Many people have speed camera databases loaded into their SatNav, and we support and recommend Pocket GPS World as one of the most accurate and regularly updated camera databases for the UK. However, up to now, if you used Nokia Maps on your Symbian phone as your primary navigation device, you were left without speed cameras. This is now resolved. If you head to this HOWTO at Pocket GPS World, they’ll explain what you have to do to get their database working on your phone.

Basically, you have to install a freeware application, and the subscribe to the Pocket GPS World site (if you aren’t already a subscriber), and download the “Nokia Speedcam” specific database from their site, and you’ll have working, and up to date speed cameras on your phone. The software has only been tested on a UK N95 with Nokia Maps v2, although there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work with every S60 3rd edition phone, and, like Nokia Maps, it supports Bluetooth GPS units if you don’t have a built in GPS.

Here’s a roundup of a few additional points and information that have been released since the initial launch earlier this week.

Firstly, there are rumours that O2 are going to allow the iPhone 3G to be tethered to a laptop via Bluetooth, ie you can get access to the internet from the laptop via the iPhone. This is unconfirmed, and some people have indicated that the early iPhone 2.0 firmwares do not contain this functionality, so unless Apple pull something out of the hat at the last minute, this may not happen. Of course, many people argue that the iPhone has enough capability that you won’t want or need to use your laptop at all!

On the more positive, Unlimited WiFi will be available on the iPhone 3G at 9,500 hotspots covering both The Cloud and BT’s OpenZone network, which will be added in on 11th July, the iPhone launch date.

There’s no front facing camera, despite what a few people are claiming, so no 3G video calling.  Whether this was something that was dropped from the development to meet the timescales, or whether it was a purposeful decision (after all, how many of us make regular video calls, compared to voice calls…?) we’ll never know, but for now, there’s no capability.

There’s some questions over navigation apps, with some people claiming that companies like TomTom will not be able to release SatNav software because of a clause which prevents real-time navigation apps.  We believe that this clause relates to the use of the SDK to access the Google Maps data, which, of course, TomTom will not be using.  As such, we doubt this clause will prevent a wide raft of SatNav applications becoming available.

All in all, we suspect there will be a lot more news about the iPhone between now and a month’s time.

Nokia have announced that if you are running the Map 2.0 beta version (ie from the Nokia Beta Labs website), then the support for satellite images within the program will finish soon. However, the solution is easy; upgrade to the full Nokia Maps 2.0 released version, and you will continue to be able to view satellite images.

Download the released version here.

Nokia Maps 2.0 has now been formally released by Nokia and is available for download from here. Although this adds little since the last beta version, all the beta versions have added lots more functionality than Nokia Maps 1.0. The main new features since 1.0 are improved car navigation and pedestrian modes, support for satellite images, much more local content, multimedia city guides, and a new user interface. Other features we should coming (as mentioned before) are near real time traffic information, and links into “Share with Ovi” for sharing POIs and routes.

One of the fixes that’s occurred between the first beta and the release is that UK 7 digit postcodes now work properly.  They’ve also added Network based positioning (similar to that used in Google Maps) for a rough location until the GPS can precisely locate you.  This works on most phones today, although the E90 will need a “software update” will should be released soon.

This all bodes well for Nokia, although they are still a little behind TomTom and Garmin with their feature range, and some people are still questioning their pricing model. It will be interesting to see how many current phones get new firmwares with this version installed by default..

This 8 megapixel is not unique, but certainly different from the standard camera you can buy. As well as the 3″ touchscreen on the rear, it includes a GPS module to record exactly where the picture was taken. The press release (pdf document) refers to their solution as a GPS Navigation solution, indicating the camera contains maps as well as the actual GPS hardware, but it’s not yet clear how good the maps are, nor which countries they will be providing mapping for. However, it’s certainly the sign of things to come, and we can expect many more cameras with GPS (or GPS addons) in the coming months.

Story and picture courtesy of NaviGadget.

