Categories: General

Google Maps versus Nokia Maps

Nokia Races from Fraser J Nicholas on Vimeo.

I noticed this video by Fraser Nicholas in a post on the NokiaKnowings blog. It offers a highly creative (!) take on user speed testing, pitting Google Maps on iOS against Nokia Maps running on Symbian. The video highlights one of the key findings of MEX Pathway #1: that in an age of network austerity, pre-cached content can dramatically reduce latency times in the user experience.

Nokia Maps remains one of the most significant advantages of Symbian devices, offering worldwide free map coverage, with pre-cached map data and turn-by-turn navigation. Given the usage scenarios for maps, which are often relied upon in foreign countries where data roaming is prohibitively expensive, or holiday areas where network coverage may be poor, having map data embedded on the handset can offer major user experience improvements.

Now watch the video and cheer for your chosen contestant in the race!

Marek Pawlowski

Marek Pawlowski is the founder of MEX. Since 1995, he has focused the MEX business on helping digital industries to develop better, more profitable products through improved understanding of user behaviour with mobile devices and wireless networks. MEX is best known for its events, research and consulting, which balance commercial, technical and user insights to define the future of mobile user experience.

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