Nokia/NAVTEQ HERE Drive+ on Samsung ATIV S in Finland and Russia

[Exotic Hadron]

Howdy,

I wonder if somebody knows whether it is possible to run Nokia/NAVTEQ Drive+ app outside of the following countries:

• US
• UK
• Canada
• Mexico
• France
• Italy
• Spain
• Germany.

As far as I can see there are major issues with HERE Drive on Samsung ATIV S device:

1. You can't install Nokia Here Drive on non-Nokia device neither from automatically nor by downloading XAP and installing it manually; the app will be listed as unsupported.
2. You can't START (that's important) the app otherwise your SIM card is issued by and operator registered in one of the listed countries. No matter in what market the app is purchased.
   Consider you've downloaded HERE Drive Beta from the US Marketplace. You will be able to start the app in any country of the world but ONLY if the SIM card you use has been issued by, say, T-Mobile USA or T-Mobile Germany, or whatever are the mobile provider you can find in the listed countries. You won't be able to start the app if your SIM card is issued by, say, Sonera (one of the network operators in Finland, a TeliaSonera brand [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_Europe]) or Megafon (one of the network operators in Russia, a TeliaSonera brand). Say an attempt to start the app with Megafon's card would give you the license mismatch, ID=250 error (I guess that's because Russia has 250xx assigned as a base for Mobile country codes [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_country_code].

Has anybody managed to overcome the issue and make the HERE Drive app work outside of the listed countries with local network operators for external countries? I am really, really missing offline navigation cuz the connectivity here leaves a lot to be desired and having a flat rate data plan is NOT a solution.

I'd love if I could use Garmin StreetPilot but it seems to support only maps for the US/Canada and albeit providing maps for StreetPilot on iOS platform, Garmin seems to not be providing Europe maps
on Windows Phone 8...

 

[en0x#AC]

I don't know but I had my att phone last week in poland unlocked. I used a local sim card with some data package and used here drive with no issues.

 

[Exotic Hadron]

No good, am using UK unlocked ATIV S (heck, I believe it's a UK model cuz the default language when you do a hard reset is UK English) with a local SIM in Russia and the NAVTEQ Here Drive does not star swearing for incompatible license ID.

 

[en0x#AC]

i checked on my lumia 920 and here drive and it says that i have "global license"

 

[Exotic Hadron]

i checked on my lumia 920 and here drive and it says that i have "global license"

That's because this is Nokia Here Drive running on Nokia device. Nokia Here Drive won't even install on non-Nokia device. NAVTEQ (which is same as Nokia but for non-Nokia platforms) installs pretty well but fails to start with license exception (heck, couldn't they have crafted some informational message or somehow handle that exception, phew.)

 

[Huime]

The information is kinda blur I agreed. But last time I checked the FAQ is at Nokia website instead of say, here.com, which made me wonder why didn't they stick with the Nokia map branding.

To answer your question, its a dead end. All Lumias except some budget models namely 5XX and 7XX has the Here Drive+, where else any other WP8 phones will get the Here Drive. And Here Drive has the country/regional restricted license determined by the simcard when you activate the app for the 1st time. Nokia said they are working on a paid to upgrade version for their budget models but no mention about other brand. In other words, you will not get the app work until Ativ S is outdated.

Hah, an end note, you are welcome to join us at Lumia family.

 

[Exotic Hadron]

Okay, here's the official answer for NAVTEQ Here Drive on non-Nokia phones:

In which countries can I use HERE Drive on non-Nokia Windows Phones?
Currently HERE Drive navigation is available in the countries below for non-Nokia Windows Phones. The supported regions are based on the MCC code (Mobile Country Code) of the SIM card. The table below shows the supported countries, the corresponding MCC codes and the regions available for each country code.
You can check your supported regions in HERE Drive by selecting Settings > Navigation license.
Country MCC Supported regions: Canada, ST Pierre & Miquelon 302 (CAN) 308 (SPM) Canada Germany 262 (DEU) Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein France, Monaco 208 (FRA) 212 (MCO) France, Monaco Italy, Vatican, San Marino 222 (ITA) 225 (VAT) 292 (SMR) Italy, Vatican, San Marino, Malta Spain, Gibraltar 214 (ESP) 266 (GIB) Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal, Andorra UK, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of man 234, 235 (UK 1-2) UK, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of man, Ireland Mexiko 334 (MEX) Mexiko USA, Puerto Rico,US Virgin Island, Guam 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316 (US 1-7) 330 (PRI) 332 (VIR) 535 (GUA) USA, US virgin islands, Puerto Rico

That means that I was perfectly right. In order to use this app at any place of the world covered by HERE, you have to plug a SIM card that has an MCC code of one of the countries in the list.

 

[Huime]

Okay, here's the official answer for NAVTEQ Here Drive on non-Nokia phones:

That means that I was perfectly right. In order to use this app at any place of the world covered by HERE, you have to plug a SIM card that has an MCC code of one of the countries in the list.

Well that official statement is missing something important. Your phone will lock down to say a UK region license when you first activate drive app with UK sim. Then no matter if you change your sim you will still get stuck with UK region. User report that you cant fool it with reinstalling the app itself. The only way to go around is to reset your phone and wipe everything completely.

 

[neo158]

What I find really stupid is that you can download maps outside your region but can't use them

 

[Huime]

What I find really stupid is that you can download maps outside your region but can't use them

Its a disjoint UX but the whole point is to create market differential anyways. This little bug doesn't justify the effort to fix it.

 

[zack251]

If I am not mistaken there are paid version of competing navigation apps sold at Windows Store.

 

[neo158]

Its a disjoint UX but the whole point is to create market differential anyways. This little bug doesn't justify the effort to fix it.

True, but it's a bit stupid to allow someone in the UK the ability to download a map they can't use.

 

[CaptDjob]

Well, I think you are able to use those maps with Here Maps. Only Drive in disabled.Like having paper map of the world in your pocket. It is really convienient I would say, if you get lost or need to find place/address or whatever.

 

[ctinro]

The detailed answer is HERE

 

[Exotic Hadron]

Uhm, I have finally chosen to go for CoPilot Live/CoPilot GPS and am happy with it. The navigation gap is filled for me. The best app I've used to date.

 

[Coolknight1968]

What about Here+, I use it on my Ativ S.

 

[Exotic Hadron]

What about Here+, I use it on my Ativ S.

Where're you from? What's the brand of mobile networking operator you're using?
The Here+ checks the MCC (Mobile Country Code) on starting and if you're using a SIM card of a carrier that isn't available in the list of Country MCC Supported regions, you're in bad luck. The app will fail to start throwing an unhandled exception from its licensing subsystem.

 

[Loco5150]

Here+ is now availabe for purchase in Finland also. 35? or something.

After moving from L920 to the AtivS (way better battery), i searched for navigation, and found GPS Voice Navigation. You can use whatever you want, Here/Bing/Google/MapQuest maps for navigation. Price 6.50?. Limited languages, but I dont mind, English is fine for me.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I have the Bell Canada ATIV S, locked to Bell. After the latest update to Here Drive I was able for about $16 to unlock the global licence and am now able to use navigation in something like 90 countries. I am in the UK at the moment and can confirm that this does work. Last time I was here I was unable to use it.

 

[mms-pc]

>>You can't START (that's important) the app otherwise your SIM card is issued by and operator registered in one of the listed countries. No matter in what market the app is purchased.

I'm in Taiwan, and I also receive this error message with my ATIV S.