There’s a nice review of Garmin’s Mobile XT over on Tracy and Matt’s Blog. The biggest drawback appears to be the fact that Garmin link the software to the serial number of the SD card, meaning you can’t move the software and maps to another larger card. Head over to read the review.

Thanks to Mark for the heads up.

Garmin have announced agreements with MapQuest and Google Maps to allow you to send trips and destinations direct from the MapQuest / Google Maps website to your Garmin GPS. For MapQuest, this will utilise the “Send to GPS” option which will become Garmin compatible sometime this month, whereas the function is already available from Garmin. This will use the Garmin Communicator Plugin, which is already in use on other websites, such as Geocaching.com to transfer information to Garmin GPS units. Not all devices support full trip (route) details being transferred to them, but all seem to support a single destination being sent.

There are a lot of rumours flying around that TomTom is planning a response to the Garmin nuviphone by producing their own equivalent. The device will possibly combine an HTC hardware device with TomTom pre loaded (removing some of the problems TomTom has had over the years with compatibility problems with their software working on some Windows Mobile devices). Hopefully more information will be revealed over the upcoming months, and we won’t discover this is a early April Fool’s.

Story courtesy of Pocket GPS World.

If you have a Garmin SatNav and you’ve started to receive the odd “your maps are out of date” warning on your unit, then one option is to buy the new 2008 maps for your unit. If you head over to the Garmin website, you can enter your serial number, and it will confirm if there are new maps available (and which exact format of Garmin maps you need). Garmin have stated that right now the retail map upgrade DVD only supports the Nuvi, Zumo and Streetpilot C5xx series of devices, so if you have any other device you may have to wait a bit longer for the upgrade maps to be released.

NavNGo have announced plans to release their iGO MyWay 8 SatNav software for the iPhone. It was either use the gomite LogoGPS hardware module to provide the GPS data, or will use their WiFi GPS unit, which allows the iPhone to pick up the location information via WiFi (allowing the GPS unit to be hidden and hardwired into a car, for example). NavNGo already provide a similar solution as part of the Sony PSP solution, so are well used to working on a variety of platforms. Although this has been announced in advance of the iPhone SDK (rumoured for announcement later today), it’s likely to be using the SDK, and may even feature as an example of an approved 3rd party application in Apple’s presentation.

There’s a short YouTube video about this solution here.

The picture is a mockup of what the software may look like, courtesy of Engadget.

As well as the TomTom ONE HD, TomTom have produced a replacement power supply for the TomTom GO x20 and x30 ranges which includes a SIM and GPRS service to connect and download reliable and accurate traffic data, including data collected from Vodafone mobile phones up and down the country. This will cost €100 to buy and €60 for 6 months service, and TomTom plan to increase the range of devices supported later in the year. TomTom claim the HD traffic service provides 5 times as many traffic updates as their standard service and covers up to 10 times more roads. This should help when there is an accident, and traditionally you would have been simply diverted onto other equally busy roads.

Interestingly, the HD traffic receiver actually contains a Li-Ion battery, so does not appear to need an external power supply to function, although when connected, it will power both the traffic receiver and the main SatNav unit.

Although available separately, it will be provided as standard on the TomTom GO 730 HD Traffic and the TomTom GO 930 HD.

The only downside (in the short term) is that it appears it is not compatible with third party mounts, such as the CarComm mount we featured here, although we expect Brodit and CarComm to update their solutions fairly soon after the devices are widely available.

Hopefully this service will be available soon in the UK (it should be before the end of the year).

Navigon have provided options like this before (when their main solution was PDA SatNav software), but this is a first in recent times. As well as announcing the new 2100 SatNav device, this unit comes with their new FreshMaps service, where you are able to receive 12 map updates over a 3 year period - ie every quarter you will be able to download new maps for free.

In other respects, with Lane Assistance, Reality View, and a 4.3″ widescreen, this is a high end device that Navigon are providing at mid range pricing (eg $299 for the US).

