Turn-by-Turn Navigation

[sconrad308]

OK. We get it you are unhappy and are a droid fan. Go back to Android and be happy. No reason to keep posting on here. Good luck to you. Personally not the choice I would make but it is yours be happy. Quit *****ing and just be happy. Good bye Sir.

 

[sconrad308]

Are you using Bing Maps for voice TbT nav?

And you are correct that the selection on Verizon is a serious issue. If V had a Nokia WP it is my understanding that I would have excellent TbT voice nav for free. That would make a big improvement right off the bat.

I do use Bing Maps for my TbT. I don't have a problem with it. I will probably be getting Garmin just because I love their products. But I do like Bing Maps. The accuracy and not having to constantly look at the screen are great. As for touching the screen I don't have a problem with that. In fact I used it today and with my new bluetooth headset it worked great. I did it all my voice commands. Far superior to my Android. IMO.

 

[tekhna]

OK. We get it you are unhappy and are a droid fan. Go back to Android and be happy. No reason to keep posting on here. Good luck to you. Personally not the choice I would make but it is yours be happy. Quit *****ing and just be happy. Good bye Sir.

Chill out man. No one here is hating. Don't be such a ****** that you can't see what IS a deficiency--friendly criticism is not a vice.

 

[john_allen_1911]

OK. We get it you are unhappy and are a droid fan. Go back to Android and be happy. No reason to keep posting on here. Good luck to you. Personally not the choice I would make but it is yours be happy. Quit *****ing and just be happy. Good bye Sir.

It is funny that because I am critical of tap-to-turn I am now a "Droid Fan." I use stuff because it works not because of who makes it.

Are all the other posters who think MS dropped the ball with tap-to-turn Droid or Apple fans, too?

If criticism of WP7.5 makes you want me to leave this forum, you are more brand loyal than I ever will be. You said in your other post you are buying a Garmin simply because you "love" Garmin products, so I can only assume you like branding more than I do. I like stuff that works and is loaded with features appropriate for the cash outlay. So far the HTC Trophy has come up short.

Like I said before, if the Lumia 900 were a Verizon phone I might be having a better experience - or any Nokia phone for that matter.

 

[dogfish54]

Right, but if you've used Google's navigation software (especially the ICS version) you'd know how grossly inadequate that is, and as pointed out above, illegal in some states.

The Google turn-by-turn is technically free, but Google gives it away because they want to know the most they can about you to target ads to you. That's not a problem for most people, for me, I'd rather that my operating system is paid for i.e included with the price of the phone (like Wp7) and not provided free with a hunger for data about me.

Nokia owns Navteq and provide Nokia Drive for free because they want you to buy the hardware (like Apple). If you don't like Windows phone, you are probably better off buying an iPhone.

 

[john_allen_1911]

The Google turn-by-turn is technically free, but Google gives it away because they want to know the most they can about you to target ads to you. That's not a problem for most people, for me, I'd rather that my operating system is paid for i.e included with the price of the phone (like Wp7) and not provided free with a hunger for data about me.

Nokia owns Navteq and provide Nokia Drive for free because they want you to buy the hardware (like Apple). If you don't like Windows phone, you are probably better off buying an iPhone.

I gave up on keeping secrets from the "Internet" a long time ago. The fact that companies can require you to hand over passwords to social networking accounts as a condition of hiring means we all live in a fully monitored world - government jobs can have even more invasive hiring requirements.

I think the WP interface is fine. The email looks nice, the web browser seems fine (minus the lack of Flash, and no I will not let that go), some of the apps are slick. It just seems crazy to be lacking proper voice nav bundled in.

The only reason I do not have a Lumia 900 is because AT&T's coverage is not as good as Verizon's. AT&T has not rolled out LTE in Seattle, home of MS, and AT&T has the best 4G LTE Windows Phone(s) at this point. That seems weird to me.

I am surprised how many hits a thread about voice nav has generated.

 

[PG2G]

I think the WP interface is fine. The email looks nice, the web browser seems fine (minus the lack of Flash, and no I will not let that go), some of the apps are slick. It just seems crazy to be lacking proper voice nav bundled in.

Just wanted to point out that, while there are free alternatives in the Marketplace, iOS doesn't include voice nav either. Which means Android is the only major OS that includes proper voice nav bundled in.

