS to acquire this information, it needs to use the phones data connection to send and receive a small chunk of data about the cell, which gives the initial rough position to the GPS.
If you select this AGPS option in your "Positioning" settings, you have to pay for the data connection, or it will come from your data allowance. It's not a lot, and speeds up the operation of the GPS, but it's not necessary for the operation of the GPS.
4 - If, in addition to the visual directions from A to B, as shown on your screen, you want the SatNav to give you directions as you travel, this is known as "Navigation". It's like having a Navigator (as in rallying) sitting in the passenger seat, giving you directions as you go.
Nokia charge a license fee for this "Navigation". From what I've seen recently, the current licenses on offer cover periods up to 1 year. I bought my Navigation license for my old N95, and I was then able to buy a 3 year license, which worked out cheaper per year. I've now tranferred my license from my old N95 to my new N97.
Actually, I didn't have to do anything to "transfer" the license. You can set the license, on the Nokia server, to be linked to either your sim card, or your phone. If you link it to your phone, it will work with any sim card in the phone. If you link it to the sim card, your license will work. no matter what (nokia SatNav) phone you put your sim card in.
That's about it really.
To sum up, the GPS, software, and maps are all included in the price of the phone, including the software and maps updates. If you choose AGPS you will have to pay for the small data charges from your data allowance. (There's no point in buying this phone without an "unlimited" data allowance - personal opinion). For "Navigation", turn-by-turn direction, you will have to pay for a license.
For what it's worth. I still have my old N95. I felt sorry for it, it's still a great phone, because it was left with no "Navigation" license, although I still had a perfectly working GPS. So I treated it to a copy of Garmin Mobile XT software. This installed perfectly on the N95, and, unlike the Nokia "Navigation" license, you only pay once. There's no term license. Once you've bought it, it's yours. It cost £50 GBP, and is accurate and easier to use than Nokia Maps. It wouldn't work on my N97, though, so I guess it is only for Symbian 3 devices, not Symbian 5. I bought a cheap "Pay and Go" sim card, to enable the Garmin software to use AGPS. The first time I used it thoug, it worked perfectly, and was quick to find my location, even without the AGPS assistance. A lovely bit of software.
Phew ...
Message Edited by 2bad on 26-Jul-2009 11:11 AM
Message Edited by 2bad on 26-Jul-2009 11:13 AM
Message Edited by 2bad on 26-Jul-2009 11:15 AM
Message Edited by 2bad on 26-Jul-2009 11:16 AM