Specs and Picture courtesy of Pocket GPS World.

If you are looking for a cheap SatNav solution, then Vodafone have announced their own Vodafone SatNav software, which is available for £5 per month. It will be available on their branded Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia 6110 Navigator and BlackBerry 8110 Pearl devices. The software will be free for the first month on Nokia, and free for 12 months on the BlackBerry, although data charges will apply to all. This software isn’t as advanced as some others, so although it maybe cheaper, there may be better solutions out there, especially if you consider the full cost of that £5 per month, plus data charges over the (likely) 18 month contract you have the phone.

If you have a TomTom SatNav device, and you use the PGPSW (Pocket GPS World) Speed Camera Database, then head over to their website, where you will find a new set of custom speed camera icons. These aren’t compatible with every TomTom device, so you’ll need to check whether they will work with your unit first, but if they will, they provide a much richer icon set than the default.

If, of course, you don’t use their Speed Camera Database, these icons won’t be much use, so whilst you are there, sign up - it’s only £19 per year, and for that you get access to the forums, discounts on new GPS hardware, and access to the speed camera database. Plus, if you report just one previously unreported static speed camera position or a change to speed/location of an existing static camera already in the database or (finally) a new mobile site then you may (subject to verification by PGPSW) get a lifetime subscription (remember only the first reporter will get the lifetime sub).

Picture courtesy of Pocket GPS World.

If you have tried to download maps for your Nokia Maps application, and suffered problems, then Martin Letis has worked out the URL (and also included instructions) to directly download the map files onto your computer, and then transfer them to your Symbian Phone. Head to his article here for more details.

If you are interested to see where Nokia plan to take Nokia Maps, the Symbian software installed on their GPS-equipped device, then there are two articles worth reading. Symbian Guru and Symbian Freak have both managed to preview the new product (which is still in Beta at this stage), and both have a lot of detail over the changes, including lots of screenshots.

If you have a Garmin Nuvi 200 or 700 series, and are experiencing slow initial GPS fix times, you may want to use the WebUpdater software from Garmin and update your SatNav to the latest firmware version available. Garmin have recently produced updates for these products that uses Sirf InstantFix II to improve those fix times.

Garmin have announced the Nuviphone, a mobile phone with SatNav capabilities. It has a 3.5″ touchscreen, full browsing and PIM capabilities, HSDPA, Quad-Band (3.5G), WiFi, Bluetooth, and is roughly the same size as the iPhone. As it uses a variant of the same proprietary OS as that on their SatNav devices, the UI will be familiar to many, and will have “millions” of POIs, and will have turn-by-turn voice prompts. However, it will also have Google Local Search capabilities (and potentially other Google apps such as Google Talk, and the camera may integrate with Google Panorama). Finally, it will use the phone network connection to get updates via Garmin Online for real time traffic, fuel prices, news, weather and stock prices (although historically these have been US only data). It is expected to be released in Q3 this year, so in time for Christmas.

The picture above shows the Nuvi SatNav interface running in a Panasonic car stereo. This is a joint venture between Panasonic US and Garmin, and allows Panasonic to develop systems such as the one above. Given this agreement is only with Panasonic US and not the whole Panasonic group (currently called Matsushita, but they will be rebranding as Panasonic worldwide during 2008), it’s unclear whether a device like this is likely to be available in the UK.

If the cost of the BMW built in SatNav has always felt a few too many pounds to spend, then you’ll be pleased to hear Garmin and BMW are working together on the 1 and 3-Series models. As well as the BMW Portable Navigation device (based on the Nuvi 360) being branded with a BMW logo, it features a BMW logo on startup, a BMW dealer database, and uses a custom mount for the Nuvi which allows users to attach the device to the interior trim instead of the windscreen. This mount is positioned for optimal viewing by the driver, and is powered directly by the car, so eliminates the need for exposed cables. This comes on the back of a MINI-specific Nuvi version last year.

Unfortunately, no UK availability information has been released yet.