 

[sconrad308]

I apologize if my comments were deemed rude. I was not meaning it like that. I agree that some criticism is a good thing.
I do like Garmin products but because it works. I am not a ****** of anything. I use what I like and what works for me. WP works better for me than any phone I've ever had. Blackberry, Nokia, Iphone, Android. I love my Samsung Flash and WP. By far the best phone and OS I have used plus I only pay $45 a month for everything. But you should go where you are happiest.

 

[LarryPGH]

That was me and I actually do, my car has Bluetooth streaming audio, so I leave the phone in my cupholder and tap the screen "turn right in 1.5 miles"...simple as that. After my turn it makes the confirmed sound and I tap it again and it tells me my next turn.

I hear what you're saying, but I'm wondering -- what benefit is there to the "tap at the tone" functionality? I mean, hearing a voice is good (and other platforms have it, as well), and the tone is nice, but what -- in particular -- is good about the need to touch the screen?

I don't need to see a screen, to me that is far more distracting than a simple tap which is why I think this is silly.

You're able to tap the screen without taking your eyes off the road and looking for the screen, then? Not all have that ability, or the particular set-up that allows them to do so. Nevertheless, the reason it's not "silly" is that it's literally illegal for some of us, in our home states.

That's not an indictment of a platform, of course, but just of a particular software design. Hopefully, it'll be addressed soon...

 

[john_allen_1911]

Just wanted to point out that, while there are free alternatives in the Marketplace, iOS doesn't include voice nav either. Which means Android is the only major OS that includes proper voice nav bundled in.

I get your point about it being bundled together versus a free app, but iOS has free MapQuest TbT voice nav. MapQuest was the dominant map source before Google took over and I still see it linked to pages more often than Bing. It is a decent product - especially for free.

 

[anon(5335877)]

I get your point about it being bundled together versus a free app, but iOS has free MapQuest TbT voice nav. MapQuest was the dominant map source before Google took over and I still see it linked to pages more often than Bing. It is a decent product - especially for free.

Waze seems to be good too. I had that app back when I had an iPhone, but never really got to try out navigation on it. I always left it running though because I could see traffic and stuff (reported by other users of Waze).

Unfortunately the developers are not planning to port it to Windows Phone at this time.

 

[Welve]

I hear what you're saying, but I'm wondering -- what benefit is there to the "tap at the tone" functionality? I mean, hearing a voice is good (and other platforms have it, as well), and the tone is nice, but what -- in particular -- is good about the need to touch the screen?



You're able to tap the screen without taking your eyes off the road and looking for the screen, then? Not all have that ability, or the particular set-up that allows them to do so. Nevertheless, the reason it's not "silly" is that it's literally illegal for some of us, in our home states.

That's not an indictment of a platform, of course, but just of a particular software design. Hopefully, it'll be addressed soon...

Yeah, like I said, I leave it in my cupholder and tap it without looking, usually with my middle finger actually lol. I know which side the screen is, similar to turning down the radio, just made it a little move. I understand if you drive stick, then it would be impossible, but I am not crazy enough to drive stick in one of the worst traffic cities in the US! I would if I had somewhere to cruise though...and I don't think a cop is going to get me for tapping a phone in my cupholder, I could be wrong, but I would be willing to test it.

For me it isn't the need to touch the screen, it is more the availability. A lot of times I have found with GPS I miss turns because I turn to early, if anything the WP has made me a better judge of distance (never thought about it until now) because it tells me turn right in X number of miles and I can keep updating it with a quick tap to hear. Ran into this when going to a friend's new place, I would have turned one street early because they were close enough together, but I tapped to double check and it said it was still a little further.

Anyway, I totally understand why people might think it isnt the most efficient way, it seems somewhat counter-intuitive, but I like the way it works.

this is a musing, just something I have been wondering for a while > I also don't understand why people have to have google maps, what feature is it lacking over bing maps? Bing has aerial view, traffic, integrated local scout, directions, etc. Using a different Nav I can understand, Bing's method or my method isn't for everyone, but I like Bing maps a LOT, I always remember waiting what felt like forever for Gmaps to load on my Androids.

 

[HerronScott]

As for your Outlook sync comments allow me to share another link with you:

Microsoft Exchange Online Pricing

For true and complete sync between my phone and my desktops I need Exchange and that costs money (I was told this by a friend who works for MS and sets up Exchange accounts for big companies. He was very honest about the fact that this is one of MS's big products and it works very nicely but it costs money). I knew this was true before I got the phone so I have no complaints there. But using Live is a joke (if I accidentally send a reply email to work from live.com it is marked as spam). I can only sync the Live calendar to my desktop's Live calendar - so I have two calendars one the default Outlook profile and one for the live.com profile and I can find no way to unite them. If I use Outlook to accept an invite I need to copy it to the Live calendar manually - because the Live calendar is not allowed to be the default calendar on Outlook desktop (as far as I can figure out). If I use Windows Live Mail to accept an Outlook invite - oh they are not compatible so I can't.

Hi,

I'd like to understand what you are missing with syncing to Outlook and whether you are referring to Outlook at work (which typically uses Exchange as the server infrastructure) or Outlook at home which some people use for mail with their Internet provider.

I have no problem using my phone with our Exchange infrastructure at work and it uses the same ActiveSync through Exchange to sync mail, calendar, etc. as other platforms like the iPhone (note this is not the old desktop ActiveSync but online through Outlook Web Access). If this is your scenario, what functionality are you missing? Note that the link you sent to Exchange online is related to businesses having Microsoft host their backend Exchange infrastructure rather than supporting their own servers in-house. It's not something that an end-user like yourself would use or subscribe to.

If you are using Outlook at home for personal use, that's something different and you would not be using Outlook on the phone for that.

Scott

 

[inteller]

What software are you paying for that is so good? I would like to hear about it so I can know all the great things about my new phone.

I wanted to buy Skype - nope. Log Me In would be nice - nope. Dropbox out yet? The mobile site is pretty friendly but not a dedicated app.

So please list the ten best paid apps you have (no need to include Angry Birds unless you can tell me how to install Seasons and Rio). I will seriously consider getting them. I want to like this phone; the rest of my devices all run on MS, why not my phone?

just go away troll...you already know the answers to your rhetorical questions....your inquiries went from being genuine to ****** about two pages ago.

 

[ubizmo]

Just wanted to point out that, while there are free alternatives in the Marketplace, iOS doesn't include voice nav either. Which means Android is the only major OS that includes proper voice nav bundled in.

BBOS also includes it.

 

[john_allen_1911]

just go away troll...you already know the answers to your rhetorical questions....your inquiries went from being genuine to ****** about two pages ago.

It is not rhetorical for me to ask which apps you claim are worth paying for. It was your line of argument and since you said it I assumed you could back it up. The fact that you have resorted to an ad hominem argument is a clear indication you cannot provide a real answer.

I was really hoping for some good apps - ones that would make me like my phone more.

Here are some examples that I found:

Tango - not nearly as popular as Skype but it works. I had ask a couple people to sign up so I can call them. Seems to work and improves the phone by making international calls free. It will be deleted as soon as Skype is available though because all of my contacts have Skype already. So it is a Band-Aid app.

Stop the Music - does its job. Nice.

Here are a couple paid apps that I would like to see:

Hulu Plus
MLB.TV (currently the highest grossing for iOS, BTW)

So my question to you is genuine. You seem to really like your phone (at least you are defending WP 7.5 pretty strongly). Part of that is the functionality of the phone you have. Do you have an HTC? What paid apps did you load to improve the overall phone experience? In your experience which turn-by-turn navigation app works the best - most accurate, quick to load, good traffic reporting, etc?

 

[john_allen_1911]

Hi,

I'd like to understand what you are missing with syncing to Outlook and whether you are referring to Outlook at work (which typically uses Exchange as the server infrastructure) or Outlook at home which some people use for mail with their Internet provider.

I have no problem using my phone with our Exchange infrastructure at work and it uses the same ActiveSync through Exchange to sync mail, calendar, etc. as other platforms like the iPhone (note this is not the old desktop ActiveSync but online through Outlook Web Access). If this is your scenario, what functionality are you missing? Note that the link you sent to Exchange online is related to businesses having Microsoft host their backend Exchange infrastructure rather than supporting their own servers in-house. It's not something that an end-user like yourself would use or subscribe to.

If you are using Outlook at home for personal use, that's something different and you would not be using Outlook on the phone for that.

Scott

This is a topic for another thread - pm sent.

 

[Nataku4ca]

mm i didn't read all the post so if someone already mentioned this please ignore me

1. there are quiet a few good paid GPS apps such as turn by turn and Garmin, and free ones like Drive On (ive never used it so i don't know how good it is), as for OEM apps Nokia Drive takes the cake

2. Now, important thing to note -> im not trying to take MS off the hook for tapping to get next direction, but apparently the reason was -> MS licensed their tech for navigation from navteq which has a clause in their agreement that MS "MAY NOT"

-> present or alert an end user to individual maneuvers of a route in any way that is synchronized with the end-user’s sensor-based position along the route, (e.g. “real-time” navigation) <-

so they kind of got shafted...

im pretty sure dropbox has an app
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/b4935376-2a74-e011-81d2-78e7d1fa76f8

Skype has a beta app and will be integrated in the next release (wp8)
http://www.windowscentral.com/skype-windows-phone-app-hits-beta

for skype just keep in mind that the dev at skype didn't implement the ability for it to receive messages while the app isn't open for the sake of avoiding issues with receiving voip calls... pretty dumb but once the integration comes things will be fixed

now if my search was correct, Log Me In is remote desktop app? if it is there is quiet a few replacements... such as

PC Remote (which is free)
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/66e0f384-7220-e011-854c-00237de2db9e

if you don't mind please post other issues that you would like a solution to, i really didn't want to read through the fire in the 3rd page...

 

[john_allen_1911]

mm i didn't read all the post so if someone already mentioned this please ignore me

1. there are quiet a few good paid GPS apps such as turn by turn and Garmin, and free ones like Drive On (ive never used it so i don't know how good it is), as for OEM apps Nokia Drive takes the cake

2. Now, important thing to note -> im not trying to take MS off the hook for tapping to get next direction, but apparently the reason was -> MS licensed their tech for navigation from navteq which has a clause in their agreement that MS "MAY NOT"

-> present or alert an end user to individual maneuvers of a route in any way that is synchronized with the end-user?s sensor-based position along the route, (e.g. ?real-time? navigation) <-

so they kind of got shafted...

im pretty sure dropbox has an app
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/b4935376-2a74-e011-81d2-78e7d1fa76f8

Skype has a beta app and will be integrated in the next release (wp8)
http://www.windowscentral.com/skype-windows-phone-app-hits-beta

for skype just keep in mind that the dev at skype didn't implement the ability for it to receive messages while the app isn't open for the sake of avoiding issues with receiving voip calls... pretty dumb but once the integration comes things will be fixed

now if my search was correct, Log Me In is remote desktop app? if it is there is quiet a few replacements... such as

PC Remote (which is free)
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/66e0f384-7220-e011-854c-00237de2db9e

if you don't mind please post other issues that you would like a solution to, i really didn't want to read through the fire in the 3rd page...

Dropbox does not have an official app for WP. They are currently using a mobile version of there site to deal with WP. The apps developed for iOS and Android are pretty nice.

I saw there is a Skype app is coming and as soon as it does I will delete Tango - but I am still waiting like everyone else for a very popular app. I just figured it would be out by now.

Log Me In is not just a remote desktop connection. I have all my machines set up with it and I can manage other users access to those machines through it. Other people who use Log Me In can give me permission on their machines as well. So what I use it for it involves a bunch of changes not just throwing an app on my phone. Again this is popular software that is available for other mobile OSs. LogMeIn has been talking about development for over a year with no publicly revealed progress. Might be a WP8 thing or possibly the WP market is not big enough yet.

The voice nav is the biggie. I am not paying for voice nav on a smartphone. It seems that the non-Nokia Windows Phones are the only major smartphones without free voice nav either built-in or developed by a big player in maps. MS should have been a little more thoughtful about ensuring that across carriers and manufacturers that the phones provide similar experiences; it seems logical that they would want customers to have the same bundle of stuff - not one customer getting a good version of the phone and another getting a stripped down version. I have been looking for a free voice nav app and will keep trying until there is a solution or I decide to go another route with my phone (pun intended).

I appreciate the offer and I will hit you up if there is anything else I am looking for - besides MLB At Bat and Hulu+

 

[john_allen_1911]

Duplicate post